was the last Sunday in August, a beautiful sunshine-y day. John took the kids fishing on Cave Run Lake, about an hour from us. It is a pristine lake very similar to Lake Ouachita back home, just a lot smaller. This was Allie's very first ever fishing trip, including her first time on the boat with it NOT being parked on the trailer in the shop! She was beyond excited, as was Asher, since he hadn't been out on the boat with John in a couple of years. (Last summer the boat was completely out of commission having a new engine put in!).
As they got close to arriving, Allie kept saying, "Is that the lake daddy? I see it, I see it!" just completely enthralled. Made me a little sad to hear that, since John and I grew up on the lakes back in Hot Springs. They were such an integral part of our childhood. It is hard to believe that our children aren't experiencing that. But, we remind ourselves that they are experiencing lots of other great things living in the country, on the farm.
Here are the pictures!
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| First Fish |
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| She caught a MINNOW! |
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| Starting to get the hang of things. |
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| Can I nap and fish? |
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| Double catch! |
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| She would not touch a single fish, much less the grub worms for bait | . |
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| Getting a good, close look. |
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| Ruling the back of the boat. |
What a wonderful day of memories for both John and the kids.
In other news, we are keeping busy with school, homework, children's activities, and of course keeping up with the farm. We decided this Fall to join a Community Group (also called Small Group) within our church. Our Small Group meets on Thursdays, with the first meeting being this week. We were placed with our friends the Keeton's, who live just down the road from us not 10 minutes. Their little girl Brie is Allie's age, and we have been to their home many times and feel very comfortable there. It is a new group starting up, and we are very excited to take this next step. I am not sure how many people are in the group, but I think 10 or less. Each week we will discuss the previous Sundays message, and delve deeper into it.
Asher is doing very well with piano. He loves going each Wednesday afternoon and practices diligently at home. I love listening to him play! He has also chosen to play the viola in the Intermediate School's Orchestra. John and I were thrilled with the opportunity for him to learn a stringed instrument, and the best part is they meet twice a week from 7:45-8:15am at the school. First Bell is at 8a, so he is only missing 15 minutes of classroom time. As for sports, he started Flag Football a few weeks ago, which practices on Thursdays for an hour and games are Mondays for an hour, with a half hour practice beforehand.
Allie started back into ballet & tumbling two weeks ago, a one hour combo class on Thursdays. Thankfully we were able to get her into the class that meets at the same time as Asher's practice, since they are at the same location (our local YMCA). We will be going straight to Small Group from there, which will make for a busy night, but at least the next day is Friday!
At this point Tuesdays and Fridays are our open nights, and we plan to keep it that way for as long as we can!
