After a whirlwind week/weekend of (out of town) car trouble and tons of fun, we threw the boat in on Sunday and headed out to Sandy Point. It was, after all, Reeves and Bryant's birthday weekend, so we just had to do what they wanted. (One day is not nearly enough time to celebrate.) The ride from Wappoo was brutal. We were getting pounded by an outgoing tide with an incoming wind. The bow of that little Montauk was getting so beaten that by the end, we were all huddled in the stern. The good news though is that, since we couldn't go faster than a snail's pace, we weren't tempted to push the throttle and consequently, the engine didn't overheat. (See, there's a silver lining in every situation. It's always a small victory when a twenty year old motor successfully gets you anywhere.)
We eventually made it to Sandy Point and quickly settled in. 
Of course we just had to bring our aunt/nanny with us and Henry. Lol is never one to turn down a day in the boat and we are always happy to have her with us. (She makes the best sandwiches!)
It was a perfect day for floating and playing. We ran into Joe and Micky B. on the backside in the little creek, and all the boys instantly made fast friends. This was great for us because it made our whole level of parental involvement go down significantly! (Of course, my camera was all the way back on the boat, and that was just too far to go to take any pictures of all the romping around in the mud!)
Did you know that Bennett could walk on water?
Finally, after a cut on Reeves' hand (can you see the enormous gash that nearly severed his hand completely from his body? Hyperbole? Maybe.) and a tide that had come in a good bit, we headed home. But not, in true Bryant form, until after we had passed right by our landing, out into the harbor, under the bridge, and then back.
He never wants to see a fun day end. We rolled into the driveway with two unexpectedly awake boys, but it wasn't long after a showers and supper that their heads were weighing down their pillows. It truly was a wonderful family day that I hope to repeat many times this summer.
We left the club dock and headed to Privateer with hardly a soul in sight. All this prego wanted to do was sit in the water, which I did, once I figured out how to extract myself from the boat. Not exactly the picture of grace, more like something anyone who saw it would rather forget! Regardless, I finally made it into the water. What sweet relief it was to have something besides my spine and ligaments supporting this belly. I could have stayed there for days. 
The boys loved playing on the beach, and, as there was no one else there, we could be a bit more relaxed in our tending of them. It was nice not to have to keep them out of other people's picnics. We brought the tube in hopes that Davis would be brave enough to try it. Was there every really any question? Of course he wanted to do it. And he loved it! Reeves and I spotted from the stern while Bryant captained. Jodie rode with Davis and got the best upper body workout to date. 
As it turned out, B pulled them a little fast, but it was necessary to get them over the plane, and once you get to that speed, who ever really wants to slow down. Besides, in a 20 year old boat with a 20 year old motor, it's hard to be precise. You pretty much only get to choose between Reverse, Stop, Forward - fast or slow. 
Apparently, D kept saying, "Ride 'em, Cowboy!" and "This is hilarious!" Reeves just kept waving at them and giving them the thumbs up and laughing. 
I had thought he might want to do it, but he didn't. Although he loved playing in the tube with D at the beach. He was even jumping off like D was, but of course, my camera battery had died by then.
We stayed out much longer than we had anticipated. What a treasure Van is. He had dinner cooked and ready for us when we returned. The boys played till they crashed, and we all sat on the porch, chatting, eating boiled peanuts (J&V make the best), and glistening with sweat. It was that Tennessee Williams, pre-air-conditioning kind of hot - where you sit around and can see how hot everyone is, feel the sweat dripping down you, not a breeze in the air save for the occasional burst from a fan. It was the perfect cap to a super evening.
We headed to Sandy Point - first time we'd been there. It's really a neat beach, right at the end of Kiawah. Putting much more faith in our depth finder that I, B pointed out that the drop off off the beach was like 53 feet. I have trouble believing that. 
Luckily, the tide was coming in, and the dangerously deep drop off kept getting farther and farther away from our play area, so we were all happy and relieved. Haha! It amazes me that these children don't seem to mind having their life jackets on. I remember hating it and wanting nothing more than to free myself of its hot, itchy confines. But, as Nancy and Aileen pointed out, we were also allowed to crawl freely through the car while it was in motion and ride in strollers without straps. These children are used to being strapped in, and at least they could move around with the life jackets. These are also the children who already know to look on the back of the camera the instant a picture is taken rather than waiting a couple of weeks to get the prints back, so I shouldn't be surprised. We all tried for some family portraits, but between the life jackets riding up, the sun, and the numerous distractions, it wasn't an easy task. It's a good thing the subjects are all so cute!
Not sure why, but the term, herding cats kept coming to mind - at least for those with more than one to wrangle. I could pretty much get Duece to do what I wanted.
We stopped briefly to eat lunch, and I put this in only to mention (brag) that I was so proud of Reeves. He actually ate his bologna sandwich like a sandwich, rather than as two independent peices of bread and two pieces of bologna. For some reason, this really made me realize just how fast he's growing up. Do I really need to chop up his food anymore if he can handle a sandwich like this? I think he was even proud of himself as he was more than happy to show it to Daddy when he took this picture.
Big DuBose entertained the now fed and life-jacketless children with super tall drip castles. They loved it. I think Eliza here is reminding the boys that she is in charge of this beach, thank you very much.
I love this picture only because Mills stood like this, with two fistfuls of mud high above his head, waiting for me to take the shot, the action shot. He would not drop them until he saw the flash. It was too funny. Nancy, you've trained him well! He poses like a pro!
Reeves fell sound asleep only minutes into the ride back, so we cruised the Abbapoola. It was nice and relaxing, and the perfect cap to a wonderful Boat Day!! Thanks for putting this together. We can't wait to do it again!
We headed down towards Goshen, waved at Grandmama in the yard, then found this neat little beach right on the Intercoastal. It was perfect. There was just enough sand for Reeves to have room to dig, and he found the surrounding marsh would tickle his legs when he walked through it.
Of course, there was a huge Corp of Engineers pipe left over from the dredging that took place all those years ago, but we luckily avoided it as we beached the boat. We didn't even know it was there until we got out of the boat. Reeves, of course, figured it must have been some toy the waterway gods had left for him because he headed straight for it, barnacles, slippery sides, sharp edges, and all. Why play with anything other than the most dangerous thing in our vicinity?
It took Reeves a minute or two to remember the feel of wet sand, but it wasn't long before he was running in and out of the water. I don't know how he did it because I have way more meat on my bones than he does, and that water was freezing!
I kept waiting for his lips to turn blue, but they never did. We stayed there as long as we could but were eventually run out of Dodge by more gnats than we have ever seen. It was like the movie, The Birds, but with gnats. They were in our noses, our mouths. It was horrible, and so fast! One moment, everything was fine, the next, we were throwing Reeves in the boat and pulling out as fast as we could. I couldn't even take the time to put Reeves' lifejacket on, we just had to get some air moving around us.
Then it was time for some snacks. Reeves really enjoys walking around in the boat. This doesn't work so well when we're going fast. Luckily, he does like to go fast and understands that he has to be in my lap when that is happening, so this is not such an issue. We tried to head to town to pick up Gammy and Pops, but the tide and wind had turned against each other, and we were getting beaten up pretty badly, so we had to abort the mission. Well, that and they couldn't really meet us right then anyway, but it was worth a shot. We turned around and headed back to the landing with one super tired boy curled up on his momma's lap. 
What a great day. We all slept long and hard that night. There's not a better tired than a salty, sunny, windy, watery tired. We're so lucky to live where we do.
Sleepy Fordham
