Drum is Yum

We went out family fishing this morning in Galveston Bay. Our usual target when fishing with Caroline is ... well, anything. So, Hunter began to bait lines (frozen shrimp) and throw them out. Caroline was busy planning her upcoming fishing show (the one she will be recording for viewing in our living room, not on national television) and we got a bite.

Her past experience has been reeling in little catfish or whiting, but she has been paying attention to the fishing shows and knew that this was "a grander" and that she had to " pu-u-u-ump, reel, reel, reel, reel" if she was going to bring this one to the boat. We weren't sure what she had on the end of the line, but we were sure we would lose Caroline or the rod if we did not hold on to one or both.

Her little spinning rod with 4 lb line was pretty close to the breaking point as the biggest fish she has ever caught came into view. A giant black drum! Caroline was also pretty close to her breaking point ("I think I am getting tuckered out , Mom. You should do it." )

Caroline continued her 20 minute fight moving back and forth across the transom ("you don't want the line to get cut by the motor") and finally leading it up the starboard side so Hunter could net it.

The line and the hook broke just as we set the net down in the boat. You have never seen a grin so large or a child more proud of herself. When Hunter determined it was legal size we told her we could keep it for dinner and the grin got bigger. " I caught dinner all by myself" she repeated over and over. She was pretty much finished with fishing after that and worked the net for Daddy a few times, but what she really wanted was to go home and feed her family dinner- with the fish she caught. As it turns out this is also the first fish we have brought home on the new boat. A good omen for fish to come.

Mardi Gras fun- Daisy Style

Mardi Gras kicked off here with a slightly rainy Feb 14th parade. Many of the floats were Ike based (including one covered in blue roof tarps with riders dressed as clowns with FEMA hats). Caroline and I attended a friend's party at the Gaido's hotel before the parade. Caroline sat in a chair outside the hotel room eating hotdogs (her shoe size grew the next week so I guess she really was that hungry) and every adult that went by "beaded" her. Before the parade even started she had more beads than one girl needs. She told her IKE story to the party next door and they gave her a bag of ten DOZEN beads.

The second weekend of Mardi Gras is dedicated to kids and pets with the annual Krewe of Barkus and Meoux and Krewe of Munchkin parades. When I took on Daisies I had this crazy idea that we should be in the Munchkin parade. Since we did not have the money to pay for a float we cut a deal with the organizers and walked for $1.50 per kid. We borrowed a banner from the council office and gathered beads from past parades (including the 24 dozen Caroline got the first weekend) and put on our happy faces.
I remember parades as a kid as fun events. There was frequent stopping for bands to play or groups to catch up. Not so in Munchkin Mardi Gras land. I had 10 girls, 10 parents, two wagons and 243 DOZEN beads. We were followed by the "big girls" as Caroline calls them- 20 brownies and 6 juniors from the island who had their own beads.

My girls practiced balling up a string of beads and gently tossing it to a neighbor. My girls practiced staying in lines and between the poles (the parents carried PVC pipe to keep the girls in and the crowd out). My girls practiced waving and smiling and then the parade started and my girls forgot everything. They raced around and threw beads from the end (whacking their neighbor in the process). They ran under the pole out into the crowd to give beads to a friend. They threw entire dozens into the crowd because they were too excited to peel the paper off that tied them together. My ten sweet little girls threw 243 DOZEN beads to the screaming crowd in 7 blocks.

Those tiny blue shirts are my girls. By block 8 we were at least a full block behind the float ahead of us. We just couldn't keep up. By block 15 the distance had widened to almost three blocks. The big girls still had beads but the crowd just kept yelling "throw us cookies!" or " We want Thin Mints." One of the girls and her mom had to hop out because the Daisy was so tired of walking. By block 18 several Dads had joined in and were carrying their sweet exhausted Daisies. Caroline was calling to Duncan (Hunter's dad) who was walking with us along the sidewalk to carry her even though she could see the store at the end of the parade.

I was incredibly proud of my girls who walked two miles in the parade and then made the unanimous decision that they would definitely be spending their cookie money on a float next year.

The Tea Party

On Saturday Feb 14th my Daisy Girl Scout troop attended a Tea Party at the historic home of Nancy Peterson. She is a lifelong girl scout with an incredible collection of Girl Scout memorabilia. She opened up her home to my girls (yes if you had not heard, I am the troop leader post storm) to learn manners and tea party etiquette. They enjoyed making place mats (with the locations of all their silverware drawn in) and bonnets (from streamers and paper plates). Due to the Girl Scout cookie shortage on the island- only four troops have started back post storm- we had to make due with store bought cookies and cupcakes to go with the tea. The girls (and their mommies) had a great time earning their first fun patch.

Caroline is in the first row (white dress from Aunt Holly's wedding) next to her friend Ellie from preschool. Maddy- her new Tiki Island friend is in the purple dress in the middle row.