fishing, family and just plain fun...

Some of my favorite childhood memories are of the fishing trips we would take with my dad.  I can still feel the lingering taste of my dad's drip coffee, tainted by the old tin Thermos lid we would drink it from.  It reminds me of plain cheese sandwiches, powered sugar donuts and Cheetos...all scented with the fishy smells of the ocean and leftover bait.  There was an old white bucket and rusty red Folgers can to pee in and as much as I died with embarrassment with this as a kid it is now one of my favorite memories. We always had a lake boat, river boat and bay boat and I thought this is just what every family had.  Waking up in the dark seemed normal and being out on the bay by 7am was late. I remember looking to my dad and thinking he was so amazing as he had mastered the name of every single island and every boat called out to him by name.  If something went wrong with the engine, which seemed inevitable, my dad would get out his tools and get it working right away.  There is something about a way a daughter looks at their father... with complete admiration of his powers that seemed almost superhero like. 

This whole flood of memories came back to me when my dad called me last Friday and asked me to meet him at the fishing store so that he could get Emily her first fishing license.  Emily was tickled beyond belief and went into the store with the condition that I stayed behind and let her go alone with her grandpa.  I gradually made my way into the store and found her bouncing around at his feet.  We did a little bit of shopping and found a perfect pink fishing vest for her to wear over her life jacket that matched her new hot pink fishing pole that my dad had ordered from Cabela's a few days earlier.  Emily was so excited about the shopping trip that she decided that she just needed to go home with grandpa, go out to dinner with him and then would return later that evening.  So off she went and returned later that evening full of Root beer and Pop Tarts, two treats she had never experienced before.

The next morning was opening day.  I woke up early, eager to get a start on the day.  I went into Emily's room to check on her and found her bed empty.  I had heard her get up to go potty around 2am so I started to panic when she was not in her room.  I went to Jack's room to check on him and this is what I found...

A few hours later my dad arrived to take Emily for her first real fishing trip.  She has been out of the boat with us since she was born but this was the first year she was really into it.  Bryan and I were so excited that we decided to tag along as well...

We went to my dad's friend's house at Lake McMurray.  Most of the crowds had already gone home since it was now about 9:30am but it was perfect for us.  We had the whole dock to ourselves...

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We wasted no time and got fishing right away...

We waited and waited...

...until all of a sudden there was a tug on the pole...

And just as my dad did with me as a kid, he handed the pole with the fish to Emily to reel in.  I am not sure what meant more to me, watching her catch her first fish or knowing that it was caught on my Grandpa Moore's pole.  He always did get the first fish...

These were some very proud and excited peeps...

Jack didn't have a fishing license so we didn't let him fish but I don't think he really cared.  He was too concerned with the poor fish laying all of the grass.  He kept running up to Bryan, grabbing his hand and telling him to put the fish back in the water...

Don showed him how to clean a fish but that didn't seem to make it any better...

The kids did a few happy dances with Grandpa Jim and Daddy on the dock and then we headed on home just as the rain began to fall...

We went home, cleaned ourselves up a bit and then headed right back out the door.  Emily had a date with Cousin Alison at the movie theater in Bellingham and Bryan decided to spend the day with us instead of going into work on another Saturday.  I did some grocery shopping at Trader Joe's and then after the movie we took the kids to Boulevard Park to let them run around a bit.  It may be the WESTERN in me, but I adore this park...

The kids raced Daddy through the field...

...did some rock climbing...

threw some rocks in Bellingham Bay...

...and then we headed over to Auntie Tammy and Uncle Mark's for a pot luck...

The kids were over the moon about the juice containers that Auntie Tammy and Cousin Alison bought for them...

We stayed late into the night and then headed on home.  It was a full fun day and these Joneses were tired.