Fishing with the Grandparents

We are home from Grandmother and Grampa's now, but while we were out there we had heaps of fun! I've already posted about our adventures Horseback Riding. That was lots of fun and Josh is now talking about taking lessons next year!

We also went fishing while we were out there. My dad (Grampa) belongs to a hunting/fishing club out in Metamora, Michigan. It's a beautiful place with lots of land. I know there are a lot of pictures on this one, sorry... I took 155 of them that day and think they are all wonderful!

Picking out his fishing pole.

Stylish new hats?

All set and ready to go catch some fish!

There is a lake for fishing, which we had to go out on!

The fishing from the boat was a huge success! We only caught sunnies, but they were quick to bite so we got lots of them. We did throw them all back, none of us were too keen to eat them! Josh even caught one on an artificial lure -- a nice bright pink "worm"! We were using real worms for most of the fishing!

Also at the club there are trout ponds. You're not always guaranteed a bite, but your odds are better than average out there.

How many people can say their Grandmother taught them how to fish? Josh is one lucky boy! Grandmother AND Grampa fish! (Sam is too, but his attention span was a bit short this time around!)

Josh caught three big trout which we kept. He actually caught four, but the first one "got away!" Now we tell him he can tell stories about the one that got away. He did really well. Trout are quite hard to land because they like to jump.

Fish #1 -- The smallest -- notice that Josh does not want to get too near?

Fish #2 -- the middlest -- he's getting closer to the fish!

Fish #3 -- The biggest! And barely afraid of it!

My mom and dad got the fish on the line and then Josh landed the fish. My dad was there with a net to make sure no others got away!

Josh, proud of his fishing efforts!

Sam tried to fish but quickly lost interest. He was okay on the boat for about 1 minute, and then he was ready to go in! And at the pond he lost interest after the first cast!

The nice thing about fishing at my parent's club, not only will they clean the fish for you, but they will also cook it for you....

Here's lunch! The three trout that Josh caught with smashed potatoes and green beans in lemon butter sauce! As Josh said, "It's the best fish I ever caught!" It was tasty!!!!

After lunch the boys got to play with L. C. -- my dad's English Setter that is out at the club for "Summer Boot Camp" (to get ready for hunting season). The great thing about this is, my parents have 2 dogs, L.C. and a Gordon Setter named Tess. The boys were scared to death of these dogs last year and never warmed up to them. This year, it took about 3 days and the boys were in LOVE with L.C. and Tess! They missed L. C. when she went away!

So, it was a successful day of fishing. Sam even fell asleep in the car on the way home! Big surprise!

More fun with Grandmother and Grampa coming up next!

Horseback Riding

Well, we've been at Grandmother and Grampa's for a few weeks and I finally got access to update my blog! And now that I've finished Harry Potter, I've got more time....

Last week Grandmother had to go out to the stable where she keeps her horse, so we brought the boys and a bag of apples to feed them!

When we got out there, Sam was excited and ready to feed and pet all the animals. Josh's face tells all about how he felt about it!

My mom's horse, Celesa, is the horse with the blue fly-mask on. Here we are throwing apples over the fence to the horses.

We were very lucky -- one of the horses had a foal that was about 2 months old.

We got to pet the little baby foal -- her name is Esperanza.

Even though Josh was a bit scared apprehensive at first, he still managed to pet the little foal.


And, Josh even got excited when we were told they could RIDE one of the horses! That perked him right up! He even managed to take his hand away from his nose (he didn't like the stable smell!) This is the boys watching as the horse they were going to ride, Benita, got warmed up.

And here is Sam's first horseback ride -- in picture:




And on video:





And here is Josh on horseback:


and the video:

And I just love this picture of Josh watching Benita get warmed up for them to ride....

Next up: Fishing!

Guess What!

After 2 weeks, I finally figured out the problem with my parents' computer that was keeping me from updating my blog!

I'll try and get some blogs up this week!

I'm a Rockin' Girl Blogger!

Next week I'm meeting one of my favorite bloggers. Elizabeth over at Table for Five is bringing her family over to my parents' house for the day.

And now, she's just given me another award! (She gave me the Elizabeth Thinks I Rock award earlier this year...)

It's so sweet of her to think of me! Now, I have to award this to five women bloggers that I think Rock.

First, Charlene over at Crazedparent. Because she does rock. Check out her posts from Ladies Rock Camp, where she used an old Rick Springfield guitar. That truly does ROCK!

