Morning on the Middle Branch

Sunday morning came sooner than expected. I was woken up by a 2-year-old boy with enough energy and joy to change the world for the better. Since, mom is into the second trimester and needs a little extra rest these days, we needed a plan.

What to do?

Pack some snacks.

Grab the fly box (the tenkara gear was already in the car).

Put on a Mickey hat, "puddle boots" and a "buggy"-catching sweatshirt. 

I look down at the passenger seat. The tenkara emblem shines back at me through the dark rod tube.

This rod has been a phenomenal tool when fishing with David. With him on the backpack carrier, it allows for quick shots at fish while on our hikes.

Not even 8am and the sun was in full force. At our backs the entire trip, casting shadows across the pools, scattering fish this way and that. Even that was more fun for David. He could see brown trout darting this way and that searching for cover.

My bare forearms made for great horsefly bait. David collected the carcasses. These flies are like gold to him. 

The stream has lots of structure thanks to the rehabilitation from TU and the help of the local landowners. I'm nothing but grateful for their permission to fish this stream.

We had a few fish on, but none to hand.

No matter.

Mom got to sleep.

The air was warm and fresh.

Daddy and David got to have a picnic on the tailgate.

You know the feeling when you get to hang out with someone much cooler than you? Like an athlete you emulate, or meet a famous musician, etc? That's what spending time with David is like. He is so much cooler than me. He just doesn't know it yet. One day he will, and that might be tough, but until then, we will soak up these mornings without reservation.

Journey to West Texas

David loves his Grandparents. All of them. But he was particularly excited to visit his Papa in Texas who is a cow doctor and works at the cow hospital (kind of). 

We hopped a couple flights and spent a long Memorial Day weekend in Farwell, Tx. It is a small town on the border of New Mexico. It is dairy country. It is farm fields. There are trains. David's dream come true!

Bear shared his window seat with David.

Cracking pecans with Papa/

David likes pecans :)

The local donut shop had sausage and egg biscuits that could keep you full for a week.

We saw LOTS of trains

The storms rolled through Farwell and hit Lubbock and Dallas instead.

"Cows eat GRASS!" - David

Lots of cows at Papa's work. 

No, David, you can't bring one home.

We got to see a horny toad too!

We are so lucky to have David. And David is so luck to have such awesome grandparents! 

Not pictured is the Lubbock Zoo. The Cannon Airforce base air show, and fresh pecan pie.

Until next time!

Fish with your Family

Saturday morning, we all jumped the car for a family outing. We decided to hike/fish a stream in a nearby valley. 

After looking at google maps, I had a high hopes there would be cows and farm equipment nearby that would be like a gold mine to my son. I was right. Mom had him most of the time in the carrier, but the last 1/2 hour was spent exploring. There were crickets, a frog, feathers, flowers, cows, tractors and rocks. it was a 19 month old's dream. 

I caught plenty of chubs, but no trout. The pockets of fishable water were pretty stretched out, so the opportunities were limited. My goal was just to show David a fish and I did. He didn't seem to impressed with the fish, but he liked the outing. Hopefully we will get out a couple more times before the season ends. 

For now, I've got an awesome new fishing buddy. Maybe I'll have to buy him a tenkara USA Rhodo, so he can start learning the ropes. 

Sara shot this. I love it.

Camping with a Baby

Loft Mountain Campground
is at the bottom of the map

We did it! We went camping with a baby!


Last weekend, we took David on his longest car ride yet and his first camping trip! He fussed the first 30 minutes in the car and we almost turned back, but thankfully, we powered through it and made our way to the Shenadoahs for a Blue Ridge Overnight.


I pulled the map off another website (Midatlantic Hikes). You'll see the campground loop at the bottom where you can also see the Appalachian trail (white line) loop around the campground and mountain ridge.

Great job setting up the tent David!

We drove up on Saturday morning with a friend of Sara's who was visiting with her 4 and 1/2 year old son from Switzerland. After several pit stops for bathrooms, breast feeding, diaper changes and gas, we managed to find a tent site at Loft Mountain Campground in the Shenandoah National Park. 

Now that is a happy camper :)

For essentially having no plans, it couldn't have worked out more perfectly. We found a nice site that gave us some extra space, set up our tent and went for a short hike before making a fire and having dinner. 

Heading out on our first hike.

Picking berries. 

The trail encircles the campground. All in all, we hiked about 2 miles. A perfect easy hike through the woods and mountain ridge provided spectacular views of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

The Davids

Happy Family. Mom and Dad each with the emergency clip-on baby attire.

The Appalachian Trail swings around the
campground with spectacular views. 

Collecting kindling.

After making a fire, roasting hot dogs and s'mores, we all called it a night. Our Coleman tent (borrowed from Kevin over at Sweet and Salt was spacious and cozy at the same time. We set up a Pack-n-Play in the tent for David and he did great while Sara and I cuddled up on the floor. 

On a side note, Nicole, Sara's friend was worried we'd see a bear. I told her not to worry as it was pretty rare. Also, the ranger at the station told us, as long as we store our food properly, it won't be an issue because there are plenty of raspberries and apple trees for the bears to munch on. As we got the fire going we stopped to fully absorb our home for the night only to notice we were surrounded by berry bushes and covered by a canopy of apple trees :) We laughed a lot about that, but not too worry, there were no fuzzy, big-pawed visitors.

A very cool silver spider at the bathroom.
He had to go too, apparently.

We woke early, as we always do with baby David, to have a nice breakfast and start our morning hike to the Doyles River Falls. It got hot fast and the kids were heavy (yes, Nils, needed up needing carrying too). So we trudged back up the mountain and enjoyed lunch before making the drive home at midday.  It was a short and perfect trip. I enjoyed a re-broadcast of Prairie Home Companion while everyone snoozed most of the way home. 

The Upper Falls
I've got a Lamb's Ear Leaf in my hat to match David's.

Guest Post: David Dean's Diary: The Clothes I Wear

Something tells me my parents are imprinting their own experiences on their clothing choices for me. 

For my mom, it is her childhood play toy, a Glow Bug.

For my dad, it seems to be his fly fishing addiction and the caddis larva. 

New contributor/commentary to My Leaky Waders: Excerpts from the Diaries of David Dean

Looks like we have a new contributor to the blog. David Dean has graciously offered up his literary talents and provided excerpts from his diary to give insight into the life of a newborn and growing baby. 

Today's Entry: 

March 5, 2014

My parents say they love me, but I can't shake this feeling that they are constantly watching me.