Mother's Day Weekend, River Play and Boat rides

For Mother's day we took a trip to the River again, this time taking Sophia's best friend, YY. Because the rainy season had not yet arrived, the river was disgusting. Lots of trash, unclear water, etc. But because we had packed our snacks and promised a walloping good time, David and I cringed as we let our kids pursue their interests in river play and rock climbing. 

Tobin soaked up to his neck: 'look mommy I am taking a bath', (you need a bath now, son, I thought). 

There used to be a little 'rule' or guideline for health reasons: 'don't swim in still water in China', I kept looking at the water's meager flow and told myself it was moving, moving, moving!

We did end up having a great time, got home, scrubbed well, dressed up and went to our new foreign-owned guest house for dinner. This was a treat because it is a bit pricey, but it has an amazing atmosphere, and we are friends with the owners!

The next afternoon, the celebration of mom continued with a boat ride at our new amusement park. The kids have been wanting to do this for forever. We chose to rent an electric boat instead of a paddle-one, and it did not disappoint. 

The life-vests were 'one size fits all' but certainly not 'one size saves all'. 

In fact I am quite sure this was more life endangering than life-saving.

 We had a blast.

 Tobin the thinker realized that our boat was battery driven, like my electric motorbike, and at first when he thought it was slowing he got a bit scared. "Let's go back, so it doesn't die in the middle of the lake."

 The best part was letting each child drive (steer) the boat. The three olders did it solo, and loved it.
We even tried to teach Sophia the technique for reverse on a boat and steering, she did get the hang of it a bit, not before I got a little dizzy.

We spent about thirty minutes on the water and enjoyed every second.
It was a memorable Mother's Day!