Sunday Fishing (5-24-2015)

Today Kaylee got to experience the pleasure of John and Bridgette's pontoon boat.  We went back to the Tampa Bay boat ramp and headed out into the bay.

Bridgette and Andrew took over the captaining of the boat.

 It was fairly windy this morning, hard to keep the boat from drifting away from where we wanted to fish.  The first place we stopped, I got a hit right away but failed to land it.  John decided to try a different spot, maybe with a little less wind.  We ended up on the back side of a small island at a rock bank, and there we had some luck. 

John got the first big hit, and once he saw what it was -- a bonnethead shark, we all got busy trying to help.  At the same time, Kaylee decided to catch a fish too.  We really are not good at landing two fish at the same time.  But we did it.  Bridgette declared that they definitely need a longer handled net!  She had to get on the outside of the rail to get close enough to the water to net John 's shark.

 SUCCESS!  The first bonnethead shark we had ever seen.

Kaylee also brought in a new breed -- a burr fish.  Ugly, with teeth.  And I learned another life lesson -- do not put your finger in the mouth of ocean fish.  They bite.

I thought I would help Bridgette get the hook out by trying to open the fish's mouth wider.  But once I put my finger in its mouth, it clamped down on my finger and would not let go.  Somehow, once she got the hook out, it released my now-bloody finger.  The Doctors Froeschke dug out the first aid kit and peroxided and bandaged me up, but my finger was numb the rest of the day.

Kaylee said if she caught a fish like John's, she was just going to hand her pole off to somebody else.  No sooner were the words out of her mouth, and her line started zinging off.  She too caught a bonnethead shark, an even bigger one that John's.  And she and John got it in the boat.

 That was all very exciting.  We could see other bonnethead sharks swimming around the boat, and I had one chase my bait but my line brought when he took it so I didn't get him landed. We fished here just a little longer but it was getting pretty hot and Andrew was getting restless, so we headed upriver to the splash park.  But the splash park was shut down because there was a marguerita festival going on there, so we just had lunch in the boat there and fished a little tied up there.  John had another interesting catch here, with Andrew's help, a stingray.  Andrew was actually messing with his fishing pole when it hit.

And I finally reeled in something -- a catfish. 

I had to have John's assistance since I now have a sore finger.  A manatee swam right by the boat when we were tied up here at this dock.  That was pretty cool.

Kaylee wasn't too thrilled with our shrimp bait -- she's ok with our Arizona minnows but fishing with shrimp was a new experience for her.  Andrew had to show her how to hold them.

We eventually untied and started heading in, with one more fishing venture at our catfish hole from last weekend.  John caught another gaftop catfish here, and Joe finally got one into the boat.  He had changed to a heavier fishing line and wasn't having much luck so we were glad he finally caught one.  Of course, it was another catfish, but this was a pretty nice one.

By now Andrew really needed a nap, and it was really hot in the boat, so we called it a day and headed back into the dock.  They got the boat loaded in short order, and Kaylee helped John get things straightened out and the bilimini put down to travel. 

We got back to the house and rested a bit, Andrew slept on the way home and finished his nap at home, then John fixed us a nice grilled chicken dinner.  It was another full day, and we were all ready for an early night.

Saturday at UT and the beach (5-22-2015)

Saturday was a very long, busy day.  We started out with a trip to the University of Tampa campus for a tour for Kaylee, and Bridgette had some furniture she needed moved.  That is a beautiful campus, and Bridgette gave Kaylee a really good tour, of her teaching room, her lab, and some of the other buildings including historic Plant Hall.

Bridgette's computer lab

Bridgette's research lab

Andrew and Bridgette dissecting a frog in her lab

Kaylee assisting

The soccer fields were full of construction equipment so Kaylee didn't get a very good luck at them, but I did take a picture of them.

From there, we stopped downtown for lunch, then headed across the bay bridge to St. Petersburg, and to Anna Marie Island in Bradenton.

We spent a couple hours on this beautiful beach -- and the water was wonderful.

Andrew played in the water, chased the birds, and played in the sand.  But it clouded up, and we were all pretty tired, so we got out of there just as the rain started.  It took forever to get home -- probably an hour and a half, with holiday traffic.  It was a very long day.

Zoo, Kaylee's arrival (5-22-2015)

This morning's schedule included a visit to the zoo.  John and Bridgette have a season pass so they go fairly often, but it was our first trip.  They zoo is currently decorated with a Chinese theme, and it is very colorful. 

Joe sat down on the concrete to take an eye-level picture of Andrew in front of this beautiful peacock, but when Andrew saw his grandpa sit down, he went right over and sat down beside him.  So much for that picture.

His favorite things are the goats and the monkeys, so anything extra was just beside the point for him.  He loves goats for some reason, so we didn't mess around too long before going over to the petting zoo.

 Andrew is brushing the goat here.

 I was trying to protect my zoo map from the goat in front of me, and one snuck up behind me and took a big bite out of it! 

 The splash park is right outside the petting zoo, so that was our next stop, and it was plenty warm by then.  

Next, we took an African Safari ride through that part of the zoo.  It was nice to get to sit down, although we probably had to wait 15 minutes to get on the train.  They have a nice selection of animals here, some we had never seen before, and we've been to a LOT of zoos over the years.

Time to head over to the monkeys. We spent a long time looking at monkeys, they have several different areas of them.

 After the monkeys, we headed over to get something to eat. 

And then we finally headed out, knowing we would probably be back next week.  They have some kind of evening show with all the Chinese decorations lit up, so we might try to get back to see that sometime next week.

We got home, then cleaned up and Joe and I headed to the airport to meet Kaylee's flight.  John got off 2 hours early so he got home before we left for the airport, and they headed out to run some errands.  We were very excited to see Kaylee come out of the elevator from the tram ride from the gate.

We stopped at Chili's on the way home, and finally got her to her Uncle John and Aunt Bridgette's house.  They had kept Andrew up to see her, but everyone was pretty tired, so we didn't stay up too long.  Joe and I had moved out into the motorhome so she could have our bedroom, and we were all glad to call it a day.  We were very thankful that she arrived safely, and she was glad to be there.  She admitted that she was a little nervous on her first flight by herself.

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday - new aquarium (5/21-23/2015)

I can barely remember  Tuesday, but I started doing some painting for them that day.  When they moved into the house, they painted all the rooms, but some of the trim needed another coat, so I had decided (or it had been suggested) that I would take on that task.  I didn't get it done, but I made a good start.  I got the kitchen and our bedroom done.

On Wednesday, I painted the trim in their bedroom, which had not been painted at all, so it required two coats.  But Wednesday's big event was that Bridgette brought home a 10-gallon aquarium that someone had given her, and they set up Andrew's first fish tank that night.  After dinner, off to the fish store we went, to get rock, structure, and FISH.  Andrew said he wanted red fish and white fish, so that's what we got.

By the time it was finished, he was pretty tired, but he was very interested in the process.

Thursday morning, the lawn mowing crew started early.

If he thinks it's time for his Grandpa to rise and shine, he gets his lawn mower going and runs up and down the hall with it.  He went off to daycare and I finished my project -- the last room to paint was the living room, and I got that done this morning.  Then Joe decided he would try to get a little mopping done so Bridgette didn't have to do that this weekend, so we both earned our keep today.