Excuses, Penny's Issues, and Kiddie Rides!

  Well, it's been awhile since I've been able to go kayaking, mostly because I spent some time in NC visiting this little person and her mom:

Miss S!

  So cute, huh?
  But, the famine was broken last Saturday when a bunch of us went "Up River" to pick some blueberries and eat some lunch.  I took the opportunity to hook the Rhythm up and head to Lake Stan.  

The blueberries I picked before kayaking!

   This was the first time that my dog, Penny, came with me on a kayaking trip.  She was highly unimpressed.  She basically stood on the bank and cried when I tried to paddle out into the middle of the pond, and tried to follow me.  Then, I suppose out of shear desperation, she ate some grass.  It was a sad, ugly scene.  

Penny, looking really disconcerted.

     Penny finally got distracted enough to calm down when my Aunt R, Uncle L, and little cousins L and M (5and 3) came down for a visit.  After watching for a little bit, L decided that he wanted a ride, so he strapped on the mini life jacket that I brought and rode shotgun!  Well, as shotgun as you can get in a kayak.  Penny chased us a little bit, which gave L a tickle, then it was time to head to shore and pick up M.  When she got in, I asked her, "Did you see the doggie chase me and L?"  She replied, "No, I was peeing."  
  Which was good that she got it over with, because I think that she enjoyed her ride a lot more.   

This was L's turn....

And this was M's!