Gone Fishin'

Sorry for the lack of posting this weekend, but the Internet down in Indianola isn't very reliable. That's right, it was our first trip to the coast for the year, and it was as relaxing as I remember. It's funny: When you're young, "summer" doesn't start until school lets out, but now that I'm older it has a different definition. We've dusted off the rods and reels, aired out the cabin, and done the requisite work to get ready and I can say SUMMER IS HERE!

We got a little bit of fishing in, going out with James and Brandy on James' and Mario's boat. The bait store was out of live bait, but we managed to have some success on some "fresh dead" shrimp. As an aside, I'm not sure what qualifies bait as "fresh dead" but I'm pretty sure this shrimp hadn't been alive since the Carter administration. With this in mind I didn't have high hopes for our catch, but we did manage to catch some gafftop, which is a saltwater catfish. They are slimy, hard to get off the hook, and I'm not crazy about the way they taste, but they give a fun fight and its always exciting to pull a big one from the water. Lawrence officially out fished me this time though, catching the first, biggest and most gafftop of those of us on the boat.

Ripken had a great time. He loves playing with Cooper (James and Brandy's Lab) and Haley tolerates him (Joanne's miniature pincher), but she's not really crazy about anyone. You can see the pecking order amongst the dogs at left. He's totally tuckered out next to me on the couch as I write this.

In other news, Kenyon called Lawrence "La-La" for the first time this weekend, and he was thrilled! It made me anxious for Ella to start recognizing us as well. Can't wait!

On the agenda this week: Bid week at work so we should be pretty busy, getting Lawrence's car fixed (more about that later), Ripken starts obedience school, and Beer Bike. Should provide plenty of material to keep you guys amused!