Mr Canoe Head!
I had borrowed a canoe from our neighbor, Mike Sullivan, for the Red Cross Relay last weekend. It worked great for the relay, and Mike had mentioned that if I wanted to hang on to it for a couple of weeks, I could. I eagerly took up the offer and thought that getting the kids out would be a great experience for them as Connor nor Chandler had yet been in a canoe. I called up my brother and asked if he was interested in taking his kids (Taylor and Tristan) as well. Before long we had the canoe strapped onto the back of Jeff's old Ford Ranger and we were heading to Reardon's Dam (Whites Dam) approx 10 minutes away. Reardon's is only 5km from where I grew up in Bethel, and as kids, we have been there numerous times to boat and fish. Its a great spot. The kids were both eager and a little timid at first, but after getting them in the canoe and after the fear of sinking and tipping faded they quite enjoyed the paddling and checking out their surroundings. We followed a Canada Goose family around for a while, watched the trout jump and even had a quick stop on a small island. They each took turns learning to paddle and how to get in and out of the canoe. We paddled for a good part of an hour, then took some time looking around the rest of the area on foot. When we were ready to go, we found that my Mom and Dad had arrived for an evening of fly fishing. After scaring off the fish and giving some hugs to Nanny and Poppy, we were off for home. The kids had a great time and the Dads felt good for taking them!"