Ice Fishing

Today, I did something that I've never done before: I went ice fishing! We didn't have any plans for today so Chris buttered me up by letting me sleep in and having the coffee pot full when I woke up. Then he said the phrase I've been dreading: "Let's go ice fishing!" My first reaction was that Hannah would never go for it and therefore, her and I would have to stay home. Chris was disappointed but decided to take Caleb and try to go by themselves (for the first time). However, my plan of staying home fell through when Hannah started throwing a fit because she, too, wanted to go fishing. Okay, okay, I thought. Twist my arm....

We ended up finding a really neat ice fishing event. A local school was having an ice fishing tournament to raise money for a cancer research program. We thought this was a great cause, so we joined the tournament. Now, you're probably thinking, if it was my first time ice fishing, why the heck would I jump in with both feet and join a tournament?? Well, we joined because this was the most casual tournament ever. They already had holes for fishing and all we had to do was go up to a little tent and purchase the use of the holes. (Which was how they were making most of their money for the fundraiser.) One rule was that we weren't allowed to fish in an ice house, but they let us put the ice house up next to our holes so the kids could warm up if they wanted to.

A couple of happy campers:



(I seriously cannot get a normal smile out of this kid. He, apparently, wants to look goofy in every picture. *sigh*)

The master fisherman, who basically did all the work:


See? I'm actually holding a fishing rod!


Hannah was really "roughing it". After playing in the snow for a bit, she decided that she liked being in the warm ice house better than being outside. She was also enjoying the Skittles (which are a fishing standard in our family) and the kid shows she could watch on my phone.


We didn't catch any fish but this ended up being a really awesome experience. (I'll even be willing to go again soon, but don't tell Chris!!) Hannah was a champ and I was surprised that we were out on the ice for a good two hours or so before we decided to head back home. Also, this fundraiser was very awesome and I would suggest this type of fundraiser for other schools to do. They had a raffle going on under one tent and concessions under another (they couldn't keep water hot for coffee or hot chocolate, but they did have a big grill for cooking hamburgers and hot dogs). Plus, a bunch of the groups around us had classic rock playing from their car radios and some were even drinking beer. It was like a big summer party on the lake---but with snow!! It was a really fun and spontaneous thing to do on this sunny Saturday and I can't believe I'm about to say this: I'm excited to go ice fishing again!! :)