Matt & Thomas went with Sam & Abby to go ice fishing back in January, but Henry & I stayed home. Sam decided to go again this weekend and this time everyone from both families got to go! I was pretty excited, the photos Sam kept sending last time made it look like a blast!
We went back up to Finger Lake and it looked like it was nice & frozen. That being said, we still weren't quite up to driving the cars on the ice. So we packed up the gear and kids to walk over to their favorite fishing spot. (I don't know what was wrong with the side of the lake we were on, but it was a fun walk anyhow!)
I can't say that I have ever walked across a frozen lake before. It was quite a weird feeling to see the bottom slowly disappearing the further out you walked. There were so many bubbles trapped under the ice - big ones, small ones and what looked like a stream of bubbles. How fast do lakes freeze??
And the cracks - these cracks were all over the place. Once you got past the initial "This whole thing is going to fall apart and I am going to fall in very cold water", there was an amazing beauty to the networks of cracks.
Henry was not too sure about this whole wagon ride across a frozen lake either. Or he was wondering why we were going for a walk when it was 19° outside. Or maybe because the bag of extra clothing was sitting on top of him. So many options for why he has that concerned look on his face! :)
Aside from the 19°, it was really a gorgeous Sunday. The sun was out and shining bright and the scenery around the lake was pretty hard to top. Also note the tire prints - just because we didn't drive on the ice doesn't mean everyone refrained. There were also people riding bikes with studded tires, a side by side and a few ice skaters. An awesomely Alaskan collection!
Matt and Sam got to work drilling holes in the ice with the hand auger. Once you have a hole drilled, you can check the thickness of the ice - Caitlin assured me that 18" was plenty thick. It certainly sounds impressive!
The boys made it look so easy drilling holes, that I wanted to drill one too. It is not as easy as they made it look... I got through the ice with some help from Cait, but it took us way longer than it took the guys! At some point I realized that my hole was going down crooked which obviously makes it harder, but there was no fixing it by that point.
I thought the ice holes looked so cool with the bobber hanging out waiting for a fish to bite. I was convinced that since my hole took so much effort it would obviously yield the largest fish. Logical, right? :)
Thomas was pretty happy sitting in his chair waiting for a fish to reel in. He actually did reel in a few! There were plenty of fishing to be caught, just not as many that were large enough to keep...
This girl was on fire for catching some fish! She caught the biggest fish of the day. From my hole! I told you! I am scientist and I said it, so therefore it is "Science!" Or something like that... :)
Henry was the one who I was most worried about before we got there. I pretty much assumed I would be chasing him all across the lake once he got bored. Not at all what happened! He took a few steps when we first go to our fishing hole and fell over. Obviously he has enough layers that he wasn't hurt, so I picked him up and let him try again. A few more steps and back on the ice. After that, he decided he was happy as could be to just hang out in the wagon. I would pull him along behind me if I moved and he was as happy as happy could be. Much easier than I thought!
Of course, it was cold out, so we had the tent set up off to the side with a little heater running so the kids could warm up if they got cold. The kids and I took a warm up / snack break about once they started complaining about being cold. The clear & dark water took on a very greenish cast when the sunlight wasn't hitting it and I don't think the kids had any appreciation for how cool that was. They just wanted their graham crackers!
Warmed up and ready for more fun! See the cool tent in the background? There was one family we walked by that had a double tent. I think I wouldn't have even needed a jacket if we had stayed in the tent to fish! (That's totally what you are supposed to do - that's why there is no bottom to the tent.)
Thomas caught another fish and I actually managed to get a photo of it. Apparently people were more interested in me watching kids and checking on bobbers than taking photos. My response to this was "You can only eat a fish once, a photo lasts forever!"
It's like people have no appreciation for the memories I capture on their behalf... That's fine, I will appreciate them enough for all of us - ha!
Speaking of capturing memories, I figured I should get a photo of the fish "camp". See all the activity? And I was amazed that Ellie and Molly (the pups) didn't try to eat any of the fish we caught. Now the baby shrimp we bought for bait - that had to be kept out of their reach at all times!
Thomas was so adorable waiting for a his bobber to move. He was sitting in his little chair swinging his legs back and forth. He was much more patient with fishing that I would have imagined. And several times he had to point out to me that my bobber was moving. So I'm not as good of a fisherman as my three year old son. I can live with that. ;)
Even Henry got a chance to help reel one in! Matt probably did a good bit of the work, but Henry at least got to help and be part of the action. This one was a little too small to keep, but he was saying "fish!" for the rest of the day.
Abby posing with her super big trout! She was super excited to catch a fish and bonk it on the head, but when it came time to hold one up for a photo, she was suddenly afraid of the fish! After Matt and Cait both held the fish, she was convinced to hold it, but not to smile for a photo. I figured her looking at the fish was better than the grimace she managed on some of the other shots.
The total haul! And the best part is that Sam, Cait & Abby don't really eat fish, so we got all of them! I love having friends who like to fish, but don't eat them. So much fish for me! I mean, for me and the boys...
We decided to call it a day when the sun started to set. The sun may not get very high in the winter, but it's amazing how much colder it gets when it drops out of sight (at 3:42 pm). Or you know, when the wind picks up a little... Brrr!
I judge how successful an outing is by how fast the boys fall asleep in the car. These two were out before we made it back to the highway! Also note the snowman cookie peeking out of the cupholder. Henry took a few bites before deciding sleep was more important, so the snowman is probably smiling because he got a reprieve. :)
And I even had time tonight to make the Christmas poundcake I had on my to-do list. (Doesn't everyone have cake baking on their list?) Merry Christmas to the coworkers!