JT Flokstra : July 2022

So much has happened on the first day and technically we were only on the house boat for half the day. I figured I should start writing about each day or else I'm going to miss half of what happened when I try and write it down later.

Saturday:

Our day started at 3:30am. It had unfortunately been a pretty ruff night for me without a lot of sleep....but we were still able to be on the road at 4:00, overall the drive went well, we made it to 100 mile before Hazel woke up, the rest of the drive also went well, the last half hour was the worst but can't complain to much as the rest of the drive went so well.

We were settled on the boat around 2. Hazel got to sleep in a cuddy and we slept right above her in our room. She napped well in the cuddy, but we have yet to see how the night goes.

A cuddy in literally a cupboard door in the hallway that opens up into a queen size bed that you need to crawl into. It took a few nights to figure out how to make this work.

Due to the small size of the room many of the rooms had CO2 sensors in them, Hazel's sensor happened to have a test/reset button on it that beeped...Once she found it then it turned into our morning alarm clock. Most mornings sounded something like this:

"thump thump"

Me: "I think Hazel is awake" wait a few moments...

"Beep,beep,beep.... Beep beep"

Jared: "yup, she's awake"

😍

So far it has been so neat to be all together again, I find it really special how normal it all still feels even though we are all on very different journeys.

I was quite worried about being sea sick, I definitely feel a bit sick, but not unmanageable, it depends on how close we are to the shore and how many other boats come by and make waves. I think I will be wearing my sea bands the whole time, but I can work with that.

Our view as headed out on our adventure.

Hazel absolutely LOVES the water, she floated around in a little floaty car for a while and then we tried to floating with just her life jacket and she got into that too.

Hazel also rescued us from being surrounded by party boats. We found a beach to tie up too and about two hours later three other house boats that seemed to be traveling in a group started to beach right beside us, and were definitely the party boat dynamic....Hazel was playing on the top deck with Valerie when one of the girls on the last party boat saw her and swayed the whole fleet of boats to beach somewhere else because we had a baby. Hazel saved us all!

Overall I'm very optimistic for the rest of the trip, besides losing my sunglasses on the first day... and my backup pair got left in the car....

An evening float while the sunsets

Sunday:

It was pretty tricky getting Hazel to bed last night, so much new going on and by this time she was comfortable with the majority of the family so she wanted to stay up and play. Once she was in bed around 11, I locked her in her cuddy with 2 baby rings and put 2 coolers in font of the stairs just in case she got out (I tired to only put one but she climbed in to it really fast...)

Once she was sleeping she did pretty good, she woke around 5 for a feeding which I tried to do in the cuddy, but I can't actually sit in it so my neck got pretty sore. She did go back to sleep nice after and I got a lot more sleep then last night, so overall I think it was a win.

The view from out bedroom window when I woke up, I think I can get use to this!

We did both of the worship services in the morning and then went on a hunt for a nice beach.

Once we found one we settled there for the most of the day. Hazel and I got to play on the rock shore for quite and while and do a bit of swimming. Once Hazel got cold then she got to snuggle with grandma on the top deck and I swam around some more with Elise. A while later Jared joined us too. I find that I'm really not use to Jared being around and still have to be intentional about spending time with him even though he is around a lot.

Hazel playing with Luke and Elise in the evening, had to take a picture of this shirt as I though it was quite fitting.

Sunday night we got to watch God's handy work for quite a while as thunder storm rolled in that evening. I really enjoyed watching the lightening it was quite the show and lasted for over an hour.

Here is a little snippet of it (Video below):

Thunderstorm clouds on one side, and beautiful evening sky on the other

Monday:

Woke up to another beautiful view this morning! (Which I apparently didn't take a picture of...) Though not sure I was super eager to wake up... Hazel didn't fall asleep till 12ish and then woke up at 2:30 and 5.... but a quick morning swim woke me up and once Hazel settled for a nap, Jared and I took some down time too. Also today I'm trying no sea bands... so far so good. We found a beach early on today and had a very nice beach/play in the creek day. Hazel got lots of water and Daddy time and later Elise and I made a pool out of rock by the mouth of the creek.

Tuesday:

Hazel actually went to bed and slept all night! Which was good because today turned out to be a pretty busy day. It was our turn to make dinner and we did a hike as well. The hike was nice, lots of neat water falls, the birds were singing and the waterfalls rushing. The down side of the hike is that it was quite a bit longer and harder then expected and there was A LOT of mosquitoes, but in the end I think it was worth it! Especially as I haven't seen waterfalls like that for a while.

The first waterfall!

I believe this is the first successful family selfie!

Second water fall!

Hazel is having a blast! She keep Jared going with all her giggles and shrieks as we are hiking!

Third waterfall!

Top of the third waterfall, a few of the boys were way ahead of us on the other side.

Cooling off after the hike

Hazel didn't last very long in the floaty so we set up the pool on the top deck. Grandma got Hazel a belated birthday present of a Tupperware juice jug with cups and plates, they keep her entertained for a long time!

Got into my book a little more today which was nice and Jared and I are just getting into realizing we can leave Hazel with a baby sitter and go do something, which we will hopefully make use of tomorrow.

The hike threw off Hazel's nap schedule for the day, so quite late in the afternoon she feel asleep on Daddy.

Due to her late nap it doesn't look like Hazel will be going to bed on time tonight... but at lest I got a good sleep last night, hopefully that can last me a while.

Wednesday:

Lots of swimming today and beach time, even got a little kayak ride in too! Got to spend lots of time with Jared today, feeling like we are finally settling into a bit of a rhythm. Hazel loved all the beach time she got today and I hope we can set up a sandbox at home for her soon. Overall it was a very lovely day with lots of chats and reading time.

Thursday:

Our last full day on the boat, it was a very nice day, very warm, which meant that we got quite a bit of swimming in. Hazel was sleeping better for a few nights now so that has helped a lot with energy levels. We moved to a warmer part of the lake and Hazel absolutely loved hanging out in her floaty car. The wind and current were a bit strong so we had to tie ourselves to the boat so we wouldn't keep floating away.

Lots of swimming equals a very tired and snuggly Hazel.

We found one more nice beach to spend the evening at, I think the evenings have started to be by favorite, it starts cooling off, and Hazel is starting to settle down and will happily play with the sand and rocks for hours if she could.

We celebrated our last night with a nice campfire and some fireworks!

Friday:

A morning swim and a family breakfast and then it was time to pack as we made our way back to the marina. Once we got there we unloaded all our stuff and loaded up the Acadia, we were on the road by 11ish and got home a bit after 8:30.

It was really a wonderful family trip which when way better then I expected and was such a neat experience. The family time was really nice, even managed to snag a houseboat neighbor and got some family pictures.