Mother's Day On The Water!

Today was part 2 of Mother's Day.

Today...

... was...

amazing.

I thought I'd start today with a tribute to my own mothers. Yes, plural. If you're just now tuning in to this itty bitty little life of me, hang on tight. Here's the super-abridged version:

I was born in the Philippines, to a mother who decided she would rather her child live a fulfilling, prosperous life than raise her in a world of intense poverty and instability. I was consequently adopted by an American family, which was, has been and still is spearheaded by the self-sacrificing, unconditionally-generous woman who I've called my mom for as long as I can remember. So yeah, I have 2 mothers; they are both two of my greatest heroes.

Today, I wanted to pay tribute to my adoptive mom and her mother, my Nana. These two women taught me some of the most fundamental things I learned in my early years. My Nana passed when I was 12, but I smile even bigger every time Sydni calls my mom, "Nana."

3 generations of love ♥

To start off our Mother's Day, we headed to SonRise, where we were able to witness a Sunday full of baby dedications and baptisms! The sun was shining bright today, giving signs that it was a perfect day for both of those things. AMEN!

baptisms @ sonrise

my coordinated little family..

After church, I attempted to take a family shot, but Sydni had the grump face plastered to her head because we'd told her we were heading out in the boat for the day.... and it wasn't happening fast enough. Haha.. rough life, kiddo.

But yes, we did vote yes to boating for the afternoon. We stood and cotemplated the skies for a bit, and after a little while decided that the worst that could happen was us turning back around and heading home. So off we were, for Sydni's first time on the lake!

To say she was excited is a bit of an understatement... She finally got to sit in the front seat!

little stingray girl!

Sydni took to the boat like she does to just about everything else: seamlessly. Five seconds out of the loading area and she looked like she'd done this a million times.

oh, just another day, eh? ;)

happy mother's day, to me!

We cruised out to a cove, where Rob went flying off the back of the boat, and Sydni shortly behind him. They're both crazy; it might be May, but the water felt even colder today than it did when we had our last crowd with us. Little fishies don't mind though; I remember being a kid, unbothered by frigid water, and wondering then why all the grown-ups just wanted to stand around and watch. Now I get it ;)...

because we left her pretty life jacket at home, this will do!

i'm ready, mommy!

leap!

big & little fish ♥♥♥

Some footage:

Love them. Back on the boat, we set our sights on a little cruise around the place. Sydni got her first lesson in functional steering today, and I must say she didn't do half bad! On a side note, I heard a news brief on the radio earlier about a mother who passed out while driving, and her 8-year-old daughter steered the car to safety. The daughter later told police that she knew "kinda how to do it," because she'd been allowed to steer the tractor and lawnmower sometimes. This, folks, is one of the reasons I love these kinds of small lessons. My kid will be able to steer this boat on her own by the time she's 8 [not that she will, but I'm just saying...], and won't be panicking on a quad or a lawnmower, either... I can guarantee that.

Plus, she looks adorable doing it!

mini driver!

cruisin' around!

More footage of my little boater:

"You mean THAT cone??"
Hahaha.. I love her.

More lounging around on the boat.. checkin' out the itty bitty fishies swimming under our feet..

the best mother's day yet! ;)

On our way back in, Sydni expressed her frustration at the very idea of a no wake zone. We explained to her the logic behind it, in a way that she then re-defined. Frankly, I like her idea better, all logic and reasoning aside ;)

In case you couldn't hear over the boat motor [dangit!], Sydni is explaining to me which parts of the water the SUN is allowed to touch. When the sun touches it, it wakes up. When it doesn't, it's sleeping, and therefore is in the no wake zone. The sun's not allowed to touch anything inside the floating cones. We'll worry about correcting her when it matters; today's not that day though, amiright?!

Back at  home, it was some big relaxing in order, and that's exactly what we've done. Sydni is playing with the dogs, Rob's gotten everything from the boat put back in its place, and I'm well into the last round of laundry.

Thank you, Rob for giving Sydni and me the most perfect Mother's Day experience I could've imagined. You are the best!

Happy Mother's Day, to the rest of my fellow moms out there - AND to the dads who are on a solo mission right now - your TIME & PRESENCE is more important than any amount of money you could ever give.. I celebrate all of you who give of yourselves every day for your children!!

Love & More Love!

xo | cmd