Some of you may know, and some of you may not, but Dekker has been working towards a goal for almost a year. He LOVED his little kayak, and it became clear early on that he needed to size up. So he has been collecting bottles and cans for months in order to earn money to buy his own kayak! All summer, he would go around the campground once a weekend, wagon in tow, to collect bottles from his regulars. His friends tipped off their families, and certain groups would save for him. One of our friends even brought ALL of his bottles and cans from home to give to Dekker!
My mom was a real asset in this area, taking Dekker to Sarcan multiple times, as well as taking him out for drives to look for recyclables that had been discarded in ditches or out in the country. I really appreciate that, mom. And to our friends who have saved for him and dropped them off to us one way or another, we are SO grateful. A couple of months ago, a loving family member sent Dekker a cheque “in place” of the recyclables they had saved for him, and it officially pushed him over the edge into kayak purchasing territory!
Brady began checking our Zak’s online stock, and finally, kayaks showed up! Dekker had a budget, and he was not buckling on his few stipulations, which I actually think was awesome! He did NOT want to just jump at the first thing he could afford. He was intentional 🙂
Dekker wanted an adult sized kayak. Somewhere in the 10-12′ range. He wanted to like the colour, lol! Something darker, he figured. Blue, maybe. He wanted compartments to bring things along with him. And he wanted it to be a sit-in kayak rather than a sit-on kayak.
And the right thing finally showed up 💜
Dekker is the proud owner of a 10′ Pelican blue/green sit-in kayak! And he is THRILLED!
Yes, its wrapped in a bag. And it still is, haha! So there isn’t a better picture of the kayak itself, but Dekkers face is really all you need to see here! He is SO HAPPY.
He loved going to pick it up at Brady’s work. It seemed like everyone knew it was happening, and they were all SO excited for him. They beamed almost as brightly as he was. He was so proud to hand over his wad of cash to the cashier, and she chatted him up, saying she had seen his kayak in the back earlier and was excited for him to be able to bring it home. He was a star!
All of this being said, its not quite over! Dekker has a bit of money left over, and he’s still saving for a bit longer. Not a single one of us thought about a paddle 😅 So we laughed about that, haha! They’re not super expensive. He’ll get one soon!
Beyond that, his plan has always been to get set up with a kayak, and then a music player. He wants to go for kayak adventures and listen to music. Which I can completely get behind! We found an awesome little device called a Mighty, which is basically an iPod shuffle, but for Spotify users, which we are. Its meant for kids, can hold a bunch of songs, and doesn’t need an actual device alongside it to make it play. No wifi or bluetooth necessary. Just a battery. Its perfect for what he is looking for! So he still has some saving up to do, but this was the BIG part, and he is SUCH a happy guy!!!
I thank you again, friends, for putting into him and his excitement this way! He is learning a lot about money and working and responsibility. He’s thinking smart, and making good choices, and I am SO proud of him. And he couldn’t have been this successful without everyone’s help 💜 So thank you. Very much.