Fishin down in POC

We spent last weekend in Port O'Connor....FISHING!!!!! While I am usually the most badass fisher woman EVERRRR....this trip, i didn't score at all. Remind me to NOT fish with my BIL, Joe, everrrr again! He caught up all the reds before we got there!

Traveling 3 hrs with two small kids is rarely fun, but Lily slept almost the whole way and Mia chatted us up telling us the silliest jokes a 4 yr old could make up. When we got to Nana and Pawpaw's beach house, Pawpaw, Uncle Joe and Vinny were already on the water (catching ALL the fish). I hung out on the balcony with a beer in one hand and my camera in the other. Nana blew bubbles while Mia and Lily tried to pop them. Lily was actually just totally mesmerized by her big sis cavorting around like a crazy girl.

Mia doing her 'i've got to move it, move it' dance

Lily finally got her Pawpaw

ohhh that creepy Nana!

Uncle Joe showing off a pic of his big fish...to anyone....

....and everyone!

Pawpaw found a new shirt...um, that's was Auntie M's sleep shirt

my new fave pic of me and my man (taken by Joe)

UGH! the ONLY shot i got of Vinny fishing!!

after a Saturday morning of catching not a single fish, we decided to head back in for lunch...Pawpaw, daddy and I took Mia out for a spin and some fishing...she got lucky in the slip.FIVE piggy perch...um, that's one MORE than Joe had caught...I made sure Mia rubbed it in a little ;)

Nana sugar

Lily helps her Uncle Joe deflate the air mattress

here's Vinny!

He took all our $$ on Sat night...Poker.

Nana hooked Mia up with a new Cinderella toy :)

Vinny hooked Mia up with a couple of oranges...fundamental fun on the drive home

but wait! there's video!

Mia went catching!

Some folks go fishing. We go catching ;) Mia's been going on Pawpaw's boat since she was little. We tool around checking out the birds, water, dolphin.... This was, however, her first trip out with the purpose of fishing. After a LOOOOONG rough 5 hr car ride, she jumped into her new fishing short, donned her fishing cap, grabbed her shades and life jacket and was set. "come on Pawpaw! let's go catchin!"

Pawpaw had her little pink rod & reel all ready. They hooked up some bait (frozen shrimp) and cast into the bay. A few little nuggets she threw out as well were: 'i wanna catcha KEEPER', 'here fishy fishy fishy', 'fishy, get on my hook', 'fishy fishy come get your bait' It was cute and worked! Mia caught 4 fish! A piggy perch and 3 hard heads..all perfect and just about her size. She fished with her Pawpaw, daddy and mama...we all helped her get those fish off her line and threw them back in the water to finish growing up. It was the most perfect fishing trip ever!

This morning, Pawpaw, Daryl & I went out to some rough waters, so Mia stayed home with Nana and Lily. We missed out good luck charm...the HUGE red snapper I hooked ran under the boat and broke free before we could get it in the net. The rest of our catch were small. I did get a few moments to just chillax and enjoy being out on the water.

Both shots taken by Daryl via cell phone camera.

For more posts of our fun at Nana's & Pawpaw's place in Port O'Connor go Here, Here, Here & Here

Happy Happy Birthday, Sweet Baby!

No. Not the Snapper, my husband, light of my life...my everything. He turned 28 last week, and I'm finally up to documenting the festivities.

Mia helped decorate...blowing up balloons is HARD, so she added sprinkles...MANY sprinkles to the cake, and an extra candle...one to grow on. We took daddy out for spaghetti and meatballs...his all time fave, then back home for the opening of gifts and eating of cake. I LOVE how Mia was very involved even in blowing out the candles. Daryl was silly...shaking obviously soft gifts, wearing his new cap even though it was still wrapped. Silly. He loved the gifts...especially his HUGE RC airplane...and the birthday beer :)











Daryl actually took Friday off, so we got to the POC early enough to do some early evening fishing. Daryl hooked a MASSIVE Jack Cravel! Known to get hooked and then fight fight fight for HOURS! Daryl was THRILLED! This fish is so strong and huge, he almost took all of Daryl's line out, so we had to pull up anchor and chase the fish down! After an HOUR...SERIOUSLY!!! Tom almost got him in the net, but in a flash he dove out of the net and under the boat...snapping the line :( No fish. No photo....but we did have one super happy birthday boy!

Then back to the house for dinner and the guys started working on putting the plane, engine and all that good stuff together. Armed with power tools and more birthday beer, they set to work with over 400 pieces! Did they even open the manual? No. Daryl even got injured. A rite of passage when building an airplane, I guess. He was very proud.

