Here Fishy, Fishy, Fishy

The Saturday before school started the girls and I decided to meet up with Graddy and do a little fishin on Eagle Mountain Lake. The girls were super excited to go fishing, which was mainly due to a false idea of what fishing actually is....(patience is not a virtue when you are 8 and 5!)
I will say that getting on the boat without Mom hasn't gotten any easier. In fact, it's almost harder as time goes on. GRIEF has gotten harder instead of easier as time has gone on too, but that's a post for another day. This one is about having fun with Graddy!
Of course Dad was on the water when the sun came up. We were not. In fact, we were about 10:00 getting there! But we made it. Before noon at that! ha!
Macie Claire decided that she needed a hat for the day! I love this little girl in a hat. The cuteness is almost more than I can handle. 

And this big girl is pretty cute herself! 

Graddy drove the boat over and picked us up. Brenna was eager to get her new life jacket on and couldn't wait until after her picture with Graddy. 

These girls sure do love their Graddy. And I'm pretty sure the feeling is mutual. 

Aahhhh. Swimsuit. Fishing shirt. Sunshades. Hat. Oh my. 

We "went fast" for a few minutes and then found a good spot to get started! 

Graddy casted, and they reeled it in. 

Over and over and over. 

And over. 

What is it about becoming a grandparent that mellows people out?? I am certain that this man who is Graddy to my children is not the man I grew up calling Daddy! This man has patience. (At first I typed that he has the patience of Job. But let's be real. He has some patience. "Some" is more than the "little" he had 30 years ago!) but there is something that happens in the delivery room when a baby is born. Not only do 2 people become parents, but 4 people become GRANDPARENTS. And it fries their brains. Makes them soft. It's crazy I tell ya. Crazy. And wonderful. 

I remember one time when Brenna was about 2 1/2. I walked into Mom's house to get her after work and she came around the corner in the kitchen riding her tricycle. In the house. I said "what do you think you are doing?" And my Mom chimed in and said "she's fine! I told her she could ride it in here." Ummm. Hello?!?! Who are you and where is the woman that raised me?? Because that lady certainly wouldn't have let me bring my bicycle inside just because I wanted to! 

Ok. Ok. I got off track. But my point is- becoming a grandparent changes people. Grandkids love it. Kids walk around scratching their heads all the time wondering what in the world happened to our parents! 

This guy right here has a soft spot for these little girls. 

The fishing went really well. For about 3 minutes. The girls loved reeling their lines in. But after the 4th cast, Macie fell apart because "why haven't I caught a fish yet??!!" The thrill wore off pretty quickly. But it was fun while it lasted! 

After a little more riding around, they talked Graddy into letting them swim. 

They found some ducks. 

But Macie wasn't so sure about that at first. 

Sweet girls! 

They enjoyed feeding the ducks our cheeseits. 

This girl needs to quit growing up. It's killing me! 

Time for more riding around! 

Macie and Graddy checked out all the really big boats. She's his sidekick. They are bff's ya know. 

Melt. Me. 

This girl almost fell asleep while we were cruising around. 

We rounded out the day with lunch at the restaurant on the lake. The girls thought it was pretty cool to drive the boat up to the restaurant! 

And any day that Macie gets to eat mozzarella sticks is a good day in her book! 

And any day that I get to spend with my Daddy is a great day in my book! We all had so much fun. And I know Mom was smiling down on us and proud of us for having fun with her girls.