I'm beginning to go through photos from our latest trip (those of you who do this immediately upon your arrival at home--or better yet, while still on vacation--can feel quite superior to me at this point) and don't want to miss the chance to tell you about an exciting event that occurred the day before we left.
Bryan had decided to take our gear and the new dinghy to LiLo and then drive back to meet us at my parent's house. The plan was to celebrate July 4 with them and then take the train back to Olympia so we didn't end up with a stray car there at the end of the trip when we brought LiLo to the Columbia. But before we took the dinghy up, we had to launch and christen her!
The girls always wear their lifejackets on the docks so we had brought theirs home, but Bryan and I had left ours on the boat. As we were trying to figure out who might have some we could borrow, we had to laugh at ourselves. "Let's see...who would be the most likely people we know to have lifejackets?" "Um, that would be...us." But N&A came to our rescue and we picked up their pfds and drove out to Hagg Lake.
We put the dinghy together by the truck and then carried her about 50 yards down to the water. This would have been an impossible distance to carry our old dinghy; already we were in love with the new one! We posed for the obligatory pictures and slid her down the bank into the water.
Everybody got a turn to row around a bit...
...and then we made up our own christening ceremony. She is now officially Split Pea!
We got a few funny looks when Bryan took her apart in the water to see how well that worked (very, as it turned out.) Don't forget to tie off both halves before trying this trick!
More to come from the trip...at some point.
Dear Bethany,
ReplyDeleteFirst let me start by apologizing for going off-topic on your blog.
But I wanted to compliment you and praise you. I was just reading a comment of yours on the Babycenter blog about allowing your daughters to see you unclothed at times. You have the perfect attitude!
I have been reading comments from many child-psychologists that have stated that it's important for young girls to see "real women's" nude bodies from time to time, and that mothers should never act ashamed or embarrassed about their nude bodies in front of their daughters so as not to send the young girls the wrong message and make them feel that their body is shameful and that it's something to hide even from other females.
I have decided to take the advice of one of the child-psychologists that recommended that mothers take their young daughters into female locker rooms so the girls can see a wide range of different female body types in the nude.
I take my two daughters swimming once a week at a near-by YWCA. I used to shower after our swims with my swimsuit on since the showers are communal group showers.
Now, however, I make a point to shower in the nude so that my daughters can see that I'm not ashamed of other women seeing me undressed. After the first couple of times my daughters started to grow more comfortable with undressing and dressing in front of their lockers instead of in a toilet stall like they used to. And after a while they too started showering in the nude instead of wearing their swimsuites.
I feel encouraged that perhaps when it comes time to shower and change in their P.E. classes when they enter middle and high school that they won't feel some of the shame and embarrassment that some of the other girls may experience.
So I want to applaud your healthy attitude about being nude around your daughters and helping them to have healthy attitudes themselves about their bodies!
Keep up the good work!
Take care
Melissa
Nice boat - you did a good job!
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