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We haven’t had much snow this year, so this late March snowstorm was a nice little surprise for all of us. Dylan of course took full advantage of all the extra outdoor entertainment the day day had to offer.
Part two of our crazy weekend ended up being an outing to Burke Lake Park with the Grandparents. Dylan, like most boys, has always had an obsession with trains, and it just so happens that one of the main features of this park is their miniature gas powered passenger train, which takes riders for a tour around Burke Lake. As you can see from the pictures, Dylan could not be satisfied with just one ride. The good news is that the waiting line to ride does get shorter the later it gets in the day.
(View Photos, Slideshows, Videos & More»)There is one thing about my wife that is a constant… she is always searching for and finding new and adventurous things for Dylan to try. This started out as a way to find engaging camps and activities to keep Dylan busy during the summers while he’s out of school. In many cases, Julie and I have found that jumping in and engaging with Dylan in these extra curricular outdoor activity is not only a great bonding experience, but it’s also just a whole lot of fun!
This weekend we ventured out to a tree top ropes course in Springfield, VA that Julie found called ‘Go Ape Adventure’. It was the first time Dylan had tried anything like and turns out he was a natural. He flew through the junior course in record time and was advanced to the intermediate course before our time slot ended. He says the next time he comes back, he wants to try the advanced course, which is all the way at the top!
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While vacationing at the Atlantis Resort, we opted to try the park’s dolphin adventure at Dolphin Cay. They have all different levels of interaction that tourists can choose from including snorkeling or swimming with the dolphins to just watching/taking pictures while they perform tricks. For Dylan’s first time being around dolphins, we decided to go with the less intrusive shallow water touch and feel adventure. This easy and comfortable in-water experience lets you get up-close and personal with the dolphins in only 4 feet of water. This worked out well in that it gave Dylan a chance to see just how graceful and gentle these beautiful creatures are without scaring him from how powerful and aggressive they can be in open water.
I myself have been scuba diving with trained dolphins on several occasions while in both the Bahamas and the Cayman Islands, and have always done so with dive operators who allow their dolphins to come and go as they please using open sea pins. When diving with them, we are always in open water and they not confined in any way. While I sometimes have a problem seeing dolphins in captivity and being made to perform for tourists, I can only hope that they are being well cared for by their trainers and the park.
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Taking a selfie with Dylan on a carnival ride @ Harbor Ridge Club – Palm City, FL.
As per normal, we spent our spring Easter vacation down in Palm City, Florida with the grandparents. The private community that my wife’s parents live in always puts on an awesome grandparents weekend for all the visiting families and kids. It starts of with fun kids activities at the club, then an Easter egg hunt on the golf course and finally ends with a huge carnival on the fairway of the first hole. This is a huge event for the entire community and the kids love it. The food is great and the adults can indulge in an adult cocktail while chasing the little ones around between the different rides and booths. My favorite part of the weekend is the Sunday morning brunch at the club. They have a huge all you can eat buffet with everything you could think of and their Bloody Mary’s are to die for!
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Dylan’s 7th birthday and pizza party – Arlington, VA.
Here are a couple of pictures from Dylan’s 7th birthday party at Dynamic Gymnastics. We had a great turnout and even the Fox Class mascot showed up for the occasion. We hope everyone had a great time… I know I did. I love pizza parties!
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A view of the Space Shuttle’s engines – National Air & Space Museum – Dulles, VA.
Dylan had the day off from school today due to a teacher training day, so my brother and I decided to take him on a little adventure to the Air & Space Museum in Dulles, Virginia. We all had a blast and Dylan shot down several fighter jets as my gunner in the F-18 flight simulator. I wasn’t sure how he would react to the simulator, but he really enjoyed all the barrel rolls and loops I put him through.
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Our last full day of fishing was looking to be a little colder and a lot wetter than yesterday. Again we started out with a nice filling breakfast and than it was off to the boats for a morning of Walleye fishing. We didn’t have much luck to start off the day, at least not in Troys favorite jigging spots. It had stormed quite heavily the night before and Troy told us that could play a huge factor in how the fish bite. So after an hour and only 2 keepers in the live well, we decided to head east to a nice little spot by Jackfish Creek. Troy told us it’s his go to fishing hole when nothing else is biting and there is also a large island that will help to shield us from the wind. The currents in the main part of the river are strong, but the spot he put us on, between the island and shoreline was perfect for jigging!
“The group gathering for lunch at The Oaks campsite” – Eagle Nest Lake, Manitoba, CA.
It didn’t take long before we had our take for lunch and then some. We heard from one of the other guides that the other two boats were having a hard time catching their lunch quota, so we decided to keep jigging to make sure we had enough… just in case. The possession limit for Walleye is 4 per license, so typically you want to catch 2 to 3 Walleye’s (12″ to 17″) per person for lunch and with eight people in our party and three guides… well, lets just say it was a good thing we caught extra, because the other two boats only had four keepers between them. We all met for lunch at ‘The Oaks’ where we shared our fish stories in the rain while our guides prepared us another fabulous meal!
“Me sporting a frosty Canadian beer in front of Fred’s float plane” – Eagle Nest Lake, Manitoba, CA.
It wasn’t long after Troy and the other guides started preparing to cook us lunch that we heard a small float plane do a low fly-by and then land in the river just off shore from us. As the pilot taxied the plane up to shore the door flew opened and out jumped the owner of Eagle Nest Lodge, Fred Pedruchny. He tied the plane off to a cleat on one of our fishing boat and then he and his dog came ashore to join us for lunch. He told us this is how everyone in the Great White North travels, even when your just going out for lunch! I have to admit, they really have it made up here… quiet, peaceful, tranquil and remote. If you’re a friend of nature, this is the place to be.
“Just one of many from our final afternoon of fishing at Eagle Nest Lake” – Manitoba, CA.
After lunch we headed across the river to Peters Bay and then down to Moose Jaw and finally ended up in Moses Bay pulling in huge fighting Pike every stop along the way! It turned out to be a great day of fishing despite the weather and several lost lures. We stayed out as long as we could catching fish like there was no tomorrow, because for us there wasn’t… we would be flying out in the morning. This was a great trip and one I think my son will remember forever… I know I will!! And a big shout out to our guide Troy for a job well done… Thanks Troy!!!
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“Dylan and Uncle Mike after a nice bike ride” – Arlington, VA.
I always like to add a post every year with more current photos of Dylan’s biking skills. He’s turning out to be as comfortable on two wheels as my brother and I were as kids. It scares me a little to know that one day he will move up to motorcycles as we did and have to worry about sharing the road with distracted drivers. Everyone knows that the drivers in this area have no respect for cyclists of any kind. Be safe my son!!
Note: Dylan also did very well in the Air Force Cycling Classic kids race this year in Clarendon. There where several local cycling magazine photographers and community paper reporters there covering the race who asked permission to use Dylan’s picture in their publications. He is a super photogenic kid!!
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My adult league hockey game this past Friday night turned out to be one of the roughest hockey games I’ve had in quite some time. They say you tell how hard you’re playing by the amount of rubber left on the blade of your stick and also by the amount of blood you leave on the ice. Well folks, I had both. A ton of shots, several assists, a goal, two or three blocked shots and even a skate blade wound to the back of the leg! Even though he caught me up high on the leg, the cut wasn’t that deep thanks to my wrap around pads, so I’m not too worried about needing stitches or it getting infected. However, I do hope that the blood washes out of my socks. Anyway, it was an awesome game and an even better win!
