Wow I am really slacking with my writing this summer! Sorry about that. The problem is I thrive on schedules and with summer comes lack of a schedule. So I've sorta been all over the place and have had a hard time finding a moment to write. Today I did though! Yay for me!
I hope all of you had a fantastic 4th of July weekend. We all had fun here in Burbank. July 4th weekend is usually a big deal in our house, because Andy's birthday is July 2nd. It usually ends up being a three day long celebration. Needless to say we were all exhausted by yesterday. Andy even claimed he needed to go back to work for a vacation. It wast one of those weekends where we went out did something, came home and dropped off some of our things, only to turn around and go back out again. There was fishing, going out to dinners, hanging at the beach, watching a Hall and Oats concert at the Hollywood Bowl (yes I said Hall and Oats), BBQing with the neighbors and going to see a concert and fireworks here in Burbank at the Starlight Bowl. See? It was packed but it was fun all around. One of the best parts of the weekend was the fishing.
We went fishing on Andy's birthday at his request. He's been fishing a handful of times in his life and much to his disappointment, has never caught anything. He was determined that this time he was going to fish and catch something. So determined, in fact, that he found a place that had stocked Trout ponds. A place called Trout Dale.
Yes, I'm serious. Trout Dale. It was about a forty minute drive from our house. We got there in the morning and got all set up with our fishing poles. We watched all around us as other people caught fish after fish. While we caught a lot of nothing. Andy was becoming frustrated, but I could see he wasn't ready to give up yet. I mean these were small ponds stocked full of trout. How could you NOT catch one?!
After about two hours, I can tell you how you can not catch one. Do it the wrong way. Who knew? I'll get back to that in a minute.
The girls were getting a bit antsy after being out there a while. Sonya was doing okay, but the younger two... well, you know how they are. At least you do if you've been reading this blog for even five minutes. They dug in the dirt for a while, had some snacks, took about 4 trips to the bathroom all while waiting for a fish to be caught. They briefly tried to fish as well, but that didn't last long. The ponds that we were fishing from didn't have any kind of barrier around them. The more antsy and physical they got, the more I started to worry that one of them was going to go in. It was at this point that I decided to take them to the car and see if they would sleep or, at the very least, rest. Andy was still not ready to give up on the fishing, and seeing as how it was his birthday, I figured I'd let him try for a bit longer before I had to drag him away.
Sonya stayed with Andy to continue the quest for a fish, and I sat in the car with the little girls. They decided to played Barbies instead of sleep, but at least there wasn't a chance of them going for a swim in the pond anymore. Then I noticed Andy had moved to a different spot in the pond and watched as he talked to one of the guys who ran Trout Dale. I kept my eye on what was happening and about 5-10 minutes after talking to the man, I heard Sonya squeal and watched as Andy struggled to pull a big trout out of the pond.
I quickly grabbed Lana and GG and ran over to where Andy had finally caught his first fish. It was already cut off the fishing line and in the bucket. We all congratulated him and while he was excited, he was a bit disappointed that he didn't have a picture of catching his first fish. Oops. Sorry babe. So I took this one instead.
He explained the couple pieces of advice the man had given him and the "power bait" he had used. I decided to try for myself and within five minutes also caught a fish, although not as big as the one Andy got. This wasn't so hard after all! Fortunately for me, Andy was there to take my picture. (There was one of me smiling, but this one was so much more amusing.)
We decided after being there for nearly three hours and catching two fish, maybe we would be done for the day. Andy did try one more time before we left, but he lost the rest of his bait in the water, so we called it quits. I know he just wanted that picture. He continued to talk about how nobody was there to take his picture as we got packed up and got in the car. It was mostly in a joking tone, but I could tell he was disappointed.
As we were leaving Trout Dale, Andy asked the girls if they all had fun and they exclaimed that they had. Then Georgia proceeded to recap the day for us:
"We went fishiiiinn....an Daddy caught a fiiiiisssshhh...an Mommy caught a fiiiiissshh...and dere was nobody dere to take Daddy's piccttuuurree...."
So, sorry about the lack of a picture babe, but you at least you have a fun memory of catching your first fish, on your birthday with your family. I love you, baby! Happy Birthday!
I hope all of you had a fantastic 4th of July weekend. We all had fun here in Burbank. July 4th weekend is usually a big deal in our house, because Andy's birthday is July 2nd. It usually ends up being a three day long celebration. Needless to say we were all exhausted by yesterday. Andy even claimed he needed to go back to work for a vacation. It wast one of those weekends where we went out did something, came home and dropped off some of our things, only to turn around and go back out again. There was fishing, going out to dinners, hanging at the beach, watching a Hall and Oats concert at the Hollywood Bowl (yes I said Hall and Oats), BBQing with the neighbors and going to see a concert and fireworks here in Burbank at the Starlight Bowl. See? It was packed but it was fun all around. One of the best parts of the weekend was the fishing.
We went fishing on Andy's birthday at his request. He's been fishing a handful of times in his life and much to his disappointment, has never caught anything. He was determined that this time he was going to fish and catch something. So determined, in fact, that he found a place that had stocked Trout ponds. A place called Trout Dale.
Yes, I'm serious. Trout Dale. It was about a forty minute drive from our house. We got there in the morning and got all set up with our fishing poles. We watched all around us as other people caught fish after fish. While we caught a lot of nothing. Andy was becoming frustrated, but I could see he wasn't ready to give up yet. I mean these were small ponds stocked full of trout. How could you NOT catch one?!
After about two hours, I can tell you how you can not catch one. Do it the wrong way. Who knew? I'll get back to that in a minute.
The girls were getting a bit antsy after being out there a while. Sonya was doing okay, but the younger two... well, you know how they are. At least you do if you've been reading this blog for even five minutes. They dug in the dirt for a while, had some snacks, took about 4 trips to the bathroom all while waiting for a fish to be caught. They briefly tried to fish as well, but that didn't last long. The ponds that we were fishing from didn't have any kind of barrier around them. The more antsy and physical they got, the more I started to worry that one of them was going to go in. It was at this point that I decided to take them to the car and see if they would sleep or, at the very least, rest. Andy was still not ready to give up on the fishing, and seeing as how it was his birthday, I figured I'd let him try for a bit longer before I had to drag him away.
Sonya stayed with Andy to continue the quest for a fish, and I sat in the car with the little girls. They decided to played Barbies instead of sleep, but at least there wasn't a chance of them going for a swim in the pond anymore. Then I noticed Andy had moved to a different spot in the pond and watched as he talked to one of the guys who ran Trout Dale. I kept my eye on what was happening and about 5-10 minutes after talking to the man, I heard Sonya squeal and watched as Andy struggled to pull a big trout out of the pond.
I quickly grabbed Lana and GG and ran over to where Andy had finally caught his first fish. It was already cut off the fishing line and in the bucket. We all congratulated him and while he was excited, he was a bit disappointed that he didn't have a picture of catching his first fish. Oops. Sorry babe. So I took this one instead.
As we were leaving Trout Dale, Andy asked the girls if they all had fun and they exclaimed that they had. Then Georgia proceeded to recap the day for us:
"We went fishiiiinn....an Daddy caught a fiiiiisssshhh...an Mommy caught a fiiiiissshh...and dere was nobody dere to take Daddy's piccttuuurree...."
So, sorry about the lack of a picture babe, but you at least you have a fun memory of catching your first fish, on your birthday with your family. I love you, baby! Happy Birthday!
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