Fishing! 06/24

Toward the tail end of June we set out to find some decent fishing. We drove to Fenton Lake in the Jemez Mountains, again, about 1 - 1.5 hours away. It was absolutely gorgeous! I am grateful that although we don't live somewhere with much greenery, that at least we have options somewhat nearby for a change of scene. 

I will say that I expected the lake to be bigger. It wasn't very large and by the time we left, it was pretty crowed. It was similar to Payson Lakes in Utah. Still, better than the community fishing ponds. 

Don't let the coats in the next couple of pictures fool you. It was a little bit chilly in the morning, just enough to be considered jacket weather (though Ryan would clearly disagree.) But all we had for the kids were coats. They lasted for an hour or so and then they peeled them off. 

The kids did great. They caught quite a few! Thankfully we were able to let most of them go.

It didn't take long for Devry to start wading in the water and try as we might, we couldn't get her out. So her jeans and shoes were drenched. Eventually we got the pants off and just let her go. 

This picture is hilarious and terrifying to me. The boys had been cleaning the fish when P had another one on his line. They went to reel him in and Devry tried picking up where they had left off. As soon as we saw it the knife was safely removed, but still. Quite the picture there, right? Haha

From there Ryan wanted to try fishing the nearby stream. He much prefers stream fishing to lake fishing, but we passed a few people on our way in that I believe had already tried most of it and likely scared everything away. It was really pretty though!

We walked for a long way and I did my best to keep up. I had actually had the flu a few days previous that nearly killed me. I am normally pretty good within 24 hours, but this bug kicked my trash. I didn't want to miss out on the family fishing trip, and I did feel quite a bit better, but by about this point I was not doing so hot.

We headed back to the car and drove "around the corner" to a fish hatchery where only kids are allowed to fish. Ryan helped Pierscen set up and he was pulling them out of the water one after the other. It was incredible!

It was a fun day for wildlife too. We saw some redwinged black birds, a mama duck with lots of ducklings, and a muskrat came cruising along as well. That was really neat! 

From there we drove a tiny bit farther up the canyon to find a good spot for the kids to practice archery. They had a great time! Pierscen is quite the shot. They wanted me to try too, which I did, but I am positively horrible at it. 

We had a really great time, despite the fact that I felt so crummy. Later that evening, the kids got to pick our first tomatoes and give them a try. They both loved them. Yum Yum!

Pierscen's Triathlon 06/17

After watching/hearing about our various races, Pierscen decided he wanted to do his own triathlon (after Ryan suggested it, of course). He and Ryan set a course and we headed over to the pool/park for the fun to begin. As you can see, he did the swimming portion with his puddle jumper, though technically now he could do it without. He had a blast! 

Transitions are the hardest. And yes, we were timing him, so he was really trying to hustle. 

The bike portion went down the sidewalk and then around the park in a loop before heading back. 

Lastly was the run. The timing was unfortunate with the dog nearby that I think we scared pretty bad, but it turned out fine. 

He absolutely loved it. In fact, he asked to do it again right after. So we did a Retro one and did it in reverse. He managed to cut off quite a bit of time the second time around. Ryan joked that the course might not be long enough if he wanted to do it a second time so quickly. I paced it out and I think the whole thing was only a quarter of a mile. So it definitely could have been longer, but he loved it and we loved cheering him on. Way to go little champ!

The video below is unrelated to the triathlon, but I bought her a second swimming suit since we were likely going to be at the pool almost every day. She was so happy with it she busted out this dance:

I sure love my kiddos and their spunky personalities. 

First Half of June Happenings 06/03-06/16

Here's a collection of random things from the first part of June. 

1. We attended the wedding of our friends Kayla and Gevin. Gevin was a missionary here. He taught Kayla the discussions. I was able to be in on a few of the lessons and played the piano at the baptism. She has two young girls, age 6 and 3. I think everyone in the ward hoped that they would some day get hitched. And it happened! It was a beautiful wedding. They had a couple of tables with paper for kids to draw on during the reception, which was really fun. Unfortunately some of that included markets. She was a mess by the end but had a great time!

2. P had his second dentist visit. He did fantastic and he had no cavities. Woot woot! We scheduled Devry's first visit in 6 months with Pierscen's next checkup.

3. Pierscen started swim lessons. The first day was a little goofy because he didn't want to put his head under the water, which was quite strange for him. I could hear him giving his teacher some excuse, but couldn't make out the words. I was only a little nervous because I didn't want him to be bumped back a class because he wouldn't put his head under. He loves to go under the water! After class I asked him what all that was about and he said he was nervous because he didn't want the chlorine to hurt his eyes. This had never been an issue before, but at one of the pools he and Ryan had gone to the previous week, the chlorine levels were way to high and both boys returned with VERY red and tender eyes. So then I understood. Thankfully he got over that pretty quick and did really well. 

4. Just a fun picture I snapped on my morning run. I love the hot air balloons here. They are amazing. 

5. Goofy pictures of my gal that lead to...

The pool finally opening! It was two weeks late, but it finally opened. Ryan wrote the HOA asking if they would consider keeping it open two weeks later in the season. They did think about it, but ended up saying no. Bummer. Regardless, I had some very happy fish on my hands. :)

6. One day I was leaving the house to go a birthday dinner for a friend. As I was walking out the door, Ryan gave me a hug and said, "Mmm... I want peanut m&ms." Random, I thought. I was actually planning on getting him some at the store but had forgotten. Then I looked down at myself and realized where the comment had come from. Dang it! I totally do look like a peanut m&m! Can't unsee it, huh? Hahaha. 

7. One funny thing was that P was out in the garden and noticed a bunch of ants. They weren't actually doing any harm, but he was not happy about them being there. So he drew signs at each of the four corners of the raspberry box and a big one on the wall. He was very disappointed when he learned that they weren't heading his warning. Haha! I love it!

8. More goofiness from Devry while we waited for brother at swim lessons. 

She actually requested I take these pictures and then send them to Asa. She then called him to chat. Pretty cute!

After lessons one day we went to play at the park and discovered we were there for free lunch at the park. This was not his favorite meal, but it was free!

9. This one I am not so proud of, but it was funny. One night we were doing pancakes for dinner. Pancakes. Easy. Suddenly I smelled something burning and noticed large flames coming out from under the griddle. I turned off the heat and what did I find? The spatula. Melted. Whoops. 

10. Pierscen passed his lessons with flying colors. I was very proud of this monkey. The teacher told us that the next level usually takes a time or two to pass because that's when they start working on their free style swimming but that P was already doing pretty good with this. We only did one session of lessons this summer, but Ryan has worked really hard with him and he can swim all the way across our pool on his own. His technique may not be the best, but still pretty amazing. 

11. Lastly, Devry started potty training! She really could have done this forever ago, but I was dragging my feet. Honestly, she got it right away. I think all these stickers were from the first day. A few months later we still have accidents and some days are better than others, but she has done great. Very proud of this lady. She wanted a picture every single time she went, so I had a ton of pictures, but figured this would be sufficient. Ha!