More video of us at the pond

Here’s another video of us at the pond.  Taylor had jumped off the diving board 4 or 5 times but as soon we turned the camera on she was a big chicken.  This was her first time swimming in the pond and she was a little freaked out because this was the same pond she had just caught fish from.  I told her that the fish wouldn’t bother her but I don’t think she ever quite believed me.

A Day at the Pond

We spent the day at cousin Stacy’s pond and had a great time.  It was hot but we swam in the pond to cool off and paddled the canoe around a lot. Man, my arms are sore.  While eating our lunch a deer came out of the woods and got a drink on the other side of the pond.  We got a nice long look at her before she bounded off.  Taylor got in some target practice with her .22 rifle (see video below).  We caught lots of fish and kept just enough for a meal.  Taylor caught almost all of them.  All in all it was just about a perfect day.

Daddy Daughter Fishing Expedition

Hey everyone long time no post.  Sorry but I go through phases where I’m really into updating this site and then things get busy and this just gets put on the back burner.  Anyway, this weekend Taylor and I went fishing for the first time this year.  We went to cousin Stacy’s pond and they were really biting.  She would no sooner get her worm in the water and a fish would instantly take it.  Taylor caught two really nice sized bass.  One of them she caught while I was taking a restroom break by the nearest tree.  I heard her scream and looked over to see her little Barbie pole almost bent in half.  By the time I got there she had him up on the bank and was trying to pick him up.  In the first 30 minutes we caught 10 to 12 and she just got plain tired of reeling them in and took a break.  I had been so busy fixing her worm and taking the fish off the hook for her that I hadn’t had a chance to fish so I took a few minutes and caught three while she “explored”.  We ate lunch right by the water and enjoyed the beautiful day.  When we got home it was time to clean them and she stuck with me the entire time playing with the fish.  Check out the video to see her with her catch.

Getting Older

We still have two sippy cups around.  I know, I know she’s too old for sippy cups but they do such a good job at preventing spills.  Anyway we’ve decided it’s time for them to go so I told Taylor we were going to get rid of them and she got all teary eyed but accepted it.  She told me she didn’t want me to throw them away but to give them to someone who had the same favorite color.  She then went to the kitchen table for a few minutes and brought back this picture.  She tearfully said she drew a picture of her favorite sippy cup so she could remember it.  It’s funny what kids get attached to isn’t it?

Taylor Learns to Read

Taylor has been working really hard practicing the sounds that letters make.  She has on occasion, been able to sound out a word but has been needing some help to do so. Last night just before bedtime I was reading a book about Benjamin Franklin to her and she wanted to try to read some words for me.  On the first three or four words she could make all the sounds separately but needed some help to put them together.  At some point it really clicked with her because she started putting the sounds together without any help from me.  She was so excited and we went looking through the book for words that she could handle.  After 30 minutes she was still going but it was past bedtime.  Terri was reading in bed and Taylor layed down with her and they practiced a few more words until it was time to turn the light off.  It was so amazing to witness and be part of the exact moment that Taylor learned how to read.

Yardsale day (again)

Terri and Pat are having another yardsale today. I think this is the third or fourth one this year.  You’d think we wouldn’t have anything left to sell but as you can see there’s a lot of junk out there.  Terri was up at 5:00am to get ready in time and I heard Pat moving all the stuff out of the garage into the driveway about 6:00.  They were all set up and ready to go before the sun came up and their first customer came by right about that time.  It going to be great weather today so they should have good luck.

Making Brownies

Taylor loves to help in the kitchen.  Tonight she was helping make brownies.

Great Day Fishing with Taylor

This afternoon Taylor and I loaded up “Grandpa Dan’s” truck and went to Stacy’s pond and fished.  We caught several nice Bluegill.  Taylor caught the majority of the fish and she even helped take them off the hook.  The first four or five we threw back but they were biting so good we decided to get our basket out and start keeping them.  We caught enough to eat for dinner and then we stopped.  Stacy let us ride his four wheeler and we had a good time on the trails he has.  Here’s a picture of Taylor with the biggest catch of the day.

Here’s a pic of Taylor and I with the last fish we caught.  It was a little bass and Taylor liked the fact that you can just hold him by his mouth instead of grabbing his body and risk getting finned.  We threw him back so he could grow a little.

We took some back roads on the way home hoping we could see a deer.  We didn’t see any but had fun looking at everything.  Once we hit the highway it was lights out for Taylor.  She slept all the way home but woke up to help me clean the fish.  I can’t understand it, most five year girls wouldn’t want anything to do with a fish but she loves touching them.  She was lifting up their gills and checking them out from top to bottom.  She even stuck her finger in the mouth of one as far as it would go.  She just giggled when he flipped around on the table.  We buried the fish remains in the backyard and Mom cooked the fillets and we had a great supper.  Here’s a pic of Taylor sleeping in the truck.

Weinee Roast

Yesterday afternoon we decided to have a weinee roast in the backyard.  Everything was last minute but we pulled it together and had a very nice time.  The kids had a great time with some sparklers we had leftover from the 4th and they played pretty hard.  Brody and Taylor finally ate a smore and they really liked it.

Fishing with Taylor

This afternoon Taylor and I impulsively decided to go fishing.  We loaded up “Grandpa’s truck” and went to buy bait.  When we stopped to buy bait we ran into Aunt Debbie, Brody, and Ty at the gas station.  We bought a dozen night crawlers and headed to the “hard road ditch” (a pond out by the armory) to try our luck.  The fish weren’t biting but Taylor and I had a good time anyway.  We did catch one very small bluegill and Taylor learned how to grab and how NOT to grab a fish.  She held him while I took it off the hook and we through him back to grow up.  After 30 minutes or so we headed back home because Taylor had to pee.  She sat in the middle and I taught her how to shift the gears for me and she really liked that.  We saved our worms and will hopefully have a chance to go again real soon.