Sailing with Granddad

This morning, we took Andrew on his first boat ride! We had been asking him for weeks if he wanted to go on Granddad's boat, to which he replied "yeah." We had tried to take him back in October, but it ended up being rainy so we had to postpone it until now.

Ngoai and Papa made the trip to Austin with us to visit Uncle Anh Tuan so Granddad invited all three of them along for the boat ride too. So, that morning, we all set off to meet Granddad at Rough Hollow Marina. On the drive down, Andrew would see all the boats and water and was getting excited.

When we got there, we first took an outdoor elevator lift contraption thing down to the slips, which Andrew loved. He kept saying "choo choo tracks"--everything to him resembles trains. ;) Anyways, then, we had to take a ferry boat over to Granddad's boat, so that was really his first boat ride ever. He let us put on his life jacket and wore it with no complaints (we also told him he would have to wear a special jacket on the boat). I wasn't sure how he was going to do on the ferry boat, but he did great. Whew!

Then, we arrived at Granddad's boat, the Trinity. It's a spectacular boat!! We got everything ready to go and set off. Andrew got on the boat with no qualms, but about three minutes into it, he says "all done." Ha! It was easy to see that he was a little tentative, but at least he wasn't bawling! Daddy and I were both worried about what to do if Andrew didn't like the boat. We were scared he might cry until he got off.

But we had a bag of tricks (or toys) to try to buy us some time. So, Daddy took him down to the cabin where they played Thomas trains--we brought along his new Take Along Airport to keep him entertained. They played for a while and then, I went down to trade places with Daddy. After awhile, I got a little seasick/claustaphobic being down there so Daddy and I switched again. We kept that up for a while. We also brought along some coloring books and stickers to pass the time too. Later, he was agreeable to go back up and he hung up there for a bit taking in the views. We showed Andrew the lighthouse, other boats, and jet skis. Then, he went back down into the cabin to play trains some more. After a little while, he went back up to the deck and hung out some more. It was easy to see that Andrew started to get more comfortable walking around the boat and was getting braver as time passed. Daddy, Uncle Anh Tuan, and Andrew all took a turn at steering the boat a little; and Papa helped a lot as a deck hand.

Around noon, we headed back for the marina; after which, we met up with Nonna and had lunch at the yacht club. Andrew ate his noodles and shredded cheese very well; and he also had some of Nonna's lobster. We were all watching some of the US World Cup game too--as were many others in the restaurant. It was lots of fun cheering along with everyone.

Then, it was time to head home and get Andrew down for a nap (he fell asleep in the car ride home, so did Mommy).

A most special thanks to Granddad for taking us on the boat. We had a fabulous time!! Thanks to Nonna for driving up to meet us for lunch. And thanks to Ngoai, Papa, and Uncle Anh Tuan for joining us and making the day even more special.