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 to thank me for participating.
My husband and I took the dogs for a walk tonight. It was a lovely summer evening here in Seattle and bats were flying overhead. I giggled as I reminded my husband that many years ago, on a night just like this, we’d taken a walk through an apple orchard in Eastern Washington. As I remarked at how strange it was that birds were present after dark, he’d laughed and tried to convince me that the birds flying overhead were “night” birds.
We were there on the annual family summer vacation where my husband’s 8 brother and sisters and their families as well as his parents and assorted random friends and relatives squeezed into one summer rental for a week. We were new parents and my mother-in-law kindly offered to watch our son so we could have some much needed alone time and thus the reason the walk was so memorable. Well that and the fact that I RAN back to the house, screaming all the way, when he came clean and confessed that those “birds” that were dive bombing our heads were actually bats.
That was just one of many family vacations were we took advantage of the opportunity to have some fun on the nearby lake and to do that, we’d bring our boat along. That little 16’ Bayliner was the center of activity for all kinds of watersports as well as fishing and lake exploration for so very many years. We bonded over countless hours on that beautiful lake and grew closer as a family.
Making Summer Memories
My husband’s family is still close and many of them still do the annual summer vacation. We haven’t gone in years because my husband and I both worked full time and for quite awhile each had second jobs. We protected the little free time we had with our boys to enjoy our little family and passed on the larger group vacations; but we have very many fond memories of lazy days on the lake and evenings strolling the orchards learning about life and becoming a family.
We sold our boat a few years ago after owning it over 20 years. This summer the weather has been outstanding here in Seattle and I would be lying if I said we didn’t miss it. I loved the hours I spent reading next to my husband who was fishing. It’s a quite kind of peacefulness that only comes from being gently rocked by the water. We had so many amazing conversations about our kids, our life, and retirement. I miss those lazy afternoons spent on a lake.
My husband and I decided tonight it’s time to institute our own family summer vacation. Sure, the boat is gone and we’ll have to come up with some new ways to have fun, or maybe we’ll rent a houseboat. One thing’s for sure, this time we’ll have more room to stretch out- we have just two boys and their partners and no grandchildren yet. The days of squeezing 28-30 people in one house are gone – goodness how I miss them!
You don’t have to be rich to own a boat. We certainly weren’t. Get unbiased boating assistance from DiscoverBoating.com. There’s a boat selector guide to be sure you choose a boat that fits your lifestyle and budget. There are also interactive features to help you become more comfortable on the water.
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Boating fishing and camping are my hugest passions in life!
The joys of camping and family. Brings back so many memories of my own. We have always been a lake family. Grew up going to the lake and continued the tradition with our kids. Several families would meet up and camp for a few days somewhere. Each family had their own camper but we shared a boat and all camped by each other.
Looks fun, I haven’t done a lot of boating as I live in Kansas and there aren’t a lot of big bodies of water, but when I was in Tampa on vacation I went on a boating excursion and it was a lot of fun.
when i was a teenager my father and uncle owned a small house in a fishing community. we spent many days out in the boat fishing and then cleaning them and then having a fish fry. those were the days!
I always wanted a pontoon boat when our children were still at home. It seemed the perfect thing for us, since we fished almost every weekend. I have only ever been on a motor boat once & really enjoyed it.
What a trip down memory lane. I can remember fishing out on the ocean with my dad when I was a kid. I don’t get to go out on the water much now but I used to love it.
My grandparents had a boat and I have many memories and going boating with them every summer. I was always terrified when they made those sharp turns and it felt like the boat was going to tip over, but it never did. I loved the water spraying in my face. I never could stand up while trying to water ski and that was embarrassing, but most of my boating memories are good ones.
I grew up with boats and fishing and camping in our 15ft trailer. Really good memories. What I got for my birthday? Who remembers. The fish I caught on my birthday? A 3 pound rainbow trout. (I’ll be 65 next month)
Ah, that’s so sweet and happy early birthday!
I like in Spokane WA and my sister has a boat, and we go out on the Lake a lot in the summer. I have to say that I love boating! I love riding in a boat and gliding over the water and having the wind blow in my face! We are going out next weekend, and it has been in the 90’s for over 10 days here, so I have been going to the Lake also and swimming, On another note, if I had a bat hitting me in the head, I would scream and run for my life! I sure loved getting to read your family story and seeing your kids in the boat when they were young.
I bet it’s beautiful over there! I think I’ve mentioned my son went to WSU – it’s amazing on that side of the state.
I bet it’s beautiful over there! I think I’ve mentioned my son went to WSU – it’s amazing on that side of the state.