Kidspeak from Rudy

We are still hanging on to the last few words from little Rudy.  I know they have to disappear soon, but I get pretty upset when I hear someone correct them.  I'm not quite ready to let go:

Orport (airport)

O-gurt (yogurt)

Shouldn't've - when he says this, he really means 'should have', as in:  "Mom, you shouldn't've made more cookie because they're gone already!"  This is the one most likely to cause confusion for those who don't know him!

Canoeing

Almost exactly two years ago, we took Brady canoeing while Rudy was at Camp OmaPapa.  We wanted to do the same thing with Rudy this year, but the camp week schedules didn't allow for it.  Classifying it as important family time, we found it easy enough to rationalize pulling him out of school for the day for his canoe adventure!  I had purchased a groupon over the summer that included the canoe rental, as well as a shuttle upriver.  Definitely worth it to not have to drive two cars (and, of course, buy a canoe!).

Waiting on shore to get started:

In the boat and on the river!  As soon as he sat down and we shoved off, Rudy started insisting that he wanted to go back.  At first, he didn't like the wobbly feeling of the boat in the water.  The company had given us a beach chair for him to sit in, so we folded that and let him get used to the boat by just kneeling in the middle.  It didn't take long before he was comfortable, declaring about 10 minutes after he wanted to head back to shore that he loved canoeing!

Taking a break on an island.  We discovered some (abandoned?) dragonfly wings along the shore here.  We also saved a praying mantis that was about to be devoured by a wasp/hornet/bee creature.

 Rudy studying his river map:

 

We didn't see any bears (darn!), but we did see:  osprey, blue heron, turtle, hawk, catfish, bass, and what I thought was a longnose gar (but may actually have been a muskie).

or

Of course, the perfect way to end a day on the river is with a little ice cream!