Girls' Weekend VS Boys' Weekend

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On Thursday evening, Daddy picked up Uncle Emerson (his brother) from the airport.

The boys coordinated some time off, and managed to pin down a fishing weekend!

Now, this weekend does not include the ladies of Yellowknife, and, so, I bring you a compilation of photos of the boys' weekend intermingling with photos from our girlie weekend.

For the sake of posterity, and a few good laughs at Eli's expense...

Thursday evening is when we co-mingled and visited.

The girls gave Uncle Emerson a few good night snuggles, and also had a chance to see his again in the morning, before school (which is why Daddy was conspicuously absent from Miss G's Kindergarten Farewell, though he has since oohed and ahhed over the photos and video. 

Miss A inspected Uncle Emerson's fuzzy cheeks, and gave him lots of good night kisses. 

And, Gramma got to have some time with her boys on Thursday evening, too.

She smiled as they talked mostly about shooting and fishing.  She's used to them, and really just wanted to be near them.

Grampum went on the weekend fishing trip with Eli and Emerson, so there was lots of time for male bonding.

And, now, I bring you to Friday morning. 

The boys headed out on Great Slave Lake, and on the way, had to dodge around some still-melting ice floes (in the top right picture with Emerson, and in the picture above). 

Grampum is enjoying the ride as they go by the ice floe.

Eli says that the air temperature drops A LOT as the boat approaches the ice. 

Eventually, they made it to an island in the North Arm of the Big Lake. 

And, what do you know?  A fish! 

Emerson is SO HAPPY! 

There.  That's better. 

As an early Father's Day gift, I bought Eli this new waterproof, shock proof, freeze proof and dummy proof camera, and it was fantastic for the trip. 

This is a fish. 

These are two fish. 

Grampum was joyful about all the fish! 

Look at the freakin' size of the fish! 

(And, this is nothing compared to the fish coming up)

Eli says that the fish would eat Twofour, our rabbit, for a snack if he ever went swimming in the Big Lake.

This is why rabbits DO NOT swim. 

Ah!  There's a laugh. 

I have no doubt that Emerson is laughing at Eli. 

Some of you may not know this.

Gramma and Kelli certainly do.

Grampum and Emerson do NOT cook.  They love their wives.

Some of you may not know this.

Eli certainly does.

I don't cook meat.  I could easily be a vegetarian if Eli were not around.

This is the supper Eli whipped up for the boys on Friday night... they ate like kings all weekend. 

Oh, would you look at that? 

Eli took a picture of his boat. 

I am SHOCKED.  Boat pictures... I would have never predicted that!

Some of you may not know this.

I am sarcastic.  What can I say?  Eli brings it out in me. 

 The boys had a wonderful camping location on a completely isolated island surrounded by tasty fish. 

And, their tent was large, secure and dry.

(Just so you know, at this point in time Gramma and I were eating takeout at my place while watching We Bought a Zoo... you know, roughing it!) 

The well-trained husband to an amateur photo journalist and blogger that he is, Eli took some beautiful sunset pictures.

Oh, and look!!

It's his boat! 

Sun.  Boat. 11:19 pm. 

Sun.  Boat.  Emerson's arm.  11:20 pm 

Sun.  Boat.  11:21 pm.

The sun rose again at 3:43 am, but twilight and dawn blend together at this time of year, so it doesn't really get DARK (except for the cloud, I suppose).

Eli says that he and Emerson fell asleep around midnight each night. 

Saturday morning, the girls and I watched My Little Ponies in my big bed, and Eli caught a monster lake trout! 

That's 28 and a half inches, in case you are squinting at the screen. 

Over 12 and a quarter pounds!  That trout ate very well, indeed, under the ice road all winter. 

I'd say that Grampum had a swell time.  Wouldn't you? 

Meanwhile, the girls played in their pyjamas until, oh 11 am or so, and were silly gooses.

And, on the lake, the sun tried to peek through a bit more and Emerson caught a very large pike (also known as a Jack fish up here). 

And, I caught some very silly girls making pictures. 

They lounge very well. 

After this, the girls biked (I walked) over to my cousin, Lena's house for lunch and to play with her boys.

Grampum proudly caught this trout. 

And, Eli let Emerson drive the boat.

