Stealing first...

I want to start by saying I never advocate stealing anything, and this post is not about baseball - that's a different story. What I'm referring to a child first for... Their first word, first step, and most important in my mind, First Fishing Trip!

Now you all know that my kids are far from novice - they use the same poles as me and the bonus part is I don't have to cast for them, much to the surprise of the occasional person passing by. (A fathers pride showing - I know)

Where am I going with this story? Well Rebecca's brother took his wife to Block Island for their Anniversary and we are making their kids do all our chores - Um i mean taking care of their children, Noah and Lily. Today after doing my chores - cleaning out the chicken coop etc... I decided to take the boys fishing. As it turns out my nephew has never been fishing in his long 6 years of life! Gasp.... I know what kind of parents let a kid go this long without introducing them to the joy of impaling a juicy wiggling worm onto a sharp hook and in the process of the worm getting torn apart by the residents of the pond take personal joy in pulling them from their native habitat and then in an act of pure kindness, release them back into the water. These fish must be looked at by their peers like we look at southerners who claim to have been abducted by aliens and returned to there homes again!

Well despite the above mentioned fact I really do love my brother-in-law and admit he is an awesome father. The truth of the matter is I feel a little bit guilty about taking so long to introduce Noah to the sport of fishing.

Normally I don't fish with live bait but I wanted to ensure the kids would catch something and have a memorable experience. I collected some yummy nightcrawlers from the yard and we headed out to a local pond in the bordering state forest. In no time at all we were into the fish. Due to my inexperience with fishing with a bobber the first 30 minutes were spent feeding the fish a free meal of worms! After a little instruction the boys were setting their own hooks and reeling in a bounty of fish. The boys were giddy with all the Bluegills they were catching and after about 2 hours and 16 fish we called it a day, not just any day but an Awesome Day spent in God's glorious nature.

Above - Noah reeling in his first fish ever!

Below - Noah's very first fish!

Daily Life in the Woods.

Saturday was one of those days that around every corner was something exciting. The kids were out playing with the chickens as they free ranged in and out of the woods gobbling up all of the yummy bugs they found (the birds not the kids!)



We also found 3 baby ringneck snakes which are always fun to play with.

We also found a baby bird that was still learning how to fly and let us all take a turn holding him.

The Highlight of the day was when we found a larger Garter snake that had caught a nice toad dinner. We patiently sat and watched as the snake engulfed the entire toad - I realize many of you might find this morbid but it truly was an amazing experience. (click on the picture for the full effect)

Vacations End

Today was the last day of my summer vacation. We had a great week together as a family and went out with a splash - literally! We held our annual BBQ on Saturday night, while there were a lot less people this year we enjoyed the ability to converse one on one with all of our guests. We enjoyed a clear evening with food, fellowship, FIRE, and a few fireworks. I am hoping to get some pictures from a friend who was diligent with picture taking (unlike myself) throughout the night.

We were able to perform all of our cleanup before going to bed and enjoyed a full nights sleep. We got up this morning and packed up a cooler with yummy leftovers from the BBQ and loaded all our swimming and fishing gear into the truck and headed for the ocean. We arrived in Rhode Island and decided to get a day pass to my childhood campground where we could swim, fish, explore the salt marsh and simply enjoy the last day of vacation.

Much like the cookout I failed to bring my digital camera so the only pictures I have were taken with my Blackberry but I guess they are better than nothing and I will look upon them with fondness in the years to come.

This is the first time the kids have ever fished in the ocean and were quite surprised when they found out we would be fishing with bait and not lures! As anyone who has fished with me knows I despise drowning worms and would much rather keep busy throwing a lure than sit in boredom waiting for some brainless fish to find my bait - but the ocean is a whole different beast. While I have caught some massive fish on lures in the ocean I actually enjoy fishing with bait (cut bait, eels, minnows, sandworms etc...). I find sitting on the edge of the water while basking in the sun with the sound of the waves, birds, and bell buoys the ultimate in relaxation.

The kids soon realized I was serious (I don't know why they would ever doubt my sincerity?) and in short order we were all pulling fish out of the water. I caught a couple of Snapper Bluefish, Alex caught a Black Sea Bass and all of us took turns reeling in loads of Scup(Porgy).

The crabs, snails and starfish(sea stars) were in great abundance; the sun was shining, the water was perfect for swimming and most importantly we were enjoying it together as a family. We stayed long enough to watch the sun sizzle into the ocean horizon and shortly after enjoyed watching the moon appear from the opposite direction and make its grand entrance into the sky above. The fish were still biting but the bait was gone and in the darkness we made our way to the showers. After cleaning up we made the journey home recalling the days events as well as the highlights of our past week.

P.S. > The literally going out with a splash comment earlier - in my feeble attempt to wash up before getting in the truck I slipped on the rocks and fell into the water! Thankfully it was dark enough outside nobody could see my face so I don't have to worry about future embarrassment when I pass by people on the street!

StoryLand - Where fun abounds!

Here are some of the pictures we took yesterday on our trip to the White Mountains in New Hampshire. We took the kid's to StoryLand which turned out to be a big hit with the kids (Becky and I included)! While I had only driven by the park with my Dad while working in the Big Red Tractor Trailer, Rebecca had fond memories of visiting the park during her childhood. I think we will definitely have a return trip in the upcoming years.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Happy Anniversary Rebecca

While I know that Anniversary's are generally an occasion shared between a couple I wanted to let the world know how much I appreciate my lovely wife.

