“It looks like it to me.”
“Oh wow. I didn’t think ‘bout ‘guanas. I want a picture.” He maneuvered around to get his phone out of the waterproof pack. “Paddle closer, Daddy.”
Ever so slowly, I moved closer to the shore, hoping I didn’t scare it off before Cody could get his picture. “Easy…”
He snapped his camera several times. “Wait and let me look.” As he flipped through the pictures he had taken, the iguana got nervous and skittered away. “Oh. Damn.”
“Language.”
“Oops. Sorry, Daddy. But I did get one good one.” He stuffed his phone back into the pouch to keep it safe.
“I’m sure we’ll see more before the end of the day.”
“I hope so. Joey will love it. Oh! Here they come. Joey!” He waved his hand in the air, and Vince paddled over to us.
“I’m getting the hang of this. Slowly.”
“You can swim, right?” I asked.
“Yes. Both of us can.” Vince nodded his head.
“Then we should go out deeper. If you tip over, it’s an easier fall.” I started angling us out.
Cody kicked his feet in the water. “Guess what, Joey?” He didn’t wait even half a second for Joey to actually guess. “I saw a ‘guana.”
“A what?”
“You know. A ‘guana. It’s a big pre’storic-looking lizard. Lalalala…” Cody stuck his tongue out and wiggled it around.
“I don’t think they do that.” I chuckled.
“Whatever.” He rolled his eyes and Joey giggled.
“I want to see a ‘guana too, Daddy.” He looked up at Vince, who was, by all accounts, concentrating very hard on keeping the board moving in the direction he wanted to go.
“I’m sure we’ll see some.” His face was not relaxed.
Crow and Skyler paddled up next to us, with Skyler also sharing the board with his daddy. “Hey, all.”
The iguana story came up again. As we floated along, the boys were occupied with watching the shoreline for more lizards. They didn’t see any right away, but there was a snowy white egret stalking fingerlings near the shoreline for them to ogle and take pictures of.
We still weren’t moving much, though, since we were waiting for the other two little-parties. It didn’t take much longer for them to join us with Danny and Lee on one board and Levi and Hudson on another. Danny and Levi were best friends, but Danny had previously been closer to Skyler. All the littles got along well, but Crow worried about Skyler sometimes. He wasn’t a little or a pup, and he wasn’t all that into BDSM either, although, according to Crow, they did play that way sometimes. Skyler was adaptable and easygoing, and he seemed to gravitate toward our littles. I didn’t know whether that was because Crow was my best friend or, as I suspected, because he might be a middle. He naturally took on the role of babysitter for them. Either way, the four of them were chatting and pointing things out along the way as we headed around the islands.
We went out away from our site for a few hours, staying relatively close to the shore, and then found a spot to stop for lunch. I was getting hungry for sure. We ate sandwiches and fruit that we’d packed, and the boys all swam for a bit. Then we packed up, not leaving anything behind, and headed back toward camp. Thankfully, Vince had managed not to tip the board and seemed a lot more relaxed on the way back.
Along the way, there were more birds, iguanas hanging out in the trees, and at one point, several stingrays darted underneath our boards. Joey squealed and pulled his feet up on the board. Cody giggled, but not in a mean way. “They won’t hurt you unless you step on ‘em.”
“I’ll just be safe though.”
Osprey flew above us, hunting for their own lunch, and Crow pointed them out. But none of that compared to the moment Danny spotted a dolphin. “Ohmygawd-ohmygawd. Look, look, look.” Everyone looked in the direction he pointed and gestured to.
A second later, two dolphins bobbed up out of the water, and all the boys squealed. All the daddies turned the paddleboards so we could paddle closer, but the dolphins weren’t having that. They disappeared. “Whoa. They stay under the water a long, long time.” Cody pointed out toward the open water. “There they are waaaay out there.”
“Did anyone get a picture?” It was a memory they would want to keep, but no one had their phones out.
“Rats.” Cody splashed the water beside the board. “Next time, I’ll get them.” Even without pictures, I was pretty sure it was a moment they’d never forget.
The closer we got to the campground, the more the boys splashed and played, until finally a couple of them went into the water. Cody jumped in right after them. It was a good thing we had as many daddies as boys to keep watch on them, and we circled them as they swam and played. Eventually, they each found their boards again. Cody draped his upper body over the top of the board instead of getting all the way on.
