Kayaking with Miss Mackenzie

It is almost a year beyond when this occurred but here is the long awaited video of Miss Mackenzie kayaking with Gee! (Scroll to the bottom of this post for the video.)

It was a beautiful sunny day but one more optimally suited for sailing because it was so windy. Adam was out on the sailboat so Sheila and I headed for the kayaks with Lukey and Kenzie. The kids kept track of Adam the entire time we were out there and Adam whizzed by us a few times to say hello. 

As we got dressed for the kayaks, Lukey grabbed Papa's NASA ballcap and Kenzie decided to wear Gee's large-brimmed hat. In hindsight, we should have packed the top of Gee's hat with a t-shirt or something so it wouldn't keep sliding down over Kenzie's face. This year, we have hats and stylish sunglasses for the kids. 

The lake on this particular morning was very choppy which made any video I captured with a camera mounted on the bow of a kayak very bouncy, wobbly and, unfortunately, almost nauseating to watch. If you splash yourself with some water occasionally, you'll think you are in the kayak with Kenzie and Gee! (I applied some 'stabilization' in post-processing to remove most of the sudden jerkiness caused by the wind and waves but it is still very easy to see how much the kayaks were bobbing, rocking and wobbling.)

Later in this video, you can hear the kids pointing out every buoy we pass... excitedly pointing and shouting out "Ba-Ba-Buoy!!!" like they are active members of the Howard Stern fan club. (Check out the 9:00 minute mark.)

Kenzie proved she is an exceptionally good lily pad patch spotter. She would guide Gee over to every patch of lily pads so she could pick a flower. At the end of the video, I have a shot of her giving Lukey one of the flowers. We also passed by some ducks, some ducklings and a couple of loons. (I've shown those photos in other blog entries.)

I've come to realize that I have far too many video clips with wind pummeling the camera's built-in microphone. I really need to invest in a decent microphone that has an effective wind sock! Those strong wind noises drive me crazy...  although, sometimes it can add to the video if one of the purposes of the video is to show the weather conditions. This video, however, was not one of them. This is video is focused on little Miss Mackenzie. I definitely would have preferred to minimize the wind noises. One of these days... (It is already on my long photography wish list.)

We're looking forward to getting back out on the lake... only a few more weeks to go!  

Maybe I should try to put together more videos from last year at the lake house before I add more photos and videos from this year...

In hindsight, I should probably also add the video of Lukey kayaking with me early one morning...