“I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for Discover Boating. I received collateral to facilitate my review and a promotional item as a thank you for participating. As such, I’m sharing how we are bonding over a boat ride in Summer.”
One of my favorite summer activities, that I don’t get to do nearly enough, is to go out on the water, for a boat ride with my family. As a teenager, I went water skiing a couple of times each summer. I even had an uncle who owned a houseboat and some jet skis so we would do that whenever my cousin came to visit. I never did get good at skiing, but I sure do love to tube! I can’t ever think of a bad time I have had while spending time with friends or family out on a boat. Good times to be had!
My father-in-law owns a ski boat, but we just don’t live close enough to take advantage of it as often as we’d like. This summer we have had to make due with other plans. I think my husband drew the long straw because he celebrated his chiropractic graduation with classmates, while sailing around the San Francisco Bay. They look pretty chilly to me, but it looks like an excited bunch! My husband said they had a great time talking about the past 3 years of school, and looking forward to their new careers! Such a nice way to bond over a boat ride and celebrate with one another!
My boating adventures haven’t been quite as exciting this summer, but they have been fun nonetheless. The closest I have been able to get to a boat this season is a paddle boat! You read that right….I paddled a swan shaped boat through a pond while admiring a beautiful man-made waterfall at Gilroy Gardens.
Even though the paddle boats were a very different kind of boating experience, I was glad we were at least able to get out on the water and enjoy nature. Everyone stayed completely safe with the trusty ol’ orange life vests (super cool)! My twins were big enough to take a paddle boat out on their own, my oldest did one by himself, grandma and my youngest had to get a beautiful swan of course, and my husband and I took a swan out for a whirl. We all got a nice leg workout and had a great time!
Hopefully you will actually be able to take a full size boat out on the water, and if you do, check out these Boating Activities by Discover Boating. You can also try their cost comparison tool to find the right boat for you! I think that once my kids are a bit older and my youngest is able to swim well, we will be out on the water a lot more – and not just in grandma’s pool!
I should buy a boat! I like the pic of grandma and little girl! Super cute!
Those are beautiful pictures. We go kayaking but that is as close to boating as our family gets.
Oh my this looks like a lot of fun. 🙂
We once did a big summer vacation with our kids out west. We spent a day at Lake Powell (on the Arizona/Utah border). It is the most beautiful lake because it is surrounded by red rock formations. Many people vacation there with Houseboats. We rented a small motor boat but got two floats and there were coves where it was safe to drive fast and give the kids rides on the floats. It was definitely one of the highlights of our trip.
The duck paddle boats look super cute and fun.
I used to water ski growing up as well…I haven’t as an adult!
Oh I’d love to visit Lake Powell sometime! I used to visit Utah a lot, but never the southern part. Sounds awesome!