Kayaking in SE Missouri

We have lots and lots of pictures from our fun weekend on the river.  Thanks to Kimi for taking them and sharing!  Shortly after my previous post, we had Trent and Kimi and their family from Iowa visit us for the weekend and then we joined them on their kayaking excursion for one day on the Current River in Eminence, MO.  Nick and Owen had gone with them two years ago when they were down, but Gracie and I were up in Iowa at the time.  This year we all got to go!  I have lots of pictures from both Columbia and Eminence!

Their family arrived on a Friday evening and we had dinner and stayed up late playing cards and being entertained by all the kids.  The next day we visited Columbia to go to the cave at Rock Bridge State Park and show them Mizzou Sports Park.

Family pic at Rock Bridge State Park

In the Cave

Gracie and Claire

Owen and Garin

Trent and Nick

All of the kids under the Natural Bridge.

The water is still really low, so there wasn't much of a waterfall and the creek that flows through this area was pretty dry.  

Mizzou Sports Park

We took them to many of the facilities at Mizzou.  They were especially interested in the new softball stadium, wrestling room, and the gymnastics facility, which is always fun!

Gracie on one of the tramps

More of Gracie

I think she was tired.

Kayaking on the River

After Saturday's fun activities, we left early Sunday morning for Eminence, MO.  We stayed in a cabin with Trent and Kimi.  It was air conditioned, which I wasn't expecting at all, so that was a bonus.  That afternoon was spent at Rocky Falls, which was little area in the middle of nowhere with a water hole at the bottom of a waterfall.

Driving to Rocky Falls

Gracie sliding down the rocks/waterfall

It looked a little painful to me.  I did not partake.

Nick did though.

Owen, Claire, and Garin waving to the camera!

Kids being launched by older kids.

Gracie flying through the air

Owen's turn

Owen and Garin trying to meet in the air.  I'm glad there wasn't a major collision.

The following pictures were taken close to our cabins.  There were rocks that the kids could jump off of.  They did this immediately after returning from Rocky Falls.

Gracie jumping

Owen's turn

Gracie again

and Owen again.

Owen found a stick bug that he thought was pretty awesome.

More swimming in the river

And more jumping off of cliffs

Nick doing a back flip

Another picture of Gracie falling to the water

Finally going kayaking!

Monday morning we got up early for waffles and then got on the road to our launch spot.  The water was so blue/green and clear.  It was amazing.  It was also pretty cold, but that didn't seem to bother any of the kids.  We put the kayaks in the water between 9:30 and 10am and pulled out around 4:30.  It was a great day of being on the water.

River pirates!

Owen was ready to go.

Getting the kayaks ready... there were 18 of us!

Gracie is ready to go!

Finally on the water.

Garin and Owen

So...one of the inflatable kayaks we brought didn't work out so well.  Nick and Trent rode together for awhile.  Very cute.

Throughout the 6+ hours we were on the water, we had fairly smooth rowing.  We stopped for lunch at some point, stopped for a water gun fight later on, and also stopped to explore a cave.  The water in there was REALLY cold!  We pulled out and waited for a few people to go retrieve the trucks and trailers for the kayaks and then loaded up.  At our final stop Owen was so disappointed to learn that the ride was done.  He thought we were just stopping for a snack.  He loves doing this!  Our family only stayed for one day, but the rest of them did the same thing the following day on a different part of the river.  I think we went a total of about 9 miles on the water.  It only rained on us for about 20 minutes or so, and was otherwise sunny and beautiful.  

Swimming lessons!

Gracie and Owen have done private lessons this year.  They have loved it and I think they have gotten a lot better.  Hopefully it will continue to work out and they will keep improving.  They can both dive and swim 25 yards across the pool without stopping.  They are learning to tread water for longer amounts of time.  Gracie's goal is 3 minutes.  Owen has a goal of 16 minutes.  Not sure if his is very realistic.  Their teacher is on a swim team in Columbia and lifeguards at the pool she taught them at.  She was great!

Diving in.

Tom has found a new favorite spot on our deck.  He likes to be close to the house and watch what we're doing through the sliding glass door.  He has even snuck in a couple times when we weren't paying enough attention.

It's a barn!

Last weekend we finished putting the posts in the ground.  Next we will need to put headers around it and decide what trusses will be used for the roof.  Pretty exciting!