One week ago I was in full road trip mode… the bag still needed to be packed, laundry was being finished up and the house needed to be cleaned before we left. By Thursday evening, the kids and I had said our goodbyes to Ray and we were on our way my dad’s house to spend the night, before leaving early Friday morning for PA. Noah was especially excited to go, since just a few days earlier my aunt emailed us this photo…
- photo by Deborah Call – www.deborahcall.com
We’re guessing that he’s about 2 or 3 years old… and Noah said that he would do his “quaitondo” {taikwondo} on it to scare it away. I asked him what would happen if it didn’t scare the bear… he just looked at me and stated matter of factly “It will eat me.” !!!!! Oh boy!!!
So with thoughts of bears and fishing on our mind, we made the long drive to Pennsylvania… the kids did great in the car… I was a little worried about that, since the drive from Illinois is not short.
We got there shortly after lunchtime and one of the first things that we had to do was bring the kids into the basement of my aunt and uncles house. You see my uncle likes to hunt and has quite a trophy room downstairs… and we weren’t sure how the kids would react to it…
Noah loved the room… and the bear of course!!!
Abby looks a little hesitant in this photo, but she loved the room too. I was afraid that it would scare them, but there was no need to worry about that. I guess it helps that the decor in one of our favorite pizza places is very similar to my uncles basement!!! =)
After that was taken care of, it wasn’t long before the fishing poles were brought out… Noah and Abby were both so excited to go down to the pond!
My dad, step sister and I all helped the kids fish… though my dad was the only one baiting the hooks and taking the fish off off them {my big moment didn’t happen until the following day}.
The fish were definitely not being lazy and Noah had already caught his first fish while I was making my way down to the pond!! I wasn’t able to get a photo of that one, but I did get one of his second fish. =)
Soon after that picture was taken, Abby “caught” her first…
Being the little Miss Adventurous that she is, she had no problem touching it! Noah on the other hand wanted nothing to do with it, and even quit fishing when I fish “kissed” his cheek!!! =)
This little sunfish touched his shoulder and all of a sudden it was time to get something to drink! haha!!
We didn’t just go along to Pennsylvania to fish though. I primarily took the kids there so that they could meet my side of the family… my aunts, uncles, cousins, and my grandpa. He had only met Noah once before… when Noah was just a few months old… so it was very important for me that he get to see the kids and that they get to meet him. I’m happy that they were able to spend some time with him.
The weekend was over very quickly and before we knew it, it was time to pack up the car again and head back west…
The kids were awake more during this trip, but once again they did great… plus it helps to have lots and lots and lots of snacks…
and when it got to be too boring, a nap always helped make the drive feel a little shorter too!!!
We saw lots of birds and animals during our stay at my aunts house, but to our disappointment we never did get to see the bear… guess who showed up the following morning though…
- via Deborah Call – www.deborahcall.com
A mama bear and her cub were enjoying breakfast right in the spot where we were fishing less than two days earlier!! Of course I had to show the newest bear photos to Noah, who quickly replied… “Well, now we need to go to Aunt Debbie’s house again wif daddie to see da bear swim in da pond!”