A great advantage of living in the country comes in the form of adventure. After returning home from our time in Fayetteville, Auntie Liz and I took the children to the lake. This is a great walk down a twisty road in the middle of the lush forest. As a sign warns unsuspecting cars, the road falls into the water. We live within walking distance of a boat dock which also means there’s a rocky/sandy shore just around the bend.
The journey to the water’s edge was fascinating with some kids holding hands with me and others forging ahead with a new-found independence and freedom. Some of these boys would be great scouts. Liz had told the kids that if she or I ever hollered “CAR!” everyone should go to the side of the road immediately and stop. Once, the journey started, many new voices for the aunties arose in the air shouting “CAR! CAR!” At one point the choir sounded like a bunch of crows. Next time I’ll teach them the ol’ Girl Scout favorite (sing it with me)
Car, Car, C-A-R! Stick it in a mustard jar. Hit the ditch!
Some of us raced from turn to turn. I need to watch out if I ever go head to head with some of the girls; their little legs have rapid turnover.
Of course, the best fun came in the water. The children let their feet free to feel the water, but as expected, much more got wet. A song in the theatre show is about fishing so after several started singing it to themselves, they decided to “rehearse” on the beach. Everyone grabbed a stick and practiced paddling and singing. We just needed a crocodile to complete the number. Maybe we should add water to the show; the extra element really brought the song to life. But then we have to deal with lighting it and overcome crashing-wave sounds, so we’ll leave God to take care of that at the lake, and we’ll do our best inside.
A couple kids learned to skip rocks, a few boys competed to see who could throw a rock the furthest, and everyone came out of the water a bit more sodden than planned. They marveled at the boats zooming by and canoes meandering around the edge, but the jet ski had them speechless and frozen in awe for a time.
Finally, in all smiles and almost jumping, Claudio exclaimed, “A crocodile couldn’t get me on that!” So I’m adding it to our wish list- a jet ski. Perhaps he can use it for his trip home next year. It would make luggage a bit of a challenge, but obviously this revolutionary machine could change his life’s goal from being an engineer to the next Crocodile Hunter.
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