River Weekend

This weekend my parents came up for a visit.  They stayed at their cabin that is just a little more than an hour away.  They met us for breakfast Friday morning and then took the kids for the day while Aaron & I went rafting down the Nantahala.  We rented a 2 person duckie or funyak and went out on the river.  After the first set of rapids I was rethinking the whole rafting thing, but we got in a groove and the rest went pretty smoothly.  It was overcast and cool that day so it should go without saying that the water was FREEZING!  I think I screamed every time we hit rapids because the water came at me full force.  When we got to the "falls" I was a little in tears to be honest.  They gave us some complicated directions about how to go over the falls but all I heard was keep raft straight or fall out.  I was freaking out, but luckily Aaron was a great guide.  I paddled forward and he guided the raft through the rapids.  All I can say is I was smiling when it was over and we didn't flip over!  I don't own a waterproof camera so I didn't get any shots of us rafting, but the outfitter we went with took some photos of us going over the falls.  Apparently where we went over the falls is the worst part you can go over and bends your raft like a taco and throws you out.  They were surprised we stayed in the raft.  They obviously did not know how determined I was to stay in that raft.  

Saturday afternoon the kids came back home and we spent Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon at the river park across the street from our house.  The park is awesome with lush green grass, a basketball court, volleyball court, pavilion with tables and a couple of benches, tables, and grills spread around the perimeter. There is lots of space to play Frisbee or whatever else you'd like.  The park was obviously crowded, but we still enjoyed our time.  The kids mainly played on the river bank in the water or mud.  On Sunday the water was a little lower so there was more mud than there was the day before.  The park is also getting them ready for our beach trip next week.  I think they are going to love it!  As much as the kids like going there we are likely to spend a lot of summer days with our feet in the water.