Kayaking With Ain

Cousin Ain. It's been a very, very long time since she and I spent time together. So when she sent me a text message, inviting me to go kayaking with her, I jumped at the opportunity. Ain has been known to change her mind at the last minute, so I readied myself early, scrubbed myself extra hard in the shower (in case it's my smell that's been keeping her at bay), packed my lunch, and slathered on the SPF 60, prepared to give her the guilt trip of the century if she called with even a hint of an excuse!

It was the perfect day to be on the water. The temperature soared to an abnormal low eighties, and the air was still. After waiting an hour for our kayak  -  everyone else and their grandma was there, the line was so long!  -  we finally headed out. Funny, I didn't notice all the traffic on the water until we were out there in the midst of it.

Suddenly, a gut wrenching fear gripped me. In front of us, behind us, on port side, on starboard, there were boats of all sizes. Yachts, ski boats, rubber skiffs, sail boats, Seattle Water Patrol, even a tug boat! Every time a horn blared I thought it was directed at us, in our double kayak, which felt like a tiny leaf weaving between behemoth vessels that don't care about it. I thought about the fisherman in his canoe, off the coast of Bohol, minding his own hooks when the Star Craft ferry ran it over! (This happened the last time I was there, in September of 2012.) And the second predominant thought going through my panicked mind as we paddled steadily through the Montlake Cut was if we get tipped over and/or if my iPhone falls into the water, I'm diving for it!

We made it to the relative calm of the arboretum. "Relative" because of the dozens of other paddle boaters in there with us, and the countless college co-eds, acting like they're all grown up with their cans of Pabst Blue Ribbon beer, jumping into the cool, marshy, turtle infested lagoon of the arboretum. Other than that, the water in there was like glass.

After our fair share of exploring every inlet we came across, and getting tangled up with a pair of kayakers in a dead end amidst a grove cattail grass, we headed back to the dock. We braved the throng of motorized boats again, this time though, more confident, even passing a pair of single kayakers.

Come to find out, this weekend was the opening of boating season. No wonder every boat and their mini replicas were out there!

"Next time," Cousin Ain said, "let's explore Lake Union."

Next time, we won't run into a regatta.

.

 

Happy Kids

Mayet is blessed with the most wonderful children anyone can ever ask for. They are such happy kids, glad to hang out with her anywhere, easy to appease when they need comforting, and content with each others' company.

One of my favorite sights of spring is the cherry blossoms. It assures me that winter is over, and that beautiful growth of the coming warmer seasons is upon us.

What do cherry blossoms and the kids have anything to do with each other, you ask? A cherry orchard  -  or is it called a grove?  -  makes a wonderful backdrop for a photo shoot with the kids, and stirs their imagination!

 

 

Of course, spring in the Pacific Northwest isn't exactly warm, especially in the shade. And Jaida let us know this by crying in her itsy-bitsy voice "hand cold!"

So Mayet laid out a blanket on a sunny spot, and gave the kids their afternoon snacks. And that's where they laid, munching on cheese sticks, carrots and ranch dip, and cereal bars while Mayet continued with the our photo shoot.

Spring blossoms have a special meaning for Mayet. You can see how much she cherishes it here. And here's a little something about Mayet... as a kid, she was notorious for climbing anything vertical, even walls! Her mother, my cousin, says that she (Mayet) got the ability from her (Mayet's mom) eating so much octopus when she (Mayet's mom) was pregnant with her (Mayet). Was that clear enough? Hah!

So of course, it should be expected that Mayet would not pass up climbing her favorite ink's sake. She's so talented, she did it in heels!

Afterwards, we stopped by the hospital to see Uncle 5-Star. Shea didn't want anything to do with anything attached to the IV post. Jaida, was curious and brave enough to try on the pulse-ox monitor.

And to end the day, we treated our cherry blossom outing and hospital visitation with Red Robin, where the kids had their fill of steak fries and chocolate milk.

No wonder these kids are so happy. Every day ends on a sweet note.

.