He Caught a Fish!

Papa took Ben and Jacob fishing this morning.  Ben hugged Jacob, but the truth is, Ben was cold.

Ben warmed up quickly and was happy to be outside, even though it was 7 am.

Ben spied a playground.  I took one picture before he decided he needed check on Jacob.

Ben wanted to fish, but it helped when I held him.

Ben practiced balancing the rod on the rail.

Jacob caught the first fish.  It was exciting.

Papa had to bait the hooks.  Papa believes using a whole earthworm is better than using half.

Jacob cast again, and he immediately caught another fish.

Papa Ben retrieved the hook.

Jacob was actually working on a merit badge.  Ben and Papa were happy to help.

Papa encouraged Jacob to bait his own hook. By this time he was motivated.

Ben was motivated, too.  He tried to cast, but he's not as good as Papa.

In no time, Ben caught a fish.

Ben was beyond excited.

Papa told Ben to catch the worm for his next cast.

A fish pulled on the bobber.

Ben reeled it in all by himself!

This entire adventure happened very quickly, and we were home by 8.

Our afternoon was busy.  Ben helped me make two mousse cakes.

After they were put together and safely in the fridge, Ben licked the bowls.

Our planned lunch of fish somehow drifted to a late afternoon snack.

I demonstrated my prowess at deboning fish, which everyone shared.

Everyone included Jacob's family, who had finally arrived!

We went to the pool.  Julia is a great swimmer.

Nate had a blast.

Melanie was looking forward to seeing Will.

I realized where Jacob inherited his fabulous dodgeball skills.

Ben impressed me with how well he swims now.

Dave and I kept an eye on everyone.

Papa joined us, too.

Jacob was happy to see his family again.

Nate found time to play a game or two of pinball.

Carolyn found time to sit on the deck and watch the hummingbirds.

The hummingbirds found time to watch us.

Everyone ordered Cafe Rio for dinner except me.  Except everyone shared, so it worked out just fine.

In addition to two mousse cakes, I made a peach pie.  It received rave reviews.  I was very pleased.

Ben Comes!

We picked Ben up at the airport this afternoon!

The sum of a very long story is I put together an amusement station for Ben.  It worked pretty well.

Jacob watched over his shoulder.

Papa's car drove us home.

Ben knows where I keep my trucks.

We stopped at Papa's new taco place for dinner.  I shared my soda water with Ben.  He didn't like it.

Today was my first time to eat here.  Jacob and Ben helped with my order.

In the meantime, Mommy found Ben some root beer.

I randomly picked three different tacos.  Steak and fish were fine.

The falafel taco was amazing!

The music made Jacob want to dance.  I had to laugh.

After dinner, Papa and Jacob attended a political meeting to fulfill a requirement for one of Jacob's merit badges.  Ben found his scooter in my garage.

This was a wonderful hour together.

We carried koi food with us.

Mom practiced a little yoga.

We found a gigantic truck.

Mommy and Ben posed in the shovel.

I gave Ben a quarter.

Mom rustled through my freezer and found a treat.

When that disappeared, Ben asked if I had donuts.  This was impressive, because the last time he visited, I did have donuts, and he had remembered. I found the last of Jacob's toaster strudels.

At the end of the day, Jacob read Ben a bedtime story.  Night night.