Adventures!

I guess most people know by now that on Saturdays and Sundays we EAT at 12:00 noon…to the dot…no exceptions!
Well, this past Saturday we had visitors, Ellen, Peter and Larissa Sabo, and Jason Steidl. My boys had just come home from an all week school camp, had no homework and were ready for an ADVENTURE with these older and wiser visitors.
Brandon wanted to show Peter the river so they sat around waiting for a while for Ellen and Larissa to come, but they never did. So, the boys went anyway. Brandon’s last instructions were…Mom, tell Ellen that we will be in the same place we always go. Fine!
Ellen and Larissa came and I gave them the message. They took off right away.
I was fixing stroganoff. Everything was perfect and timed well. It was 12:10, they guys weren’t back so Oscar and I stalled for time drinking the wonderful social drink…terere. It was 12:20. I fed Edson. It was 12:30 and still no kids back from the river. I wasn’t really worried about my kids because 4 people over 22 were with them. Well, Oscar and I became very hungry and started preparing our plates when Ellen came running in the house…all by herself!
Karen…you won’t BELIEVE what is happening. I’m soooo sorry we’re not back for lunch, I KNOW we are supposed to eat at noon, but Peter, Larissa and Brandon are out in a boat and they are caught in the current!!!! They CAN’T get back and there are about 25 fishermen on the shore laughing at them. Jason, Ellen and Gaby did get back to shore. Ellen jumped out of the boat, ran through knee high water, and came home to tell me.
I started laughing and she said…Aren’t you mad, or worried? And I calmly said…Not really (even though I did realize that there was a little bit of danger) I said…They are all in the same boat (ha ha) they are all in the same problem. I doubted that Peter or Larissa would leave Brandon stranded in the middle of the Paraguay River. She got washed up and we sat down to eat.
About 1:00 pm they all came home with their stories. Here are some of the details (that I think I understood), but not in order.
Gaby was in the boat with Peter and Larissa.
Their boat was leaking and water was pouring in. Gaby was trying to scoop the water out with a little box of worms that he found at the back of the boat…but at the same time…save the worms for future fishing. Larissa grabbed for the little box and started scooping harder, telling Gaby that they weren’t going fishing anymore and to forget the worms.
They wanted to go around the island, but the current was too strong.
Brandon and Gaby traded boats. Peter needed more muscle in rowing against the current. Brandon and Peter got two meters ahead and when they rested for a second, went three meters back. All the while the boat was sinking.
The fishermen were enjoying the show!
Finally a motorboat went by and Peter shouted for help…no help came. A little boy and an old man came by to save the day, towing them in.
Larissa, happy to set foot on land, stepped in knee-high black mud, screaming and trying to get to harder ground. As she took each step, mud would be flying through the air. Larissa and Peter assured the fisherman that they were just tourist…as if they couldn’t tell! Brandon and Gaby assured ME that because of the embarrassment, they were never going back.
For Brandon and Gaby, I know this was the ADVENTURE of their lifetime. All for just a $2.00 boat ride!
…I still am laughing as I write this, remembering those ADVENTUROUS days back at the lake on that rickety raft, the huge spider, falling in, running through muck to get to the shore, ripping frogs apart for bait and using homemade fishing poles with safety pins, etc.
Thanks, God, for taking care of us in ALL our ADVENTURES!