Birthday Fishing Trip

We try to do a special activity for the birthdays of the older kids. Naturally, Sam wanted to go fishing for his activity. Peter was able to borrow a canoe from a friend, so he and Sam took it and headed out early for an extra-special fishing trip with just the two of them.

Later in the day, I brought the other kids out to meet them for a picnic and some swimming. We decided once that was done that we had just enough time left for Peter to give the other kids some boat rides before leaving.

The first boat ride was with Ben and Cecily.

I took Calvin and Amelia for a little walk while we waited for their turn. We found a shady, little creek hidden underneath lots of brush. It looked very cool and inviting on that hot day.

Here is Calvin climbing down to it. He actually lifted Amelia down, which I didn't get a picture of, but it was super cute.

Watching these two explore here together was a bit of a magical moment. I was reminded that they actually are next to each other in birth order. They don't play together a lot at home, especially alone. They were almost like a set of twins out there, working together and interacting.

There was a spot where the limbs arch over the whole creek and create a cave. It was hard to capture the effect on camera, but they posed for me there. Boy, did they love it in there. It was like another little world that was cool and delightful. The whole thing made me happy, like getting to relive the things I did as a child by watching them do it.

Here is the view as we headed back to the lake for Cal and Millie's turn in the canoe.

You can see the older boys fishing and playing on the peninsula.

Such a beautiful day. That boat really blessed us.

Picking flowers with Cecily while we waited.

Well, Sam and Dad didn't come home empty-handed. Thanks to the boat, they each caught a fish in the morning and Sam caught the biggest one he's brought home yet (we had them on ice while we were at the park).

Can you tell how happy? I said a prayer of thanks to the Lord for sending that fish to my boy for his birthday fishing trip.

Everybody wants in on the filleting of the fish. We froze the fillets with some others from the beginning of the summer. We're saving them to have a fish fry at the end of the season. We might actually have enough for our whole family this year!