Is It Duck Season Yet?

These two boys have the duck hunting fever!

Since we moved up here to the mountains Bo has been scouring Google Earth to try to find good duck hunting ponds for the up-coming season (which isn't until October by the way).  Last night we went to check out a possible prospect and it looks like it could be a honey hole!  The best part is its close to our home - so here's hopin'!

Meanwhile, the boys have been getting in a lot of practice, so those ducks better look out!

Here's Brodie waiting for the ducks to fly out on the tv.

And another video of Brodie calling in ducks.

Paradise Meadow

If you've followed our blog for quite some time, you may recall my complaints from a little over a year ago about our attempted hike to Paradise Meadows within Lassen Park.  I had been looking forward to the hike throughout my entire pregnancy with Brodie, so you can imagine my disappointment 3 months after Brodie was born when we were unable to complete the hike because of all the snow.  Well yesterday we finally made it to Paradise!

I think we were still a little early because there weren't many flowers in bloom, but it was still a beautiful meadow and the cliffs above were gorgeous as well.

This is a pit-stop we made on our way to the meadow.

It is Hat Creek, which is the creek that runs through our property at our house.  It was really nice to get wet since it was so warm outside.

Brodie playing in the meadow.  He loved finding squishy puddles.

Doesn't the creek look inviting?

Bo thought so, so he decided to lean over and dunk his head.  Brodie thought that was a great idea and wanted Bo to do the same to him.

I got my legs wet and it was bone hurting cold - but these boys sure had fun!

Fowler Falls

Last night we headed over to Fowler Falls where our friends the Oilars were camping.  Bo had to work today and we didn't really have much camping gear since we sold our trailer before the big move up to Hat Creek, so we decided just to crash their campsite for the afternoon.

This is the Middle Falls.  There is also an Upper and Lower Falls that we didn't see, but supposedly the middle is the best one anyways.

Can you see Bo in the picture above?

Bo loves swimming in cold water.

Brodie and I just hung out on the rocks near the shore.

Here's Ellaina and Brodie doing what they do best - sharing a "ba-ba".

First Brodie tries to give it to her... she takes a drink...

...and then she shares it right back.  They think its fun to hold it for the other while they are drinking.

Lake Fun

Last night we met up with the Oilars for some fun on Fall River Lake!  Brodie took his first boat ride and we enjoyed a nice picnic on the shore.

Daddy doing some knee boarding.

Spinning around in the lake!

Brodie with his girlfriend Ellaina.  Brodie and Laney were both born on the same day, but Brodie came a few hours earlier.  They are so cute around eachother and love to give eachother hugs and share binkies.

On another note, Brodie started swim lessons this week.  He hates them so far.  Its only been day two, so I'm hoping he'll like it better over the next few days.  Here he is once we got back home.  Gotta love the swimmers hair.

Brodie showing off his bowl of strawberries.

Big Fish

I realize everyone is probably getting sick of all my fishing posts, but I have to do another...

Tonight I re-gained my title for biggest fish!  A 17-1/2 Inch Brook Trout!  This thing is HUGE!  Bo, Brodie, and I couldn't believe what we saw when I reeled it in.  My little fishing pole couldn't even bring it up on the bank!  Luckily Bo was able to grab the net and scoop it up!

Visitors

We have had a lot of family visit us during the month of July and I of course have been loving it!

First my grandma and grandpa from Las Vegas came to visit, along with an Uncle from Arkansas, and my other Uncle, Aunt, and Cousins from the Bay Area.

We had tons of fun exploring, fishing, shooting guns, and eating lots of great food!

Then two days after they all left Bo's Uncle, Aunt, and Cousins from Gridley came up for a weekend fishing trip!

Mat now officially holds the record for biggest fish - 15 3/4 inches!

We ate very well!

Then two days after they left, we had my Aunt and Uncle from Southern CA and my Aunt, Uncle, and Cousins, from Boulder City, NV come to visit!  We went into Lassen Park and then to the RV Park for dinner.  Brodie loved the beautiful pond at the RV Park.  His new favorite thing is to throw things into any sort of body of water.

Then Uncle Kent brought out some snow we brought back from Lassen...

Boy that was fun!

 

We have been having a wonderful time visiting with everyone!  We're so lucky to have such wonderful family members!

Brodie the Fisherman

Brodie has been observing us fish for quite some time now and he's showed interest in reeling in the line.  Friday night Bo decided to cast out the line for him and let him reel it in on his own and lo and behold he caught a fish!  It was so cute!  Brodie was so wide eyed and couldn't quite wrap his brain around what had just happened.  I had to get it on video, so we tried casting the line in again last night.  He caught another fish, but it got off the hook, so we didn't get that same surprise.  I'll keep trying for a better video, but until then, here's the little cutie fishing!

Independence Day

We've been lucky enough to have family come to visit us for the 4th of July weekend!  It has been so much fun!

Before they came though, we had to get ready!  Here is Brodie helping me vaccume:

He has been such a great helper lately!  And I really mean that!  Instead of making messes, he helps me pick them up.  He loves to sweep and vaccume, wipe down the tables, kill the spiders that are in the house, and throw away trash... which is only sometimes a problem because he doesn't always know the difference between trash and something we'd like not to take a trip to the dump.

Here we are entering the Subway Caves.

The last time Brodie went through the cave he was only 3 months old and he wasn't too fond of the adventure - there is zero visibility down there and the average temperature is 46 degrees.  This time around though he didn't seem to mind it at all!

Brodie just loves celebrating the 4th of July!  We've been practicing waving the flag over the last few weeks and he's gotten pretty darn good at it!

We also went into Burney to watch the fireworks!  It was an awesome display and Brodie loved it!  At first he was a little wide eyed, but he quickly started cheering, pointing, and making the "more" sign after every firework!

Here's just some cute shots of Brodie playing the daisies.  He was picking his Nana some flowers.

There's been some good fishin' going on too!  My sister caught a beauty and my cousin Joe hooked a nice little brown trout!

We feel so blessed to live in a country where we have the opportunity to do all these wonderful activities.  I couldn't ask for a better life and family and I am eternally thankful to the servicemen who fought to give us these freedoms.  Happy Independence Day!