Fishing with Uncle Robert

We love summer time around our house because it is filled with play dates, vacations, snow cones, movies, road trips, swimming, cook outs, slip n slides, bike rides, long walks, driveway play and today we went fishing for the FIRST time.

Our neighborhood is filled with exciting things for kids and adults to do.  My oldest brother has been promising to take my kiddos fishing, so today we took advantage of the catch and release program. Emma was a little disappointed we were not going to get to keep em and eat em, which really surprised me. Especially after we got to the lake early and she had the worms tucked up under her arm and started crying saying she loved them when Uncle Robert told her it was time to thread the worm on the hook.

Emma and Gavin were so excited to go fishing this morning and could hardly wait to get down to the lake to see who could catch the first fish. Gavin woke up this morning telling us he was going to catch a turtle.  My brother has been looking forward to taking his niece and nephew on their first fishing trip. I think Daddy was a little sad he could not be a part of it all, but we kept him up to date through text messages and pictures.

Emma caught the first little sun perch and reeled it in all by herself with Uncle Robert cheering her on the whole time.  She was so super excited but got a little nervous when it started flopping around. 

Gavin was not as patient as Emma waiting on the fish to bite. As soon as his cork started dancing around in the water he started reeling it back in.  He would drop the line back in all by himself and sweetly say, "here fishy fishy, where are you?"  He was so darn cute fishing and really did a great job understanding his fishing pole and what he had to do in order to drop his line back in the water (for the most part he did it all by himself).  Unfortunately he was on Mom's team and we did not catch a fish, but we almost caught a squirrel.

Oh how I love these 4 little chubby hands and 40 little fingers.  I can not wait for Daddy to see these two in action, he is going to be so proud!  I can't help but wonder what impact these hands will have on the world one day?

Sure wish this little boy could have caught his first fish today, but I think it might have worked out perfect so Daddy could be there to see the big catch.  We might just have to head back to the lake tonight and see if we can't make that happen.   I love the picture of Gavin in the middle running down the pier with his pole when we first arrived.  The other two just might be him sitting in time out for running off and refusing to stop.

By the end Emma was a real trooper and was picking up the worms, trying to put them on her hook and fishing like a champ.  She ended up catching the second and last fish of the day.  Look at that smile, she is one happy girl.

I can't believe this is the only picture I got of Uncle Robert. Since I was a little girl I remember my brother having a fishing pole in his hand and loving animals deeply, just like my Emma Lou!  My brother can usually be found on the water 2 to 3 days a week catching shark, fish or anything else he can reel in and take home. 

My Daddy was quite the fisherman too, so it did my heart good to spend the day after Father's day fishing with my brother and my two kiddos.  No doubt in my mind my Daddy was smiling down on us today and probably wishing he could have been there to tell us how it is really suppose to be done.

After we fished we sat around the lake and watched Uncle Robert try to catch the sunscreen Emma accidentally dropped in the water. Gavin and Emma ran after squirrels and that little boy of mine treed one better than any huntin' dog Papa ever owned.  

We are so glad we got to spend the day with Uncle Robert and hope to fish with him again soon, we'll handle our own worms next time.  What better way to say THANK YOU and end a great day?  Snow cone time Uncle Robert, we LOVE you!