Fishing with the Boys

WOW! my own authorship! This will be great. Where should I start? How about a brief story about the fishing trip over the weekend with the boys? It was a marvelous day and a fishing story that will not soon be forgotten. the boys loved it and I... well I won't soon for get it.
I have not been fishing yet all this year and that is a long time for me to wait. The season started almost 2 months ago after all. Way to long to wait for a serious fishing trip. I was aching to go and I thought if I could take Xander and Colton out fishing and get them out of the house it would tire them out and give Julia a bit of a break.

So we headed down to my favorite fishing hole in Hobble creek. I fish there every year and we always limit out. I figured we would all catch our limit and come home for a big fish fry. I thought ahead though and wanted the boys to be safe so I stopped and picked up a couple of old 2x4s with rusty old screws in them that had been discarded in the ranches. As I tried to carry the two boards to the van they slipped in my arm and sure enough I had my first wound for the day. a rusty screw right into my wrist. No big deal, I have band aids in the car.
on our way.

We got to the canyon and prepared to go fishing. We had spent the morning gathering worms and had the worms in the closed cooler in the car. I picked up the poles, the fishing bag and the boards and we headed off. I headed through the tall grass with the boys in tow. I wanted to avoid the water because the boys were in flip flops and I was going directly to my favorite hole anyway.

Just a few minutes later we arrived at the spot with great anticipation. Things had changed however and the hole is very different this year. The tree that has given fish protection for years at that bend is now gone and the bottom of the hole seems to be full of branches. No big deal I figured, we can still fish it so I took one of the poles to prepare it with a worm. Did I say worm? Who has the worms? Yep, we left them back in the car. Can't leave the kids by the edge of the creek. Not these two. come on back boys...
Several minutes later and much more familiar with the land trail now we were ready to hook a worm and start fishing. I tossed it in and handed the first pole to Xander. then began to get the second one ready for Colton. I turned around and Xander was snagged. My favorite hole was not going to be fishable the way I had done it last time and the way I was hoping. We would have to try on the other side of the creek. No big deal, I decided to scout it out and make sure we could cross.

A minute or so later I was diving in the water for Colton's flip flops. He had just started to cross. It wasn't so much a worry of the loss of his $2 flip flops as it was wanting him to protect his feet as he walked. anyway, even with all the poles and the bag in tow I was able to save the flop flops. I practically took a swim to do it however. Wet from hip to toe.

I got Xander accros and we set the bags down and I fixed the line and tossed it in a few times. Nothing and then a snag. this was not turning into a great day of fishing so far. What else could go wrong right? So I walked into the water to see if I could pull the line lose. it was deep so I reached for my phone on my belt to take it off so it would not get wet. No phone on my belt. Great!
Where could that be?! It was only a $350 phone with a lot of valuable information. I frantically started to think of the most logical place I could have lost it. Did I scrape against anything? Did I remember bumping against anything? No, but my wet clothes did give me a clue as to the whereabouts. I ran back to the other side fo the creek looking for the phone and found it right near the edge of the creek where I had dived in to save Colton's feet. I picked it up and the vibrating ring was going constantly and would not shut off.

I took the phone apart as much as I could and put it out on the fishing bag to begin to dry. Nothing left to do now but fish so I tried a time or two more in that spot and then decided the changes were too great. I would have to go up to another locatoin. the water was too cold for the boys so after I packed everything (including the phone) up I carried the two boys accross to the other side and we walked back over the trail back up stream.

I stopped at a slow spot in the stream where there was a tree creating a small hole and a bit of shadow. I tossed the worm in and BAm! a big old brown trout took the bait fast as can be! Now we're fishing! I quickly grabbed Colton and handed the pole over to him and told him to reel him in. He did so with a lot of excitement. Xander was also very excited and screaming "I want to catch one!"

I decided that little hole was all played out so I took the boys across the stream again to anothe small hole I was familiar with up stream a bit. I got them there and tossed the line in. I had cast a few times with no action and then backed up a little on the rocky shore line. Something prickled the back of my right leg. I looked down at the beautiful green leaves of stinging nettle. Great I thought.

By this time I just kind of shrugged it off with a grin. What a day. I showed the boys the stinging nettle and told them how much it irritated my leg and warned them not to touch it. I don't recall for sure but there may have been an instant where Xander wondered what it would feel like to touch it. I ignored the irritation in my leg and continued to try fishing but with no luck. Xander wanted to throw rocks into the crek and so we moved once again this time slightly down stream.

While I headed down stream a few feet and tossed the line into another hole the boys marveled at the fish Colton caught. I had to tell them to leave it alone once or twice and then another strike. This one hit hard and was really a pulling. I called Xander over and handed him the pole. the top almost hit the water when he grabbed it. he has never been fishing before. It was a joy to see him real in the fish and he had so much fun with it.

