I slept fitfully last night, waking up several times and I’m not sure why. Once was from being cold and I needed to add a layer of clothing. I such a cold baby lately! I was also so tired last night that I forgot to put in my ear plugs and didn’t use them until the birds were so loud in their early morning singing. Perhaps that’s why I didn’t sleep well. At one point when I was up, the sky was clear and it looked to be a sunny day. I hoped that it would be a nice warm sunny day. BUT, it was too early to get up yet so I crawled back in my warm bag and slept for a few more hours in blissful silence thanks to my ear plugs.

I finally awoke to my body screaming, once again, at me to move. And, bummer, it was raining….again. Not a hard rain, just a nice soft rain, but rain none the less. I was hoping it would be a passing shower. Isaac was already awake and raring to go for the day - he has so much energy in the morning and I’m sooooooo not like that. It takes me a bit to get moving. We got dressed and headed outside to our little shelter to make breakfast. As I was working on that he went and got the bear vault and claims that something moved it in the middle of the night. I don’t think anyone did - I think that he’s telling me tall tales. But no matter - if it makes the trip adventurous for him then I’ll let him think what he wants. I also didn’t hang the bag with the rest of our food in it - there weren’t any good trees for hanging. I double pack bagged it and covered with the rest of the gear so that if anything large did try to get into it there would be a racket. The only evidence of intruders was mouse turds and a little area on the stuff sack where it tried to chew through - couldn’t do it - only some snags in the material. I don’t have a clue how to hang the bags like they have set up at Sawbill Outfitters. I just took my chances on the double bagging and we were fine . . . this time . . . I don’t have delusions of that always being safe.

Breakfast was Mountain House scrambled eggs and bacon - says serving for one. Even with both of us starving we still didn’t eat the entire package. Of course we each had a fruit cup along with breakfast, but still, those packages really do have a lot of food in them. They’re really made for hungry men and/or teenagers IMHO.

After breakfast was done we kinda sat there and looked at each other - it was still raining and neither one of us wanted to go out in the canoe in the rain. He asked if we could go back into the tent so we did - must have been about 10:30 - not sure though as I said, I don’t usually keep track of the time. We read some more and worked on his story some more. We played silly games and then I got sleepy. I tried to stay awake, but I just couldn’t. I “rested” my eyes - for about 3 hours! Woke up at about 2pm. I remember once looking over at him and he was napping as well. When we were both awake, it was STILL raining - that was such a bummer because I really wanted to do some day trips with him today. As we sat there he asked, “Can we go home? I miss Daddy.” Awwww, that was so sweet, but I wasn’t going to pack up in the rain if I didn’t have to and it was so late in the day so I told him that we’d go home in the morning and he was okay with that.

We went back out to our tarp shelter and had some snacks, made an early supper and visited. I organized the packs and he made a stick dinosaur out of sticks and duct tape - duct tape is good for anything and he can make a dinosaur out of anything - he’s so inventive and creative!

Finally about 6:00 it stopped raining. We got our clothes changed and took the canoe out for a paddle on the lake. We didn’t go too far as the clouds were still looking heavy and I didn’t want to get stuck in the middle of a downpour or a thunderstorm so close to evening. As we paddled around I pumped water into the water jug - that thing works pretty slick though it does make my arms sore. The water was nice and calm and there wasn’t much of a breeze so we just kind of floated around. I let Isaac paddle us wherever he wanted and only ruddered a bit if we needed it.

There was a family of four fishing out on Sawbill and they came into OUR cove - how dare they - to fish. I’m so territorial and I felt like they were intruding on our trip and our solitude - we chose that spot specifically for that. I think they stuck around for about 15 minutes maybe a little longer. Isaac and I must have been too loud and were scaring the fish away so they finally left. We were friendly and said “hi” but just didn’t try to be very quiet. We had chosen that particular spot for the solitude and privacy.

We finally tired of paddling, pulled the boat ashore, tied it down again and headed back up to our shelter - our spot for the day. There would be not campfire tonight everything was way to soaking wet. If I’d been thinking I would have covered some of the wood with a garbage bag, but I didn’t. Oh well, he would have complained about the mosquitoes anyway. They weren’t to bad down in the campsite but holy moly they were bad up by the pot. And, as I predicted he didn’t once use that pot. He peed in other places - such a boy.

Another thing that totally shows his adolescent boyishness is his fascination with bodily functions - namely farting. It’s so funny. Okay, I’m not too much of a girl to admit that I fart just like anyone else. With my pancreas issues it creates a lot of gas and so we started calling them “stink bombs.” He thought that was great. I cannot put into words the laughing and fun he had with that! And of course he had a few of those himself, lol. Good times with my son!

Finally about 8:30 pm the sun came out. Of course. I asked Isaac if it was nice like that tomorrow does he still want to go home and he was torn. We decided to wait until morning to see. We hit the tent, played some more games, read, wrote his story and he played with the glow sticks. For as much sitting around we did that day he really did well and had a lot of fun. It was nice to have him all to myself with no interruptions - phones, TV, games, friends, computer etc. But, I knew that he was really missing his daddy.

