Shark week

Sophia was making her own videos today and one of them began with her saying that her family was pretty active and they didn't watch much TV. I took this as a positive sign and a realistic representation of our day to day lives. That being said this week is Shark week and it has reached almost holiday status complete with the yearly shark week hats. This year I was a little closer to having greeting cards sent out to the family with the kids in their toothed hats and smiles. In the spirit of Shark week we have been spending plenty of time in and on the water. The kids are making great use of their snorkgoogles (Merrick's phrase) in the round rubber beach and each of them is getting quite good at holding their breath under water as they continue to challenge each other. We are also trying to spend some time on top of the water and in the canoe. We drove a little ways to Krohn's lake which had enough panfish to keep us entertained as we paddled around the 20 some acre spring feed glacial pond. Sophia out fished both of us boys hauling in 3 and letting twice that many get away. Merrick and several bobbers gasping for air but was unable to cordinate the hook setting with the reeling in order to land any lunch. We also made it back to the library for story time, the first return in almost two years, since Merrick punched the hungry caterpillar thrice on our last visit. We met Merrick's friend there and he came back to our house for a few hours. Today was a big day for Mitch as his cage was cleaned and redecorated but the real highlight was the new stilts. Instead of tossing or burning an old head board footboard combination I turned it into a pair of stilts for Merrick. Soon to be followed by a set for Sophia. If you look close you may notice that Merrick's are actually solid walnut stilts, painted but still walnut. Trust me the helmets were not my idea but the Sophia's.