Staycation - Boating

We used Forest Park several times during our staycation. Why not? There are many, many things I love doing in the park, but the more I think about it, my favorite may very well be hanging out at the Boathouse and then doing paddle boats.

One of the staycation days we had was marvelously overcast. Just a nice little breeze.

We started by waiting for our table. In preparation for our time at the Boathouse, I've been keeping all the heals and crusts of our bread. Sophia loves to feed the ducks. I love to watch them. She used a few pieces here, but saved most for our boat ride.

Hard to say what's so funny. She's eight, so I'm guessing it was not table talk.

She's in another phase of looking just like her daddy, isn't she?

The resemblance is uncanny. And goofy.

Here's why she likes to save bread for the ride. I think she feels like the Pied Piper or some sort of duck whisperer. Regardless, she's always sad when the bread runs out and they glide away.

Forest Park has a surprising amount of wildlife. They're not usually out and about during the day, though, so we were surprised to see this little guy digging around for crawfish.

My favorite spot. Or top five.

Sophia took the camera for a while. I'm lucky she didn't drop it in, but she was pleased with the hundreds of pictures she took. Here's one.

Paddleboating is hard work. My butt hurts just thinking about it. It's worth it, though. It was a lovely day to make memories.

Being Flexible

We stayed for vacation this year. I won't lie. It's not as fun as going. It was still pretty great. Lucky for us, we have a good time no matter where we are.

One of our big plans involved camping. Erick and I used to camp before Sophia, but she has not spent one night in a tent in her whole life. I don't know whether I should be proud or embarrassed of that fact. Neither, really. It just hasn't happened. Anyway, this was the time we were going to change all of that. The weather early last week was cool and overcast - perfect for camping. Sadly, we weren't going to camp until Wednesday or Thursday, when the heaven decided to empty all that moisture. We decided to forgo the pleasure of leaky and gross. We did, however, get to enjoy the best part of camping. We got a very hot fire going in our fire pit, so even the rain couldn't put it out. The rain was on and off. We were damp, but the trees kept us from being soaked.

 

 And we cooked hot dogs and s'mores and huddled around the fire and pretended we were in the northwest. Sophia loves to climb our redbud. She spent a lot of time in the tree and some time painting in the basement.

The three of us didn't mind the rain so much, but Leo is not okay with it. He hates being wet and will often try to stop and do his business under the overhang on the porch to avoid getting wet. Sophia kept calling him a city dog, but he didn't seem to take offense.

All in all, it was a fun time and a good memory to be made on our staycation. Probably not as good a story as camping in the rain, but there are limits to what I'll do for a good story.

Sundries

Summer has been full so far. Sophia and I have spent a lot of time at the pool, particularly given the persistent rain we've gotten in Missouri.

We've been watching a lot of soccer. Most of it on TV, but some in person as displayed here by our soccer fan.

Like I said, lots of rain. Some Creaches are more excited about this than others. Leo would be the less excited one in this picture...

We've had visits with family. I didn't take any pictures when my dad, Erick, Sophia and I were soaked on the bumper boats in Branson. I also didn't take a picture of Sophia and the St. Louis cousins playing video games. Some family moments slip by without being recorded forever. I did, however, capture a nice picture with these boys.

We've also had lots of time with friends over the summer. It's fun to sneak in some unexpected friend time at the pool. That does occasionally happen. That makes for a very happy summer.