Merrill Park

With Scott out of town, we needed to get out of the house for some fun.  Savannah is trying out for the middle school volleyball team, and had two hours of practice that day, so she wanted to stay home and relax.  But the other kids were excited to go to a park.  Josh had promised Aaron earlier in the summer, that he would teach him how to fish.  So we picked a park with a fishing pond nearby, and Josh brought all of his fishing supplies.  He even brought $3 of his own money, to buy some live bait.  We swung through the McDonald's drive through and loaded up on chicken nuggets and fries, then headed to the park.  When we pulled into the park, I looked back to find Owen like this...

But as soon as he heard we were at the park, he was wide awake.  Kendi and Maggie met us there too.  We ate dinner on a picnic table, then Aaron and Josh headed off to fish.

The other kids played on the toys for a bit, but quickly ended up at the splash pad.  We hadn't brought swimsuits, so I let the boys take off their shirts and get their shorts wet.

It wasn't long before Josh came running over excited to tell me that Aaron had caught his first fish.  Aaron was ecstatic.  

When I returned from taking pictures of Aaron's fish, I found that Kate had decided to join in the fun at the splash pad.  She was so proud of herself.

She would go play on the toys for a bit, then back to the water.  She thinks she's so big now.

 
My boys were running around too quickly for me to snap pictures of them, so I ended up with a bunch of pictures of Kate.  She's just so cute!

About this time, Josh and Aaron came over from fishing.  Aaron was happy to join Nate on the toys, but I could tell Josh was upset.  You can see him in the picture below, sitting in the distance, feeling sad.  Aaron had swung his fishing pole back over his shoulder to cast, and his hook hit the styrofoam cup of bait that Josh had bought.  Then Aaron flung his fishing pole out into a cast, and the bait went sailing out into the pond, dropping meal worms into the water as it flew.  Such an unlucky accident, that brought the fishing to a halt.  I explained to Josh that he could be frustrated that it had happened, but he couldn't be mad at Aaron for doing it, because it was an accident.  Still, Josh's evening was ruined.

Finally we decided to head home.  Owen loves to put on his own shoes.  90% of the time, they are on the wrong feet.