Fishing trip

Had a great Father's day fishing at the Kids Pond!

First fishing of the year

The kids are on Spring Break this week - which is kinda dumb because around here it is really still very much WINTER!!! Little J was getting fishing antsy... so we decided to load up and take a trip down to one of the small lakes. We caught nothing, broke two rods and Miss O lost interest pretty quick!

Just the three of us

Today was sorta a hum ho kinda morning! Little J really wanted to go to yet another Fishing Derby... after the last one - I was not up to the challenge!! I told him that I would take him to another pond..... As we were getting to leave... Little Miss "ME-TOO" made her displeasure known that she, too wanted to go fishing... I decided to take her if I could take a chair.... so off we went!


We must have picked the slimiest section of the pond, since we were losing worm after worm and catching nothing!


We saw a pair of adorable little orphaned mallard ducklings.. they had no fear, but we left them alone! We also saw a muskrat, a huge bass swim by and a few ospreys!


Miss O thought she would help supervise Little J and his worm-ing skills!


I knew this would happen! Lost my chair to the princess! She gave up on fishing pretty dang quick!!

We were lucky enough to have a beautiful day!!

Fishing Derby

I took Little J and Miss O to the first Fishing Derby of the year! The kids had a really rough start (Mom included!!) Little J made a mess out of the pole - by getting hooked in weeds and brush on the way in... major mess... then he had problems casting... then of course he went from Mr. Hyde to Dr. Jekyl... yep - the behavior went in the toilet!! Since HE IS the master fisherman in the family.. not catching anything in the first hour and a half really got his goat! Everyone around us was constantly bringing them in! Finally, near the end of the Derby, he started catching little tiny Sunfish! In the end, he caught 2 small trout and three small (really really small) sunfish! The picture above shows Miss O holding the ever-popular Barbie pole and Little J was holding her fish - her one and only that she caught! Look hard - its there - just REALLY tiny!! hehe!


Miss O enjoyed doing more sunbathing than fishing!!

Weekend fishing

This weekend, we decided to try out a different fishing pond. For the first time in many years, I got a fishing license... just to be legal when I had to hold the poles! haha!
This was a pond we have never tried. After about 30 minutes, the hubby and I were ready to pack it up. Big Al had cast into the trees over head twice, Little J kept losing his worms... the hubby was getting sick of being everyones "fishing guide" (meaning me - I don't touch worms!) and it was getting late... then WHAMMMMMMOOOOOO!

Miss O said "I got something!"... We assumed it was just a big weed, since there was alot of vegetation... nope - she reeled in a cute little perch or something! Her first fish of the season! She was QUITE happy with her self!
About 5 minutes later, Big Al screams that he has one.. another cute little spiny fish... Little J was starting to have a "moment" and got really hacked off - since he is the only one who really LOVES fishing (according to him!)! I then had a bite on my line, so I handed it to Little J to reel in... thinking that I was being nice by letting him catch one on my pole! The whole time he was whining about how it was MY fish, not his (ummm yeah - I have not actually caught a fish on my own in more years than I care to admit!) Within minutes, he had one on his pole... and the excitement was back! We ended up catching about 7 or 8 of these little guys.. they all survived and are now living in our pond! The kids all ended up having fun and only the hubby came home fishless! He tried to be a good sport about it!! haha!



All three kiddos having a good time at their "favorite" new pond!

Spring Break Fishing

Spring Break this year was pretty laid back! We stayed around here and the kids just hung out and relaxed! Since the weather was ok, we ended up going fishing one day. All three kids did ok... unfortunately, Captain Little J caught NOTHING, and made sure that EVERYONE had to feel the wrath of his disappointment! Big Al, though, caught the king of the pond... a whopper of a trout! We did release him back, as he was too big for the bucket AND the kids were not in the mood to eat trout (nor was I in the mood to attempt to clean trout! haha)
Miss O lost interest after about 45 minutes and went off to search for "wabbits"!

Weekend Fishing

We took the kids fishing this weekend to one of the local ponds, just to get them out of the house... and of course, Little J was in a fishing "Mood"! We said we were only going to stay a little bit!

