Flashback Friday

Looking back through some old photos I found these cute pics from when Winston was not quite one year old yet on a trip to Lake Powell.  Zack was helping him drive the boat. These were taken July 23, 2007 - almost exactly 4 years ago.

I love looking at our family photos and remembering all the fun we've had together and seeing how far Winston has come.  I can't believe he'll be 5 this year!

Winston's First Fish

On our recent trip to Lake Powell, Winston caught his first fish. Last year I'd bought him a little practice fishing pole with a weighted disk on the end and he's loved casting it off the back of the boat. Back in June he tripped when he was casting out and let go of the pole - it sank right away. He was so sad to lose his fishing pole and he couldn't stop thinking about it and talking about how he had wanted to catch a fish.  He started telling everyone about how his fishing poled had "drowned."

Brad and I decided to go ahead and get him a real fishing pole - hooks and all (Yikes!) and the first chance he had to use it was at Lake Powell during our July trip.  After a rainy afternoon, we were spending a quiet evening on the houseboat and Brad decided it was the perfect time to teach Winston how to fish.  Brad got his new gear all set up and explained to him the danger of the hooks and how to cast.  Winston quickly caught on and sat at the end of the dock next to our houseboat casting out and reeling it back in for about 45 minutes. 

He was just starting to lose interest and was messing around with his pole while the hook sank down in the water when all of the sudden he turned to Brad and said, "Dad, I think I caught a fish."  Sure enough, he had hooked something (Brad and I were pretty surprised too because we didn't think he would catch anything there with all the boats going by).  Brad helped him reel it in and all I could say was, "Wow, what a big fish!"  He had caught a striped bass about 16 inches long.  Winston couldn't wait to hold his first catch and was so proud of his fish.  (I'm glad I had the camera there to catch the moment)  He did get pretty upset with us when we let it go.  He wanted to keep it as a pet and then take it home so Brad could cook it on the smoker.  (I love the things he comes up with!)

He did catch another one the very next day off the back of our boat but while Brad was helping him reel it in, the fish dove back under our boat, broke the line on our prop and got away. Winston was so mad at the fish for steeling his hook - his favorite one because it was green. There's never a dull moment with Winston around. We had a great time and what an adventure for our little fisherman!

Rock Shapes

Last week we went to Lake Powell for our 2nd trip this summer. Winston made a game of looking for shapes in the rocks and on the 2nd day of our trip while we were boating up the Escalante arm, he suddenly called out, "Hey, there's a finger!"  At first, I couldn't see what he was looking at, but then I saw it - a shape on the rock that looked like someone holding up their pointer finger.  So we pulled over and took a picture while Winston happily posed in front of what he'd found.  

What a clever little guy he is - not to mention observant!

Slideshow of our Lake Powell Trip

We went on our first trip to Lake Powell last Thursday and had a great time.  It was just the three of us this time around.  We were happy to find out that our great friends, the Whitings, were down there as well.  We were able to go on a few outings with them and had dinner together one night.  Winston loves their kids not to mention Todd who also happens to be his pediatrician. (the best one in the whole world in my opinion!)  A wonderful time in a beautiful place with great friends - what more could I ask for.

Lake Powell on My Mind

June is quickly approaching and so is our first trip to Lake Powell. Last year our trip to Lake Powell in June was cut short due to Winston's surgery and time constraints with Brad's job. We ended up giving our time slot to another family in our group. We joined them for a day and a night before heading back home. I never got around to posting my pics from that trip and thought now would be a good time to post some of my favorites.
Winston was so happy to arrive at the lake after the long drive. Just look at how happy he was to get the boat out on the water.
The next morning, Winston woke us up with the sunrise. He was fascinated with the view outside our window and sat there quietly looking out the window with his stuffed lion for well over 5 minutes.
Another angle to see how beautiful the morning view was outside our window.
Our friends had 4 teenage boys that wanted to go cliff jumping. We found this ledge and Brad headed up with them - Brad's on the left side of the group, right in the center of the picture. The boys were daring each other to go first but were all a little scared to jump. Who do you think went first? Brad of course. He hollered out something about whoever jumps last is a chicken and then jumped. Well the boys couldn't jump fast enough after him. None of them wanted to be last. It was pretty funny to watch from the boat. They all had a blast and we spent about an hour there while they kept climbing back up to jump again.Winston loved watching the boys jump. He really enjoyed hanging out with teenage boys again. I think they reminded him of Zack and Bo. Also, if I remember right, the splash you can see in the background was Brad.
The last picture before we headed home. Even though it was a very short trip, we had so much fun. Winston enjoyed trying to catch lizards, throwing rocks in the water, watching the boys fish (he used the blue noodle as his fishing pole), listening to one of the boys play the guitar (which he pronounced tootar), playing with trucks in the sand and splashing in the water. I'm really looking forward to this year's trips.

I Love Lake Powell

I haven't had much time for posting this past month. We had two trips down to Lake Powell - my favorite place to go and recharge. I waited all summer for these trips and they were well worth the wait. The first trip was will my family at the first of the month. We had a great time and the weather was wonderful - most of the time. :) The second trip was later in the month with a group of really great friends - without our kids. It was wonderful to just be by ourselves and enjoy the company of these wonderful friends. My batteries have been recharged and I'm ready to tackle the fall and winter seasons now. I only wish Summer didn't always end so soon. It really is my favorite season. Ah well, good bye for now and I'm already looking forward to our next summer's trips.
Winston's looking for lizards. He wanted to catch one soooo bad. Hanging out on the boat.Such a beautiful canyon - scenic and peaceful. Aaaaaah! Loving some alone time with my man. :o)Wow, what a handsome man! I love you Brad!

Houseboat Fire

On December 18, we lost our houseboat in a fire down at Halls Crossing, Lake Powell. The investigation is still ongoing so we don't know what caused the fire yet. One of the other owners in our houseboat group started a blog to post all of the information and pictures he could find about the fire. Here's the link to this blog http://www.fdockowners.blogspot.com/. We've only owned our share in our boat for two years but enjoyed some really good family trips on this boat. The boys were saddened by the news. We didn't realize that our last trip down to Lake Powell with them before they left on their missions would be our last trip on that boat.

September at Lake Powell

A Great Trip to Lake Powell

I came across this short video we took last year of Winston's first time floating in the water at Lake Powell. He loved it and was so happy. He just started jabbering away. Brad was able to catch this.