FAMILY FISHING AND A BISCUITS GAME

I couldn't let Chris and the boys get away with catching all the fish so Sunday we headed to Marion Junction to spend the day fishing at Big Daddy and Grandmama Norton's. The boys had such a good time when Chris took them the other weekend so they couldn't wait to do it again. We didn't quite slay them the way they did but we brought home a mess of fish (87 to be exact), and most important we had such a fun day.

I love being with my guys, especially doing things like this.

We fished for bream off the bank for a while and let the boys practice their casting skills. Poor Big Daddy. He was a nervous wreck with three little boys each having their own rod and reel. :) They did great, though, and were very careful. The only thing hooked was fish.

Turbo was excited he caught a "bask." :)

Then we decided it was time to get in the boat for some bass fishing. Since we were witness to the casting that took place earlier we decided it was best to leave it to Chris and me to throw out a line then let the boys reel it in. I love to bream fish where you just throw it out, watch the cork and wait, cork goes under, set the hook, bring in the fish. Bass fishing is all about casting out, reeling in, casting out, reeling in. Actually I'm sure there's more to it than that but when you're fishing in a pond with little ones, that's the "technique" we use. Which is fun as long as there's a fish to reel in. But there's no cork (or bobber as the boys like to call it). So it's all about feeling a fish bite then setting the hook. There for a while either Chris was catching a few or no one was. Or I would think I had caught one, would get it to the boat and it would get off the hook. I think the phrase of the day was, "You gotta set the hook." Patience: Not my strong suit. I think I probably mentioned to Chris that I wasn't a fan of bass fishing. I thought I much preferred a worm (although I don't bait my own hook... eww) and a cork.

That is, until Chris gave me some pointers. Then I started to get the hang of things, and the fish started biting. Now THAT was fun! Chris said, "I thought you didn't like bass fishing." *snicker* *snicker* :) It was also fun the couple of times I was able to say, "You gotta set the hook." ;)

While we were all in the boat, hanging out, taking turns reeling in fish, etc., Chris reminded me of my dad. My dad would take my mom and us 3 girls fishing and would hardly get to fish between baiting hooks, taking fish off the hooks, and getting us out of wherever we would get our lines hung up. Yet he didn't mind it a bit. He enjoyed seeing us have a good time. I love that Chris was doing the very same thing. Well, except maybe when he would hear me say, "Crap. Uh, honey, I need your help." Then Grant would say, "MAMA THREW IT IN THE TREE." HA! And similar to my dad, Chris would shake his head and give me a how-in-the-hell-did-you-do-that? look. ;)

About half-way through the day the younger two were ready for a break. They had fun, but Professor is way more serious about it than they are. Big Daddy came to the rescue and took them up to the house so Chris, Grant and me could enjoy some time to ourselves. I cannot tell you the last time the three of us have been together, just us. It was great!

By early evening we were all sunburned, hot and hungry. We decided to call it a day. And after an afternoon with Turbo and Bueller, I think Big Daddy liked seeing our tail lights better than our head lights. haha!

The next day the boys couldn't wait for the school day to end so we could head to Riverwalk Stadium to watch Evan Longoria play his last rehab game with the Montgomery Biscuits before he headed back to Tampa Bay. I say that like we're really big Evan Longoria fans. We just know he now plays for the Rays and thought it would be cool to see him play his last Biscuits game. My parents took the boys to their first Biscuits game last year, and since then they've been wanting to go again.

What's a baseball game without a hotdog...

And popcorn...

And Dippin' Dots...

Of course no Biscuits game is complete without running into Big Mo.

Click on the picture to enlarge it so you can see the smile on Reid's face. He loved meeting Big Mo. :)

Even hyped up on caffeine (yes, I actually let them have it) and sugar, we couldn't last the entire game.  It was way past our bedtime. But it was fun while it lasted. They're already asking when we can go back.

That night as I was tucking the boys into bed, Mac looked at me and said, "Momma, we've had two special days, haven't we?"

Yes, Bueller, we sure did!!