A Perfect Mother's Day

It's not often that I'd call our day perfect (though they often are quite nice!) but today was perfect.  I woke early but knew I didn't have to get up and started watching a movie in bed.

The boys came in all at once to wish me a happy mother's day and give me some hugs.  They then ran to get their gifts for me.  I got some nail polish, a few paperback books and several movies.  All the colors, books choices and movies were perfectly picked with me in mind.  They were all smiling, hugging me and teasing each other.

Then the older two decided they should all go play together and leave me to finish my movie in peace.  They even closed the curtains and shut the door!

The boys nagged my husband into making breakfast and we had a nice meal of bacon and eggs while planning our day.  The boys really wanted to go fishing but my husband insisted it wasn't something I would want to do.  After a bit of a debate we decided to head out kayaking and that way we could all do what we wanted to do.

We invited my mother in law to come and she was thrilled.

It was so peaceful on the lake and it was such a beautiful, sunny day.  We all had a great time.

We definitely made some memories-- like when Ian dropped his fishing pole in and we had to use my husband's fishing pole to fish it out of the lake.

We saw lots of "nature" and even caught a baby turtle.  There were a lot of turtles and we had fun watching them jump off the logs and rocks and swim around burying themselves under the much at the bottom of the lake.  Evan tried his hand at paddling a few times and we tried to teach him how to steer.

 Alec paddled over 50% of the trip by himself (and got a tow or a push the rest of it). 

Fishing for a fishing pole

We stopped for a snack near a rope bridge that the boys were just dying to try out and met the owner/ builder. They stayed and chatted for a few moments and then we headed up stream; which was a whole new type of kayaking for my boys.

We learned about currents, shallows and learned how to "read" the river.  We saw lots of trees and weeds up close (sometimes a little too close as we got snagged on them!).  Most of all we got lots of exercise, fresh air and sunshine.

Upon returning home the boys decided to go swimming (yep! they're nuts!).  The water was freezing and they were covered with goose bumps and shaking but they didn't care.  They swam, jumped, and played in the water.  Caught a few mini fish with Ian's new net and tried to fish with a pole and lure. 

We had a delicious dinner of Parmesan chicken, spaghetti, garlic bread and salad made by my husband.  He's become quite a cook over the years and I think seeing their dad in the kitchen helps inspire the boys to help out more and learn more too.  After dinner we went for a short bike ride down the road and talked about bike safety, rules of the road and the importance of NOT wearing flip flops to ride (as I made the mistake of doing). 

There were no arguments today-- not one!  The boys got along so well and played like friends (most of the time).  I told my husband my theory that homeschooling has made them closer as brothers and while he didn't exactly agree he had to admit that they're getting along better than ever lately.

While I know it wont last forever, I sure am enjoying it today!