Sunday, June 22 (NH)

River rafting day. It was a perfect day for it--very hot and sunny. We booked the 12:00 slot and a 3:30 table at Harpoon, with the idea that we'd take the full three-hour allotment to do our float. It was a lovely day. We rowed to our favorite rocky outcropping and pulled the raft ashore for a long spell of swimming, floating, rock skipping, and relaxing. I floated in the river in my life jacket for a long time, tnen lay down on the rocks at the water's edge with my life jacket as a pillow, the water flowing around me. It was the most relaxed I've felt in ages. We had some snacks and then set off again. Swimming at this particular area is my favorite part of our rafting experience each year.

The current moved us at a good clip, but there was still a lot of rowing, with Greta shouting insturctions to us in the language of her crew team and getting mad when we didn't understand, and Lucia adamently insisting she didn't have to row because that would push us in the wrong direction. At one point she jumped out of the raft entirely. Greta declared herself done with all of us. 

Squabbling aside, it really was just a beautiful journey down the river. There's nothing like it. Aside from two inner-tubers who'd disappeared from view soon after we started out, we were the only people on the water. We saw a family of ducks. We collected some rocks.  

After reaching the end of the route and returning our raft, we had a late lunch / early dinner at Harpoon, sitting at an outside table. Always a welcome end to the adventure. 

We stopped at Frazier's on the way home for our first maple creamees of the season.

It was a full, long day. And yet as soon as we got home, the kids ran inside to put their swimsuits back on and headed to the pond for more swimming. Andrew took a dip too. I read in a chair until the bugs chased me away. Back at the house, Andrew lit the fire pit, and we read for a long time as dusk crept in. The kids eventually wandered back to shower (Lucia) and play solitaire (Greta).