We goofed around in the tent until it was dark, took one more potty break and went to sleep. Not much to tell for the day other than we really enjoyed spending quality time together. Like they say, it’s not quantity, it’s quality that matters. In this case I got both.

Again, we both slept in. I slept better last night. I know that both nights he didn’t have any troubles sleeping at all. He never does - especially when he’s tired. We woke to sunny skies and a calm lake - it was gorgeous but everything was still soaking wet and there was no breeze to speak of.

We snacked for breakfast - Isaac had cocoa, chips, cRACKERS AND CANDY - THAT’S Why I’m “da bomb” as a mom. I wasn’t really hungry - but we both ate up the rest of the fruit cups as well. We debated on whether to go home or not - he was really torn but in the end he decided that he wanted to go home today because he really wanted to see dad.

I headed back to the tent to start packing things up and gave him the chore of putting our wet stuff out in the sun to try and dry some of it out before having to pack it all up - everything was absolutely soaked. I was still freezing, had my long johns on under my fleece pants - what a baby I am. However, as I started working on packing things up I did get warm, and the sun was shining in the tent - it felt so good. I had to lay down in there for a little while to enjoy the warmth of the sun - it felt so wonderful. In the mean time I could hear Isaac down by the water tossing rock in - the big kerplunks of bigger rocks and the littler splashes of smaller ones he found. He loves to do that and could sit and toss rocks into the water for hours. Like I said - he doesn’t need much to entertain him. In fact, he only brought two dinosaurs on this trip besides his coloring stuff. And he barely played with the dino’s.

After lying there for, probably too long, I noticed that the wind was coming up. Isaac came running up to the tent and told me that it looked like the waves were going in the the direction that we needed. I explained to him that we wouldn’t truly be able to tell the direction of the wind until we got on open water because we were protected in that little cove and the wind kind of swirled all about in there. I didn’t cherish the thought of fighting an head wind once again, but he really wanted to get going so we moved quicker and got the gear all packed up. It actually didn’t take long. I was surprised that I could get the guide gear tarp back into the original bag WITH the mosquito netting - so often those things don’t fit well. However, it worked and we were packed and ready to go.

I had him do a final canvas of the campsite to make sure we didn’t leave any garbage lying around, made one last trip to the potty, loaded the canoe and shoved off. Paddling through the cove, of course was an easy paddle as it is protected.

Once we got out into open water it was very apparent that we’d be fighting a stiff south wind - a head wind - once again. Ugh I was so frustrated and this one was stronger than the one on Thursday. We struggled a bit, but were able to make it. We were treated to two loons real near our canoe. Because I didn’t want to stop paddling due to the wind I didn’t pull the camera out to get photos.

We stopped at the Island that marks the entry into the BWCA.

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It was a nice place to land; we tied the canoe off on a downed tree and took a few photos. He had fun with that as did I. As we were getting ready to get back in the canoe, Ducks and his party stopped/paddled near and we visited for a few minutes. That was fun and it’s always so nice to put a face to a name. They paddled on as we continued to “play” with our cameras. I wasn’t in any particular hurry to be getting home now that I knew we were close to the campground and canoe landing.

We shoved off from shore and hugged the eastern shore line on the way back. We once again ran into Ducks, this time we stopped and visited a bit longer and asked where each other was from etc. Isaac is so social as well - he thought it was really cool that we met someone from BWCA.com there and he asked if I ever talked to Ducks. I reminded Ducks that he should join us in chat some time. Isaac was surprised that he wasn’t in there - he thinks that all BWCA.com members are chat-a-holics like some of us are. He was cute in his thinking.

Eventually we made it back to the landing, as we saw it in the distance, he actually noticed it first. Isaac hollered “I see it!” he was so excited. We pulled up, unloaded and I portaged one of the packs with me up to the campground to get the van. Again, he was such a trooper helping me out carrying what he could. He helped balance the heavy packs as I got them on my shoulders, helped straightening out the straps if they were crooked. I should have weighed the packs before I left. The gear pack, on the way in, was the heaviest and I almost did a turtle going up the hill towards the campsite. That would have been bad. Anyway, we got the van loaded and I got the canoe up on top of the van all by myself - again, he was a strong little trooper and helped me hold it up so I could walk it to my shoulders. What a little man.

As I was organizing the van and strapping down the canoe he changed into his swim trunks and went swimming in Sawbill at the canoe landing - I’m glad he did that as it was a bit warmer today than it had been. He needed that relaxing fun.

Once I got the van all loaded up, I pulled it off to the side and went down to sit and watch him play and took a few photos. He was too chicken to get all the way wet at first, but finally he did dunk his body, not his head though, and I think there was some shrinkage - you can tell by the look on his face in the photo!

