Ben turned 31 on Saturday, and the big excitement for him this year was that he got a kayak! He has been pretty obsessed with the idea of kayaking in the lagoons near our house and in Lake Michigan, and when I mentioned this to my friend Katie, she said, “We have a kayak in our storage that he could use!” Apparently a friend has been keeping a kayak here for many years now and has yet to pick it back up, so now we’re storing/using it indefinitely until the guy wants it back (he lives in another state now).
The only problem with this fabulous, free kayak was that we didn’t have a way to transport the kayak with our sedan that lacks a rack. So my birthday gift for Ben was a foam/strap set from LL Bean that enables you to strap the kayak onto a regular car – it worked perfectly and Ben picked the kayak on Friday.
So the next issue was that Ben still needs to buy a life jacket (our deal is he can kayak in Lake Michigan ONLY if he is wearing a life jacket). In the meantime, Ben wanted to try the kayak in the canal that isn’t too far from our house. He was convinced that he could just wheel the kayak over rather than deal with driving, so he rigged up our snap and go stroller and started on his way. 
On Monday, Ben put the kayak on the car and went over to the Skokie Lagoons, where he kayaked and fished happily for a few hours. He was SO happy when he came home. Thank you Mark and Katie for letting us use this kayak!!
Below are some pictures from the weekend when we were playing outside. Ben strung a whiffle ball up to a tree so Eli could practice with his baseball bat. It was pretty funny.
And here are some pictures in the swing. Eli was making the funniest expressions that day. 
8 comments:
aren't unstructured, 'daddy-home all day without having to use a vacation day' holidays the BEST days?
It would be great to find out what your neighbors thought when they saw Ben towing that huge kayak down the street himself :-)!
looks like fun! and looks like you're enjoying your new home!
Looks like lots of May birthdays for the Seversons as well. Talk about determination with transporting that kayak. I'm glad he finally was able to get it in the water.
oh those are funny pictures! I am glad that Ben finally was able to use the kayak!
Happy Birthday Ben!
Happy Birthday, Ben. Does this mean you'll fish more? Can you fish from a kayak?
What beautiful pics! And what a beautiful family. I loved the Illinois green in the summer and fall!
Oh man! Joe will be so jealous, he wants a kayak SO BAD!! Maybe he will call you guys up and get info on Kayak shopping.
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