Papa Kirk brought us some fish, and taught the boys how to cook it.

Video Evidence:

Fishing Lures

One of these boxes was given to Kevin after Big Pa died.  It must have been his walleye lure stash, because there were at least 50 walleye lures in it, with a few trout and bass rigs thrown in.  We untangled them all and devised a clever system to keep the handy and neat.  I say we, but it was Kevin.  I only helped for about two minutes.

Gone Fishin'

The guys really wanted to go fishing.  Mostly Daddy.  But the kids tagged along.  I did too.



The kids even got real worms and hooks for the first time!

I decided to let them have their space.  Those hooks and worms make me nervous.



Both Connor and Lex got bored before they caught anything, so they started exploring.



In the end, no one caught anything, but a fish ate a couple of Kevin's worms.

Gone Fishin'

(with a picnic edition)



See that awesome picnic basket there?  That's the gift that Kevin got me for our 9th anniversary.  Did you know that the gift for the 9th anniversary is willow?  That basket is woven out of willow.  And it's got everything you need for a picnic stowed inside, with plenty of room for food.  And it's insulated to keep stuff cold!  I love it!

After we were done eating, we went fishing.





No, we didn't catch anything.



Lex was also on the lookout for a salamander.  Some people found one in our pool this past week, and they let him play and swim with it, and he's in love with the idea of having one of his own.  I told him that if he catches one by himself, he can keep it as a pet.  I wonder how long it's going to take for him to bring one home...

Gone Fishin'

This is McDonald Lake. 

It's Amarillo's newest lake.

When I heard that, I was a little confused.  But we now live in a part of the country where all the water has dried up, and all the lakes are man-made.

When we drive around, we go over bridges that cross very large dried up river beds.  I don't know how long ago the rivers were there, or if they ever come back in a rainy season, or if there ever is a rainy season.  But I do know that the Red River was once very large, and now it is a wide red clay river bed that is dry and cracked.

Gone Fishin'

...He just didn't go too far...

And then we went to Galveston...

We took Grandma Ella and Papa Kirk to Galveston to see the Gulf of Mexico.

Honestly, I wanted to see it, too.  The boys and I had never seen the Gulf before.

We ate lunch at Fish Tales.  It was a fun restaurant, and it had great views of the water.  Also, there is a Blue Bell ice cream bar.  Lex pretty much only ate a chocolate milkshake for lunch, due to the fact that he was sick and had a sore throat.  No amount of coaxing on my part would get him to try the hush puppies I ordered for him.  So I ended up eating them myself.  Can't let good hush puppies go to waste.



We almost ate here, instead, but Connor had his heart set on Fish Tales.

Bronchitis on the Beach

He hit a low point here, but then we got him some more medicine, and he perked back up.  His favorite part was casting his fishing line into the ocean.  Connor also fished with his new rod that Papa Kirk bought for him, and it was very windy, so they kept getting their lines crossed.  (No, neither had hooks on them. I'm still not brave enough for that.)

Grandma Ella in the Breeze

The Pleasure Pier was closed because it was a weekday, but Connor and Lex really want to go back when they can ride the rides.  I haven't told them yet that I don't think they are tall enough for the really fun ones.  Doesn't it look like fun?

Gone Fishin'

This week Papa Kirk and Grandma Ella came to visit us.  It was a great week.

Lex really wanted to go fishing with Papa Kirk while he was here.  Fortunately there are several good fishing spots in our neighborhood.

This pond with the artificial fish reef is about two blocks from our house.



It was a beautiful sunny warm day.  Lex and I were both wearing t-shirts and shorts.  Connor is bundled up because he was running a fever and was very cold.

Both the boys got sick the day that their grandparents arrived, but they were little troopers.  No sickness was going to stop them from having fun.



The pond is actually stocked with fish for us to catch, but in the interest of safety, we had clipped the hook off the artificial worm lure that Lex was using.  He doesn't know that, though.

And he may actually be ready to fish with a hook.  All of his casts are perfect now.  Look at his form:

He casts his line perfectly every time.  All we have to do is teach him hook safety, and then he will be ready to actually catch some fish!  You know, as long as someone else is there to take care of the fish after he catches it.  Because that won't be me.