Cold Springs Trout Farm

 We headed to Cold Springs Trout Farm to have a fun family time.  Ed and I and Makae met Mauri who had Adriana, Jerod, Joshua, Caleb and also Cade and Ethan, and Kecia, Jace, Emma and Leah.  Adrie really didn't want to fish so she carried Leah around and helped her enjoy the fish from a distance.  Meanwhile all of the other kids grabbed a fishing pole and bucket and headed over to the pool of fish.  What a fun time!!!  The only complaint to be had is that they had to QUIT fishing  because we couldn't afford to catch any more!  

 10 of my 16 grandkids...far left is Makae, Ethan, Cade, Caleb, Jerod, Grandpa Ed, Josh, daughter Mauri, JACE, Emma, Leah and Adrie and daughter Kecia.   We missed the other cousins - Dirk wasn't able to bring his boys up like planned and Brayden wasn't feeling well so Jamie stayed home with him and Taylie and Hudson.

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 Here is Kecia helping Emma catch a fish - she got quite discouraged before she actually (with mama's help) caught a fish!

 Adriana with miss Leah Rose ...

 Emma caught her fish and then wasn't sure she wanted to get near it!

 We finally got her to hold the line when it quit splashing water on her - I can imagine what she would have done if she had had to put the worm on the hook!!

 Here Emma is at the bowery where grandpa Ed cooked the fish and we had a yummy lunch.  She thought that the fish was pretty tasty.

Cute grin from Leah...Caleb in the background.  I think Caleb was the only one who didn't like his fish...I didn't think he even tried it but he is holding his fish plate in his hands here.  Did he taste the fish?  

We made some good memories  today though.  Cold Springs Trout Farm offers a chance to come and fish WITHOUT  having to buy a license, bring our own gear, or bait our hooks.  They charge you per the size of fish that you catch with the average price being about $4.50 per fish.  That includes gutting, cleaning and filleting the fish for you!!!   We brought charcoal briquets and lemon juice to cook them with.  We had forgetten the salt and pepper so they loaned us a large jar of seasoning salt and we had also forgotten plates, silverware or napkins (we were brought our lunches - didn't really plan on eating the fish there until Cade and Ethan showed up without lunches)...anyway, I took the aluminum foil that we brought to cook the fish on and created out own plates!!  And we ate the fish with our fingers!!  MEMORIES!!

As we were leaving we found this lady at an upper pool where she and her husband were fishing for fingerlings to feed the parrot on her shoulder.  We decided next time we came we would fish in this pond as they would probably only cost a buck a fish...the fun for lots less money!

Grandma went through about $5 worth of quarters buying fish food for the kids to toss to the fish.  

 Cade, Ethan, Jerod, and I think Caleb and Josh all had fun catching the fish with their bare hands!!

This is a definite redo in the future.  Next time we will come more prepared but I don't think we could have any MORE fun than we had today!

Playing in the water!

I had the chance to have a couple of my grand daughters come stay with me for three days and two .nights.   We had so much fun.  I knew that four year old Emma would be tickled pink to come spend a couple of days but I really was afraid that Leah would be very unhappy to see mama Kecia and daddy Glenn leave..I dreaded bedtime because I just knew that she would be inconsolable .    Surprisingly enough she was all smiles and didn't mind in the least when her mom and dad left.  We got out the toys and started a two day party.  Grandma Susan had bought their favorite foods, black berries, goldfish, string cheese, and gogurt.  'We had a ball.  Miss Leah wanted to follow sister down the stairs every time Emma headed down.  At first I blocked off the stairs so she couldn't get through but about the time I needed to run downstairs to grab another mini chair for the kids table and had to climb THRU the block I said, uh uhh.  Knowing that Glenn was really afraid of Leah falling down the stairs I quickly helped Leah realize that she didn't go down the stairs without holding onto my hand.  Not only did the girls mind me without question, they ate anything I fed them and they slept for a good 12 hours every night.  During the day I was worn to a frazzle trying to keep up with Miss Leah.  She doesn't stop!  As fast as I cleaned up toys and stuff, she was pulling something else out.  Once they woke up I had NO time for me...no bath, no nap, no cleaning!  The first night it took Leah two hours to settle down and go to sleep.  She took an hour and a half nap the next day but she usually had a 3 hour nap at home.  Thinking I had 3 hours for a bath and a nap I spent 45 minutes mopping the floor and  picking up toys when she went down for her nap.  I barely had time for a nice soak and ended up with a quick nap when she woke up WAYYYY to early.  At that point, grandma got smart.  The girls and I headed outside and played in the swimming pool and with Great grandpa's clown for over two hours.  Then we headed back in the house, changed clothes and went to visit Great grandpa Merritt.  After that I took them to Arctic Circle for supper and let them play for another hour and a half on the climbing stairs and slippery slides.  They had a  ball.  It got up to 90 degrees in that play area though and so I finally called it quits.  Let me tell you, THEY slept the second night.  In fact Leah went to bed at 7 pm and didn't wake up until 8 am the next morning!  Emma is fantastic - she wakes up earlier than Leah but gets up quietly and finds something to entertain herself without making any noise.  Good training mom!    When Kecia  and Glenn got back on Saturday they slipped quietly in the house to surprise Emma - and they got the surprise when "Emma took one look at them and burst into tears, saying "I don't want to go home".  We had had too much fun - we even put some 100 piece puzzles together.  Emma is so full of love and so full of joy - 

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The first day I had this set up on a more level area and had about 5 inches of water in the pool.  The second day we had to put more water back in the pool and the main hose was hooked  up to the clown head so we moved the pool right over by the fence so the front yard hose could stretch and fill the pool.  Leah quickly realized that by stepping on the side of the pool she had easy access in and out - trouble was it made easy access for the water to run out too!

This 30 year old clown head belonged to my dad and as we went through the house and picked out things we wanted I grabbed this clown head as I had years and years of memories of my kids and then my grandkids playing with this fun water toy every 4th of July in grandpa's back yard.

It didn't take Emma very long to figure out how to make it work right

Just a cute girl!  Miss Leah and her fun grin

The clown hat - get the water pressure going just right and the hat balances on the stream of water

Cute huh!

Emma loved it - Leah didn't want to get sprayed.  She preferred the pool

After Emma and got this 100 piece puzzle put together I told her we needed a picture of her with it before we put it back in the box

My cute Emma!                                                                                                                                                              


All in all - we had a great time.  Leah has decided that grandma is as fun to be around as mama - I had a great time.  I was ready to go soak in the hot tub by the time Saturday was over.  Thanks again Kecia and Glenn for letting me enjoy your girls