When one ends, another begins...

When the final whistle blew yesterday morning on the playing field at the University of Massachusetts @ Dartmouth, it was time for one last team cheer. Coaches were thanked, parent's were thanked, teammates said their good-byes and as quickly as it began soccer season was officially over for Skip and Harry.

You could sense the mixed emotions as they said good-bye their new friends and reluctantly walked off the fields. They are of course children, and don't dwell on such things for long. They knew  it was time to put aside their soccer balls and uniforms until the fall, and shift their focus elsewhere.

Within hours of leaving the field the boys were happily embarking on their next adventure - boating. The green grass of the playing field was replaced with the calm ocean water as we all motored our way out from the dock in Fairhaven, to our "summer home", Itlldo. Although this was just to be a quick overnite adventure, their excitement was infectious. 

Safely aboard the boat, Sabaka reluctantly donned his much loathed life jacket, and made his way to his favorite resting spot where he resumed  his role as "boat guard".  His afternoon was spent keeping an eye (if course when you only have "an eye" rather than "eyes", it's pretty much all he can do) out for birds, sea creatures, floating seaweed, and the occasional passing boater. 

 When he tired of his duties he simply napped beneath the deck dining table. 

Skip instinctively picked up where he left off at the end of last year: Captain-in-training duties. He is like a sponge and loves to learn all their is to navigating the boat.

He learns quickly, and as a result, Mike can often put his feet up, and well, watch Skip drive - occassionally using those feet to help Skip stay on course. If you click on the picture to the right, you'll see that's exactly what he's doing!

Harry had his own mission: pirate watchin'. No, he didn't see any pirates, but he kept watch nonetheless.  When he was sure that we were in no danger, he'd put his binoculars down and play with the dog.  He's insistent that the dog should know some tricks, and spends long periods of time trying to teach him to speak. That in and of itself is a whole other post!

Though both Skip & Harry were somewhat disappointed that this wasn't a beach trip, they settled for the next best thing; swimming. Yes, they actually swam in 54 degree water - much to our amazement. I was cold just watching them but at that temperature they didn't stay in for any long period, just long enough to say they did. 

Since we needed to be at Church for 9 this morning, we foolishly thought perhaps it would be difficult to get them out of their bunk on time. Our worries were for not of course and I was none too pleased to hear them having a full-blown pillow fight at 6:10. Not that it mattered since I couldn't get back to sleep,  but, I did manage to quiet them til the alarm went off for us at exactly 7:00.

And so with our first overniter under our belts, it's safe to say that BOATING is back for the 2010 season!