Sunday, June 26, 2011

Fishing Trip

One of the great things we were able to do during our trip to Virginia was go fishing. My uncle Ben took us out on his fantastic new boat, and we had so much fun. The boys had never been, so it was an exciting adventure.



Uncle Ben shows Josh how to hook his bait and let out his line. He became proficient in no time.



Papa Mickey had the harder task of trying to teach Lucas how to fish. Lucas wasn't into holding the fishing pole and waiting for a hit, but once a fish was hooked, he became the go-to person for reeling 'em in.



Cruising along to find a better fishing hole:





Success! Finally caught one at our new location:





And another one:









(Happy dance!)




And another one!




We were clearly in the nursery, and we had to throw all these back because they were too small to keep, but it was fun to catch so many little ones so the boys could really enjoy the act of fishing and get the hang of it.

But just when we thought we'd only catch baby fish, my sister Michelle caught something that bent her whole rod over.







And it was a sting ray! We were all shocked and excited! But of course we had to cut the line to get rid of it, to keep us all safe from getting stung.





Josh became quite the little fisherman:



And Lucas even gave another short try to fishing alone:




But was still at the ready when Papa needed help reeling one in:








This was his "hiding place" whenever the boat was moving. It kept him from getting splashed by the wake, which he didn't like.





The fishermen!




Uncle Ben let Josh drive us part of the way back home, to his great enjoyment:




Mommy and Josh:




Josh and Papa Mickey:




My sister and I getting (accidentally) photo-bombed by my dad:




And lastly, enjoying the fruits of our labor. Here is Josh eating one of the fish we kept. He loved them.







Sunday, June 19, 2011

More party pictures -- Josh

Josh blows out his candles with his friends:



He received a water balloon sling shot. Poor, poor Lucas.





Not sure what he's reacting to here, but his expression is kind of funny.




Bouncing away.






It was a fun party.



More party pictures -- Lucas

He really loved his festive party cake:



Blowing out FOUR candles:



Opening gifts with his friends:



Sliding down the wet slide after we turned on the water:











Saturday, June 18, 2011

Birthday Party Day

The boys had their birthday parties today (after also having a family birthday party in VA during our visit). We rented a bounce house and had lots of fun.






Lucas had his party first, in the morning. His friends jumped in the bounce house and slid down its slide, then enjoyed the lovely cake he selected from the bakery (after rejecting my offer to make him one).






Lucas received many great presents, including a large dragon and the DVD of How to Train Your Dragon from his best friend, Sydney.







It was 100 degrees today, so after Lucas's party, we decided to try out the sprinkler system within the bounce house, because it was going to be much too hot for Josh's party. The bounce house had a hook-up for the garden hose, which then sprayed the water in an arch over the top of the slide (to mist it into a water slide). It made all the difference in the world. We quickly got the word out to our guests to come with their swimsuits, and everyone had a blast.


Josh let me make his Power Rangers Samurai cake, as long as I wrote his name in cursive:













We had a really fun day. Happy Birthday (again) Josh and Lucas!

Friday, June 17, 2011

Josh Busts His Moves

Josh did some serious dancing at my cousin Nathan's wedding last weekend. Watch for the circle of the bride's friends checking out his moves:

(click on the video to play it):