I Kayaked! And survived!

My day of kayaking began at around 5:30am. I woke up on my own with no help from DH or an alarm (*takes a bow*). I put about 16 layers of clothing on, threw my hair into a ponytail, and topped it off with a baseball cap. My aunt had told me that if it was raining when we woke up, we would reschedule, but if not, we'd still go, even though the weather forecast said it was definitely going to rain that day. Not only was it not raining, but the cloud cover made it a little warmer than I expected it to be. :)

We got to the lake and parked at the docking place (is that what it's called?). You can see in the picture there was no one else around. After we put the kayaks in the water I was informed I needed to actually walk into the water, to get in. Great to know. *sigh* I had to remove my socks and tennies and roll up my jeans. And it was cold water! After I got settled into the kayak, I had to learn to balance really quickly as I put my shoes and socks back on.

This is a picture of my Aunt. I was playing with that feature where you highlight one color and make the rest black and white.

There were so many places to kayak on this particular lake. There were swampy areas and little...ugh, can't think of the word. Maybe I don't *know* the word, but basically like trails to follow. Skinnier areas that were not on the main lake. What are those called? Anyways, because the water level was so high, we were able to get to places that she normally can't get to. This is a pic of a tree I liked that was behind an ancient concrete structure.

Here I am, under a tunnel. We should have stayed there, as a few minutes after we were through it, it started pouring on us! You can see how shallow the water is here. My aunt said normally she has to walk her kayak across this!

Ok, here's where it gets really scary. I was pretty sure I spotted an alligator up ahead, so my aunt offered to go first and check it out. Here, she is tapping it on the head. She thought it was a log, because it didn't even flinch when she hit it, but c'mon, a log?? Nope, this was definitely some sort of creature, playing dead. Very intelligent!

Soon after, I noticed a pair of true lake monsters. Good thing I had my camera! These ones also froze up and played dead as we cautiously floated past. I was very proud of myself for exhibiting such bravery. I knew Carey would have felt awful if something had actually attacked me, after she taunted me in my last post. *sticks tongue out at her*

Here is a blue heron we saw as we were being drenched. You can see the rain on the water. My aunt kept asking me if I wanted to go back, but there was no way I was gonna let a little water scare us off. It was totally worth staying through. We are making arrangements to go back again soon, especially if we can find a better day weather-wise. She said now that I've proven I can do it, we can even separate for a while and enjoy the solitude out on the water.

Overall, it was a fantastic experience. I can't wait to do it again.

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Other than that, my weekend was ok. I went to a play on Saturday with the kids. I skipped a party at my friend Jenn's house. Oh, I also went to the movies with my mom on Friday. We saw Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married, and The Heartbreak Kid. Both were ok. The Heartbreak Kid was almost difficult to watch because the main female character was exactly like my ex-SIL (crazy). They never said what her "disorder" was, but it was very weird to see the same behaviors in her.

Has anyone here seen either movie? I'd love to know what you thought, if you have.