Fishing

This post is going to have an obnoxious number of pictures.  I had a hard time narrowing it down to "just" these!

After feeding the donkeys, we headed to my cousin LuAnne and Roger's house to visit and give the boys an opportunity to fish in their well-stocked pond.

My cousin Rachael and family (including triplets Joseph's age) were up visiting from Florida.  The boys had not seen each other in years, but jumped right into Pokemon conversation around the DS's as if they hang out on a regular basis:

Soon, it was time for the main attraction:

Bless Roger's heart--there were clearly more kids than adults, so he was scrambling at the beginning to help everyone get their hooks baited and be ready to go.  Then he became the adult in charge of Joshua--helping him learn to cast and reel:

Clearly, Joshua wasn't watching where his hook was.  It's a good thing Roger was!

Meanwhile, Tony was in charge of Jeremiah, who was determined to catch a fish:

"Hi, Mom!"

Tony held the rod while Jeremiah reeled:

(Let's pause for a minute and count all the cars in the driveway in the picture above.  It reminds me of trips to Nanny's house just a few miles south of here when I was a kid.  By the time everyone in the family showed up, there'd be a big row of cars in the parking area.)

Jeremiah was ready to try a new fishing spot after having no success here:

This little bridge wasn't any better for them:

Let's check on Joseph, who is pretty self-sufficient, except for baiting hooks:

 Meanwhile, Joshua caught a fish!

and another:

 (This is Joshua's shy face, because David was taking the picture while I was off checking out the neighbor's extensive daylily garden.)

and another!

 Joshua tied with one of Rachael's boys (Aaron, I think) for most fish caught by a kid.

Tony got him to touch a fish, but he wouldn't kiss it.

Jeremiah remained determined to catch a fish, but this was made more difficult by Daddy stopping to help Joshua release his.  So, when Rachael caught a fish nearby and wanted help getting it off the hook, I hatched a plan.  With the fish on the hook but held underwater, she brought the rod around and gave it to Jeremiah.  When he started reeling it in, he discovered he had a fish!

Have I mentioned the dock could get crowded?

By this point, Joseph was the only kid who hadn't caught a fish.  He wasn't about to give up, though.

Finally, Joseph had a bite that didn't get away:

 He didn't want to kiss his, either:

After all the kids had gone inside, the dads (and grandfather) stayed out, trying to catch a big bass that had eluded them all day.  It had escaped from them numerous times, and they were determined to get it.

(I like to call this picture "How many 40 year olds does it take to catch a fish?"  All three dads turned 40 in March.)

Sadly, this is the closest they came in their quest for the big bass:

Uncle Jay's Donkeys

One of our many activities in Missouri last week was visiting my Aunt Phyllis and Uncle Jay.  While there, the boys helped Uncle Jay feed his miniature donkeys.

Not even Jeremiah was intimidated by the whole thing.  You'd think they all feed donkeys on a regular basis.

Uncle Jay told the older two boys that they were the first to hand-feed the donkey on the right.  He was a pretty new acquisition.

 By the end of the loaf of bread, everyone (donkeys included) had had enough!

Change is in the Air (or at least the bedrooms)

This past weekend, we changed the boys' sleeping arrangements.  Jeremiah moved out of his crib and into the bottom bunk.  Joshua moved from the bottom to the top bunk, and Joseph moved out of the top bunk and into Jeremiah's old room.

Jeremiah's old room:

Joseph's new room (still in the early stages):

We have added a lamp on top of the headboard.  At some point we'll probably figure out something to put on the wall over the length of the bed.

We came up with this idea as a bulletin board alternative.  The dowel rod had been there holding up Jeremiah's fish wall hanging, so we left it and added different lengths of yarn with clothespins on the end:

Joseph's first addition to the room:  two Bathroom Readers.  Classy.

Bedtime:

 Jeremiah is a big fan of the box the dresser came in, too:

Jeremiah is still learning how to stay in bed at bedtime and stay quiet so Joshua can sleep, but Joshua is being pretty patient with him.  Last night I had guests over when the boys went to bed, and Jeremiah didn't come out a single time.  This morning when he came out, he asked if it was morning and if the guests had left yet.  I'm thinking I may have to have them over every night!

