This year, when Labor Day weekend rolled around, Ethan had already been in school for two weeks. Casey had a hunting trip planned and my mom asked if the boys and I wanted to come to the lake house for a few days. Well, Casey's trip ended up getting canceled and he was able to come with us. We all picked Ethan up from school on Friday afternoon and headed out straight from there.
The first thing we did (after eating dinner) was head out to the dock to fish. My parents had gotten the boys some little fishing rods and we were going to attempt this for the first time. The boys have never been fishing before. So, right before sunset (and at bedtime, I might add), we went out to see what we could catch.

We got the rods set up and baited and got set to wait.

Logan was adamant about doing it himself. I just knew he was going to drop the rod in the water and we'd never see it again. But he didn't. (Not this time anyway.)

Waiting is hard to do...especially for a 5 and 3 year old...but they did great and were having fun.

It would have been more fun if we'd caught anything at all. Pop went down to the end of the dock with his rod just to see if he could catch anything. (No such luck.)

Finally, the novelty of waiting wore off, but the novelty of the dock did not. The boys ran up and down it until they were both had little red cheeks.


Daddy made one last ditch effort to catch something for the boys to see (so far fishing to them was just sitting around...which is not too far from the truth, I guess!) but he didn't catch a thing despite several nibbles.

Pop and daddy concluded that the hooks were a little too big to catch the size of fish that were hanging around the docks. So, we called it a night and packed up our stuff. It was really nice being out there at sunset, though.

I was up early (too early) the next morning and decided to head down to the water to take some photos of the sunrise (below). The colors were phenomenal. I was originally pretty grumpy about being up so early, but I've yet to catch one of these sunrises from outside and it was a very peaceful way to start the morning.

Finally the sun peeked out from behind the cliffs and the colors changed from cool to warm. I can't look at these photos without thinking of that song from Fiddler on the Roof...Sunrise, Sunset. Watched that movie musical too much as a kid, I guess. Haven't seen it in years, though.

After breakfast that morning, Pop put some smaller hooks on the boys' lines and we used some different bait...hot dog pieces. And we went out fishing again. This time, it took all of 2 minutes for Ethan and daddy to catch a fish.

He was absolutely thrilled. Ethan, I mean. But daddy was too, I guess! It was a small little thing, but Ethan didn't care one bit.

Proudly showing off his catch...

Pop caught one for Logan only minutes later. Logan is literally dancing with excitement as Pop reels in his little fish.


Logan wanted to hold it...

And he shows off his first catch...

We caught at least 3-4 more fish before we decided that was enough and we hopped in Pop's boat, which was right there at the dock. Time for a boat ride!

These two are ready...


Ethan and daddy took us out on the lake.

This excitement and joy you see is such a far cry from the first time either one of the boys rode in the boat. They both hated it when they were babies. I love that they enjoy it now.

The boys love to watch the water "turn white" in the wake. (PS - I love how Mimi has one hand on Logan's life jacket strap. Just in case!)

This is Ethan having a great time, but having a hard time smiling with the wind in his face!

Same for Logan...


We drove around to Hell's Gate and dropped anchor to swim for a bit. The lake was gorgeous that day.

Ethan wasted no time at all jumping off the boat...


Logan was ready to get in the water too...but he wouldn't jump.


Daddy even threw Ethan a few times (he went so high). I feel like I should have been at least slightly worried at my son being thrown in the air like that, but I wasn't. He absolutely loved it! Every time we all thought he hit the water too hard, he always came up with a smile and begged for another toss!

This is the way Logan preferred to enter the water...being lowered down by Pop. Stinker. And he did this over and over again. He would get in the water, swim for a minute, and then head back to the boat to be lowered down again.


Our little family thoroughly enjoying our dip in the lake...

One way that Logan would jump into the water was with daddy. To me, this seems much scarier than just jumping by himself from the back deck of the boat, but Logan does things his own way. Don't even try to change his mind. It's futile.

At one point, I turned around and saw Ethan and Casey sword fighting on the bow of the boat. Playing pirates.


Logan was completely ready to drive us back. Seriously, he didn't understand at all why he might need some help with that.

We enjoyed this little weekend getaway so much. It was just what we needed. It was like a last little slice of summer before we succumb to the real routine of life for the next 9 months.

1 comment:
As always, beautiful photos, but your scenery pictures are stunning. I especially like the rocks jutting out of the still water shot. Amazing!
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