Trying New Things

We went boating on Saturday out at Benson with the cousins and some friends. The LG decided after watching his 5-year old cousin surf (along with the help of his uncle), that he was up to the task. The BK, who is always a wee bit more protective than me in these situations wasn't so sure, but I convinced him that not much could go wrong - the boat was going really slowly - and that we should encourage him to try new things. The LG had one of his contagious smiles on from the moment he got into the water. He's 2. Yup, the kid's bravery kind of astounds and baffles me. I mean, it took him 3 weeks to warm up to jumping to me from the side of the swimming pool, but pop a life jacket on him, and show him that his cousin can do it, and he is ready to get behind a powerboat on a surfboard with his uncle. Go figure. This is what it looked like:


That is, until my brother (the LG's responsible uncle) decided to ride the wake and they wiped out. Apparently we had forgotten to tell the LG that in this event he should let go of the rope. We also underestimated the LG's superhero strength as he held on with one hand bobbing around like a fish on a reel until the boat finally came to a halt. The BK dove into the water before the boat had even completely stopped (ahhh, that's my man), along with his wallet, keys and cell phone, to rescue the LG. Expecting a screaming, crying and terrified child who would never try water sports again, we all started laughing hysterically and applauding when he finally surfaced and asked with wide eyes (but no tears), "What happened to me?"

Nothing but surfing buddy. Nothing but the surf.