As I gave the final warning to leave (the kids had not caught anything yet!) within minutes, Little J had one on! Not long after that, Big Al caught one too! Poor Miss O caught nothing and was kinda upset!

The last hurrah before school

Yesterday I took the boys fishing for a last little hurrah before school started today! We went to Mattoon Lake. This was the 3rd time that the boys have ever fished there. The weather was beautiful and in the 80's... I got to enjoy reading a book while sitting in the sun with a whole bunch of peace and QUIET! Miss O got to spend some time with her Nana and Grandpa - so the boys could focus all their energy on fishing!

For some reason - the boys thought that they NEEDED to bring the Barbie fishing pole - though their little sister was not consulted first!

Little J shows off this "whopper" he caught with the Barbie pole... fortunately he caught this one about 10 minutes before I told them it would be time to go home....

10 minutes after the first "deadliest" catch of the day - Little J wrangled in this other huge monster (had to release it - too small!)

Both boys had a good time - there was limited arguments - mostly about who got to use the Barbie pole, of all things, and who got the "bigger" worms - etc... they had some fun together, even though Big Al caught nothing - he kept up a good attitude (for the most part)!

It was sort of the "goodbye" to summer...

The last week in pictures (and comments!)

The last week or so has been fairly uneventful! We have been busy enjoying summer and then cursing the wind when it ruins things! haha!

The photos are sort of backward... so here goes! Above is the boys releasing some of the "mystery" fish that they caught at one of the lakes we went to. They released them into our pond.. probably not the "best" place for the fish... but who knows!

Little J is the "master".... he just Looooooves fishing! He caught four fish on this trip... we were only there an hour - but apparently he had the touch - yet again!

Big Al finally caught his first fish about 15 minutes prior to leaving... Little J let him borrow his "lucky" pole! Big Al ended up catching another fish shortly after this one!

Big Al and Little J had to do all the work! The hubby and I keep procrastinating on getting our fishing licenses! So the boys had to be pretty self sufficient (like usual) with the fishing... AND helping their little sister! Miss O caught one fish - loved it and then was done! She is a fair weather fisher-woman! I don't blame her - I get bored pretty easily too!

Both boys have been busy working with their piggies daily! They have to practice walking them and also getting the pigs used to bathing.. which is almost comical! This weekend the piggies will be weighed, informally, to see if they are on track for the fair.. keep your fingers crossed!

Little j just loves to read! He could be riding his boke, or scooter or motorcycle on this glorious day - but no - he's sitting down with a good book!

Miss O has been a busy little beaver! Here she is drawing with sidewalk chalk! Her constant buddy, Phebe is "helping"! Phebe likes to take the chalk and eat it! Yuck! Miss O also likes to play "birthday" with Phebe... trying to get her to hang out with her in the back yard and have a little party where she sings to Phebe... its really cute!

The hubby and I went away for a night to Cave B winery and Inn... it was reeeeallly nice! I don't drink wine - but the food and the scenery was amazing... and it was sooooooo quiet! It was a nice 18 hour escape that we really needed!

This was the view from our room. Our room was actually built into the hillside and resembled a cave - it was super cool!

Hope everyone else is having a great summer!

A great fishing video - starring Miss O!

This is a cute video of Miss O reeling in her first fish of the season! As you can see and hear, she was not the only one super excited! Both her brothers are great cheerleaders and helpers when it comes to helping their little sis!

More May fishing

Little J and Miss O concentrate hard on fishing! They had a great time!

One of our rules... you catch it, you clean it - you eat it! John and I passed on the trout - we already are fully aware of the wonderful pond-scum taste! The boys ate one trout each.. the cats got one, and the others were returned to the earth via a hole in the garden!

The fishing derby!

I am pretty behind in updating the blog! Here are some pictures from a family fishing day in May!

Miss O caught a fish by herself - using the infamous pink Barbie fishing pole!

Big Al shows off his whooper of a trout - he caught 4 fish total! Wait til you see him try to eat it!

Little J gets very excited about fishing! He ended up catching 3 trout and had a ton of fun!

