Relaxing at the Riva - good for the soul...

Relaxing at the Riva Howse today...

- got brilliant smiles and laughs from my niece Taylor. No matter how blue you might be feeling - she just brightens the world with her laugh. A few weeks ago she abandoned her insistence on being gently lowered into the water...she now runs and throws herself off the dock! She likes to jump to me and shrieks with laughter when I pretend she might land on me!

- got warm and wonderful hugs from my nephew Braeden. The end of season water has turned a wee bit chillier already! Braeden is almost as happy in the water as me (and I regularly hang out in the river for a

couple of hours at a time) and I think he senses the summer's end. I remember that feeling from my childhood. When we would go to the pool on a Sunday afternoon and the shadows would fall earlier...the breeze would chill you quicker...and I knew that it wouldn't be long before the pool was closed. I would stay in the water from the time we walked through the gate until my family was ready to walk out of the gate ("please? just a few more minutes?"). I just wanted to savor the experience as long as possible - I wasn't sure if we would be able to come back before the season ended. Braeden seemed to be in that same place this afternoon. Though cold and shivering in the water - to the point he could really only cling to me for the little body heat I was able to provide - he did not want to get out. And so I did everything that I could to make sure he was able to stay in as much as possible. Maybe I need to get us both wetsuits.

- and I got to swim with the River Fish Jacob. He's come a long way from that fateful afternoon back in June when he got to throw off the constraints of his life jacket. He swims fearlessly. Not always well...but fearlessly. And he still leaves footprints on my stomach...and my heart. He even got into a splashing war with his Uncle CG - and despite being outmatched (Carl's hands and feet are a LOT bigger) - he laughed riotously between the walls of water smashing over his head.

And there were a lot of other awesome people there...and a pretty good dog. Yep, another great Sunday afternoon at the Riva. I hope the weather allows for a bunch more...or at least a couple.

Please? Just a few more minutes?