Second, my friend JamieLee from Maya's Mom. While she doesn't have a blog, her journals on Maya's Mom are always wonderful to read. She has a gift for writing that is truly amazing. They make you think. They make you laugh. They can make you cry. But they are always worth reading.

Third, another Maya's Mom friend, Sheila (aka Kiki36) over at her blog My Memories. She has great things to say at Maya's Mom and I really like reading her stuff too. And I just realized she tagged me for a me-me while I was on vacation and it's still waiting to be done! Oops...

Fourth would have to be BusyMom. For some reason I find her journals funny. I guess we have the same warped sense of humor.

Last, but not least, Heather from TraubTribe. Another Maya's Mom friend. She's funny, she's crazy, she's all over the place. She always has good advice for me and I hope to meet her in person (as with all those mentioned above) one day!

So now, each of them has to go spread the love and award five people! Good luck! It wasn't easy! There are so many good blogs out there!!

I'm Yellow...

Sheila, one of my friends from Maya's Mom, posted this. I liked it.

Apparently, I'm a Yellow Flower. There were a few answers that fit me, so I took the test twice. Both times I turned out Yellow...

You Are a Yellow Flower

A yellow flower tends to represent joy, friendship, and playfulness. At times, you are childlike, as a buttercup is. And at other times, you are fickle, like a dahlia. And more than you wish, you tend to feel bittersweet, like a marigold.

What Color Flower Are You?

Celebrating the 4th!

Yesterday we went down to watch our local fireworks display at our sub-division. It was fantastic! For once, it was NOT humid, muggy, raining, and HOT! We could hardly believe it was July in Georgia!

We had a family BBQ in our back yard before hand. We packed up the wagon:

Tried to take some pictures....

Lit up some sparklers:

Then headed down to the Town Green to enjoy the festivities.

The people sitting in front of us had a son that was on Josh's soccer team. We called him the "other Josh"! It turned out great because they kept each other company all night. The dads (Rich and the "other Josh's") played soccer and threw footballs around.

Sam even made a new friend with a boy sitting next to us.

We also took the boys around to play on the bouncy castles and inflatable slides and such. We saw lots of friends, ate lots of food and had lots of fun!

Finally, it was time for fireworks! Josh sat with the "other Josh" and watched with him. This was Sam's first fireworks experience. He loved them! I tried to capture the look of awe and wonder on his face, but it didn't work so well. It's a cute picture anyway!

Hope everyone had a happy and safe Independence Day!

Backyard Camping

We had a great time this past weekend.


On Friday, Josh had his last swimming lesson of the year. He did great! He swam 6 lengths (3 laps) of our 25 yard/meter pool. The first lap was free-style, then butterfly (!!!), back and breast strokes. And a final lap (up and back) in free style. It wasn't pretty, and he did have to stop, but he did it! His teacher is the swim team coach and told him to join the swim team next year! So Josh is very excited about the prospect of being on the swim team!


Saturday, Josh had his Soccer end of season party. He and Daddy went along for Hot Dogs and some fun and games. It was at 11:00 -- very hot and humid so they didn't stay long, but according to Josh it was fun! There were games for the kids, hot dogs, trophies, the usual...


In the afternoon, we went swimming. Of course.


On Sunday, Josh and Rich put up the tent while Sam was napping. Our intent was to go swimming, come home, have a BBQ with the boys and then let the boys "camp" in the back yard.


Well, when we got home from the pool, right about the time we were supposed to have the BBQ, the heavens opened and it began to pour! So we ate inside. One cool thing... just as we were finishing dinner I looked up and out our back window and saw a deer walking through our yard. Way cool!


Once dinner was over the rain (temporarily) stopped so the boys went out to play in the back yard and in the tent.



As you can see from the pictures, the boys had fun.




They said it was a clubhouse and the password to enter was, "No Girls Allowed" and when Daddy said, "Mommy's not a girl! She's Mommy!" they changed the password to "No Girls or Mom's Allowed."

I was crushed so I went inside and enjoyed the peace and quiet and sulked!

It rained again after the boys were in bed. But, the three of them decided that when the weather gets cooler, they will definitely spend the night out in the tent! Or some of the night! Or play again and sleep inside.

Tomorrow we have big plans for the 4th. We're going to our neighborhood fireworks display. Should be fun as it's supposed to be nice weather -- not nearly as humid or rainy as the last 4 years! But we will have to wait and see.... this is Georgia after all!