Happy Spring! 🐠🌷 We've had an awesome start to ours as the cold winter has given way to more tolerable early spring temperatures. Thank you to everyone who followed us on Instagram and Facebook during our Spring Fishing Giveaway! We had a ball choosing 5 weeks of winners for the Bass Pro Shops Crappie Maxx Youth Fishing Poles and 80 piece Tackle Kits! Congratulations again to our March #FishFriday winners! And to everyone else, keep tagging us in your youth fishing photos. Every tagged image will be shared in our Instagram and Facebook Stories!
Vivian and Dad were finally able to get out and fish after the never-ending cold and rainy March. It's a funny age, being 4 years old. One minute you LOVE something, and the next, your attention span is minimal at best. After just a few casts on her first fishing trip of the year, Vivian was more into chasing frogs and playing around the pond than fishing. Not to worry, though. The best thing for kids at this age is to let them explore where their minds and curiosity takes them. As most parents know, forcing a child into anything is a recipe for disaster. Sure enough, her freestyle playing brought her back to the pond, and reeling 'em in. And some days, she doesn't want to go at all - which is perfectly fine! We want to guide our kids towards healthy outdoor activities, but a heavy hand will turn them the other way. Let them wander and create with imagination and wonder! A free spirit can't be contained.
After hitting our secret fishing spot a couple times last week, it was finally time to leave for our long-awaited Spring Break! We visited the Florida Keys and it couldn't have come at a better time. Dad's hunting seasons get long and tiresome for everyone, especially with the extra long winter. The sunny Florida weather hit the spot, and to make it extra special, we only took Vivian. Victoria is a bit too young to bring on vacations, and Vivian was thrilled to have special alone time with Mom and Dad after her first year of being a big sister (aka, sharing the spotlight!).
In just a few days, we tried to do both as much as possible, and as little as possible, at the same time. Tons of hours lounging by the pool watching Vivian play, chasing the resort's iguanas, plenty of time wading around the beach and building sand castles, relaxing on our front porch that led right down to the sand, jet ski rides, and MANY amazingly indulgent meals! The best part was being together without any kind of agenda. Just days of enjoying each other, putting work aside (as much as possible - you know Dad...), and having not a care in the world.
We are so excited now for all of the fun that awaits as the weather continues to warm up! Victoria is MORE than ready to start enjoying the outdoors, and Vivian is chomping at the bit to get on the tractor with Dad! With our new lodge, The Grand, going up...there's more work to do than ever. But as we look towards Spring Turkeys, fishing, our lake house, summer vacation and farming...we will work in some ways to have fun, too. 😊