A Boy After My Own Heart

Russell and I introduced Michael to fishing this past weekend, and boy was it a hit!  We took him down to the ponds on our property to see what we could catch.  He of course had his own spiderman fishing pole (a gift from my best friend Dawn in North Carolina), and he walked around with that thing like he was the coolest kid in the country!

Now I wasn't very good the first day we did this at taking pictures of Michael and his experience with fishing because I was being quite selfish at catching the fish myself once I started catching them.  So today I took him back to the ponds to focus on "his" experience, and he had a blast.

I would hook the fish for him and he'd reel it in (photo above)...and I am so impressed that this 2 and 1/2 year old can reel in a left-handed open faced bale reel without any problems.  I cast it out, and he immediately wants to reel it in, of course, so we are working on the patience of waiting for a fish to bite the bait first, setting the hook and then reeling it in.

This was the first little shiner minnow he caught (you can barely see the fish by his left leg), and then he caught this one as he was reeling in the line so I could cast it out again....

...a big horned-daisy chub!

Now these fish aren't anything to write home to mom about and are garbage fish anyway, but it is a great experience for a little kid learning how to fish. After he caught this bigger fish, he was really intent at catching more.  Look at the "intense expression" on his face in the photos below while he's reeling in another fish...

I can't quite get Michael to pick up a worm or hold a fish yet, but I did get him to touch one for a few moments today.

Now Michael can't get fishing off his mind.  It's the first thing he asks to do when he wakes up in the morning or from his nap, and he goes out to the garage and brings my fishing pole into the house and says, "Mom, let's go fishing!".  A boy after my own heart!!

The Bear Have Returned

I have been sitting at the computer for the last hour blogging, and I just heard a crash outside the window.  I went into the livingroom to ask Russell, "What was that?"  And we looked outside and there was this huge, I'd say 500 lb black bear that just tipped over the pole that holds the bird feeders.  He was starting to tear into my feeders to get the sunflower seeds.  When he saw us in the window, he immediately retreated to the big pine tree and stood up on his back hind legs to climb this tree!  He was a tall monster!!!  We opened the front door and yelled at him, and he immediately ran off into the woods.  I tried to get a picture through the window but with it being dark outside and the glare of our yard light, it didn't turn out (bummer!).

I've purposefully have left my feeders out 24/7 to see when they would return, and I'll be, they finally showed up.  I'm glad we were still up to save my feeders.  If we'd been sleeping, I would have woken up to demolished feeders.  I now know we have to put them up.

Good night!

Are You My Mother?

We probably all remember this children's book, and it's one of Michael's favorites.  After reading this book to him one day, I asked him:

Mom - Am I your mother Michael?

Michael - No.

Mom - Than who am I ?

Michael - Mom!

Our Energetic Son

Here is a photo stream of the recent life of our energetic son!  He sure has been enjoying this warm weather outside!

He enjoys riding his bike down the hill in our backyard

And loves to look as handsome as ever!

He loves to play at the park....

...and asks me to take pictures of him in the woods

And when a hard day's work of play is done, he always asks his Dad to tell him a bedtime story

Ice Fishing

I decided I wanted to go ice fishing for a day in Upper Michigan for my birthday the beginning of March.  I never had been ice fishing, so this was going to be a new experience for me - one I've always wanted to try.  Our friend on Lake Gogebic agreed to be our fishing guide for the day.  There was one major problem though.  Two days before our fishing trip, they received 14" of wet heavy snow which was going to change the environmental dynamics of the day on the lake - and boy, did it ever.

Instead of being able to walk out approximately 1 mile on this particular lake where we were going to fish, we could only walk out a short distance because the snow was so deep and the weight of the snow was pushing the water up through the holes that were drilled, thus making a mushy, slushy watery mess to trudge through.  It was so hard to walk.  And by the end of the morning, my feet were wet and cold as the depth of the slushy snow we were trapsing through eventually made over the portion of my boots where water could seep.  But in the end we caught 17 average bluegill (which I didn't even take a picture), the scenery was exquisite, and I could finally say I logged in my first ice fishing experience.  I think I could get to like it.  I could see when the weather conditions are good, how fun it would be to just pull up one fish after another.  The fishing is usually always that good on this lake, so I hear!

Pulling our fishing gear out to the lake

The slushy messy snow we were walking through

The drilled ice fishing hole.  There was about 2 feet of ice.

Russell ice fishing

A beautiful photo of someone's wood shed on the lake

We spent the rest of the day visiting with our good friends.  Our friends then showed us toward the end of the day how they call the deer in to eat on their property.  Jerry walks outside with some corn in a coffee can, shakes it, and calls them " C'mon boys and girls, it's dinner time."  And all of the sudden about 15 deer come running out the woods to eat this corn that he throws to them. 

And on the way home the next day, we spotted a bald eagle in a tree along the highway and was able to stop and zoom in on him with my telephoto lens.

It was a great getaway for two days, and a memorable birthday.  Thanks again to our hosts!