TIME OUT

I know Dave had seriously been considering and researching purchasing a boat over a year ago; it was on our life white board for years now (those who know us know what this is) and residing in the land of 10,000 lakes, the water just beckoned. Living in Minnesota we have come to realize how precious our warm weather months are and our dream of owning a boat just became stronger and stronger. Hence, after much budgeting and tinkering with the concept, Dave found our perfect boat, albeit in the month of January and in of all places Alabama. So off he went between snowstorms to drive the 20 hours each way to tow our 21 foot Tahoe back to its new home. We had fun at the boat show in late January envisioning ourselves on OUR boat puttering around but never could have imagined how much fun our summer was going to be.

Now here in late July after finally unofficially naming her TIME OUT, I've taken some time to reflect how this boat has brought us such joy in just a few short weeks.

We had her out on the 42 degree water on Easter since it was a beautiful blue sky morning and we so craved our inaugural ride. Since then we have taken every opportunity to be out on her. We have gone camping "up north" and brought her along to explore Leech Lake, we have explored the many coves of Lake Minnetonka, we have boated to lunch and dinner, we have floated for hours on rafts and we have beached her on tiny islands. We have also learned a thing or too about getting her in/out of the water since the expense of a slip is prohibitive; we have mastered (on most days) the timing of when the public access docks are best to load/unload her and I can now say that I am comfortable with driving her in peak traffic and putting her on/taking her off the trailer with people watching (I was a mess doing this the first few times as a boat does NOT drive like a car especially under windy conditions).

Most of all, I love that being out on the boat has given us ample time to just be a family experiencing these new adventures together! Cole has gone from being a hesitant and clingy swimmer to gleefully motoring about without either of us in the water with him; to witness his confidence increase tenfold has me singing praises about our boat time. Tucker just wants to be with his pack so he is content basking in the sun then retreating to the cool shade under the Bimidi top and taking the occasional dip (we just got a skamper ramp which should make it easier for him to get in/out of the water).

Seeing Dave relax after a crazy week in the ad world as we cruise across the bay makes TIME OUT worth every unexpected penny she has cost us, LOL! And to feel the warmth of the sun on my face as we buzz about the water puts me in my happy place every time.

Life does have a way of bogging us all down and sometimes saps us of our energy. Taking the boat out reinvigorates us and gives us purposeful time to take a step away from the chaos, a much needed TIME OUT!