At the end of the afternoon - Miss O declares that fishing day is over! It was home to clean the trout and eat them! ha

Big Al shows off all four of his trout at the end of the day... it was way too much fish!

2009 Fishing Derby

We took all the kids to the Kiwanis fishing derby at the pond. All the kids had a great time... nothing like hanging out around a stinky pond with kids all over the place "trying" to fish! HAHA!
Both boys caught 2 fish each! Big Al won 2nd place in his age bracket for largest fish! It was almost 14 inches long... he got a new tackle box, with some gear and a free pizza! Not bad!
Little J didn't win anything - but he did have a good time!

Big Al with his prize... he was really thrilled to win something!

Little J showing off his first trout that he caught... not a prize winner - but he had fun!

Miss O gave up on fishing and went to play games!

Little J concentrates hard on the fish! He has learned to become more patient when fishing! Too bad he did not use that patience during other times!

Big Al had fun... it was unfortunate that he did not listen to Mama! There was a board in the water - sort of half sitting on rocks... I told him to NOT stand on it... more than once! Before the day was over - he stood on it again and quickly fell in... the stink of pond did not seem to bother him!

Miss O enjoyed about an hour of fishing and then gave up! While she likes fishing - just not very much of it!

Memorial Day Weekend and the story of 4 fish

Saturday - all smiles!
Nope- the Barbie pole did not catch these - but she enjoyed pretending!
4 of these were Big A's - one of them belonged to the grumpy boy on the left!

It's hard to say where to begin!

So - here is a day by day!

Monday - took all three kiddos to the dentist. 2 kiddos - no cavities! Whoo hoo! One kiddo - cavitity and lecture about bad brushing! Went shopping for summer clothes in Wenatchee... no luck finding tank tops for boys - only muscle shirts - ugh!

Tuesday - enjoyed another day of Little J BEGGING to go fishing again.....

Wednesday - continued to "enjoy" the begging for fishing by Little J. Miss O enjoyed pre-school.

Thursday - had follow up appt for Big A (long story....) and continued to remind Little J that fishing will have to wait for the weekend. (can you see where this post is leading??)

Friday - NO SCHOOL! Some idiot decided to make sure that the snow make up day was right before a 3 day weekend! We had days this winter that no sane driver should have been on the roads - BUT NO - the school district does the 2 or 3 hour late start and gets the kids to school... so, the kiddos and I went out to lunch and hung out.

Saturday - The morning was absolutely BEAUTIFUL! We got alot of the garden in and taken care of, yard mowed, weeds killed, dogs washed, went to a BBQ at friends and then made a quick stop off at the pond for yes - FISHING!

Little J caught 2, Big A caught one. Miss O, whom received a brand new fishing pole gave up after about 10 minutes. She found a few little rabbits to watch instead! It started to rain - so we had to leave. Little J is not satisfied!

Sunday - we had rain and wind off and on. Little J was extremely concerned about fishing conditions! He just would not let up! Finally, we caved. We took the boys for a short stint at about 3:30pm. We figured that they would catch one or two - we could call it good! We had some nightcrawlers left over from the day before - so we were set!

The boys both casted off and within 5 minutes - Big Al landed his first fish of the day! Little J was a little honked off and started the tears.... he got over it. Big Al moved to a different side of the pond. 10 minutes later we hear "I GOT ANOTHER ONE!" Now, Little J is getting emotional. The tears start, the crying and the "its not fair"... we give him yet another pep talk, move him to a different spot, and both pray REALLY hard to the fish gods to have one destined for him! 15 minutes later "I GOT ONE! IT'S HUGE!" Big Al has #3 on and reeled in. Now, the high-pitched wailing really begins! It's almost painful to listen to! There were other people at the pond, of course staring and wondering what in the world was wrong with this little guy! Big Al was ON FIRE! He was so excited, he almost burst!

I had to finally tell Little J if he did not stop the crying, we were going to leave. I also had to give him all the "right" lines, about sportsmanship, being happy for others, etc. I also told him that if his big brother caught another, he should congratulate him. I figured that would go out the window! But you have to try, right???

