Aaaand Back to Fishing

Because Mikey really, really wanted to actually catch a fish...

Daddy found a trout farm where the odds of actually catching a fish were in our favor.  That is, if you rent one of their fishing poles and buy their cheese bait (we found this out later).  The bamboo poles and corn bait you get for free (with a paid admission and parking fee) weren't getting us too far.

So Daddy caved and rented a pole and bought the cheese bait.  And whaddaya know?

For this smile?  Money well spent, I'd say.

They threw in the pink fishing pole for free and Lauren was quietly holding it during all the commotion of Mikey catching a fish.  When suddenly we hear her audibly gasp and call for help behind us.

Turns out our little pipsqueak with the pink fishing pole caught the biggest fish of the day!

Then it was nonstop catching of fish!

That cheese bait was definitely the way to go.

Then he decided to try the bamboo pole one more time.  And whaddaya know?

In the midst of all this fish catching, our Allie was starting to feel a bit, shall we say, sensitive since she hadn't caught a fish yet.  Lots of nibbles but no catches.  We told her to keep at it.

And whaddaya know?  This was the closest she would get to her fish though.

Until her daddy came in for the cozy group shot.  What?  Doesn't she look totally at ease with her new fish friend?

Also, just this.

He wanted to know what all the fuss was about.

Now that both sisters each caught one fish, they decided it was time to hang up their pink pole and do each other's hair.  Daddy, on the other hand, decided the pink pole was just what he needed to catch the giant trout he knew was lurking down there in the depths of that pond.

The big brother still fishing, the sisters doing each other's hair, and the little brother munching on a corn dog.  Sounds about right for this family.

That is, until the corn dog was all eaten up and the little brother began to feel offended at being left out of this fishing business.

So Daddy scooped him up and made it all better again.

Final fish count: 6

Perfect.

Princesses on Ice

Also during his vacation, Phil surprised the girls with tickets to Disney on Ice's Dare to Dream show.  That's a mouthful, so we just called it "princesses on ice" around here since that's really what it was.  But shockingly, daddy wasn't so much interested in seeing the show himself, so he declared it a girls' day out.  And designated me to be the driver.

So we (they) got all princessed up.

And found that daddy had hooked us up with some pretty sweet seats right on the ice.

So we settled in to thoroughly enjoy the show.

After Cinderella and Princess on the Frog came Lauren's favorite story.

Loved it.

Then came this part.

We oohed and aahed along with everyone in the audience.

We wished the story would never end.

And then came Rapunzel's finale.

Except.

We didn't get to see it.  Both girls loved the entire show so much that they didn't want to leave their seats during the intermission for a bathroom break.  They assured me they would be fine until the end of the show.  All confident nods and solemn vows.  I hoped against all odds that they would last til the end of the show.  Then I went ahead and dashed those very hopes by buying them grossly overpriced snow cones during the intermission.  You know, the intermission where I should have made them go to the bathroom?

Right.

That moment above, right when they're about to launch into "and at last I see the light", is when Lauren leaned over to me and urgently whispered that she had to go potty.  There were ten minutes left in the show.  I debated.  I teetered.  I lost.  I looked over and saw Allie wiggling in her seat, too.  So we ran-walked to the nearest usher to ask where the bathroom was, found out it was impossibly far away, outright ran to the bathroom, took care of business, ran back to our seats and...

we missed it.

Boo.

Boo to little girls' tiny bladders and impossibly cute souvenir mugs filled with purple sugar ice and mommies who don't listen to their own better judgment.

Just boo I say.

But at least we did catch the tail end of the finale.

So at least there's that, right?

Oh and that the girls both had a marvelous time.

So there's that, too.

The Aquarium

Phil had the first week of January off so we got to enjoy lots of family time with little day trips and special surprises.  First up was a visit to the aquarium.

It's been a long time since we've been here, but the older two remember it like it was yesterday.  That was a giant stingray.

At first, they were content to just look at the sharks and other assorted sea animals swimming by.

But not for long.

Then it became a quest to touch as many sharks as they could.

There wasn't a timid one in the bunch.

Big sister showing him how it's done.

His sweatshirt was completely soaked after visiting all the touch pools.  He didn't care.  He woulda jumped completely in if he coulda.  Thankfully Daddy was right behind him to grab him back or he really woulda.

Then he was off to see what else there was to see.

Like this sinister lookin' fella.  Yikes.  Thank goodness for very thick glass.

Then it was time for a snack.

With his own personal baggy of popcorn.

One of the finer pleasures in life.

We actually did make it inside the aquarium, too.  The jelly tank was Mikey's favorite.

We even saw fish, too.

Lots of 'em.

Imagine that. ;)

Gone Fishin', cont'd

The small boy in this house with the runny nose and cranky 'tude since Thanksgiving is seriously cramping my style.  So where was I?  Ah yes, fishing with Grandpa...

Mikey became fishing's number one fan and would've stuck with it all day if he could.

I love this kid.

So while our fisher boy insisted on staying by the pond...

the rest of us had to find other amusements to pass the time.  Like admiring the sunset.

 A game of tag (while simultaneously trying not to poke anyone's eye out).

We finally got the boy to rejoin us with the promise of coming back the next day.

Making memories with Grandpa.

Seriously one of my favorite things ever.

And then it was time to head back home.  With Mikey reconfirming a few (like seven) times that we would indeed be back. 

Thank you Lord, for Grandpa.