I would second Cyli's recommendation for a canoe. When my kids were
young we got a used Mad River Explorer (15+ years ago). There was plenty
of room for the four of us to paddle together, and I took them out quite
often by myself. It worked out well for us.

Troy76 wrote:
Since having kids my wife and I haven't been able to get out in the
rivers as much. We have a 2 and 5 yr old. 2 years ago I saw a pontoon
fishing boat at Sportsman's Warehouse that had a smaller seat behind
the main seat...perfect for a child. Of course now we can't find this
model and none of the sporting goods shops has seen anything similar in
their catalogs. We want something that is very portable and doesn't
require 2 people to put in or operate (sometimes we like to go out on
the water by ourselves).

For those of you with small children, how have you dealt with this
situation? Did you just quit enjoying the rivers until they were
older? Or did the kids stay home with the other parent or a
babysitter?

We want to go out as a family on the rivers rather than leave the kids
at home with a babysitter. My wife works full time and I'm in college
full time so time with our kids is important.

Thanks for your input...