4th of July weekend with a dog who isn't a fan of BOOM!

 When I had Diamond, the booms didn't bother her.  Apparently, this is not the case with Carl.  He paces the house and is nervous and whiny.  Unfortunately, my son and his lady live within walking distance of the lake where the big fireworks display is hosted.  Tonight.

So, besides having some calming treats for him (valerian root, ginseng and a little bit of some other stuff)... they opted to make sure he had some postivie time in nature this morning.  They "dropped a pin" (this is a GPS thing that the next generation is very comfortable with) for the kayak launch spot, and we took three cars:  mine, her folks, and son's "new truck" with the kayaks and Carl on board.

We set up camp amidst a grove of trees, on the shore.  If this is sounding familiar, yes, we did something very similar for Father's Day 2021.

It was cool and cloudy, so my co-MIL-to-be and I kind of huddled in beach towels in our bag chairs while the kids headed out in the boats.

But Carl wasn't happy being left behind, so I didn't stay in the chair.  Up and hike with him, check out all the smells available on a lakeshore!

After the kids got back, it was time for Carl to get a kayak lesson.  They have been wanting to get him acclimated to this activity, and it resulted in... well... shall we say some level of success?

First we got him into the kayak alone, and he felt the unbalance, and treated it a little like a surfboard.  Then he got into the kayak with his favorite person in the world, but refused to lay down in the boat.

The result was that "dad" got dunked.

So the next step, which was a big mistake, was Grandma (me) getting in the other kayak and the two boats with his dad figuring out how to paddle with Carl still standing, for a little while.

He was OK until he noticed Grandma was there, and he wanted to come see me.  He sprang out, ignoring his Dad's commands not to do so, and swam for grandma's boat.  Once Grandma bumped into him with the orange kayak, he decided to swim to Lacey on the shore, instead.

The end result was the same, his dad was swim-towing the blue kayak, white hull up, back to the boat ramp.

So, they sent Grandma off on her own, while they did a non-distracted Carl short loop where they got him to stay in the kayak without jumping off, out, around in a small circle, and back.

Then Lacey took over the blue kayak and came and joined me on the water, and we went around a long island, following a mama duck and her three adolescent juveniles.  After we got back, Lacey and her mom went out on another lobe of the lake.  I captured a video of them, paddling in synch, mom and daughter, and posted it as a FB story.

For the parting hugs before we split off in our three vehicles to return to our homes... well, somebody had to insert himself in between each pair of people... here's Lacey hugging her mom good-bye.  With Carl mooching extra pets.  I'd say he had a fine outing for his Holiday.

For the humans, too, it was a lovely way to spend a Sunday July 3rd morning.  

But BE CAREFUL out there on the road.  We passed by an accident with emergency vehicles on the way home.  It wasn't any of us, and I waved so long to the kids as they turned left and I went straight at a traffic light.  Quick prayer for those involved, and pay attention to driving... no rubber-necking!

I came home to find the neighbor kid had mowed my grass, including the back part where the fence was put in.  Baby clover is safe.  

Here's hoping all my fellow Spark refugees are having a safe and sane Holiday weekend, if you're in the US!  Take care to treat your body, mind, and spirit well, remember to breathe, hydrate, and rest!

Life is good.  Spark on!