Homer Trip Part 3 - Kayaks and Old Friends

Sometimes I have such a hard time writing down my thoughts. It's such a struggle to accurately transform my feelings into words. Our Homer trip was so relaxing, so therapeutic, and just so enjoyable. Everyday we were there, the serenity and slowness of it all just soothed my soul. And once again, as I sit down to write this post, I find that words can't begin to do justice to how I felt waking up everyday, looking out over the water softly lapping at the rocky shore and hearing the calls of the wildlife right outside the door. To say that I felt happy is such a pathetic understatement, but it's true. Each day I felt so wholly, solidly happy.

Saturday we kayaked over to the spring for some water, and it was Riggs' first time in a kayak. Kayking is somewhat of a family legacy for Riggs, although he doesn't know it yet. Steve and his brother basically grew up in these kayaks - tagging along with their parents and guests for guided tours. At sixteen, Steve was guiding groups of guests himself - giving them the official tour of the islands, pointing out the various types of wildlife, responsible for their safety as they paddled around the bay. 

little Stevie and his dad Rick

It was beautiful blue skies and sunshine when we went out in the afternoon on the water run. Riggs went in the kayak with Oma and Opa on the way there, and then rode back with me and Steve. He did so well for not being able to move with all the layers and the bulky life-jacket, I think he's going to be a natural:)

You can't even begin to imagine how peaceful it was that afternoon in the back lagoon, literally no sounds except for a bird here and there and the whisper of the paddles in the water. I breathed it in deeply, and then quietly told Steve that I felt like we were the only people in the entire world. I can feel the stillness in my heart when I close my eyes and try hard enough. 

{It's actually one of my favorite things about our new house, the quiet stillness. We live on a dirt road in a quiet area outside of Palmer, and in the summer I can sit on our front porch and just soak up the peace and quiet and the sun. Usually all I can hear are the sounds of dragonflies buzzing by and sometimes the neighbors chickens clucking and pecking around.}

Steve paddled me over to this group of Harlequin so I could get some closer pictures of them, but they startled and flew off just as we were approaching. I did manage to get these beautiful pictures of them taking flight, their movement is so graceful for how quickly they move.

When we got back to the spring in the back lagoon where Steve's dad gets his drinking water, we all got out to stretch our legs and enjoy the sun. I love the back lagoon, there's never any day breeze like there tends to be on the beach in front of the cabin. It was probably about 35 degrees that day, but back in the lagoon it felt like it was at least 50 degrees, so warm!

On the way back to the cabin Riggs got a paddling lesson from daddy and then played around with me in the front for the rest of the trip back. Riggs found some sea lettuce to eat - he loves it, I'm not really a fan. It was such a nice way to spend the afternoon, and I can't wait to go back this summer so he can paddle around some more without quite so many layers.

Steve and his dad came up with the idea to make some sort of a swing in the house for Riggs. First they toyed with the idea of a buoy, then they tried to rig up some old net and ropes. Finally they grabbed an old dipnet and attached some rope and bungee and called it good. I was a bit skeptical that he would actually get any enjoyment from it, but judging by his huge smiles and squeals of delight I think he liked it;) He played in it quite a bit over the weekend, and nearly fell asleep in it on Sunday before naptime.

Monday we went over to Greg and Sandy's, who live next door to Rick. They've lived there forever but recently built a new house, which is just so lovely and filled with beautiful things that they've hand picked and collected over the years. I swear I could have just sat in their warm, sunny living-room listening to everyone talk and catch up for forever, content to just be there soaking up the beauty of the surroundings and the friendships.

It was such a lovely day, and Riggs even took his first steps there in Greg and Sandy's living room. Of course I didn't manage to catch that on camera, even though I tried the rest of the afternoon, watching him like a hawk with my iPhone camera ready. Sandy had given him a big exercise ball to play with, and he was standing up, pushing the ball in front of him. Then it rolled a bit further away then he expected and he just walked on over to it, about four or five steps. We were all so shocked and it excited, I think we scared him with our loud exclamations.  

Now that we're home he hasn't seemed too interested to try taking more steps, but you can bet I've been watching his every move, ready to see it when it eventually does happen again.  

part one of our trip

part two of our trip