Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Summer Fishing

For Father's Day I got a new tackle box! I had been doing some research and was really looking at a tackle backpack. Most of my fishing is done from the banks, so to have gear that can be picked up and moved from one spot to the next is a big benefit. 
And it arrived...
 I went with the Wild River Large Tackle Backpack
 Fully unpacked
 It came with 2 tackle boxes and can fit an additional 2 boxes
 Side pockets can hold anything, fishing line, stringers, scales, etc.
 The top flap is waterproof, meant to hold fishing license and other essentials!
 Loaded up and out in the wild!
 I have 4 trays loaded and in the main compartment and use the top for all my plastics!
 Fits in the car with 4 of my rods, so I am ready to fish in the early morning on the weekends or over my lunch break during the week! I'm a big fan of the tackle bag!
 Speaking of fishing, the boys and I went up to Jester Park to see if anything was biting...it was!
 Little large mouth on a finesse jig with a crawdad trailer
 G reeled one in!
 The dudes!
 I also get up early (usually around 5:15 am) on Saturday's and Sunday's to hit some ponds around the area, caught this nice one!
 There is a little pond by my office, right in the middle of town, that I go to over lunch, it has some small bass, but it's fun to catch even the small ones on my lunch break!
 Early morning bass:





 One Saturday morning, the bass weren't biting but this aggressive bull frog grabbed my worm, that was a first for me...unhooked him and sent him on his way
 A few more early morning bass


 One great thing about being up so early is I get to watch the sun come up!
 My dad went down to a lake by Chariton, Red Haw Lake, and had some luck catching bass. I took a Tuesday off work and we headed down there. Thumbs up from this crew!
 It's a no-wake lake, but the trolling motor got us around the lake without troubles! Garrett has been asking me to try a spinning reel, so I let him try on of mine. He did pretty good, then Grandpa found on of his spinning reels that is a little smaller. After a few practice casts, G had hooked up this bass!
 Then he caught another one!
Grandpa let him keep the spinning reel and rod, which brought a big smile to this guys face!
This summer has been great for catching fish and making memories!

Monday, July 8, 2019

Happy Birthday B!!!

Our sweet B turned 3!!! When the boys and I headed up to northern Minnesota on our fishing trip, the girls stayed behind and started planning out Blythe's birthday party. She wanted a princess party with sparkles and twirly dresses. Girls only would be invited and her brothers would be the servers! For the menu: Princess Hot Dogs, Cucumber sandwiches, fruit wands and cupcakes. The plan was made and now the day was upon us!
 We started the morning with breakfast donuts! She already got "3" figured out!
 She is ready to party!
 I cut out a big 3 from cardboard and spray painted it gold with gold glitter! Heather found these fun balloons with gold crowns on them!
 We used toilet paper tubes to cut out crowns, sprayed with gold glitter and they made great place settings!
 Pink pom's with gold crowns for the table
 And the table is set and ready!
 The front door sign greeted Blythe's Royal Guests!
 And her very own castle on the front door!
 Now for our guests, Princess Grandma
 Princess Christa and her daughters Princess Morgan and Princess Piper
 Princess Grandma Great
 Princess Nana
 Princess Mom and her royal server Dad
 and of course, Princess Blythe!
 We started the party with Blythe's favorite game, Disney Princess Enchanted Cupcake game!
 Then it was time to open presents...
 The boys picked out this card themselves!
 Pink Jeep remote control car!
 Her very own dress up shoes and jewelry!
 Trying on the new shoes (my favorite part of this picture is G in the background checking out her shoes!)
 Then it was on to supper.
The boys did an excellent job of serving the Princesses, making sure they had plenty to eat and that their glasses were full!
Happy Birthday Blythe, we love you a ton and are so thankful to have you in our family!