Welcome to our world!: River Rat Family

We took Nayeli on her 1st rafting trip down a section of the Verde River yesterday. Our friend Kevin, and his sister Laura, joined us on our little adventure. It was a beautiful sunny day with very few people on this section of the river. This is the time for running Arizona's rivers because the snow will soon be all melted and the rivers will become little creeks--unrunable by raft or kayak. So we had to make sure that Nayeli got a taste of river life and the outdoor adventures to come with her crazy parents.

Before you call Child Protective Services on us know that for safety we made sure that Nayeli had her infant PFD on at all times. We considered putting the car seat in the raft with her in it, but we nixed that plan thinking that the car seat would not float in case of a freak accident. So we put her in an action packer (a sturdy tote) that we tied to the raft and built her a little nest inside for her comfort. She thoroughly enjoyed the ride and was in and out of sleep for the trip. She especially liked the little rapids (class 1 at the most) we went through--on the last one she got sprayed in the face by some water, which woke her from her beauty sleep with a funny jump and but not one peep! She was such a trooper! I made sure to put lots of natural sunscreen on her face, but even so she got a funny pacifier tanline around her mouth...we need to get her a wide brimmed hat for these trips in the intense Arizona sun.

We also visited some Anasazi cliff dwellings that are off the river. The only time Nayeli became upset was when we put her in the Kangaroo sling to climb up to the dwellings....she does not like the Kangaroo sling at all....I think it's because she's not used to her arms and legs dangling in the air.

All in all it was such a fun trip and it has Joe and I already planning for next weekend's outdoor adventure with our girl--do you think summitting Mt. Humphrey's would be too much for a baby?