The fish Xander reeled in was bigger than the first one and they were both nice and fat. We played around a bit more aznd attmpted some more but never did catch any more fish. I decided to head home before it got too late since Julia would not be able to get ahold of me. We stopped at Ream's to get a bag of rice to place the phone in and headed on home. the next day I was able to finally turn on a well dried out phone and it is working again today.

I would say all in all it was a very successful fishing trip. Not much differnet from any other right?

The Wedding is Over!!!

I have never been much at keeping a journal. I guess blogging is suffering the same fate. The wedding was wonderful. Haley was beautiful and Derek handsome. A story book day. Even the ending when they rode away on the motorcycle couldn't have been better! I will post pictures soon. So much of my time was devoted to planning for the big day. Now I find myself saying "now what?"
Here are some photos that Grandpa Wood shot on June 18, 2009.

Julia has been swamped so I thought I would help her with her Blog. Here is a little story about a day in the life of Mom:
by Mike Wood

I came home after my late night of work a week or two ago and helped Mom get the kids to bed an hour past their bed time. I guess they just like to be up to see Daddy come home. I had taken a stop in the bathroom and wondered why the toilet paper had been re-rolled and folded over as it was rolled up. The house was in order and the kitchen was clean. It seemed to me that mom had taken care of the family once again while I was away. After getting the kids to bed and finally laying in bed ourselves I asked, "How was your day?"
The story started simple enough and I figured it would start at the beginning. It wasn't until I decided to record it and have her recap that I realized the story was much more than I had assumed.
Colton poured milk so Why can't I?
It is amazing what copy cats little children are. Brenna, age 19 months saw her brother Colton, age 6 pour his cup of milk into his cereal bowl. She had cottage cheese and wouldn't you know, a cup of milk. Yep, time to pour that milk with an unsteady hand into my own bowl which of course is much smaller than Colton's. Did I mention the unsteady hand? No problem. When I am done with spilling the milk I just call for help. Mommy!? Mommy!?
Of course mommy came into the kitchen to see milk all over the floor and in the cottage cheese bowl. What a joy to be a mother right? Of course she cleaned it up with a smile while trying to be stern and tell the little toddler no. What next is often the thought going through mommy's head. There is always another adventure awaiting with Brenna in the house.
I asked if this was in the morning or the beginning of the day before the trip to Grandmas and was informed that no this was just in the evening right before sleep. Then the true adventure was laid out before me. Not only were there many fun and exciting things that occurred that day but it seems that most of it happened in a short period of time. The real drama it seems started at Grandmas with spilled milk, a playful walk on a brick wall and a wet shirt from a cousin's bath and more spilled milk. I had to hear the whole story so the adventures began to unfold.
A quick trip to Grandma's house was all that was needed. Of course Grandma lives right next to aunt Melinda and so a trip to grandmas is not just grandmas but all the cousins. I forget the details but somewhere in the mix Brenna had milk at Grandma's house. She was sitting on a stool and dumped the milk in her lap all over her pajamas she had been changed into.
When Mom got home with the kids that night she tried to take a moment to work on the computer and heard Colton yell MOM! from the bathroom where he has sitting on the toilet. She asked what was going on and he responded that Brenna was unrolling the toilet paper. She thought "no big deal" and told him to roll it back up. He of course proceeded to do so. It is amazing how these little toddlers seem to know how to work the art of distraction and misdirection like a professional magician.
No sooner had he rolled up the paper and she was at the side of the toilet reaching in behind him. What is the fascination with the toilet? So of course another scream to mom and her work at the computer was done. "Brenna stuck her hand in the toilet!" Mom rushes into the bathroom to save Colton from his mischievous little sister. She noticed that Brenna was there with one hand in the toilet and her binky dangling out of her mouth. With the agility that only a mother has she picked up the toddler with one arm and tore the binky away from the germs with the other to be tossed out the door onto the floor where it was surely more safe than it would be combined with the toilet water now dripping down brennas arm.
Sternly she tells Brenna that this is not acceptable and no no no and so on and proceeded to wash her hands in the bathroom sink. Now just suppose the fascination she has is not with the toilet so much as it is with the water? scolding and trying to get Brenna's hands washed she is thwarted by the agile little toddler as she tries to stick her feet in the sink along with her hands that are being washed. It seems that her whole plan has come together perfectly and she can now play and frolick in the water all she wants.
Brenna continues to smile her devious smile and giggle as mom tries to clean her and let her know that her actions are not to be tolerated. Have you ever tried to reason with a 2 year old? I'm sure it went over well. Mom did a great job cleaning her up and removing her from the bathroom. It is almost time for bed now and mom needs the break but of course both the kids are hungry, or so they say. off to the kitchen to feed each some late dinner before bed.
Colton as usual wants cold cereal and wants a cup of milk as well. No problem, he can have that. After all he could be eating worse right? This is the story I first heard after I came home and the kids finally went to bed... There is so much more behind each day for Mom.