Fish Stories

Everybody has a fish story, right? Well, now Julia has her first. And when you ask her to tell it, she'll gesture with arms wide to show how big Papa's fish was, saying, "Biiig!"; and hold her fingers close together to show how big Mom or Dad's fish was, saying, "Baby". Classic.

Anywho, we spent July 15-19 in Wisconsin at the cabin Tony and Marlene have rented every year since John was little. It was Julia's first trip there and we had fun. It turned out to be record cold that week, which put a damper on some activities, but we braved the weather and Julia went out on the boat once and to the park a few times. Marlene even spent time with her so John and I could go out on the boat without her and we even went to the local casino to have all you can eat crab legs one night. She wouldn't have been allowed into the buffet, so we were very grateful that Gaga, with her willing heart, stayed back with her. All in all, it was a fun mini-vaca.

Julia read some books to pass the time. She does really well in the car, I'm proud of her.

Checking out the fishing pole. Look at that concentration!

Drivin' Papa's truck.

Reading the Bible with Papa. If Julia finds a Bible, she will bring it to you and want to read. Priceless.

Feeding the fish some bread off the dock. There were lots of minnows there, and those were her favorite fish because they were so small she thought they were babies.

Practicing with the pole.

She liked to go fast and make big splashes!

Papa plucked a flower out of the water for her.


Reeling in her first fish with Papa.

She was brave enough to hold the string, at least.

She looks a little apprehensive in this one.

Marlene plopped her down on the swing and set a fish next to her to take a picture. She scooted over right away and would not take her eyes off of it to look at the camera. I love this photo.

Here I am, wearing a parka in July for cryin' out loud. Good thing Marlene had brought it with her because the heaviest thing I had was the fleece I'm wearing underneath. It was cold out on that water, and the wind could cut right through you.

At one point, we thought John had the biggest fish ever on his line. It was definitely swimming and pulling like a fish, so we knew he wasn't just caught in the weeds. We thought his line might break though, he had such a tough time getting it in.

Turns out it was an average size northern pike that had got itself caught in the weeds after it took the bait. We're still proud of you babe!

A close up of some of the teeth in a northern Tony caught.

This would be why Julia says, "Big!" when referring to Papa's fish.

John called this his "I hate scaling fish" face.

Well, we caught one as big as Julia!

In about half the pictures of her with a fish, she would stick her tongue out as if to say, "Ewww!"

Watching Nemo on the ride home. We borrowed a portable DVD player and that really helped pass the time. Shortly after that trip, we upgraded vehicles so now we have a DVD player built in. It is so nice on long trips!

Overall, we had a great time. It was a whirlwind trip, with two days spent travelling and really only 3 full days there, but it was worth it. Hopefully it will work out that we can go again next year!