Rafting on the Delaware

We took another camping trip over Memorial Day weekend.  This time we were right on the Delaware River and we decided to take the kids on a rafting trip down the river.  They don't recommend these trips for children under 5 but our kids have their own life jackets and are used to going out on the ocean in Daddy's boat, so we thought they would do fine.  We did take the shorter 4 mile trip which ended up taking us about 2 1/2 hours since we went nice and slow and stopped along the way.  This section of the Delaware is very slow and easy with no rapids and only a couple of faster moving areas.

Both kids liked paddling.  Vicki only lost her paddle twice.  Both times were on the down river side of the raft so the current brought it right back to us.

We stopped for a picnic of potato chips and pretzels (at 10:30 in the morning) at a little clearing.  Stepping out of the boat was very muddy and twice I almost lost one of my (fairly expensive) sandals. 

Vicki liked looking over the side of the boat for fish.  In a lot of places it was shallow enough to see moss growing on submerged rocks.  We also saw a couple of painted turtles, a hawk and a pretty little waterfall.

Despite our stop the kids couldn't make it back without another snack.  Vicki must be in the middle of a growth spurt.  In one afternoon, in the course of about 4 hours she ate:  a turkey cheddar brat, macaroni & cheese, spaghettios, 1/2 a nectarine, 1/2 an apple, a few handfuls of blueberries and a bowl of Fruit Loops. 

Both kids said they enjoyed the ride.  I don't think the longer (8 mile) trip would have worked out as well - 2 1/2 hours definitely seems to be their limit for sitting in a raft.   Being able to paddle, lean over and touch the water, jump up and down and see how much they could rock the raft all helped to make the trip interesting for them.  My kids are definitely not the "sit still and listen" type but it was still a very pleasant journey.

To see what others have been doing this week, visit Preschool Corner and 5K too at Homeschool Creations.