This past weekend was a long weekend.. It was also a VERY busy weekend for Mr. J. At the start of summer, we made our
Bucket List for Summer 2013. Two of the items on the list were having a sleepover and going to my aunt's cottage. Both of those were crossed off the list.
Saturday he was invited to his Gramz house with my niece and nephew for a sleepover, he was really looking forward to it and according to him they had a lot of fun. It was a late night (11:15) but he did sleep in a bit in the morning.
Mr. K and I headed the next morning and we all (my mom, the boys and I as well as my brother and his family) packed up and headed to Golden Lake. It's about a 90 minute drive from where we live, and we were spending the day up there with my aunt and uncle.
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The trunk packed up, the boys ready to go, timbits from our routine stop at Tim Hortons and finally, playing on the beach (they didn't even want to get their swimsuits on right away - they needed to get to the sand) |
The kids all had a blast playing on the beach and in the water. Even though Golden Lake is super shallow, and they can walk out quite far with the water not rising above their knees - I am still not comfortable without them having some kind of flotation device. Traditional life jackets are uncomfortable to wear (even for me as an adult) and they don't like them. I was recently sent a Stearns Deluxe Puddle Jumper to test out with my youngest son. I knew that heading to the cottage was a great time to do it.
The design of the puddle jumper is much different than a traditional life jacket or PFD; there are arm bands that are attached to a middle piece, with a single buckle that does up in the back making them easy for adults to get on and off the kids. Another awesome feature is the material is Anti-Microbial (helps inhibit growth of bacteria) They are designed as a swim aid and help to give kids confidence in the water. Puddle Jumpers come in a variety of designs (the one we were sent is orange/red with a crab - and I purchased the blue one for my older son, knowing that he would also want one)
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Here you can see the design, the arm bands and the piece for the torso; on the back of the Puddle Jumper, it has instructions and tells you which arm goes where and there is a picture of how it should look |
I have heard other moms raving about Puddle Jumpers for quite some time, but until now had not tried them out with my kids. I am amazed. Even having just finished swimming lessons, my oldest is nervous around water. After giving the Puddle Jumper a try, his fear has lessened. My youngest, on the other hand never had a fear at all, and this gives me some peace of mind knowing that if he does escape from me and end up in the water, that his head will stay above.
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Mr. K wearing his brand new Deluxe Puddle Jumper - watching his brother jump off the dock |
We took a break from the water for a bit and they played in the sand, then we headed across the road to get the kids ice cream cones; afterwards, we played some more and had dinner (well, minus my niece and Mr. J because they were digging in the sand and making a large puddle.
It was so nice making our trek up to Golden Lake; not so relaxing for me since Mr. K has almost ZERO attention span; added in to the fact that there is a 3 year age gap between him and the older kids made for a long day. Even still, it was fun. I thought for sure they would fall asleep on the way home, but that was not the case. Mr. J slept for about 15 minutes, but Mr. K was awake the entire trip. He did however, sleep in this morning for me which meant that I got to wake up at 6:30am instead of 5 (but this is rare).
Have you used a Puddle Jumper before? What are your thoughts?
**Tales of Mommyhood was sent a Deluxe Puddle Jumper for review; all opinions expressed belong to Tales of Mommyhood and your experience/opinion may vary**