We all had a great day on the beautiful Neches River a few weeks ago when I got to go home for a few days. It was a day filled with "adventure" to say the least.
This time around, Kate got up first try! No question she knows how to ski now. She fell in a turn and we took her back to my mom on the little beach and she got up again with no problems. She also put on quite a show for our new friends on shore.
Growing up, we always went to the river on the weekends, mostly because Dad worked on weekdays. This time we got to go on a Friday because now 20 years later he works four days a week instead of five. We were the only boat out there so that was awesome. Perfect water! While we were launching the boat, we saw a large group of people over at the picnic area. Some of them walked over and I realized it was a group of mentally handicapped adults. A woman, presumably a volunteer, or one of the people in charged, asked me what we were about to do and asked if I minded if we went back and forth in front of the park a few times so the group could watch. I said no problem! Then a few of the others started to introduce themselves and we talked about skiing for a few minutes while Dad finished getting the boat ready. They were so excited about watching us ski - I was very nervous! It had been two years...that is the longest I have gone since I started skiing when I was 6 or 7. Molly and I both skied for the group making sure we waved when we went by and we had a cheering section on the river bank! That definitely doesn't happen often. Molly was nervous and said she could not do much so did not want to ski for them. We promised her they would be impressed and they certainly were.
Next up was Kate. She had gotten up on skis once before a few weeks earlier when my sister was in town with all three girls. I got a phone call around noon on a Friday from my mom's cell phone and I knew immediately what it was. I was on my lunch break in Houston...obviously not with them on the river. I answered and Kate said "Guess what?! I got up on skis!" I congratulated her and as soon as we got off the phone I just sat at the intersection of Kirby and Westheimer bawling (that intersection is so torn up right now I had plenty of time to mourn). Anyway, the fact that I got to come play on a Friday a few weeks later made up for the fact that I was not there the first time she got up, on the pink skis I made for her.
This time around, Kate got up first try! No question she knows how to ski now. She fell in a turn and we took her back to my mom on the little beach and she got up again with no problems. She also put on quite a show for our new friends on shore. After out first round of skiing, it was time for a break...or fun time for Dad. He took us into the boonies looking for alligators. We were not exactly amused! I would have sworn to you I had never been to where we were heading, but at one point he said "well, we aren't quite to where Kathleen caught her first fish yet." So...I guess I had been there before!
After an unsuccessful alligator hunt, we headed back to the main part of the river to go down to the port to poke around and look at the big ships. Just as we came out I saw a red waverunner out of the corner of my eye near shore. Mom kind of caught it too and finally we realized they were calling for help. Dad turned around and drove over to where they were...about 2 miles from the launch. We could see 2 adult men but as we got closer I realized they had a small child with them too. When we got to them, their waverunner was sinking and one of the guys was going to try to walk back to get help, but that would have been nearly impossible with the brush and woods and just plain scary stuff! I took the two year old boy into the boat as soon as we got close enough - he was petrified and most likely very mad at his dad as well! Kate and Molly learned a good lesson on this day, that you always help a boater in need. This lesson might have been magnified by the fact that these people were not ones we would have necessarily approached on land. The gold-lettered teeth on one of the guys did certainly keep Kate and Molly quietly occupied as they tried to figure out what his teeth spelled!! I was not as thrilled about the fact that Mr. Gold Teeth also had a hard time keeping his boxers and jeans up and I do not know how many times we were mooned through the process. Anyway, after a few failed attempts at trying to figure out how we were going to tow a sinking waverunner back to the dock, we got it all figured out. We bid our new friends farewell on the dock after they said "Thank Gawd y'all were here" about a million times!
(Kate needed a rootbeer and oreo break after all of her skiing)
After an unsuccessful alligator hunt, we headed back to the main part of the river to go down to the port to poke around and look at the big ships. Just as we came out I saw a red waverunner out of the corner of my eye near shore. Mom kind of caught it too and finally we realized they were calling for help. Dad turned around and drove over to where they were...about 2 miles from the launch. We could see 2 adult men but as we got closer I realized they had a small child with them too. When we got to them, their waverunner was sinking and one of the guys was going to try to walk back to get help, but that would have been nearly impossible with the brush and woods and just plain scary stuff! I took the two year old boy into the boat as soon as we got close enough - he was petrified and most likely very mad at his dad as well! Kate and Molly learned a good lesson on this day, that you always help a boater in need. This lesson might have been magnified by the fact that these people were not ones we would have necessarily approached on land. The gold-lettered teeth on one of the guys did certainly keep Kate and Molly quietly occupied as they tried to figure out what his teeth spelled!! I was not as thrilled about the fact that Mr. Gold Teeth also had a hard time keeping his boxers and jeans up and I do not know how many times we were mooned through the process. Anyway, after a few failed attempts at trying to figure out how we were going to tow a sinking waverunner back to the dock, we got it all figured out. We bid our new friends farewell on the dock after they said "Thank Gawd y'all were here" about a million times!
The rest of the adventure was not nearly as eventful after that, but that was fine. Molly and I skied together but my rope was a bit shorter so I just sprayed her in the face the whole time. She did not so much appreciate that! She is an old pro at two skis now. She will be slaloming next summer, no doubt.
...and yes, that is the lovely Interstate 10 in the background....
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