We Love Daddy, and Daddy Loves Fish

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This is Daddy's Father's Day gift from the girls.

I set up the picture and snapped it the weekend while he was fishing with Uncle Emerson and Grampa.

The girls kept it tip top secret. 

We made it using the wicked angle of the Northern sun, the girls cute bare feet, and these fun foam letters.

My cousin, Lena, spotted the idea on Pinterest a long time ago and emailed it to me (as I do not have a Pinterest account).  Thanks, Lena!

In the original idea that Lena sent, they cut the letters out of cardboard, but I thought it would be fun to use the foam letters.

We framed it, and I had the girls sign the mat around the picture with their cute little names in their cute little penmanship.

Daddy LOVES it!!

He has it proudly on display at his office, as I predicted. 

And, what better way to spend Father's Day than on Daddy's boat? 

A decision unanimously favoured by Daddy and the girls. 

We drove to Vee Lake to put the boat in and then followed this little creek into the much larger Walsh Lake. 

Daddy drove the boat. 

Mommy took pictures and tried to keep her hat on. 

Miss A snuggled when the wind was windy... It was actually a pretty warm day, and we went slow most of the time. 

Miss G also found a way to stay out of the wind. 

But she didn't stay down long!

There were too many fun things to see! 

Miss A wanted a self-portrait with me. 

Daddy found a good fishing spot, and showed the girls how to set up the lure and bait. 

Miss A is looking for fish. 

Birds! 

Mommy! 

Hmmm... Miss G was a little intrigued about the little fish being bait for the big fish. 

Miss A kept her eyes peeled for birds.  She is a very helpful fisher. 

So, once Daddy set up the down rigger and fishing pole, it was waiting time, and Miss A found a bag of chips I packed as a surprise. 

"Hello, Chip.  I love you." 

"Yum." 

"Hi Mommy!" 

"I am FIVE YEARS OLD!" 

"And I'm SIX!" 

Back to fishing.

Miss G diligently watched the fishing pole.

Daddy explained that when the fishing pole bounced and stood straight up (rather than being slightly bent), it meant that a fish was on the hook.

Miss G watched.

And, watched. 

Finally, she yelled, "Daddy!  A fish!!  The fishing pole is straight!  There is a fish!"

Daddy let her reel the fish in for a little bit, but had to help her near the end. 

Oh, the excitement!  The anticipation! 

Daddy talked the girls through it all.  

Here comes the fish, and Miss G has the net! 

Good work, Miss G! 

Daddy had to lift the fish into the boat because he was big and floppy. 

The girls were very excited, indeed! 

A trout! 

Whew.  All that excitement calls for a little rest, don't you think?

Miss A sure did think so! 

The clouds brought a little drizzle, so we carefully and quickly slipped the girls' splash suits on. 

Miss A really liked playing with the bait.

They are called ciscoes, which are also called lake herring. 

Miss A also really like making faces for the camera. 

This is our trout.

Miss A named him "Cod."

I asked, "Miss A, why do you want to call him Cod?"

Miss A replied, "Cod live in the sea."

I said, "Yes, cod do live in the ocean.  This is a lake.  You just caught a trout."

Miss A nodded.  "Yes, Cod the Trout." 

Right on the nose, she is. 

So, the girls waited some more. 

Miss A continued to play with the ciscoes.

We caught no other fish, but that's alright. 

Towards the end of the afternoon, we approached this island for a potty break, and so Eli could clean the fish before we left for home. 

This is an Arctic Tern.

There were crazy Arctic Terns all over this island, and they took turns (pun intended) diving at our heads as we docked.

Arctic Terms have the longest migration route of any bird, and go from the Arctic to Antarctica each year, maximizing their summers (they get two each year this way).

Crazy!!  70 900 km round trip!! 

The girls quickly confirmed why the birds were so territorial.

They nest right on the rocks, so we kept distance and bird watched. 

This is Miss G's reaction to Daddy filleting the fish.

"Yikes!  Daddy, fish have blood?!?" 

"Yes, Miss G.  You don't have to look."

"OK.  I just forgot."

Miss A, on the other hand, asked Daddy, "Can I eat the fish?  Can we go home to cook the fish?" 

The Arctic Terns also paid attention to Daddy's fish cleaning skills, and Daddy rewarded them with some left-over fish.

Mommy takes pictures. 

Daddy deals with the fish...  you see, the division of labour is helpful to us. 

The girls were so still and quiet, that some of the Arctic Terns actually came back, while we were on the little island, to check on their nests. 

As we left, they all returned, and went right back to sitting on the eggs and keeping them warm.

Miss A traded her attention from the ciscoes to the trout that would become her supper.

She kept the bag of fish close to her at all times. 

On our way back to the dock, Miss G asked Daddy to go slowly so she could find a Beaver's House. 

And, we did! 

Miss G was so excited! 

Miss A looked at it for a few minutes from the other side of the boat. 

But, she didn't want to get up and leave her bag of fish.

Oh dear.

We had a great Father's Day, and a crazy busy week (last full week of school!).