Since we found out that we were moving to Corpus we have been talking/planning/hoping to buy a kayak. We were hoping for one that someday we could squeeze everyone into, but still small enough for one person to take it out alone. Two weeks ago we found just the right one on craigslist, and later that day took it out for its maiden voyage.
Bennett and I took it out in the bay in the really shallow water. The maiden voyage lasted a glorious five minutes before Bennett said that he wanted out. He kept trying to stand up and I think that he didn't like how unstable it was. Then to convince me that he was serious about being done he kept saying, "Mama, out" over and over. Luckily it was shallow enough for us to get out and walk back to the shore before a breakdown happened. I was worried, how was Bennett going to go on our 3-4 hour father/son fishing trips if he couldn't last 5 minutes.
We'd just have to work on it.
Kim and I decided that even though it is just a kayak, he/she needed a proper name. We decided on
Flavia, after the main character from a fiction series we like. Officially its Flavia de Luce, but is also known by the nickname
Flava Flav, a drastically different pop culture reference.
The second outing with Bennett and Flavia did not go much better than the first. This time we went with friends that were watching Renn on the shore while Kim, Bennett, and I went out for a short trip. Bennett lasted about 30 seconds before letting us know persistently that he would rather stay on the shore.
He was so excited when I first brought it home and told him that
it was our boat. He climbed right in and laughed and played inside it then. Now I was getting worried. I didn't want to push him and make him start hating going out in the water. I started thinking about all the different treats and incentives I could try to encourage him.
Yesterday we planned a little trip to some
paddling trails near Port Aransas and I think that we turned a corner. Bennett and I went out together for about 20 minutes!! There were a lot of birds to see and he loved pointing them out and saying pelican, egret, and ibis. We saw fish jump and crabs in the water. Then on our way back to the shore we nearly ran into a pod of dolphins!! They came up less than 20 feet straight in front of us. Bennett was so excited. We followed after them for about 30 seconds and I counted 8 dorsal fins sticking out of the water. It was so awesome to come that close to wild dolphins!! With the added bonus that Bennett saw them and got really excited too.
As we got back to the car where Kim, Renn, and Athena were waiting Bennett kept saying "Dolphins, more more." Luckily the dolphins swam right past them and Kim saw them too. Athena apparently noticed them first and and was sad to miss out on her chance of swimming with the dolphins.
Seeing the dolphins jump out of the water right in front of us was incredible. But the best part of the trip happened a few minutes after we got back. Kim and I were talking excitedly about our dolphin encounter and Bennett was splashing in the water next to us. He walked over to Flavia and started pushing her out into the water. When we looked up to stop him, Bennett kept pushing and calmly said "bye-bye" to us. Apparently he was now ready to adventure out on his own.
