We've been waiting for months- almost a year!- to get out on Maffitt Lake. We've had beautiful weather lately, and finally found an afternoon that worked to load up our two Christmas tandem kayaks and head over to check out the beautiful water that we cross over every time we leave our house.
But first, skipping rocks.
All the girls in one kayak, including Laney. We have taken her kayaking before and I guess time has erased the memory of how worried she gets about whoever is in the boat that she's not in. 
And all the boys were in the other kayak.
Look at that beautiful water! Maffitt Lake is 200 acres of clear water that is full of fish and is over 70 feet deep at the deepest point. But we stayed close to the edge because at least one passenger in each boat were just a little nervous about being out on the water.
And that is where we will begin this tale.
But first let's meet the characters-
Head Captain and Main Muscle Daddy-
In charge of loading, securing, and unloading both boats in and out of his SUV. Also ultimately responsible for the safety and wellbeing of the entire crew. Prefers to consider what's the worst that could happen, not easily excitable, not happy that the pup was invited to this excursion.
Master Captain, Family Cheerleader, and Instigator of Most Wild Ideas Mommy-
Spent the 45 minutes before departure shouting, proclaiming and whispering, "This is SO exciting!" to anyone who crossed her path. Prefers to consider all of the awesome things that could happen with slightly less regard for general safety or wellbeing of crew members. Wants to see happy faces, people. Invited the pup along.
The strong and silent worrier, very nervous on the water but isn't about to vocalize it for fear of being called a whiner or otherwise chastised by the boss. Excellent rower, excellent smile.
First Rowing Mate Adam-
Strong and capable rower, needs to know the facts about all of the 'what-ifs'. What if we fall in? What if the pup falls in? What if we start to sink? What if a tornado comes while we're on the water? What if a derecho comes while we're on the water? Reliable, good helper, eventually stopped asking all the questions.
Reluctant Kayak Captive #1 Emma- Generally adventurous and brave but not interested in today's outing at all. Put in the boat against her will. Asked to hold the pup against her will. Had to sit still against her will. Got wet against her will. Asked quite forcibly to stop whining... stopped whining against her will.
A generally happy little clam situated at the bow of the boys kayak. Was exceptionally nervous about the departure but calmed down once the boys settled into at a nice slow and steady pace. Understands the importance of sitting still.
The Pup- Head Captain's arch nemesis (in this situation) and anxious little scrabbler. Whines for whoever is in the boat she's not in, does not understand the importance of sitting still. Can swim, but probably not for long.
So there we all were, excited to get out onto the water and check out the lake! The girls went out first, paddling around slowly to make sure the kayak floats and to wait for the boys. The boys pushed off next, and quickly took off around the corner. There was a couple with a dog around the corner, so the girls had to row away from the edge of the lake to avoid any unfortunate dog interaction that might result in Laney jumping off the boat.
The wind picked up and we paddled, and paddled, and paddled and it just didn't seem like we were getting very far. Captive #1 increased the vocal complaints while the First Rowing Officer tried to hold it together while also getting frustrated with the wind. We tried singing Row, Row, Row Your Boat in a round, but getting increasingly annoyed with the great distance between the two kayaks- we were supposed to be doing this together!-, the scrabbling pup and the unhappy crew, eventually the Master Captain threatened to toss both crew members overboard and started shouting across the lake to the boys boat to WAIT UP!!!
Thankfully they got eventually the message and waited for us.
Once we met back up we looked for somewhere that we could park the boats and stretch and swap tales and switch up the seating arrangements. We found a tiny sliver of mud to hop out on, and our previous smiles turned more into this-
Actually I'm laughing here- Laney was sniffing like crazy and jumped away from the bushes, which scared me and I jumped into Daddy's arms! It was a bit of an overreaction but it was pretty darn funny too!
We decided the boys would go with me and the girls would go with Daddy.
We loaded up first and pushed back to make room for them. The sun was shining directly at us as we pushed away but it was just a few minutes before we saw a tip and and a splash and Jason, Leah, Emma, and Laney were all in the water! They had loaded up in the kayak just fine but both pushed off on the same side of the boat at the same time, effectively rolling the kayak right into the water!
Emma was crying, Laney was shivering, Leah's flip flop was stuck in the muddy depths of the shore, and I'm pretty sure there was steam coming from the soggy Captain's ears. Still, what could we do but load back up and head toward home? Laney came over to our boat and I wrapped her up in my jacket.
It was relatively quiet in our boat on the way back. The boys chatted about whatever funny LEGO or pug story came to mind. In the girls boat they shared the tale of tipping over and the importance of rowing together and sitting still. As we all rowed both boats made distinct Z-patterns across the lake, which is less than ideal and a waste of effort. If we learned anything from this maiden voyage it's that we need more practice kayaking.
It was an adventure all right, and I have a feeling that the next time we take the kayaks out some of us will opt to stay at home.
But all's well that ends well, right?
