A day at the ranch...

I love the area west of Austin, as you start getting into the hill country. The rolling hills, majestic oaks, and the laid-back true Texas atmosphere are great. Well, we got to spend a good part of Saturday on 2200 acres of beautiful Texas land. It was Griff's family's place. Regina and the kids (mainly Evan) will tell you about the bugs, cacti, and possibility of snakes, but if I had a couple of mil (or more?) to drop, this was the kind of place I would love to have.

Most of the day was spent at the small pond on the property. The water was too low to swim, but I think that probably made for better fishing. My boys (especiallly Drew) love to fish. I enjoy it, but didn't grow up doing it much, despite the fact that I grew up (literally) 2 blocks from Corpus Christi Bay. At this point, fishing consists mostly of baiting and casting for the boys, though they are surprisingly brave when it comes to dealing with the worms and minnows that Griff provided. They are getting better at casting, but they seem to need help getting untangled quite often. In other words, there wasn't much fishing for me, but I enjoyed watching and helping the boys.

Drew was the first one to get a hit. The boys (and Griff) were very excited....
















We couldn't get Drew to hold it, though he would touch it, so JB held it for him...



















Evan wouldn't get his lips any closer than this:
















Drew really wanted to show Mom and LIndsay, so we put the fish in a bucket and carried the fish the few hundred yards to the house. Everyone was very impressed. As I started to get the fish out of the bucket, Abby asked if it was still alive. With impeccable timing, the fish flopped out of my hands, right at Abby's feet. Her reaction made me partially deaf for a short time.

Bhood struck next. I wish I had had the video camera to get the whole episode. It would have made for great material. She had to put hers in a bucket to show everyone, too. Griff finally coaxed her into holding the fish. You can see that picture on her blog, but I really liked this one:





















After that it was Evan's turn. Look at that thing- it's almost as big as he is!




















Even Lindsay got in on the action, with Bobby Velazquez's help. He hooked 'em and then let her reel in a few. Bobby caught a ton, but threw them back before I could ever get a picture. A true fisherman! (Well, except for the one that he cooked. But he said that one was going to die anyway). Lindsay liked reeling it in, but wanted NOTHING to do with touching it:






















I did get to catch one. I would have kissed it for real, except that I wanted my wife to kiss me again within my lifetime:
















The boys caught several more, but we didn't take pictures of all of them and I wont' bore you with more fish. After the fishing, we did some four-wheelin'. Regina didn't want to drive, so I had to take everyone for a ride. Lindsay decided to let Regina and I go by ourselves when she found out that I was going to go fast. Drew and Evan also went with JB.







































We had a great day as a family! Thanks Griff for having us and thanks Jay for bringing the four-wheelers!