When my sister and I were little, my parents made us a chore chart for the summer. It wasn’t one of those pretty, dry-erase bad-boys you see on Pinterest with cutsie ribbon and magnets. It was old school poster board with lines drawn on with the help of the local feed co-op wooden yardstick. The goal: Do our chores and don’t fight (can I get an ‘amen’ from the gals with a sister 2.5 years younger than them?). The reward: A trip to Six Flags! Or so we thought.

Half way through the summer, my parents took a day trip to Springfield to visit the exotic Bass Pro Shop (romantic, huh?). When they returned home that evening, what was strapped to the top of our family’s 1981 Mazda GLC? A brand new Old Town canoe. My mother went on to explain, “You girls have done such a great job with your chore chart, we thought we would reward the family with something that we can use over and over again.” This news was not well-received, to say the least. My sister and I sulked around the house for the next couple of weeks feeling sorry for ourselves because we didn’t get to go to Six Flags.

Fast forward 25 summers and guess what was strapped to the top of our Jeep last weekend, on its way to the Buffalo River? Yup, the Six Flags Old Town. Guess my parents knew what they were talking about!

It was a fabulous day in the river and it was documented in style by my dear friend and uber-blogger, Sarah Martin Hood. Check it out! Musings of Motherhood