Beautiful Island Park!

June 17-22, 2012

Big Springs is one of the most peaceful and beautiful places on earth! Sunday afternoon, we drove over to the bridge to feed the fish. We only saw one of the many big fish that we usually see there. Hopefully they were just hiding under the bridge, and they're still there. But there were plenty of sea gulls and a muskrat who ate all of our bread.

Usually, we'll take a walk on the path along the river to the boat loading area that's maybe a mile down. It is so pretty, and sometimes we'll see a moose along the way.

We ended up skipping the walk this year because we forgot to bring the mosquito spray with us. Mosquitos love me. If we had gone, I probably would have protected everyone else, because all the mosquitos would be attracted to me, and leave the others alone. I wasn't willing to make that sacrifice. As it was, by the time we got back to the van, I was covered in bites, especially my ankles and neck, and I don't think anyone else even had one bite!

Another favorite activity at Island Park is fishing. This is the first year that all four of our children fished and enjoyed it. And, to top it off, they each caught at least one fish!

Our fishing spots continually change, and this seemed to be the best spot this year. It was my first time really fishing off a bridge. We caught a lot of frying pan size fish - 25 total. So we were able to have a fish and potato dinner, and bring fish home for a couple more dinners. It's so fun to hear their excitement when they've caught one! It's also fun to hear the wild life around us while we are out there. A woodpecker at work, other birds singing, we heard and saw an osprey dive into the water and come out with a fish. He flew above us, carrying the fish away with him.

You never know what you're going to see or hear out there!