10 minutes later (take a guess what we heard!) Yep - that's right! "I GOT ONE! I GOT ONE! eeeee" So, I run over to Big Al with the net to lend a hand. I had to get away from Little J and his current stretch of one hour whimpering! About 20 seconds after I ran off - Little J shouted to his brother "Good Job Alex" (followed by wailing and sobbing and tears!) I was very proud of him for actually doing one small thing right!

We told Big Al that he had limited out (no more fishing today!) I don't think we could have come anywhere close to consoling Little J if he caught another! So - Little J, still has not had even a small bite, and he is on his last worm! He casted out - was mad because the wind did not cooperate with where he wanted to be - started to cry about that - and WHAM-OLA... got a fish on the line! The comical part - he was really excited and then would whine "I only have one!) I had to pray hard that he would be able to reel it in, and hang on it to.... I was really dreading the fact that if he lost it - we would ALL suffer!

Little J was able to bring it in.... and we HAD to leave! We were tired of the crying, it was raining and it was time to get home, clean all FIVE of the fish and get them on the BBQ! The whole trip home Little J cried, whimpered, complained, etc.... UGH! He did enjoy helping to clean the fish, and got to clean one on his own, so that helped a bit... but oh my! It was alot to tolerate in one short window of time!

To make a really long week short.... he has not asked about going fishing again! haha!

Amy

Sunday Fishing Fun!

He caught this fish so fast - I did not have time to run over with the camera and record him pulling it in! Little J was VERY overjoyed!
Miss O, sitting in my lap, caught this beauty of a rainbow trout... she did NOT want to touch it - but she was thrilled!
Big A catching his first fish of the day! He caught another a little bit later, but released it so that each kid in our family had an even amount - ONE... It was a very kind act!
Miss O lost alot of interest after catching her first trout... she enjoyed watching and running around instead! I helped my nephew, Georgie, by casting and helping him. We found a great spot and he and I reeled in this MONSTER trout - biggest of the day! He had a delayed reaction to the excitement! I was very proud of him - he had more patience than most the other kiddos!
At the end of the extremely successful "family" fishing derby - all the kiddos lined up for a photo opp... hard to get them all the look the same way! Each kiddo caught at least one fish each! So everyone left happy!

Well.... we "told" Little J that we might try fishing again today.... so - 6:15am - he is waking us up, ready to go! UGH! So, we got everyone ready, got breakfast at the McDonald's drivethru, stopped and picked up some nightcrawlers (that would have helped us yesterday!) and headed to the same pond we were at yesterday. Along with cousins, aunt and uncle, we started the "family" fishing derby! Four adults chasing seven kids, that was entertaining!

Everyone was getting all baited up, Little J had his line in the water about 2 minutes and had a fish on! He lost it in the end as is was not hooked well enough - but he was super stoked! After he got new bait - in he cast - and within a few minutes, he had another one on and reeled it in! It was so fast, I could hardly get over there and take a picture, let alone record it!

Miss O caught the next fish with me (parents can't fish at this pond - it is a 14 and under kids pond) so she was on my lap, and I helped her reel it in.. she was happy - but not close to tears with joy like her older brother!

My nephew, Harry, caught the next one... then it was Big A's turn! He lost a big one earlier, so he finally brought his first in.. he was really happy! After Miss O lost interest, I stayed with my nephew Georgie, and we fished together. We found an awesome spot! We could actually see the fish (as well as lots of tadpoles - which he called catapolds!) He got a big bite, and I helped him reel in a HUGE rainbow trout! The biggest of the day! My oldest nephew, David, had not fished yet - he was enjoying watching and visiting! He then decided to give it a try (with the same pole that his brother used) and within a few short minutes, he brought one in too!

All the kiddos had a great time! It was a positive experience - as no one left upset or with hurt feelings!

We brought the trout home, the hubby cleaned them and showed the boys how to clean them.. got them marinading and ready for a BBQ at Nana and Grandpas house later!

Since they caught them - they have to eat them! hehe!

Amy