Two Family Visits

Last weekend we traveled to Allaire State Park to have fun with Jim, Sheryl, Trenton and Oliver. The weather was gorgeous, just right for camping and outdoor activities. We like site 5 which is adjacent to the field where we play as much wiffle ball as time permits! You should see Trenton hit, he's going to be a fantastic baseball player. Friday evening we celebrated my birthday with a wonderful dinner at Fins in Belmar followed by the most incredible Italian ice ever at Strollo's. They should go nationwide, it's that good. Saturday Sheryl was visiting her friends in Maryland and we missed her very much. Check out her blog, too.
Oliver loves this big blue ball. In fact, he loves all balls and wants to play baseball all the time. He can hit the wiffle ball with the big red bat!
Trenton had his first soccer game on Saturday morning. Can you believe it, he's already in organized sports?! He was quite good and seemed to be enjoying himself. Uncle Jay kept Oliver busy on the sidelines and then we went to the nearby baseball field to play and then eventually to the playground equipment. It was heartwarming to see hundreds of families and kids at the big sports complex. The space between the soccer fields was only about 5 feet wide because there are so many fields.

Kick it, kick it!

Get it, Trenton!

Here he is getting instructions on how to be the goalie.

Way to go Trenton! He chose jersey #12 from the pile of shirts on the ground. He enjoyed putting on his brand new shin guards.

The nice coaches have lots of enthusiasm and most of all, patience.

Jim, Jason, Trenton and Oliver joined us at the campground after naptime (ours - in the camper - was much needed and appreciated). Have you ever seen a walking stick? This unusual bug stayed on this post all evening. It's facing down.

I had premade some v. parm. which we all enjoyed with lots of freshly cooked pasta and raw organic bell peppers. Since campfires are banned due to the severe drought we ate our marshmallows raw!

Thanks for a wonderful, fun weekend everyone. On Sunday I joined Sheryl, Trenton and Oliver for church (while Jim ran 20 miles on a treadmill at the gym) and then headed home, tired and happy.

Since we arrived home from our summer travels a few days early, we were able to spend Labor Day in Howell. Have you ever seen such cuties?! Look at those little faces......... Oh, and the big guys are lookin' good, too.

Jim, Jason, Trenton, John and I went to the Lakewood Blueclaws 1:00 PM game. It was warm and sunny with a nice breeze - excellent baseball weather. We had lawn seats but the picnic areas were open to all so we were able to be right on the field! The big guys protected us from foul balls but none came scarily close.

We won! The Blueclaws have had an excellent season. Oliver woke up from his nap soon after we arrived back at the house. We had plenty of time to play outside before dinner. Sheryl cooked us a delicious, nutritious dinner and we headed home. We missed everyone tremendously while we were away this summer and family reunions such as these are greatly enjoyed and appreciated.

Salmon Fishing, Oswego, New York

Our final stop on this extended summer trip was at Sunset RV Park and Cabins on the shore of Lake Ontario in Oswego, New York. The weather dictates whether or not we can fish. As you can see by the above picture, this was clearly not a fishing day.
We ended up with many good days to fish during our 2-week stay but the fishing was not great. The big king salmon were not plentiful due to lower numbers of fish stocked 4 years ago. Due to drought conditions the salmon could not reach the hatchery upriver to have their eggs collected. Now that we're home, however, John's read on the internet that the fish have arrived at the mouth of the river and the fishing is excellent!
This calm, cloudy day was quite unique. The steam from Nine Mile Point nuclear power plant was illuminated eerily as was the steam from the nearby plant. This is how calm we like the water to be for ideal fishing and boating conditions.

After salmon fishing some days we'd head in to the harbor and have a ball catching smallmouth bass. We caught them up to 15-16 inches. They are one of the most fun, hard-fighting fish to catch. They bit hard on Gulp leeches, an artificial bait.

Finally, a salmon - a coho salmon! This 28.75 inch long coho weighed 14 lbs. It jumped and jumped, flashed so silvery, and gave Jason a good, long, hard fight. We were pleased to see it was a coho (or silver) salmon as they are the best eating kind.

My turn to reel in the next one a day later! This is an 18 lb., 30.25 inch coho. It didn't jump but came in rather easily on our large downrigger rod.

A nice big, fat smallie.

Jason's turn again the next day. This king salmon weighed 22 lbs. and was 34 inches long. It will be delicious smoked.

On what turned out to be our last day I had an exhausting time reeling in this 17 lb. 29.75 inch coho. It took lots of line out and was an incredible amount of fun.

Catching big salmon is the ultimate fishing thrill for us. When the fish hits the lure the rod bends and thumps in the rod holder. John has to jump up, grab the rod with 2 hands, reel in the line a little bit to be sure the fish is hooked, then pass it off to me or Jason. Sometimes they take line off the reel so hard and fast it zings. When the fight is almost over (the rods have line counters) we let John know, we move up to the bow and he nets it off the stern (due to the long leaders). Pulling the net up and over the side is not easy when filled with a fish over 20 lbs. Somebody also has to reel in at least one other line so the fish won't get tangled and the boat has to be steered! That's not easy because the dipsy rods are out at least 300 feet and the dipsy makes it very hard to reel in. Oh, and the 13 lb. downrigger ball has to be reeled in if you want to check the line for weeds and again at the end of the morning. It's a lot of work but wow, is it a lot of fun!!!!!!!!