Our Canoe Trip down the St. Croix River in May of 2007.
We all decided to stand around while Bruce taught Maddy how to canoe, it was her first time.
"Okay so this is how you hold a paddle..."
The crew. Maddy having a very hard time squeezing in.
Holy Bruce bottom! Oh well, we can deal with that since he helped us all in.
Nice picture taking skills Mike... you got Nicole in her almost flip.
Yes Jenn, thats a paddle...you put it in the water and push. It makes you go forward...or you could just make Mike do all the work.
Matching rain suits. Good work guys! You both match each other AND the canoe...you deserve an award.
That's it Brandon...Brace that canoe cuz Ryan's jumping in! Like it or not!
Yay, Bruce finally got in his own canoe. We are all set to go! Um, Maddy...this is where you start paddeling.
Woot, rapids! Mike is getting right into it here. No messing around for him. Jenn on the other hand...
Nicole and her little boat! Yes, its so little that it is pretty much engulfed by the water...that's how she rolls.
Ryan not pulling his weight as usual. All he appears to be doing is causeing drag (and if you look at that hat you will see that I mean that in more than one sense of the word. ;-) )
Yeah Maddy! Paddle that canoe...Bruce, pay attention! Maddy has a problem seeing rocks.
Can anyone else see the rock off to the left? Maddy and Bruce are definatly going to hit it, cuz they are good like that.
An old car we (Mike and Jenn) found. Quite nifty.
Lunch Break!
Bruce contemplating by the river.
Nicole is looking like she is a wee bit scared of those falls... but who's worried?!
Eating KD. And no, Maddy isn't hiding her face to prevent it from breaking the camera, there were flies everywhere and she was freaking out.
Brandon is trying to eat his KD before the flies do.
The start of the falls. Bruce and Maddy are giving it a go. Maddy you really need to watch for rocks here.
If you look at all of the pictures Maddys and Bruces run down the fall, Maddy isn't doing anything in any of them.
You are coming to a water fall...Ryan that usually means putting your paddle in the water and at least looking like you're doing something!
Nicole has gone over the first fall and you cannot see her kayak at all...is that a bad thing? I think not!
Okay maybe Nicole can't open bags, but shes an okay kayaker so you have to give her credit for that.
Jenns blueberry juice bottle! Haha the beloved juice from her famining (She was doing the 30 hour famine during much of this trip). It's what kept her alive.
Mike proudly sitting at our campsite. That's right, we are competent enough to make a half decent site.
Brandon decided to make a swing?
Nicole is very wet and wishes to be alone with her barrel so she can change into something dry...get the camera out of here!
Ryan is trying to be fast and disappear but the hat is just too funny its not working out for him.
Ah! Brandons successful swing. We were so very proud of him...so we pretty much took it over, haha.
No, Nicole isn't smelling Jenns armpit. She is attemping to push Jenn on Brandons sketchy swing.
Nicole realizes that her face is all up in Jenn and she starts laughing and Jenn is like, What?! Keep pushing!
Mike and Jenn quickly volunteered to "hold him up" so he could fix the swing.
Mike is tired so he's resting on his hunnybun.
Mike Brown is skillfully trying to cook our steaks on the fire. They were so good.
Oh crap! One fell into the coals...that one definatly goes to Maddy!
Maddy: I don't understand this contraption! Jenn: Its a bowl/plate stupid, just put your food in it!
Brandon...you can't fall asleep while getting your food...that could result in many hurtful burns.
Ah, the lovely tarp that we set up so we could cower under it if it happened to rain!
This would be where Bruce was sleeping...during the DAY!
Yes! We managed to convince the old folk to try out the swing... No, it actually didn't break!
Bruce looking delightful with his pretty pink flower. It remains a mystery as to where he got it.
Sigh...packing up to leave the site. So many memories...and the swing had to come down :-( .
Only Jenn could bring two right boots to a venturer trip.
Back on the river again! This was the day that it did rain, it was wet and cold. We loved it!
Brandon and Ryan heading into some faster water.
Nicole and her little boat again...so cute.
A view of the river up ahead...nothing exciting. YET!
There's the flower! We love you Bruce! You're um... unique?
Nothing funner than cooking lunch in the rain!
This is the place where we got dry wood. The inside of a dead tree. Not only is Bruce pretty but he's also very resourceful.
For once people, we were sucessful! Fire!
Mike is looking overly happy (as always!) now that the rain has ceased. The water was so calm.
Yay! Mike agian! This is our fearless leader. We all love him!
The whole group besides Bruce and Maddy, the picture takers.
This picture sums up about half of the second day for Mike and Jenn, Jenn decided to be silly and lie down/poke Mike with a paddle while he did all the work.
The kayakers!
The water was soo calm.
Here you can watch a video of Mike and Jenn owning the falls. The falls didn't know what hit it.
