for the love of rivers

In the late-morning on Saturday I started feeling a little cabin fever. My husband sensed my need for a break in the routine and quickly declared, "Let's get the kids in the car. We're going fishing." At this time of year my husband is in the throes of spring fever and dying to get out in a river somewhere, so let's be honest, it's not like he was doing me a favor, but it still was fun to just let him take charge and get us all outside. We dropped our Saturday chores, loaded the kiddos in the car, and headed south.

The little Pea is 6 weeks-- the perfect age for her first fishing trip, right? We bundled her up nice and warm (the weather was pretty nice, but a little windy), and she was ready to go. Do you die at how squishy she looks in this picture? She is chubbing up nicely for us :).

We strapped her to me in the Bjorn, and she was a happy little fisher. She slept the entire 3 hours we were out on the river.

It was heaven for me to hold my sleeping baby girl and then just watch my two boys together. Oh how I hope our G boy one day realizes how lucky he is to have the daddy that he has. Those two boys must've been made for each other, and it fills me right up to witness the bond that they have. I love this picture of them both holding their rods out in the river.

I double love this picture of G reeling in a fish. What he doesn't realize is that his daddy hooked the fish and then let him reel it in-- he just thinks he is the best fisherman in the world.

Oh! Love this. Look at the happiness!

Here is G with another fish that he helped reel in. He was so excited to scoop the fishy up in the net.

Maybe some people think it is gross, but I feel so much joy thinking about how much my little boy loves touching (and kissing) the fish before he lets them go. It's the same way I love letting him go in the backyard to build mud pies. Something about him getting his hands dirty and truly experiencing and loving nature and just being a little boy.

The other really incredible thing about taking G fishing is that he never gets bored or tired. When he needs a break from the fishing pole, he simply sets it down and goes to work picking up the biggest rocks he can find and throwing them in the water.

Riverbanks must be what this little boy dreams about-- they are full of wonders and treasures that he can throw into the water. Check out the branch he found and threw in. I just sat there watching (and taking pictures) from afar and couldn't help giggling. Such a little boy.

Besides taking pictures and toting around the baby, I was also in charge of helping G navigate the trickier parts of terrain while J walked upstream in the river (if you think I was going to let J carry G in the river you are crazy). I mostly did okay, but there were a few times that G was dangling somewhat precariously as I tried to not fall with my baby strapped to me.

This picture both cracks me up and makes me slightly nervous. J was busy trying to get his hook unstuck from something on the river bottom and had his rod in his mouth (the funny part), I was busy taking pictures, and before I knew it, G was dangerously close to falling in the river (the nervous part). I didn't even realize how close he had gotten to the water, but you can see him bending down towards the water. Right after I took this, he bent forward to try to grab something out of the water and really almost fell. Even though the water was moving pretty slow, it would have still been so scary to have my two year old fall into a river, so I decided to be a more responsible parent after that.

My little babies. I love the dirt all over G's face. He had fun.

This tiny girl really must love fishing, and lucky her, she was born into the right family for that :).