The Bower Family Happenings: Berryessa Weekend

Edward and I spent much of Saturday afternoon cleaning out the boat (we haven't touched it since the May before Eddie was born). Since the weight limit on the boat is only 600 pounds or three adults, we decided to borrow our neighbor's kayaks. That way Jennifer, Edward, Dave, Eddie, and both dogs could spent the day at the lake. The kayaks hadn't been used in years--I don't ever recall them moving from our neighbor's side yard in the four+ years we've lived here. It took a lot of scrubbing and high power water spray, but we got everything nice and clean.

While we were prepping for boating, Dave worked on putting up the wire and scratch coat under the kitchen window. He'll be grouting in some flagstone veneer stones there, to replace the ugly old brick that used to be there before we replaced the window.

We didn't have enough life vests and were short one set of kayak paddles, so we waited until about 10am to leave Davis so we could stop at Big 5 Sporting Goods on the way out of town. Edward also went to the grocery store in the same shopping center to buy some salami for our lunch...he thinks he NEEDS meat at every meal. I think that's weird, but Dave fully agrees. It must be a boy thing...

I love our minivan for outings like this. With the trailer hitch to haul the boats and kayaks, we were able to fit all of us humans and dogs (and our gear) in the van, with plenty of room (and cup holders!) to spare.

Lucky for us, the day wasn't too hot and there were even parking spots left at the free boat launch area. A nice lady helped me load Eddie and the dogs into the boat while everyone else dealt with the car and the kayaks. We were on the water by about noon.

Edward's kayak was too buoyant for him to steer easily and he quickly grew tired and frustrated with it. So he and Jennifer decided to hold on to the sides of the boat instead of paddling all the way across the lake to our picnic spot.

Later that day Dave used Edward's kayak and had no trouble with it since he's heavier (and more or less the same weight as our neighbor who owns that kayak).

Eddie HATES wearing his infant life vest because it makes him hot and he can't really move in it. It zips and buckles in the front and has a head support to force his face above the water surface, God forbid he actually falls into the water. I don't blame him for hating his vest, but I do hope he learns to put up with it better so we can enjoy more boating trips! He only has to gain two more pounds to move into the child vest, which doesn't have the pesky head float part.

Once we got to the picnic spot we unloaded the food and drinks and set up our beach umbrella (which we bought for $10 in Spain on our honeymoon--I'm surprised the cheap thing has lasted this long!). Then we went swimming to cool off a bit. I have a floaty thing for Eddie to sit in, but he HATED it. When I pulled him out of him he handed it to me and said, "Mama's turn." It was sweet but he didn't understand that there was no way it would hold me up. I tried walking into the water with him but he screamed in protest, maybe because the water is colder than the pool he's used to. He also kept pointing to the algae floating near the surface and saying, "Yucky, poopy!" Haha.

For lunch we brought gluten free bread we made in Edward's bread machine plus a bunch of stuff for making sandwiches. Because Jennifer has celiac and therefore can't have gluten, we've been experimenting with bread recipes. Edward is such a good boyfriend that he's willing to give up traditional breads entirely...as long as they can find a delicious/cheap/easy-to-make (or buy) gluten free alternative. While it'll never be the same as real bread, the gluten-free sandwich recipe we have been using is tasty enough that Dave and I happily eat it, too. Eddie, however, prefers to eat sandwiches the way the rest of us only wish we could: by eating only the insides. He simply licked the peanut butter and jelly from his bread and kept asking for "mo-uh" (more). It isn't because he doesn't like the bread, but the PB and J is so much better! But once he discovered the peaches in the cooler, he got very excited and handed one to each adult. Then he brought one to me so I could "open it" for him (I take a bite to expose the flesh beneath the skin). He polished off the whole thing!

We spent the next couple of hours taking turns kayaking, throwing sticks into the water for the dogs, watching the speed boats pulling innertubers and waterskiiers, and pointing out airplanes to Eddie (his newest obsession). Once we were back in the car, everyone fell fast asleep except for me since I was driving. We decided to take a detour to Costco on the way home to buy some salmon for dinner. It was sort of out of the way but Eddie got a longer nap and we got a good deal on the most delicious wild sockeye salmon I've ever had.

That night Edward BBQ'd the salmon, corn, and veggie kebabs.