Is it called driving when it's a boat?

Eli let Emerson float the boat with style. 

Yes, the men were very serious about catching these small-brained animals. 

Holy monster fish Batman!  That one won't even fit into the holding tank!!  Back up... 

Eli was very excited to catch this THIRTY-NINE inch pike! 

Look at it!  It's like a dinosaur or something! 

Then, Emerson caught a FORTY-TWO inch pike!! 

That fish is almost as long as me!! 

And, it is certainly longer than either of the girls! 

We men.  We catch big fish. 

We girls.  We dress up Duckie. 

What do you know?  Another boat picture.

Back in the court, Miss G was doing laps around the court circle on her bike... 

... and on her scooter.  She can pop a wheelie now. 

These are three fish. 

And, the boat. 

I was about to type, "By mid afternoon," but this picture was taken at 5:30 pm.

The sun messes with my sense of time. 

By supper time, Miss G was enjoying washing the car.

There was pollen all over it, and I had sprayed it off earlier, but I let her go at it.

We had the bucket out earlier for a bike wash. 

Miss G loves the hose.

Powerful. 

Meanwhile, Miss A helped herself to a generous second helping of noodles.

Then, bedtime..

Meanwhile, near an island in the North Arm, the men were still catching BIG fish. 

I think that the pictures where the guys are holding the fish are more impressive than the pictures of the fish along the measure. 

Emerson waiting for supper to be cooked. 

Grampum enjoying a pot of coffee late in the day. 

In fact, that same night, Grampum enjoyed the stillness of the night and fished off the island until about 2 am. 

After drinking the entire pot of coffee.

Go figure.

And, supper. 

Eli's a hard working camp chef.

Sunday morning, Miss A dressed herself.

The girls usually do assemble their own outfits, and I love it.

Her 80's style is inspiring... she so gets this from me. 

We had pancakes for breakfast, which is why Miss G's face is chocolaty.

Chocolate chip pancakes... the only way to go! 

The girls rediscovered their binoculars and pretended that the grassy middle of our court was an island. 

Meanwhile, on Sunday morning, and on a completely different and more geographically correct island, this was the boys' breakfast. 

Emerson is happy with the breakfast. 

The men fished some more after they packed up their camp, and fished all the way home.

Wee wee wee wee. 

Happy.  Full.  Accomplished. 

Remember that Sesame Street short where Burt is trying to fish, and Ernie keeps on talking and being loud, and managed to call the fish to jump in the boat??

That one cracks me up.

I can easily imagine my dad doing this to Eli on the boat.

Burt:  Where are all the fishes?

Ernie:  Oh, they're down there, Burt.

Burt:  They are, huh?

Ernie:  Sure.  If you'd like, I'll catch some and show you.

Burt:  Oh.  You will??  Easy as that??

Ernie:  Sure.

Burt:  Ha!  Ok.  Here's a pole.  Go ahead.  Show me.

Ernie:  Oh.  I don't need a fishing pole, Burt.

"Heeeeeeeeere fishy fishy fishy!!" 

Eli says they had to dodge around some ice floes on the way back, too. 

The wind blows the ice around, and can block passages, but they were prepared.

Here's a 360 degree shot from the boat.

At home, just after supper, Miss G helped to write thank you cards for friends who came to their birthday party.

I had some group pictures printed, and we placed them on the front of the card.

Afterwards, I took the girls on a bike ride to Gramma's house to deliver her card. 

Shortly after we got home, the men returned. 

The girls were squeaky clean from their bath and in their pyjamas, but really wanted to see Daddy and Uncle Emerson, so they scootered around outside while the boys played with the boat.

I was putting the girls to bed, when Miss G asked, "Mommy, where are Daddy and Uncle Emerson?"

I said, "Well, they wanted to go fishing."

"Again?!"

"Yup.  Uncle Emerson wanted to see Walsh Lake."

"Mommy, Daddy and Uncle Emerson are silly.  They just went fishing."

"I know.  They are coo coo." 

And, that is why THIS is the last shot of the weekend.

Eli and Emerson fished until almost midnight, and then they came home to sleep.

Eli drove Emerson to the airport at 6 am to catch his flight.

The squeezed every last minute they could out of their Fishing Weekend, and I think that they will agree that it was a success!