Strangely, this will be a rather short post. Traveling with kids and grandkids is busy, fun, and exciting! Although you might think we would take more pictures, the activity limited the photography a bit, but we have some photos that show the excitement of being together on the water.

Michaela learns to tie boat knots.

Cheating a little on the fishing!

Kirby found a new place to relax that he had never discovered before – the Pilot house berth.

I came upstairs one morning to find these two comfortable as could be.

Michaela was great at tending the locks.

A dragonfly landed on Michaela’s hand!

One day I walked in and found Carter at the wheel without Bop anywhere in sight!

Picnicing on land.

Best of Friends?

Maybe, but Madison had cheese and Kirby loves cheese!!

My bow of the boat buddy.

On the Peterborough Lift Lock – Kelly and Michaela

Sadly, time for the kids to return home.

We met Kelly, Craig and family in Orillia Monday evening. They drove from Jacksonville, FL to Niagara Falls, NY between Sunday and Monday and they stopped and did the things you must do at Niagara Falls: the Maid of the Mist and the Cave of the Winds. Then they drove the 3 remaining hours to meet up with us at the Port of Orillia.

John and I had decided to spend Tuesday in the marina so everyone could become accustomed to AfterMath and the little ones could spend the day enjoying the town of Orillia. There is a great playground and beach in Orillia and both are adjacent to the marina.   John and Craig went off to rent a car and bring Kelly and Craig’s van to our final destination while they were aboard, which was Peterborough. It was Kelly’s birthday, so the ladies of the group were off duty for driving and we really enjoyed the park and the 95 year-old ice cream stand with the little ones.

Over the next few days the kids were able to swim, go for dinghy rides, drive AfterMath and the dinghy, eat lots of ice cream and have a great time overall. Michaela carried on the family tradition of learning boat knots, we stayed on lock walls and fished (Kelly caught a few sunnys, but I still haven’t caught an edible fish), we ate picnic lunches and pizza dinners on shore, went to a concert in town, swam, played on playgrounds and just had a wonderful time. We stopped in the little towns of Fenelon Falls, Bobcageon, and Lakefield along the way. It was sad to see the Kirk family leave today. We can’t wait to see them again in Jacksonville and to have them ride with us again!