TAKING THE GRANDCHILDREN FISHING...

 For our last day at the coast with the children, we decided to take them fishing...  They love going out in the boat and are happy to fish for a couple of hours...

This makes Steve very happy.... The kids are funny, especially Max, he comes out with some of the funniest things and gets so excited when he hooks a fish...

We didn't have to get bait today as both Steve and his friend Alan had gone out in the boat the afternoon before to get bait and have a bit of a fish....

Boarding the boat..

Got to get that life jacket on...

We headed down stream towards the mouth of the river to a spot where the boys had caught a few whiting the previous afternoon.

We didn't have to wait long until we started hooking them in...

Max was very keen to use the net to bring in some of Poppy's fish.    He had us in stitches too as he decided whether the fish was too small or not or whether we would have to throw it back into the water...

He would say.... "Too small Poppy,  throw it back, it's too small Poppy". 

We had packed some morning tea to have with us, so took some time out whilst we were fishing to enjoy it in the boat.  Steve had the lines out whilst we were having our morning tea and we would have to put everything down to grab the rod and haul in another fish...

Max was keen to watch Poppy measure the fish and then he would let us know that yep we definitely had to throw that one back.  He was hilarious to watch.. 

She's caught another one..

Willow is a born fisher woman.  She is always the first to catch fish and has done this since she was a tiny little girl...  She just has a real knack.  This time they both caught one at the same time...

We still managed to bring home 8 keepers so enough for a decent feed...

By the time we had been fishing for a couple of hours, Max had had enough and thought it was time to head home.  I think Steve must be finally learning, as our poor kids would have to remain out with him all day.  I have suggested to him that if he wants the kids to enjoy fishing with him, he needs to pack up when they have had enough and just slowly extend the time out as they get a bit older.  They do enjoy though going out in the boat...

Will was keen to drive the boat back to the boat ramp although she was a little nervous to go under the bridge.  Steve assured her that she would manage it OK and she did.  She was kind of proud of herself when she got through to the other side.  She drove it all the way back to the 6km zone just before we got to the boat ramp.  Steve then took over and bought us in along side the pontoon...

Steve offered Max a drive also, but he was quite keen to let his sister do the work. 

She was a little nervous coming up to the bridge...

but she managed to get under it successfully...

The  it was time to hand it back over to Poppy so that he could bring the boat into the boat ramp..

A great morning out fishing...

It was then home to clean the boat and pack it away until next time we are back...

We had a pretty chilled out afternoon at home.  The kids were happy to build cubby houses using all the pillows, cushions and blankets they could find...   They were making homes for their new toys and it was a joy to listen to them using their imaginations...  I love this age that they are in. 

Building cubby houses

I absolutely love having these kids come to spend holidays with us... So blessed....