Balloon Festival

I was almost caught up on blogging there for a little bit.  Time to jump back in!

On Memorial Day weekend, our city hosts Freedom Weekend Aloft, which is primarily a hot air balloon festival.  Sunday evening, after we got back from camping, we went out in search of balloons (much preferable for us over going to the actual festival).

We could already see balloons when we had barely left our neighborhood.  Our first stop was an elementary school down toward the launching park:

 Once we got an idea of the general direction the balloons were headed, we set off to try to find some up close.  This means driving around country roads with dozens of other cars and the official balloon chase vehicles, changing direction as the balloon pilots change course.  At first, we thought we were going to see this one land, but then he lifted back up.  Remember it for later:

Eventually, we found this balloon about to land in a field behind a church:

 The man running in from the left was from the chase vehicle.  He arrived in the parking lot right after we did:

Pardon the truck antenna in this picture.  The chase-vehicle guy is pushing on the basket, helping control the landing:

After it was firmly on the ground, the pilot allowed kids to come up and get their pictures taken.  Jeremiah wouldn't get this close--the pilot had to keep blasting fire into the balloon to keep it upright, and the noise scared Jeremiah:

Joseph wanted a shot of him under the balloon:

I think he was the one most impressed by the whole experience:

After pictures, it was time to deflate the balloon and pack it up:

It was getting close to bedtime, so we headed home.  We saw a couple other balloons being packed up along the way, and then, when we got to a neighborhood that is adjacent to ours, we saw this:

Remember it?  This neighborhood has a large park in the center.  The balloon had landed in it, and they were giving tethered rides to anyone who lined up.  By the time we arrived, the line was long and it was past bedtime, so we just sat and watched for a few minutes:

(As always, remember you can click on the pictures to see larger versions!)

Community Group Camping

Our community group went camping at Oconee State Park over Memorial Day.  Unfortunately, I did a terrible job of documenting the overall experience.  I had to delete some old pictures on my camera's memory card just to have room to take new ones, and I didn't get my camera out very often.  Here's what I do have:

Late Saturday morning, we set out on a hike to a waterfall.  The information we had seemed to indicate that the hike was 2.1 miles.  Unfortunately, it turned out to be more like 5.5 miles, plus about a mile to the trailhead and another mile back to camp at the end.  My shins hurt for days afterwards.  We hadn't brought along our carrier backpack, and there was no way Jeremiah could hike all that way, so Tony carried him on his shoulders most of the way.  I carried him that way a quarter of a mile the next day and about croaked--I don't know how Tony did it.

Once we got to the falls, Joshua enjoyed climbing around a bit.  Jeremiah did, too--but it's hard to take pictures of a kid whose hand you're holding.

 Hidden Falls:

After the hike and lunch back at camp, the boys wanted to go swimming.  I had left my swimsuit at home (darn), so Tony took the boys into the lake while Harley and I sat at a picnic table and read a book.  Actually, Harley napped more than he read.  Except when he need to bark at a passing dog.

The water was a little cold.

The big boys found it more tolerable when submerged to their necks:

 Tony and Jeremiah spent most of their time like this.  Jeremiah is actually in the water, while Tony is sitting on the bank with his feet in.

After swimming, Tony and Joseph went fishing while the younger two and I played carpet golf.  Jeremiah's technique was a little unconventional.  He did have several holes where he scored less than the maximum 6, and one where he beat Joshua and me.

 Joshua tied me on a couple holes and beat me on a couple.

 Jeremiah got up the courage to try a "tornado slide" for the first time.  It really helped that his swimtrunks were still a little damp and the slide was VERY slow.

 Right next to our campsite there was a little play area with two tire swings.  Jeremiah enjoyed being able to play on them whenever he wanted.  He would stand in the center and wiggle his hips and call it his hula hoop dance.

Perhaps when I get a copy of someone else's pictures, I'll post a little more of the activity around camp.