Fishin'!!!

Oh, man.  This day has been a LONG time coming.  Seriously.  Chloe has been begging for a fishing trip with Stanton for literally 2 years.  The kids even worked really hard being obedient and helpful and cooperative for 2 weeks to earn enough stars for a fishing trip and we still never delivered.  It was totally time to make good on our promise and having Eliza here made it the perfect timing.  We took them to a fish hatchery just 2 miles west of Smithfield.  It was a perfect place for first time fishin'.
Prepare yourself for a LOT of pictures -- I took almost 300!  I couldn't help myself - it was a perfect afternoon.

The fun started right when we got there.  The kids were fascinated with all the fish in the first little canal thing.

  We had a lot of fun little friends all around us.

 They found plenty to entertain themselves with while Stanton got everything ready to go.  I am in love with that picture of Cannon's puffy cheeks.

 Chloe went first.  She was No Fear from the word go.  She had the longest wait for a fish (about 7 whole minutes!!), but was beyond thrilled when she got that tug and got to reel in her fish.  Honestly, I had tears in my eyes because she was so darn cute.

 The one thing she was NOT fearless about was holding the fish.  You have to admit, it's a little freaky seeing it flail around -- I jumped my fair share of times.  The cool thing about Chloe, though, is that once she wraps her mind around something, she's completely fearless.  It took her about 20 minutes to decide to hold the fish and then something clicked (maybe that the fish wasn't struggling and jumping nearly as much).  We finally had to make her stop carrying the fish around.  Love that kid.

 Liza was next in line.  She was a pro!  She got a bite within seconds of casting and reeled it right in.  She was very, very okay, however, with Stanton taking care of everything post-catch.

 Could there be a more classic picture of a dad and his boy???  I adore it.  The other pictures are what really make me smile, though.  Brigham is super jumpy around all animals.  He really doesn't like them at all (all my children have gone through a phase like this and it has passed for each of them -- I hope it does for Briggy, too).  Anyway, the second he realized there was a real live fish on the end of that line, he had a total freak out and couldn't get out from uner Stanton's arm fast enough.  I caught it on film...hooray!

Lily was last (she was supposed to be second, but was really hesitant and passed her turn along twice).  Miss Intensity didn't disappoint.  She was focused and determined and thrilled to get a bite rather quickly.

 I had to have a turn, of course!  I think this was my first time fishing since I was about 10.  It was awesome.  Maybe I've been since then (Dad, did I ever actually fish with you or just watch?).  Anyway, it was awesome and I'm secretly hoping for a trip to the Wind Rivers next summer.  Okay, not so secretly.

 Stanton caught the biggest one, of course.  It is impossible not to catch a fish at this place, but it was still a total blast.  Like I said before, it was the perfect place to take little children who'd never fished before. 
Each kid got to catch one more fish, but I had already taken 7 million pictures.

 Brig spent the better part of his afternoon playing in the surrounding field.  Cannon had fun with the net.  We had lunch and visited the llamas.

I just loved these pictures of the kids on the mini golf course (yep, a redneck version of that, too!).  Chloe was so cute and thoughtful of Cannon.  And do you love his running stance???  I do.
By the time we were finished, the kids were wasted.  Two hours in the sun doing something new and exciting will wear you out quickly! 

We ended with a fish fry (grill) of our catches!  I love Eliza's face in that picture.  She wasn't thrilled with our meal.  Chloe LOVED the fish, which I knew she would.  She's an amazing eater.  The other kids were pretty neutral, but liked it okay.  Stanton and I loved it.  It was so fresh and yummy.  We have more, so the kids better get used to it.  :)

I love days like these.  It seems like we're so busy with this and that and trying to just keep up with life that we don't take time to make these memories with our kids.  I'm so glad we did. 

EJ went to church with us today and then moved on over to Grandma's this afternoon.  We're gonna miss her.