With the NKOTB concert cancelled and no tournaments on my husband’s schedule, he made plans to visit his friend Mike for the weekend and invited me along. Mike and his wife Ashley live on the gulf coast, and we visit them a lot. We haven’t told them yet, but we consider it our home away from home. Here are the sweet dears at dinner on Saturday night. Aren’t they a lovely couple?
Normally, this post might be about MY friend Ashley and HER husband Mike, but the boy’s coup d’état was a success, and we women have been overthrown! The little schemers made their weekend kayaking plans under the guise of mine and Ashley’s friendship. It’s cool though. I love my friend and miss her greatly since Mike threw her kicking and screaming over his shoulder and hauled her to live 300 miles away. Oh wait. That was me kicking and screaming. Nevermind. Like I was saying, I’ll use any excuse to see her for a day or two and spend time at the beach.
I’m really glad Allen and Mike have become such good friends. They share a common love for fishing, and are content to leave us at home or on the beach while they fish for hours. Last summer they rented fishing kayaks and a new love was born. Guilty admission: The next few pictures were taken on the just-mentioned kayaking trip last summer. I’m a bonehead and wrote this entire post before attempting to upload the pictures and subsequently realize that my point-and-shoot is in my purse. Not a problem, except my purse (wallet, cell phone, life, etc.) is currently in the possesion of UPS being shipped back to my forgetful little self. The picture of Mike and Ashley above actually IS from this weekend, because I won’t let my Canon more than five feet from my grubby little hands. Amen.
I wonder if they always rent the exact same kayaks? This weekend, Mike had a red kayak and Allen had a tan one! Vedy inter-desting. I could have totally gotten away with my these-were-SO-taken-this-weekend-and-you-can’t-prove-otherwise story if it weren’t for that darn conscience of mine.
They launched the kayaks from the beach and paddled out near the unfinished pier. I’m a chronic worrier and don’t like how far out they get. But that’s where the fish are, so off they go. I only had a mild panic attack once this weekend, when they paddled out of site for about 10 minutes. My eye sight is better than Superman’s, so when I looked up and couldn’t see the bright red kayak, I knew they had gone too far. As strange as it sounds, my only comfort is that the situation is completely out of my control. If something bad happened I could never swim that far and therefore couldn’t do a darned thing about it. So I just sat patiently, reminding myself that they are grown men, one a former lifeguard, and they are both wearing life jackets. The good news is they came back into sight just moments before I called the Coast Guard. I’m kidding. Maybe.
Even though the secret is out about these pictures, I bet the fish they caught looked just like this too. They don’t normally bring them into shore, so I can’t say for sure. Can you believe they reel those things in from a kayak?! This past weekend they caught a shark or two I know, but I don’t like to think of it.
Photo credits for the three shots above go to Allen and Mike. I’m proud of my little photogs — I’ve taught them well!
by Amanda
5 comments