Opening Weekend for Fishing

This weekend we headed up to the cabin for Opening Day of fishing season. Rumors around the lake last summer were that this was 'the' weekend for the kids, with a fishing derby dedicated to them. So, over the last two weeks we stocked up on spinning gear and powerbait and headed up after our softball game on Friday. As advertised, the lake was buzzing even on Friday night as everyone anticipated the morning kick off.

I think we woke up around 5:30 to find boats already working the water. I got up and started getting things geared up, and Maddie emerged around 6:30. We talked with the locals who said that they stock the lake with about 1500 7-9in trout and about 150 brut stock (18-22in). The goal was to just catch something by Noon so we could enter in the derby. Needless to say, it was a bit slow for us newbies to this spinning game. Given our experience catching perch last summer, Maddie thought it would be as easy as casting and reeling them in. We did have 2 fish on but we couldnt land them. Papa J finally caught a 9 incher that got us eligible for the derby. When it got to 11:30 and we only had the 1 fish, we had to "borrow" one from the 16yr old neighbor girl for Kenzie. Lucky for Kenzie this was an 11 incher, which ended up getting her 3rd in the 0-5 age group! But, as you can see from the picture, she was more in to her Kit Kat! Check out the slide show for all the pics.

Here are a few individual ones. On Sunday we headed out in the boat and caught 3 fish..even Steph got one. You can see what the size is like. Before you push your nose up, check out the picture of a kid from Maddie's school (total coincidence that he was there), Hunter, who reeled in this 21 incher...Good enough for 1st place overall in the entire derby! Lastly, and the picture doesn't do it justice compared to in person, is a picture of an Osprey who just swooped down to catch a fish out of the lake. It is pretty cool to see this live. Great time had by all....looking forward to more weekends trying to catch the big one.

Birthday Weekend Summary - Part 1

The complete details of the birthday weekend for Miss Maddie will have to be done in a couple installments...just too much to cover. From her kid "flip flop" party, to a night out with the Nanas and Papas, to her Family Party on Sunday...just a lot to cover. One of the many highlights of the weekend was her new bike she got. Her old one is about 2-3 years old and with her just recently learning how to ride, it was clear she needed a new one. If you remember a month or so ago, we did a little video of her 1st bike ride. Well, here is Act II of that, this time with a little help from her little sister, who is not eager to learn to ride as well (after some modifications - aka Training wheels - to Maddie's old bike.)

Happy Birthday Maddie

The first of a few posts planned this weekend for Maddie's Birthday.
THis was her morning party with hot chocolate from cafe ladro and
lemon cake from starbucks!

Spring Break, Wii and MiMi

Per our last post, we ventured to the M's game last night. I walked down from work, while Steph and the Girls found a prime parking spot just 1/2 block from the Stadium. We gobbled down Hot Dog and Kettle Corn and then braved the COLD weather for the game. They finally closed the roof in about the 2nd inning and it helped, but we had to splurge on Hot Chocolate to stay warm. Maddie, on the other hand, opted for Dippin Dots! BTW, they Won 4-1.

Aside from the game, it has been a busy week for Maddie on spring break. We had softball and bible study on Tuesday, then an all day outing with Nana J on Wednesday. Today is lunch with friends, and tomorrow we have a get together. We might try and hit the pass for our annual sledding outing on Saturday. We shall see. In her spare time, she is practicing her Wii skills....yes, we finally found a Nintendo Wii. After weeks of calling and going to Target, Costco, etc, Steph got some inside scoop that Costco at SouthCenter was getting a shipment in. I called first thing on Monday, and they didn't have the shipment yet, but they did have 1 more in stock and they put it on hold. We got it hooked up that night and had our first bowling match!

Finally, big news on the MiMi (that means pacifier) for KK...we are going on 1 week now with no MiMi. We "lost" it one day and she made it through the night. We actually could not find it that night...although we did find a number of spares later....so we were not technically lying. Either way, she has done great without it and in a visit to the Dentist this week (another spring break activity) she got a certificate!

That's all for now. Let hope the sun makes it up to Seattle soon.