Not sure what time it was when we left, but we made one last trip to the potty and off we went. We stopped several times along Sawbill Trail to take photos of flowers, blow down and the Sawtooth Mountains and at the one overlook.

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Overall we had a fantastic trip and I think that I have a new paddle partner for many years to come. Now we just need to convince his daddy to join us. That's our goal for next year!

We snacked for breakfast - Isaac had cocoa, chips, crackers and candy - that’s why I’m “da bomb” as a mom. I wasn’t really hungry - but we both ate up the rest of the fruit cups as well. We debated on whether to go home or not - he was really torn but in the end he decided that he wanted to go home today because he really wanted to see dad.

I headed back to the tent to start packing things up and gave him the chore of putting our wet stuff out in the sun to try and dry some of it out before having to pack it all up - everything was absolutely soaked. I was still freezing, had my long johns on under my fleece pants - what a baby I am. However, as I started working on packing things up I did get warm, and the sun was shining in the tent - it felt so good. I had to lay down in there for a little while to enjoy the warmth of the sun - it felt so wonderful. In the mean time I could hear Isaac down by the water tossing rock in - the big kerplunks of bigger rocks and the littler splashes of smaller ones he found. He loves to do that and could sit and toss rocks into the water for hours. Like I said - he doesn’t need much to entertain him. In fact, he only brought two dinosaurs on this trip besides his coloring stuff. And he barely played with the dino’s.

After lying there for, probably too long, I noticed that the wind was coming up. Isaac came running up to the tent and told me that it looked like the waves were going in the the direction that we needed. I explained to him that we wouldn’t truly be able to tell the direction of the wind until we got on open water because we were protected in that little cove and the wind kind of swirled all about in there. I didn’t cherish the thought of fighting an head wind once again, but he really wanted to get going so we moved quicker and got the gear all packed up. It actually didn’t take long. I was surprised that I could get the guide gear tarp back into the original bag WITH the mosquito netting - so often those things don’t fit well. However, it worked and we were packed and ready to go.

I had him do a final canvas of the campsite to make sure we didn’t leave any garbage lying around, made one last trip to the potty, loaded the canoe and shoved off. Paddling through the cove, of course was an easy paddle as it is protected.

Once we got out into open water it was very apparent that we’d be fighting a stiff south wind - a head wind - once again. Ugh I was so frustrated and this one was stronger than the one on Thursday. We struggled a bit, but were able to make it. We were treated to two loons real near our canoe. Because I didn’t want to stop paddling due to the wind I didn’t pull the camera out to get photos.

We stopped at the Island that marks the entry into the BWCA.

It was a nice place to land; we tied the canoe off on a downed tree and took a few photos. He had fun with that as did I. As we were getting ready to get back in the canoe, Ducks and his party stopped/paddled near and we visited for a few minutes. That was fun and it’s always so nice to put a face to a name. They paddled on as we continued to “play” with our cameras. I wasn’t in any particular hurry to be getting home now that I knew we were close to the campground and canoe landing.

We shoved off from shore and hugged the eastern shore line on the way back. We once again ran into Ducks, this time we stopped and visited a bit longer and asked where each other was from etc. Isaac is so social as well - he thought it was really cool that we met someone from BWCA.com there and he asked if I ever talked to Ducks. I reminded Ducks that he should join us in chat some time. Isaac was surprised that he wasn’t in there - he thinks that all BWCA.com members are chat-a-holics like some of us are. He was cute in his thinking.

Eventually we made it back to the landing, as we saw it in the distance, he actually noticed it first. Isaac hollered “I see it!” he was so excited. We pulled up, unloaded and I portaged one of the packs with me up to the campground to get the van. Again, he was such a trooper helping me out carrying what he could. He helped balance the heavy packs as I got them on my shoulders, helped straightening out the straps if they were crooked. I should have weighed the packs before I left. The gear pack, on the way in, was the heaviest and I almost did a turtle going up the hill towards the campsite. That would have been bad. Anyway, we got the van loaded and I got the canoe up on top of the van all by myself - again, he was a strong little trooper and helped me hold it up so I could walk it to my shoulders. What a little man.

As I was organizing the van and strapping down the canoe he changed into his swim trunks and went swimming in Sawbill at the canoe landing - I’m glad he did that as it was a bit warmer today than it had been. He needed that relaxing fun.

Once I got the van all loaded up, I pulled it off to the side and went down to sit and watch him play and took a few photos. He was too chicken to get all the way wet at first, but finally he did dunk his body, not his head though, and I think there was some shrinkage - you can tell by the look on his face in the photo!

Not sure what time it was when we left, but we made one last trip to the potty and off we went. We stopped several times along Sawbill Trail to take photos of flowers, blow down and the Sawtooth Mountains and at the one overlook.

Overall we had a fantastic trip and I think that I have a new paddle partner for many years to come. Now we just need to convince his daddy to join us. That's our goal for next year!