Tag: family

Of Toilets and Tornadoes

Of Toilets and Tornadoes

Last week Missouri held a special severe weather test day and sirens blared in sync across the state. There is a notification tower next to my son’s school and he has commented that the sirens are super loud during normal weekly tests, but this was a surprise drill, so I thought it might catch the kids off guard. When I picked up my tornado-skittish son from school that afternoon, I offhandedly asked him if that day’s siren was loud. I thought the extra warning may have startled him a bit because the entire school did the full-press severe weather run-through. I didn’t expect the response he gave, but we both laughed so hard that I had to share.

Urban Trout Fishing with the Family

Urban Trout Fishing with the Family

The weather progressively warmed up as we rushed into the weekend and the southern wind held off just long enough for a Saturday morning trout fishing trip with my family. Luckily, our local trout waters are just a few minutes away from home this time of year thanks to the Missouri Department of Conservation’s urban fishing initiative that stocks small city lakes in Kansas City and St. Louis with trout in the winter and bass and hybrid sunfish in the spring and summer.

urban trout fishing

Our nine-year-old son reeled in the first fish of the day and I hooked a nice one right after. Before we wrapped up our scant two hours of fishing, our son caught his limit, I pulled in two (including a brown) and my husband had one on his line. To be fair, hubs stayed pretty busy putting on bait and taking off fish that his actual fishing time was a bit limited.

urban trout fishing

urban trout fishing

We love the opportunity to catch these typically cool-water trout close to home, and at Chaumiere Lake in the Kansas City Northland it’s easy to spend a few hours fishing with the family and (as was the case this weekend) jump in the car, make a quick wardrobe change and still make it to D.A.R. by lunch. While Chaumiere may not be the most peaceful location for trout fishing (as the semis and cars roll by on the nearby interstate), I’m thinking any day fishing with my family is a pretty good day by most measures and I appreciate the conservation efforts that make it possible.

urban trout fishing

 

Lazy Summer Evenings

Lazy Summer Evenings

Do you ever have one of those lazy summer evenings that just strike you as being special for absolutely no particular reason? Maybe it’s the mere existence of a rare night with nowhere to be, perhaps it’s a break in the weather, or maybe it’s just a good meal off the grill and dinner together that makes these summer evenings so special. Friday was one of those nights.

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