Rebecca,

It seems like just yesterday that I became infatuated with you (the cute little girl with long braided hair) and I found myself pleading with my mother to let me buy you a balloon and a card (rather than one of those cheap generic valentines) to give you on Valentines Day in grade school. Over the years we had our moments as friends and I am still in disbelief that you finally came around to my way of thinking and we became a couple(Remember 10-5-92 Rescued?), I am also still in disbelief that your parents approved! It felt like an eternity between dating and marriage but when the day came there was no doubt you were the one for me. While Valentines day has had its ups and downs during our journey through life I feel like celebrating and treating every day with you like the masses due on that one specific holiday.

As I look back over the past 16 years (13 of them married) I remember the times we spent together in college Accounting class, fancy dinners at the drive-in, our wedding day (and NIGHT!), buying our first house, our first puppy, our first camping trip, the day I realized you were pregnant with Ariel, the day I realized you were pregnant with Alex, experiencing parenthood together, family vacations and every single day in between.

You have supported me through hair loss, multiple career changes, hunting and fishing seasons, as well as moving (we all know you had the hard part - packing and unpacking). While I have had the pleasure of changing you into a person who likes country music, Nascar and Monster Trucks, I can honestly say there is nothing I would want to change about you. You have made me a better man and I can't imagine going through life without you.

I love the fact that my silly antics still make you smile, I love that you don't look down on me when I need a shoulder to cry on, I love that we have fun and enjoy being with each other whether we go out for a night on the town or if we just stay home and do nothing.

Thank you for being an Awesome wife, a Fabulous mother and my best friend. I look forward to many more years together. I love you!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY
Love,
C.

Flew the house and into the coop!

The "girls" as we have come to call them, finally flew the house today and moved into their backyard coop. I built the main part of the coop 2 summers ago and Chuck (Becky's dad) came by last week and completed the chicken door from the coop into the outside run. I finally got my butt in gear yesterday and when I got home from work I installed the perches and secured the run in order to keep out any hungry critters (besides myself and the rest of the family - of course!) Rebecca helped out and before it was dark out we had completed everything needed - including a chicken wire roof over the run so the girls would be spared from becoming the dinner of one of the many hawks or owls we have in our neighborhood.

This morning I escorted them into their new permanent dwelling. They were a little nervous at first but settled in within the hour. I showed them how to get out of the coop and into their run but never figured I would need to show them how to get back in! On my way home tonight we had some fairly heavy rain and I got home to a flock of wet but still quite happy birds scratching around the run looking for worms and any delicious creepy crawlies they could find.
I was able to locate a local farm supply store which sold hormone free foods so although I can't legally say my birds and soon to come eggs are organic, I will be able to say they are hormone free - all natural.

My only chore left is to build the nesting boxes for egg laying but I have a couple of weeks to get that done. I have already purchased the necessary materials so it will just depend on when I have a free weekend to complete the project.

I added 2 perches in the run along with some of our abundant rocks. I also added a shelf for the grit dispenser which is filled with ground up oyster shells. I also plan to surround the outside of the run (which use to be a dog kennel) with lots of rocks to keep any thing from digging under and into the run.

I realize we have had them less than 6 weeks but I have really enjoyed the little buggers so far and look forward to years of chicken farming.
The only downfall so far is the fancy polish chickens we purchased were a straight run which means they are not sexed after hatching so from what we can tell at this time we have a few roosters which we don't want. I guess we all know which birds will be on the dinner table first now don't we! :-)

Due to them all acting like little kids playing in the rain I also added a heat lamp to the coop to help them get dry and keep warm. It's amazing how much enjoyment a silly little bird can bring to your life - and for once my mom can't yell at me for playing with my food!!!!!!!!

Seeing the world in a whole new way.

Just a quick update on my eye. I want to start by thanking everyone for praying that I would have a full and quick recovery from my silly injury.
I went to the Doctors on Friday the 25th and despite my vision in my left eye still being blurry, the doctor told me my injury had healed nicely and after a quick eye test it turned out I am back to 20/20 vision in my both my eyes.
I was concerned that things were still blurry but he assured me it would clear up - it may take some time but not to worry.
Well it turns out he was right, today was the first day I had full - clear vision in both my eyes.

The only sad part is I'm sure Rebecca will miss me constantly singing the Foreigner song "Double Vision"

"Fill my eyes,
with that double vision
No disguise,
for that double vision
Ooh, when it gets through to me,
it's always new to me
My double vision gets the best of me"

My little campers!

As a parent you look forward to days without the kids but it is always hard to let them go when those times come. Both my babies went off to camp for the week today, Ariel has gone the past few years but this was Alex's first time. As you can see by the pictures below we were able to send them off without any issues.

Alex with his normal smile.

Alex after making his bed

Alex and Elijah (It was nice for the kids to know some of the other campers as they are family friends)

Ariel and Ariel (Elijah's sister)

Ariel and her friend Samantha (School mates and friends)

Backyard scratchin...

The girls went on their first field trip into the great outdoors today. I am looking forward to moving them into their permanent home in the backyard coop where cleanup will be easier and less frequency required. We started out with 17 chicks and only lost 1 during the first week, the other 16 have grown steadily.

I must admit the kids have been really good about paying attention to the chicks - Ariel really likes the White Crested Polish chicks while Alex has a strong preference for the Jersey Giants (aka - His Girls!) I like them all (especially with corn, stuffing, and of course gravy) but I think the Silver Laced Wyandottes are my favorite and seem to like human interaction the most. Any time they are let out they run right to you and enjoy being handled.

Gabriel and Navarre were really nervous about the chicks not being in their cage and both did a great job of herding any of the chicks that wandered too far away from the main group.