Family Fishing Trip

Those of you who know my husband even a little bit know that fishing is an important thing for the Orton household. He is a truly gifted fisherman. He can spot a fish in the water almost as soon as he gets to the water's edge, and he can catch a fish just about anywhere, even when no one else can (which usually ticks off the people who've been there for hours and Joel walks up and catches one on the first cast). I always loved fishing too. My dad is also a great fisherman and taught all of us how to fish. We went camping as a family every summer, and fishing was always included. Although I liked fishing, when Joel and I were married I hadn't done it for a few years, so I was a bit rusty. He refreshed my memory and even taught me some of his tricks. Going fishing together is one of our very favorite things to do. Going with just the two of us is hard now because of kids, so now we go as a family. Noah loves it. We gave him his first fishing for Christmas. He probably has more fun throwing rocks in the water and playing with the worms, but I can tell he's going to be a great fisherman like his dad. They're going to have wonderful father son outings when he gets older.

So, now that you have an idea of how much the Ortons love fishing, I will tell you about our recent fishing trip. It was our first one this summer and our first with Clara. We got up bright and early Friday (way too early!), packed up the car and headed out toward Locomotive Springs. You've never heard of it? Well, there's a reason for that. First of all, it's out in the middle of nowhere ville- almost a two hour drive northwest from our house. Second of all, the fishing stinks! Joel wanted to got there because he's heard amazing stories about it. Joel walked around the small pond and couldn't even see any fish. True to what I said about him catching a fish anywhere, he did catch one, but it was just a little sucker. Noah got to help reel it in, so that made his morning. It wasn't a total loss. Noah had fun throwing rocks, and we threw a few too. And the drive there was beautiful, in its own way. It was all flat farmland and grazing land with a few hills here and there, but it was beautiful. The drive there was a little more fun than the drive back. Clara wasn't very thrilled about being in her car seat again (she should have been in her crib sleeping), and instead of going to sleep, she thought it would be more productive to cry. I was, frankly, wishing for my bed as well and so was Joel, so by the time we got back to Brigham City, we were all a little bit tired. But instead of heading home, we thought we'd try one more place- Willard. I'd never been there, so I thought it would be fun. Joel said the carp are really fun to catch because they fight hard. We walked to the water and climbed down the big rocks and cast our poles....and waited...and waited...tried a different spot...and waited...and waited...You get the picture? Now picture it with the heat of the day, a tired and crying baby, and a grumpy mom. I tried really hard to be positive, but I had a cranky moment. We soon after packed up and headed home. Clara was almost instantly asleep when we started driving, and I was relieved to be going home. We did make a quick stop at Smith & Edward's for some ice cream. Ice cream makes everything okay.

So, it wasn't our most successful fishing trip ever. I kind of made it sound awful. It wasn't totally bad. We actually had a great time. Getting to spend time together as a family was the main purpose of the trip, so in that regard, it was a total success. Even though the fishing stunk, all in all it was a great day. Oddly enough, you who never complained once? Noah! He was such a good boy, and found something fun in everything. At Willard he got to see some snakes, a snake skin, some spiders, and a pelican. That was all he needed. We really could learn something from that.

The best part about the day was when we got home. I was so hot, I felt like running through the sprinklers- clothes and all. So I turned them on and went for it. Noah thought it was great and quickly joined me. It was so much fun! Soon Dad came out too, and pretty soon we weren't just getting ourselves wet- we were having a full blown water fight! We all had such a good time! Even Clara, watching from the sidelines, had a great time because she got to eat grass when no one was looking. We were all laughing and enjoying each others company so much. I love those moments. I think the reason I love those moments is not because I'm happy, but because I love seeing my kids and husband happy.

Well, sorry for the lengthy description of our day. You'd probably rather just see the pictures. I didn't get that many, but I got a few. Please don't be offended by the first one. I just couldn't resist:

Noah saw his dad go potty, so he wanted to as well. I just had to capture it.


One of my favorite things about driving in the middle of nowhere is seeing all the abandoned homesteads. My mind tries to envision what that place looked like when it was new, who lived there, what were the dreams, why did they leave, etc. There's a story in every run down building, and I long to know it.

This is the pelican we hung out with at Willard. It was injured, poor thing, so it just stayed near us while we fished. Joel got too close to it, and it got a little skiddish.