KAYAKING SHENANIGANS

After visiting my brother's classroom and before s'mores and sangria, we decide there is enough time to pack up kayaks and head to Ausable Point, an area on Lake Champlain known to a few campers, some kite surfers, and the locals.  My brother's family has two tandem kayaks on trailers; my kayak breaks in half and travels in the back of their SUV.  It takes us about two minutes to decide to go kayaking and about ten minutes to pack everything up.

The parking lot at Ausable Point is blissfully quiet, just a few cars, and we are able to pull up relatively close to the beach to unload our gear.  From curbside to putting in at the water's edge, we are good to go in little time.

The Point is somewhat protected by a small break wall on its southern edge, but truly this is a gateway into Champlain.  The view is expansive, and the waves are rolling in at a decent clip.  The water is choppy, even near shore, so as we head out about two-tenths of a mile, we cannot go much further.  The kayaks are rolling over white caps, and we don't want to do anything too adventurous with my nephews along.

Besides, I just arrived here for my New York visit.  A trip to the hospital for stitches when my kayak smacks me in the head would probably put a damper on the rest of our weekend.  The beach is short width-wise but long length-wise, so we don't bother anyone when we beach the kayaks to take a break.

Of course, we are all about shenanigans, and this is when it all starts.

My nephews take turns in my single kayak, and I hop into one of the doubles.  We all switch off except my brother, who is suddenly tired and decides his best kayaking will be done stretched out on a blanket with a hat over his eyes. 

Suddenly, kayaking becomes a full contact sport (since no one is really supervising my sister-in-law, the boys, or me).  Kids are draped over the front of the tandem kayaks, splashing anyone who paddles by in my single kayak, or we're standing hip-deep in Lake Champlain pushing the kayaks away from shore with gleeful children whooping and hollering.  We are also playing bumper kayaks because we can.

Don't panic; we are staying close to shore -- far enough to be in about six feet of water, but close enough to avoid the choppy water that might prove too difficult for my young nephews.  We're nutty, but we're not crazy.

When it's time to pack everything up, we are exhausted from having so much dang fun in and on the lake.  My brother drives through the wooded area along the service tracks, getting the SUV and the trailer so close that we don't have to haul our gear very far.  This is a good thing because s'mores and sangria are calling (yelling, to be honest), and we are anxious to get on to the next shenanigans.