One House, Two House, Red House, Blue House, One Boat, One First Ride.

Madeline Rose’s first boat ride

We got this wonderful note from Bob Kays regarding a local family on Racoon Island. It’s moments like this that represent all thats good in our universe, and how we are all part of a big circle of life!

Come on Bob, speed this thing up. I’m gonna be a teeneager by the time we get out there.

Maddie’s first boat ride.

In 1956 my Grandfather bought a house( Blue House ) on Raccoon Island in Lake Hopatcong. In 1960 he bought ( Brown House) the house behind it, both waterfront. I spent the first two summers of my life in the Blue House.
Last spring we decided to sell the Blue House as we did not need the space any longer. We were fortunate to sell it to a nice young couple, James and Ashley that grew up on a mid west lake. They fit right in to Island life.

Lil Maddie, Maddie Mom, and Mr Maddie

This spring James and Ashley introduced us to the newest islander, their daughter, Madeline Rose. So now Madeline is spending her first summer in the same place as me. We were fortunate to babysit and play with this little sweetie.
On October 20th it was the one year anniversary of the passing of Ashley’s mom after a long illness.

This is what life is all about.

Ashley asked if we could honor her Mom with Maddie’s first boat ride in the Chris Craft. Maddie would be wearing an outfit her Grandma bought her. It has a Raccoon theme.

She’s got the hang of it!

October 20th brought us a rainy day. I normally don’t take Relax out in the rain, but anything for Maddie! So we bundled up and out we went. Now a new Woody Boater

Wooohooo!

A special note to our readers. AKA Peanut Gallery. Trolls, and Fake Me. Maddie did wear a life jacket for the boat ride. For the photos though, it was decided to take it off for a minute. No Honey Booboo stuff here.

 

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13 replies
  4. Kelly A Wittenauer
    Kelly A Wittenauer says:

    That’s the way – get them started early! And yes, I was going to say get that cutie a life jacket. Glad to hear she wears one.

  7. Lee Moreau
    Lee Moreau says:

    That Bob Kays..the Mayor of Raccoon Island…is quite the guy. He loves his Lake and Island life and enriches it with his contributions everyday. Thanks Bob

  8. floyd r turbo
    floyd r turbo says:

    What a cutie. Maddie has that look of concern on her face like “is the bilge pump working?” and “is this relic going to drop a valve out here in the middle of the lake, is it?”. Soon, she’ll be skating out to that island.

  9. Mark in Ohio (sometimes da U P )
    Mark in Ohio (sometimes da U P ) says:

    Great story. A good way to introduce the next generation into woody boating. I took my first boat ride at 6 weeks old. We took our kids boat riding when they were both 6 to 8 weeks old. It makes them enjoy boating for life.

  11. Dick Dow
    Dick Dow says:

    Then and now – Our son Paul and Kathy in “Tango” when he was 13 months old, taken in Portland, June, 1991 during the Columbia River Odyssey our ACBS group did and May 2018 with his wife Kristi standing next to “Aknota” during the annual Opening Day celebration in Seattle. There are lots of cruising adventures ahead!

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