As soon as breakfast was inside the munchkins we were off on the adventure of the day. Today it was kayakking. The sky was blue, the sun was warm, the aged bones braced themselves for the workout to come, and the owner of one of the younger sets of bones fretted ..... Bear talked non-stop all the way to the river. Details had to be ironed out in his head as to how it would all go down. He tried issuing edicts about who would go in the red kayak, and who would go in the blue, assuming those were the colours we'd get, but even more importantly, who would go in mommy's kayak! Rowdy Roo won that round. Sometimes it just pays to be the youngest...
Once on the river Bear relaxed. He sat up front taking everything in, especially the design details of mechanical devices some people use to lift their boats clear of the water. Roo meanwhile, floated with his mommy, keeping a weather eye out for lonely ducks and such.
Several friendly people, seeing the style the boys were travelling in, called out to them from the banks of the river, congratulating them on getting the grown-ups to do the donkey work!
So Bear and I made a pact. Or rather, I suggested it and he sort of grudgingly agreed. And it was this: that in another ten years we'd go out on the river again, and he would bundle my bones, wrapped in a comfy blanket, into the front seat of the kayak, slather "sunscream" on whatever parts remained exposed, make sure I had a good grip on the winebottle, and that the chocolates were within easy reach, then he'd paddle us off out into the gulf for a few lazy hours, because of course, by then, he'd be a tall, strong, muscular teenager.........do you think I should get it in writing?
.....this fellow here was out on the river too, enjoying the sun and the fishing.
