One day, Jackson went to visit his great-grandparents, great-uncles and aunts and cousins. They went to Uncle Bob’s house. Jackson was so surprised – the ocean was in Uncle Bob’s back yard! And at the dock was a shiny new boat. Jackson had never ridden in a boat before! “Come on Jackson,” Jackson’s mommy said, “We are going to go for a boat ride!”
Jackson, Mommy and Daddy stood on the dock while Uncle Bob and Aunt Paulette got the boat ready to go. Suddenly, Cousin Taylor pointed to something white and billowy in the water. “Look, Jellyfish!” she shouted.
“Jellyfish?” thought Jackson. He had never heard of a jellyfish before. “Oh!” his mommy exclaimed. “Do you see the jellyfish Jackson? Jellyfish can sting you – ouch!” But Cousin Liz explained, “Actually, those are moon jellyfish and they don’t sting – isn’t that cool?” Everyone agreed it was.
When the boat was ready, Jackson had to put on a life jacket. He did not like it! It was bulky and squished his cheeks. He whined about it a little bit. “You have to wear it,” Jackson’s daddy explained. “It will help you float if you accidently fall out of the boat. So Jackson tried to get used to it.
Everybody climbed into the boat and they set off through the harbor. They went very slowly at first, looking at all the other boats resting near their houses. When they got to open water, Uncle Bob started to go faster… and faster, and faster! The boat, and Jackson bounced through the waves. Jackson was a little nervous. He held on tightly to his mommy. “It’s ok Jackson,” she said. “Just hold on tight – it’s so much fun!” Pretty soon Jackson was having fun. The wind blowed through his hair and tiny droplets of water sprayed his face.
Then, they saw something big and white floating on the water. “It’s a buoy,” shouted Cousin Nic. And on top of the buoy were two big sea lions! They were resting. Below them, there were more sea lions playing in the water. “Wow!” said Jackson.
They went further around the harbor and pulled up next to some very large ships. “Honk, honk,” said Jackson, remembering that that is the sound a ship’s horn makes. There were cranes and shipping containers all over the ship. It was amazing! Then, they saw a very famous ship, the Queen Mary!
After a long boat ride, Jackson was very tired. Jackson, Mommy & Daddy said bye-bye to aunts, uncles and cousins got in their car to ride home. Jackson thought about how much fun it was to ride about… and then… he drifted off to sleep.
That’s my Captain Jackson! I hope that isn’t the S.S. Minnow he’s cruising around in.
He’s getting so big! What a fun adventure