The next morning, we hit the open waters while Mia and Nana happily spent time together back at the house. Mia was up all night throwing up...bad chicken. She was weak, but did rave about how daddy held her hair back with she barfed in the toilet. Her hero. Mia only barfed one more time that afternoon...on Nana, on Nana's shirt and in her bra! DISGUSTING!!! Thankfully I was napping.

After the AWESOME UT game, HOOK 'EM Horns!, we went out to Clark's for dinner....it was lovely sitting outside on the deck, enjoying the moment and each other. Then Mia was ready to go. Tom and Dee so sweetly brought back a YUMMY slice of Birthday pie for Daryl :)

self portrait while tooling around looking for the perfect spot

my bonnet head shark...Tom held it...he's strong and I'm not stupid! the rest of Daryl fishing were all with his Jack Cravel

the most PERFECT shot in the world...except for Tom's CRACK!!!!
LOVE the smile on my happy man's face

The next morning, everyone took Mia out on Pawpaw's boat...I opted to sleep longer. Baking a baby is hard work and exhausting. Mia loves to go fast, and when going slow, loves to play around with Nana. When she was sitting on one of the tall chairs, by her Pawpaw. Daryl asked her if she wanted to go up way front, or play in the back. She simply replied, "Daddy, I'm just ridin" That brought another HUGE smile to Daryl's face.

Happy Birthday Baby!

I LOVE you!

Always and forever!

Evening fishing ~ Best Shot Monday

We recently took a weekend trip to Port O'Connor. My in laws have a place there, and we get there as often as possible. It's more of a fishing community than a tourist town...it's small and quaint and we hope it stays that way. We went to the family reunion that Saturday morning, but Tom (my FIL), Daryl and I grabbed some bait, and jumped in the boat asap that evening. I truly prefer fishing in the evening...it gets cooler instead of hotter and the sunset is always a site to see. Last week, Tracey at Mother May I had a fab BSM with some flare...this week, I found a little flare of my own.

my honey, Daryl

and my Best Shot Monday...LOVE his profile

for more enlightening shots, head on over to Tracey's

Best Shot Monday - He loves me

We were down at the coast this weekend...Port O' Connor. While at the beach, Daryl started writing something in the sand with his toes. Mia was very attentive and interested in what her daddy was doing. It turns out he was showing her how to write in the sand. Daryl *hearts* me!....he added Mia's name, too. Awwwww I love that left it for the whole world to see.

I'm picking this first super sweet shot for my Best Shot

Tracey at Mother May I is on vacation, so Melody is hosting BSM for a few weeks. Head on over to Slurping Life for some more fab best shots.

I heart POC

Just got back from a SUPER FAB weekend at the coast...Port O'Connor to be exact. Nana & PawPaw have a house there, and were thrilled to share it with us for the weekend. Oh, we all needed the break!

They hooked Mia up with an inflatable swimming pool for the deck. Mia went nakie and splashed and slid (YES, it has a slide!) for hours. It's a perfect distraction for when Tom, Daryl and I go fishing. We can stay out for hours knowing that between her beloved Nana and her pool, Mia would be more than content.


Saturday morning, we all hopped on the boat and went for a cruise to look for dolphin...jackpot! PawPaw knows the best places to go. We had the best time. Mia just loves sitting with her Nana looking for baby dolphins. On the way back, they 'fished' with a pole that actually didn't touch the water, but it was a fun experience :) Another cool thing going on in POC was the Warrior Weekend. Wounded Military Vets came from all around the area to be commended and fussed over. There were so many boats with American flags on them...they had each volunteered to take a vet or two fishing for the day. Wish we would have known, it was too late to sign up :(

Tom, Daryl and I took off for a beautiful afternoon of fishing. We were all so relaxed. The fish were practically jumping in the boat. We each caught many, but only took 2 gaff tops back for dinner...we let the small ones go on their merry way. Tom threw them on the grill, and everyone (except me) enjoyed them....I'm not much into eating fish...Just catching. Oh, I got to drive the boat back...fast...and was able to put it back in it's slip. I didn't hit a pole or anything...it's at a sharp angle, so everyone always taps a little...that's what the bumpers are for. He said I did the best job ever! Even better that HIM! I was proud, so were Daryl and Tom :)

Again, like whenever Nana is around, Daryl and I became chopped liver. It's all about the Nana and Pawpaw, but especially the Nana. It's so wonderful that Mia has such wonderful grandparents. Between Nana, Pawpaw and Ita, Mia's covered! Here are some shots of tNana and Mia playing together.



It was a relaxing, yet full of fun weekend, and we really appreciate Tom and Dee inviting us out there and sharing their beautiful home and hearts with us. Love you guys!

here's a video of Mia hanging with the dolphins: