Gone...er...Fishing?

A few weeks ago, Alan decided it would be fun to take the kids fishing.  He tends to have fantastically optimistic visions of our children's behavior.  It's cute.  So, we're going fishing.

Step 1: We're going to need a few new fishing rods.  So we head to the nearest Walmart (which, thank God, is about 25 minutes away).  I had read that a new one opened nearby so we headed over there.  It looked like this:

 

I call it the "Big City Walmart".  It's in a multi-level building, next to a 24-hr fitness and a larger office building.  When we pulled up, the parking lot had a gate and Alan was all, "Oh, hell no!  We better not have to pay to park at Walmart!"  We did not have to pay, but we were the only pickup truck in the parking lot and we had to take up two spots.  I'm pretty sure they're breaking some sort of "Walmart Law" that says all their parking lots must easily accommodate pickup trucks.  Walmart is Walmart, after all.  Can't put lipstick on that pig.  Anyway, we chose some adequately-priced-for-kids fishing rods and headed out. 

 

Step 2: We are going to need some worms.  A few weeks prior, we had planted some seeds in a flower bed and noticed tons of nice, fat worms, so we head home and put the kids to work digging up worms:

 

 

Step 3: Go to Dick's to buy worms:

 

Step 4: Find the perfect spot:

 

 

Step 5: Find a different perfect spot than the one we had in mind:

 

Step 6: Bait the hooks and cast!

 

 

Step 7: Fix the cheap-ass reel from the stupid big-city Walmart and re-cast:

 



 

Step 8: Wait for the fish to bite:

 

 

 

Step 9: Cut the hook out of the tree:

 

Step 10: Give the kids a break and a snack.  They've been fishing a whole 1/6 hour.

 

Step 11: Cut the hook out of the tree:

 

Step 12: Do the hokey pokey:

 

 

 

Step 13: Call it a day:

 

 

No fish were harmed in this outing.  But plenty were fed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Zipping Thru 32!

Alan's such a little stinker.  Not only did he plan a surprise pre-birthday dinner for me on the eve of my birthday, complete with Baskin Robbins ice cream cake, but he also took the day of my birthday off of work and had a special surprise for me that afternoon!  We visited Onna Villiage here and did the Forest Adventure, which is a series of zip lines and an adventure course.  So.  Much.  FUN!!  Here I am, ready to go!

After about a five minute safety "brefing" by a kid who looked to be about 17, wearing a high school track ball cap (given in very broken english, I might add), we were tested with a baby zip.  Once we passed (which we both did on the first try), then we were sent on our way!  In the video below, after I pass, you can see the sign behind me that says "Try Again" for the people who don't pass.  We don't know who those people are, but if they can't pass that baby zip, I think the "Try Again" sign should be pointed toward their car.

This next video is, I believe, of the second zip that we did.  It was kind of down in the jungle, which was cool.  And it was a fast one, which was fun.  What wasn't cool was that there was a sign posted, saying "Front Confirmation!!"  What do you think that means?  We still don't know...but the two exclamation points lead me to believe it was important.  We lived.

Here is one of Alan showing off, along with a semi-decent view of this little slice of paradise.  Livin' the dream, people...

This next video is a little longer, but it's a multi-tasker!  Alan got video of me going across a long zip and then he held the camera while he went:

Here's another multi-tasker for you.  This one was a really fast one and just happened to be the final zip of the jungle course.

After the jungle zip course, there was an "Adventure Course."  There were a lot of fun, challenging components of this, but I had trouble uploading some of the other videos, so there will only be one video of this portion (I know you're super-bummed about not getting to watch more of this).  Here I am doing a really crazy thing called the Tarzan Swing.  It's kind of a mix between a bungee and a zip, swinging into a net.  Seriously, you are all lucky I'm here to type this.  Not because I could have died, but because I might still be standing there on that perch, scared to jump, two days later.  Alan wanted to do this one again.  I did not.

It was a great day and I so enjoyed my surprise.  A great, big "THANK YOU!!" to my darling husband for arranging it - although I know he was also stoked to do it, so it was like a little gift to himself as well.  Nonetheless, very fun.