I love that I come from a young family. All four of my grandparents are still living - and very active! - as well as one great-grandmother. Our children are blessed with six grandmothers and five grandfathers, and they are growing up thinking that is perfectly normal! Last weekend we visited my Mom's parents in southwestern MN, so my grandpa could take Max fishing at "The Pit", his favorite place on Earth- a little fishing hole tucked away off of a gravel road, completely private, total paradise! I honestly don't know who had more fun, the boys, my grandpa or Paul. He came away with a three-foot Northern, which is now cleaned and in our freezer, waiting to be eaten. Anybody know how to cook Northern?
Max and Lucian both caught fish, but their highlight might have been the huge sand pile near the shore of the pond. Max got to use a full-sized shovel to "help" Grandpa move sand to the shore to make a beach! My Grandma and I brought Audrey out to join the boys for a lunch of hot dogs roasted over the fire. And of course we had to follow it up with roasted marshmallows. I'm just not thinking about the amount of sugar the kids ate while we were there... if I don't think about it, it doesn't count. Right?
Speaking of sugar, my grandma concocted a grand dessert plan after dinner one night: cookie pizza! Refrigerated cookie dough spread out on a baking sheet, decorated with all kinds of sweets. One bite was enough to send me over the moon! The boys were in HEAVEN.
We left Sunday after Mass and a pancake brunch (I think I may have discovered the perfect pancake... but I haven't tried to replicate it yet). The kids were great travelers, and we arrived home to be greeted by .... dinner cooking on the stove and a spotless living room! Megan knew we were getting in about 5:00 and had spaghetti waiting for us. If only we could always come home to a clean living room and dinner waiting, I'd leave every weekend! Thanks Megan!
The boys are looking forward to their next trip to the Pit, and I think Paul is making plans already! It was a fun weekend, Grandma and Grandpa, thanks for putting up with the chaos that is our family!
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| Play-doh with Grandpa |
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| Audrey loves Grandma! |
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| This fish is bigger than me! |
We are seeing some terrific smiles on Max's face in these pictures!! Fishing with dad and great grandpa must be the perfect setting for such natural smiles!
ReplyDeleteI LOVE all the pictures--what a fun weekend
Glenn is totally jealous, but he says he can tell you how to cook northern anyway:
ReplyDelete1. gut fish and cut off head, but leave the skin on
2. get large sheet of tin foil
3. salt and pepper both inside and outside of the fish
4. lightly put vegetable oil on the inside and outside of the fish
5. (optional) cut up an onion or 2 to put inside the tin foil
6. put the fish in the tin foil with onions wraping so as to leave air pocket inside, but sealed tightly on top and ends
7. You can cook on grill over med. heat or in oven at 350 for 10-15 min. on each side
8. When done cooking, let it sit for at least 5 min. in the foil so it can steam a bit.
9. remove skin and bones, and enjoy!
Love Glenn.