Capsized! A Father's Day Adventure

Father's Day began early and ended late. Upon rising with the sun, the boys were excited to give Daddy his presents, which, to my surprise, they kept a total secret (first time ever)! Their personal gifts to him were books they had "written" about all of the reasons they loved their daddy. They dictated their stories to me while I typed it up and printed it out and they illustrated the pages. James' book was titled, What Dada Likes to Do. My favorite page was, "Before bed, Dada gives me a roll (piggyback). I like them bumpy and when he goes over buses and stuff." Jonathan named his book, Playing with Dada and drew Dan lifting an enormous set of barbels over his head.

Jonathan draws very light, so this is hard to see!

Oma and Opa arrived at our house a little after 7 a.m. After packing up the car and a quick stop for breakfast at Dunkin Donuts, we headed north to Prescott for a relaxing day at Lynx Lake.

The lake was beautiful, with tiny waves rippling in the cool breeze - a perfect day to rent a boat. We were informed it was too windy for the paddle boats, so Dan rented a two person-only canoe. Jonathan volunteered for the first ride and after a brief lesson and tug on Jonathan's life vest, my little sailors were out on the water.

Opa followed them, taking photos from a gigantic rock perched above the shoreline.

James, Oma and I lagged behind, checking out the gigantic red fireflies, James' favorite insect.  After a while I realized Dan and Jonathan had been out on the water for quite a while. It would be James' turn, so we decided to head over to the cove where Dan and Jonathan appeared to be hanging out.

Little did I know, they weren't "hanging out" at all. The wind had picked up considerably, making the canoe impossible to turn around. Dan was fighting the wind, struggling to stay afloat.

All of a sudden I heard him yell, immediately followed by a panicked, "CHRIS!" coming from my father-in-law, alerting my mother in law. Something happened. Not thinking (or seeing) rationally, I began running toward the water, my eyes only registering my husband completely in the water, but Jonathan's head safely above the water. I could hear Jonathan's voice eek out a scared, "Dada!" I sprinted down the rocky shoreline and dove into the water. Well, "dove into the water" sounds a lot more Baywatch than what it really was - a fully clothed mom belly flopping into the water whilst smashing her shins against the rocks.

The cold water and rush of adrenaline made me suck in a ton of air while I swam to my capsized sailors. Thinking Jonathan would be panicking, I gasped out, "It's ok, Ja-Ja! Everything's ok!" When I got closer, I realized Jonathan wasn't in the water at all! It's true, the canoe tipped over, spilling my husband overboard, but his quick thinking and strength put Jonathan immediately back in a now upright canoe, out of harm's way. Jonathan was scared, but completely calm. And so was Dan.

We treaded water for a minute and laughed about my ridiculous, knee-jerk reaction. In fact, despite being cold and a bit shell-shocked Jonathan even managed to crack a smile about silly Mommy jumping in the water.

Seconds later, the lake's rescue boat raced over and immediately got Jonathan out of the canoe and into the boat. He would hear nothing of us helping bring the canoe to shore, only wanting to make sure our little guy was alright. I rode with Jonathan back to the dock while Dan hiked back with the rest of our crew. On our ride back, Mr. Rescue Man told us he saw the whole thing happen and couldn't believe how quickly Dan reacted and did the right thing in putting Jonathan back in the canoe (love that man, such a great daddy)! He also said they had decided to pull all of the other canoes in for the day since it was just too windy for anyone to safely be out of the water. I guess our capsized kid ruined all the fun!

The three of us changed clothes and since it was still early in the day, we decided to hang out at the lake a little longer (on land) before heading into downtown Prescott for a little Father's Day pub 'n grub at Prescott Brewing Company.

Overall, it was a fun day and one we'll always remember. I still can't believe how calm and level headed my little four year old was. I think he knew he was in good hands with his Dada, which is of course evident in how he depicted his beloved Daddy in his book.