gone fishin'

When I was little we lived down a long dirtroad in a tiny, white house with black shutters. Even further down that dirt road was a small pond that my Dad used to take us fishing in. He taught me how to bait the hook, cast the line and watch the bobber for just the right time to pull in the big one! Once when we were fishing, my Mom caught a water moccasin...as soon as she reeled it in she dropped the pole and took off down the dirtroad running for the house. It scared her to death! Apparently when she dropped the pole she managed to wrap the fishing line around her ankle, so every step she took running the water moccasin also flew down that dirtroad behind her "chasing her". I remember sitting there on a 5 gallon bucket with my Dad watching it happen, caught between being scared for my Mom and being amused by her hooping and hollering like she was.....finally when she was out of sight my Dad just started laughing. Then I started laughing too. We laughed the rest of the day and my Dad told that story for years. My Mom still gets mad when she hears it mentioned. Ha!

Fishing has always been one of my favorite things to do. Still is. We have a fishing hole close to our house here that we have been going to the past several weekends. We will pack a bag of snacks and grab some hotdogs to use as bait. Yes, hotdogs! I had no idea fish even liked hotdogs! But they do! Then we hop on our bikes and a few minutes later we get to our fishing hole!

Dylan and Karsen both love to fish too. They are great casters, always careful to watch behind them to make sure they don't hook each other! I love seeing how excited they are everytime they catch a fish. Dylan was somewhat underwhelmed with this catch. LOL

Look how proud Karsen is! She was the winner for this day. Yes, they were keeping count. Dylan caught 3, Karsen caught 6, Mommy caught NONE! Daddy caught a HUGE catfish that broke the line. This thing was so big it looked prehistoric. If I hadn't seen it for myself, I would have never have believed it! Our goal is to catch him again by the end of the summer!

We are "catch and release" kinda fisherman. We don't keep them and eat them. In fact, none of us really like fish. Karsen always brings bread to pinch off and throw in the pond. The fish will come to the surface and eat it. Then Dylan will cast in that direction in hopes of ensuring a big catch. They are quite strategic and serious about fishing already! HA!

You can't go fishing without a few essentials. Tackle Box. Check! Water and snacks! Check! A big, strong, man that is willing to bait the hooks and take the fish off the hook to throw them back in! Check!

This has quickly become our favorite way to spend a Sunday afternoon. It feels like we are out in the middle of the country somewhere instead of right in the middle of our neighborhood. I love it! I told the kids we should make this a summer tradition. Or at least until we catch that monster catfish again! If that happens, I will definitely post a pic!

You can hear me on the radio!

OK, Well maybe you can't...but I do have a neat story to share. Since I became a working Mom last month, I now have a favorite radio station that I found for my morning commute. It is 104.9 FM "The River". It is a Christian radio station whose motto is they are "kid safe and family friendly". I found it on the way to my interview wayyyy back in March and have been listening to it ever since.

They always have a "family name game" each morning about 7:30AM. They will announce the name of the day and if you have a child with that name, you can call in for a chance to win a prize! This past week I was listening as usual, sipping my morning coffee, and they announced the name "Evan" as the name of the day and "if you are the mother of an Evan, give us a call and you can win an awesome prize for the whole family!" I was thinking, they may have Dylan as the name one morning, but I doubt they will have the name Karsen, ever! Well the very next morning.....

"If you are the mother of a Carson, give us a call and brag all about Carson!  If you are the fourth caller you and you family will win Family Fun Passes to Kings Island! Call now for your chance to win!

I couldn't believe it! Just as soon as I claimed they would  NEVER call the name, Karsen, they did! I called just as fast as I could! It went something like this:

Mary & Josh in the morning voices answer the phone: "Good morning, thanks for calling 104.9FM THE RIVER!"

Me:" Oh...Hey! This is Heather and I am calling because I am the mother of a Karsen! It's Karsen with a K, so I hope that counts!?"

Mary & Josh:"Of course it counts, tell us about your son!"

Me: "Well, Karsen is my daughter, she is 9 and loves everything girlie! She is fiercely independent, loves math, reading and cooking!"

Mary & Josh: "What's Karsen up to this summer?"

Me: "She and her brother are going to a fun Summer Day Camp, and in a couple of weeks they will be heading to NC to spend time with their grandparents too!"

Mary & Josh" "well thanks for calling and telling us all about Karsen! You are the fourth caller and YOU WON!"

I was the fourth caller, and I WON! LOL~ It was a fun start to the day. I got the tickets the next day in the mail for free admission for the whole family! It is basically OH's version of Disneyland!

(google images)

So, we are heading to Kings Island, in Southern OHIO for a fun day in the sun very soon!   I am not sure if we will ride this ride:

(google images)

Ahhhhhh! I doubt it~ but, I am sure we will have fun!

wordless wednesday-my happy place

So sorry....

for the lack of posts. First of all, we were having internet technical difficulties...we are back up and and running and connected to the world again. Yay!

I didn't mind the lack of internet for the first few days because it felt kinda nice to be "unwired". Especially for the kids.....I believe they were having withdrawal shakes. LOL.


In the meantime...we have been on vacation. To the beach. It was wonderful. Perfect. Summer sun. In NC. With our favorite family. The week went by wayyyyy toooo fast.

I will catch up with pics and stories soon~ Just wanted to let you know we were alive!