"Be soft. Do not let the world make you hard. Do not let the pain make you hate. Do not let the bitterness steal your sweetness. Take pride that even though the rest of the world may disagree, you still believe it to be a beautiful place."
-- Unknown
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Monday, June 15, 2009

Back from the river

As promised, I'm back.... with pictures! I decided NOT to charge my camera, but to buy a water proof disposable camera. With my obscene clumsiness, I can't be too careful. Sure enough, five minutes down the river and I dropped the camera in the water. Anyway, I took the thing to Wal-Mart today and they burned the pictures onto a disk for me. Yay!

We left out around 10 Sunday morning.


Don't let that look fool, ya. He was excited, too. He just needed some help smiling. I had to show him how to do it:


Anyway, we got to Coldwater around 11:30 and got signed in for the noon river trip. We got our tubes ready and piled into the van to head up stream. Of course, as soon as we got in the water, I was ready with the camera.




I found out pretty quick that there's way more to tubing than I thought. I was thinking we'd just float along, take a little nap here and there. Ha! Who knew you actually had to steer? Apparently Kevin, who kept reminding me around every bend to paddle harder. I'm sure he wouldn't have been nearly as worried about me paddling if our tubes weren't tied together, though.

See... here he is trying to get the knots out of the rope at the end of the day. At first, he just tied the cooler tube to his and let me float along on my own. But after we got separated around the first bend, I made him hook me to the group!
The trip only took about three hours, which was shorter than I expected. Of course, we didn't stop at any of the sandbars along the way. Overall, we had a fantastic time. The weather was beautiful, the water was cold, and I couldn't have asked for better company. I can't wait to go again!
In other news, I brought a kitty home today. Seven kittens were found behind the building at work - no mama in sight. We're trying to find homes for them, but you should know that I had to save at least one. I took him to the vet this afternoon and they said he was about five weeks old. He's orange and fluffy and absolutely precious. I had the vet give him his first set of shots, then headed to the store to buy some kitty food and other essentials. I've never had a cat, so this should be interesting. Pray for me.
Toby adores him, which is one less thing to worry about. He's been covering him in dog kisses all afternoon. I'm trying to keep them separated when I'm not giving them my undivided attention - at least for now. Toby doesn't realize how rough he plays, and I'd hate for him to accidentally hurt the poor little guy. I haven't quite decided on a name yet. He reminds me of Oliver from that Disney movie. Maybe I could call him Ollie for short? I don't know... I'm finicky about names. He'll go through 12 before the end of the day.
I'm charging my camera now, so I'll be back tomorrow with pictures!

16 comments:

Unknown said...

Looks like a fun time...I used to do lots of tubing too and it is definitely work, but lots of fun!

I can't wait to see more pictures, and definitely pics of the new kitty! How precious...I'm sure you will all get along just fine. I like the name 'Ollie'!

Jenners said...

OK...I don't think I'd seen any photos of your man but WOWEE...he is good looking! I'd hang on to him! You look pretty cute yourself too!

And the tubing looks like a blast. I did that once in high school and I too lost stuff in the water -- sunglasses, camera. Basically anything loose!

And a kitty!!! I love that Toby loves him. And I love the name Oliver ... or Ollie. Photos please!

bethany@sippinsweetteablog said...

Ollie is so cute -- the name AND the kitten.

Dani said...

Souns like a blast! And the cat...how fun! Hope you find a good name that fits!

p-huong said...

Thanks to this post, I am definitely putting down tubing as one of the things I have to do.

Dude, when you mentioned Oliver from Disney, so many childhood memories came flashing back to me. Ollie is an adorable name.

Jessica said...

so why have you been hiding the goods from us all Heather?? You're boyfriend? Smokin :)
Now that we got that out of the way... glad you took a disposible camera! Bet you're pretty glad too. Looks like you had a blast. I'm right there with you.. i would expect to do NO work while tubing. I guess it does make sence to have to stear though right??

H.K. said...

Your boyfriend is CUTE! Even with the sunglasses you can tell he's goodlooking, you guys make a very cute couple!

septembermom said...

Looks like so much fun! Great photos:) So nice to get a new kitty! The name Ollie is cute!

Sherri Murphy said...

The boyfriend is adorable!
Great pictures!

Tubing is huge here! I'll have to try it again! It's been a long time.

Love your kitty's name.

~Thought's By Dena~/ JDs Gift Shack said...

looks like ya had a good time...and your bf is a cutie patutie..hehe and aww a kitty.....how sweet of you to save one!!!

Savannah Reed said...

Looks like you two had a great time on the river!! I need to get David to take me one day.

Diane said...

OK, Kevin is CU-UTE! Does he have a much older brother? A single dad? ;)

Dan Felstead said...

Heather looks like a great day on the river! I used to go tubing when my son was younger...great times...it was always a shock getting into the water for the first time and getting used to the C O L D!

Dan

Kim said...

Yay pictures of Kevin. Name to a face. Very cute!! Sounds like a lot of fun. I think I would like it but would probably be a little chicken at first - no control, just wandering aimlessly over water.

Lacey said...

It looks like you had so much fun! And HOORAY for saving a kitty cat!

Little Ms Blogger said...

Sounds like you had a great trip. Now, I want to go tubing....

You'll love the kitty and it sounds like Toby thinks its the kitty's mommy with all the licking.

Love the name Ollie, but make sure you love it. I had my kitty for 18 years and although I loved her name, Static (hair stuck up like static cling), it was very awkward yelling Static outside when she'd escape.