Fishing Derby!

This past weekend, we drove up to Beaver Lake, about 45 minutes north of Kelowna, to go to the Rowe family Fishing Derby. The fishing derby is usually held in September but a new edition of it started up in June this year, which was perfect for us, since we can never make it in September (and we definitely won't be making it this September!). The drive up was a bit long and the boys didn't sleep but we made it there fine and in one piece. We settled into our cabin with Grandma and Grandpa and everyone finally fell asleep around midnight.

Saturday morning, we were all up bright and early (5:45am, I believe it was) and ready to start the day. We headed over to Great-Grandma and Grandpa's cabin for a big breakfast of bacon, eggs, French toast and fruit. Everyone was certainly given a good start to their morning! Then it was time to head down to the water. The boys immediately hooked up with their "cousin" Rylen and were ready to search for whatever they might find in the water. They ended up finding a little frog! They were so excited!

Adam wasn't overly thrilled with the frog, which was good, since the bigger boys weren't about to let him have a turn with it! Instead, he enjoyed wading through the water.

Uncle Steve brought out the boat and took Daniel and Rylen for a spin around the lake. Adam wouldn't put his life jacket on, so he stayed on shore. I don't think he would have liked the boat much anyway. (Rylen is hiding there in his Grandpa Scuba's lap.)

Then we all decided to head down to the beach to play in the sand. Adam had a little visit with GG

while Daniel played with a frog that Daddy found at the side of the road.

There was a lot of time for digging and playing in the sand.

Another boy caught a fish but wasn't too thrilled with actually keeping his fish, so he gave it to Daniel and Rylen. Daniel loved that thing! He was so concerned about Chief (GG's dog) getting it and eating it, so he carried it around everywhere. I didn't get a picture but Auntie Kim caught him on camera kissing the fish!

Adam didn't think the fish was quite so cool!

There was a petting zoo at the campsite as well. The boys enjoyed visiting with the rabbits, guinea pigs (skinny pigs, as Rylen called them) and goats. As soon as Daniel saw the goats crossing their little bridge, he named them the Three Billy Goats Gruff! (For some reason, he loves that story. Often, when we're in the backyard, we have to act out the Three Billy Goats Gruff on our deck.)

Adam liked the goats from farther away. That's kind of how he is with most animals - loves them from afar but isn't so sure of them when they're close up.)

Then it was lunchtime! We headed back to the beach to the firepit to roast some hotdogs. The hotdogs were a hit with the boys - the buns, not so much.

As soon as we told Daniel that we were going camping, all he could talk about was smores. Even as we were packing, he'd go around asking me, "Mommy, do we have marshmallows? Check! Do we have crackers? Check! Do we have chocolate? Check!" If it were up to him, that's all we would have brought! Well, the time came that he could make his smores!

The smores were a hit!

After lunch (and short naps for the boys), we headed back to the main cabin where everyone was gathered. Aunt Judy had the great idea to bring out bubbles for the boys. They loved them and all the adults enjoyed the entertainment.

The bubble containers soon turned into swords. The boys were all really good about "fighting nicely," which was very impressive. They'd hit each others' "swords" but didn't attack each other. I thought that was pretty good for a 5 1/2, 3 1/2 and 1 1/2 year old!

Daniel, however, was dying to go fishing. What's the point of going to a fishing derby if you don't go fishing. So Daddy and cousin Jeff (aka Jeff with the blue shirt, according to Daniel) went down to the dock and did some fishing. Daniel was in heaven! They didn't catch anything. That was OK because I think, by that point, Daniel didn't actually need a fish. He still had that one from the morning that was slowly decaying away. He'd go around saying, "I have a fish. It's dead and flies are eating it!" If that poor fish only knew what he would go through after death, being played with by numerous kids, stolen by dogs, and carted around in a pail for hours...

After a delicious dinner of chili and corn on the cob, we headed back for another campfire. The boys made new friends in cousins Jeff and Chanine and wouldn't leave their sides all evening!

Finally, around 11pm, we finally all got to sleep. Although we were having a great time, sleep obviously wasn't a priority for the boys, since they were up around 6:30 Sunday morning. On Sunday, Great-Grandpa handed out the fishing derby prizes. Daniel won a Transformer-type toy for being the only person who kissed a fish! Adam won a toy helicopter for popping the most bubbles! Serious stuff, this fishing derby!

Then it was time to pack up and head home. The boys had a great time, thanks to Grandma and Grandpa, Great-Grandma and Grandpa and all the aunts and uncles who planned such a fun family weekend. You can definitely count us in next June - the boys are big fans of camping now and we'll see how baby #3 likes it next year!