Boats, Boats, Boats

Teddy loves boats. Like most things, this is both a good and a bad thing. It brings him great joy when he's able to ride in boats, and he enjoys seeing them and it leads to fixation and frustration at times when the elusive boats are off limits to him. 

Such was the case a couple years ago when our neighbors got a pontoon boat that had to be stored in their driveway for a month or two before they could get a dock slip. Teddy was OBSESSED. He woke up early, ran downstairs and tried to escape to the boat. He'd sit and stare out the window for hours at the boat. He didn't want to go to bed because there was a boat outside. He started clapping the minute we turned on our road because his boat was in their driveway. 

Needless to say, their boat was the bane of our existence for those weeks. And since we're friends with them, they knew it and heard many a joking comment about it (except we really weren't joking every time). Since then, the boat has only been at their house periodically, and Teddy gets just as excited. It's more manageable when it's a couple hours or a day, not a constant torture.

Our neighbors asked several times last year if we were home to go for a boat ride, but our busy lives never connected. So it remained on my goal board for this year, and Teddy's dreams came true the other week. 

Pure joy and giggles for most of the ride!

We're heading into fall here in Wisconsin, which means you never know exactly what the weather will feel like because 60 degrees could mean shorts and a tank top or it could mean long pants and a sweatshirt, all dependent upon the wind, sun and clouds. Our boating day happened to be the sweatshirt side of life, with light sprinkles of rain when we started. 

Thankfully, that didn't deter our neighbors because it certainly didn't deter Teddy's joy. As our friend said, "Teddy is certainly the most excited person to ever be on our boat." His sheer love of the moment is contagious, which meant we all had a great time puttering out on Lake Winnebago a bit and checking out the river to Lake Butte Des Mort. Teddy and I often run and walk along the river because it's great boat watching to entertain Teddy, but we've never been on the water. So I loved seeing everything from the water, especially our Oshkosh murals. 

Captain Teddy even got a turn at the helm.

We're so grateful to have such great neighbors ... in so many more ways than this. But to take several hours out of your day on a Packers Sunday in kind of lackluster weather to bring pure joy to Teddy is pretty darn cool.

Teddy with his favorite of our neighbors ... at least at that moment!