We don’t spend time away from the homestead often but sometimes we just need a break. At the beginning of June, on my birthday, was the day the beehives fell over. We had planned to have a date night that evening but Adam was very drowsy from Benadryl by 4pm. The three younger kids still went to stay the night at my in-laws but Kathryn wanted to stay home with us. That evening I had this craving to go kayaking. I texted a friend to see if we could borrow her double kayak and we made plans for the following day. Conveniently, this friend also has a “river camp” near their house so they offered to help transport us as well. We woke up and fed the animals and strapped our kayak to the Subaru along with snacks, drinks etc. We drove to our friends’ house to help load the other kayak and we left our car at their river camp. They drove us back towards our house and we dropped-in on Yellow River near our house. We knew it would be about a three hour trip but we have never kayaked down Yellow River so we didn’t really know what to expect. The river was high because of all the rain we have had and the first two hours were very laid back and relaxing. We didn’t have to paddle much because the current was quite strong. Kathryn, Adam and I talked a little but mostly we just enjoyed the quiet of nature; the lapping of the water against the kayaks, the birds chirping, the fish jumping. It was just what we needed. We stopped for a snack and to stretch and headed out again. We knew it was supposed to rain later in the day but according to the forecast, we had plenty of time. About 45 minutes from the river camp, the sky became very dark and it began to thunder. We paddled hard at that point not really knowing how far we had to go and if there would be a place to pull off. The thunder and lightning continued for the rest of our trip (and we were paddling hard) and as soon as we pulled on to the boat ramp, the rain came down hard. The cloudy weather ended up being a blessing because we didn’t get on the river until 9:30 and about 11, the heat was becoming unbearable. We had a lovely time and I’m pretty sure we have convinced the kids to forego birthday gifts this year so we can save up for kayaks for the family. We live so close to the river and we all enjoy being in nature and on the water, it would be a great way to have a much needed break and to spend time together away from the homestead.