gone fishing

One of hubby's nephew loves to fish and has actually taken Big M to fish in NC. So they came with fishing poles and equipment. We took them to a pond 5 minutes away from home to fish. It was under a bridge where I had seen people fish many times. The spot worked well since the bridge provided a shade. The girls and Little M got to chase some ducks. The boys caught a couple of small fish.

Everyone had fun that the next day we wanted to take everyone to a lake 30 minutes away. I thought the girls might enjoy fishing too, so their Papaw bought them their very own fishing poles: K got the pink princess pole, and J got the purple Dora pole. They practiced casting and reeling in the living room.

K on the left, J on the right.

We stopped by a Bass Pro shop to get fishing licenses. While the adults were doing that, Cousin B took the 3 kiddos to the fish pond right outside the building to marvel and feed the huge goldfish. Daddy and I decided to go ahead and buy a 1 year fishing license. Papaw brought a couple of his fishing poles so even I had one. :)

After getting to the lake we had to find a fishing spot. Of course everyone else had gotten the nice spots, I guess, so we had to drive a bit to find a place. We decided on a spot. A rocky spot. The girls got set up to fish and got scared so we packed up and went to look for another one. There was a shady area where the girls (and Daddy) rested on. The sun beating down and the over 100 degree weather zapped everyone's energy.

Only Cousin B caught any fish. The people beside us caught a 35 lb catfish which got us all excited but alas I guess all the fish went home after the mama fish was caught. Cousin B caught a good sized catfish and a few small ones. Then a friendly neighbor gave us another good sized catfish. Someone someone decided  (NOT ME) that we bring home the fish we caught....to eat. I mentioned that I knew how to clean fish so it was left up to me. Can I say though that catfish is one UGLY fish! Here's the rule from now on though, CATCH and RELEASE ONLY!  But I think my elders in the Philippines would be proud of me. I even remembered the trick for making fish not taste or smell so fishy.

Big M was excited about the fish and said that would be his dinner. And so it was. For a picky boy who takes on after his Daddy, I was impressed. The girls chanted "I don't want fish, Mama!" all the way home.

So finally after we couldn't take the heat anymore we drove home. K and Big M were instantly catatonic back there.

critters aplenty

In May, we took the kids to a kiddie festival where Curious George got his first pet, a goldfish. He was so excited, especially since he has been asking for a pet of his own. So we came home with Punky (I have no how CG came up with this name but it's very fitting since Punky has a black streak on top near his head and looks like a punk). Before we even got home, we had a fish tank kit and some accessories.

Here is Punky now thriving in his ever cloudy water.



Punky has been a part of the family, he even plays with Curious George. But he isn't quite playful on this video though. We figured he was hungry.

Then, Curious George got into frogs. He found one in the backyard and nearly gave me a heart attack when he showed it to me. Thankfully, we've been able to convince the boy to let it go at the end of the day. But then one day, while CG and I were out of town, Daddy found a Grey tree frog. As a surprise for CG, Daddy and Nana bought a tank and a supply of crickets to feed it. Curious George was so excited! He named the tree frog, Cricket. He has found many frogs after Cricket, but we've only kept Cricket so far as the others seem to be very common.

Tonight, while catching fireflies (we've been catching fireflies most nights for a few weeks!) Curious George found a Grey tree frog on his own. Daddy caught the little critter and placed it with Cricket. Now Cricket has a friend, Grasshopper. CG came up with this name, but kept forgetting it. So while in bed, too excited to sleep, Grasshopper's name was changed to Hopper.

Here is Hopper after he was placed with Cricket. Daddy gave him a cricket to eat but he was too afraid. Cricket ate it instead. Cricket hunting for his crickets have been a source of amusement for all of us. (Of course I can say this since they're inside a cage where they can't jump on me!!)



Oh, I almost forgot about the lizzard Daddy caught. Curious George was playing with it while it was in a container and it bit him. I don't think he was too enthused about it after that. Yay for me!

Frogs, frogs, frogs everywhere

You would not believe the self-restraint I am practicing just to take a picture of this ginormous hibby-jibbies, more commonly known as a frog. Being here at the in-laws has been nothing but pure excitement to a 4-year old. He has caught frogs, bugs, and things I do not even want to know about. I am teriffied of these things, but I am trying not to show it (though I know I am failing miserably at it). Thankfully, for my sake and the good of the creatures, we've been able to convince Curious George to let them go before bedtime.



While Curious George and I were at home in VA, Daddy found a special tree frog that has the ability to change color. He and Nana bought a terrarium, and food for it (it eats crickets! So they bought a whole village of crickets to raise and feed to the frogs - which by the way, are small enough to escape the little container/cage they came in so we've been finding them here and there much to my dismay).



And just now while I am busy keeping the kids busy outside while Daddy is having a phone interview, a big frog happen to jump where they were playing. This one left merrily on his way thankfully. The dogs are outside so I convinced (yay me!) Curious George to quietly let it go before the dogs get to it.







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