{"id":3168,"date":"2014-08-09T21:07:53","date_gmt":"2014-08-10T02:07:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/?p=3168"},"modified":"2014-08-09T21:07:53","modified_gmt":"2014-08-10T02:07:53","slug":"day-2-fishing-and-hiking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/?p=3168","title":{"rendered":"Day 2: Fishing and Hiking"},"content":{"rendered":"

So it was a slow day.\u00a0 The kids slept in until almost 9:30 this morning.\u00a0 Rich and I got up early and got our day started.\u00a0 That meant coffee and the paper.\u00a0 We messed around in the office with our computers and personal accounts while we waited for the kids.\u00a0 Rick got up around 8:00 and stated that they were still talking when he went to bed last night about 10:30.\u00a0 That explains why they were up yet.<\/p>\n

So somewhere before 9:30, they finally came crawling out of the guest room.\u00a0 By this time, Rick and Rich had had their breakfast.\u00a0 Rich explained that they needed to get dressed and eat if they still wanted to go fishing this morning.\u00a0 It was getting late and the boats were already starting to roam up and down the river out there.\u00a0 The boats tend to get in the way of fishing with the noise and the waves.<\/p>\n

I got cereal for everyone while they got dressed and found their shoes.\u00a0 After they ate, Rich and Rick gathered up everyone up and headed down to the river.\u00a0 I stayed to clean up and get things picked up a bit.\u00a0 Then I followed them down to watch the fun.<\/p>\n

By the time I arrived, Cael had caught a drum.\u00a0 Sophia and Cael caught a couple of blue gills.\u00a0 Rich caught a small catfish.\u00a0 The boats were already running up and down the river.\u00a0 This was putting quite a bit of wake into the water.\u00a0 Everyone was being patient and trying to put in the time to catch the fish.\u00a0 Cael and Sophia were missing most of the bites on their lines.\u00a0 In spite of this, they still managed to catch a couple more fish.\u00a0 This wasn\u2019t Bel\u2019s day though.\u00a0 She came away without a fish.\u00a0 Maybe that\u2019s because the fish remember that she caught everything last time.<\/p>\n

We finally called it quits and packed up the bunch to head back to the house.\u00a0 There was another group of fishermen at the point there as well.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know what they were speaking, but it sounded Eastern European.\u00a0 They had some fancy tackle with them.\u00a0 I was pretty sure I heard some electronics on that one guy\u2019s reel as he was bringing in a fish.\u00a0 But they weren\u2019t doing much better than any of our group.<\/p>\n

Back at the ranch, we put away our tackle.\u00a0 Everyone put on their tennis shoes and slathered on some sunscreen.\u00a0 Rich took them out to the garage to apply bug spray.\u00a0 We were going hiking.\u00a0 Rich thought it might be nice to go out to Volo Bog and hike the bog trail.\u00a0 This is an easy trail that is basically boardwalks out over the bog to the remains of the lake in the center.\u00a0 It is very springy and soft as you walk.\u00a0 Even the boards on the walk have bent and contoured to the soft ground underneath.<\/p>\n

Rick took Bel in his car.\u00a0 This would allow her some freedom without having to squish in the back between Sophia and Cael.\u00a0 We had to take two cars anyway to get us all there.\u00a0 Hopefully, Rick was talking to her some.\u00a0 She didn\u2019t seem too unhappy about riding with him.<\/p>\n

We brought bottles of water to keep hydrated.\u00a0 You never know on a hike.\u00a0 Better to be prepared.\u00a0 We stopped off at the visitor\u2019s center to use the restrooms before heading down to the bog.\u00a0 There are some long trails, but the bog is pretty short.\u00a0 Cael was amazed at the trail out over the water.\u00a0 There were lots and lots of cattails growing on either side.\u00a0 You could see water with the mosses growing on top.<\/p>\n

We got almost to the center when Bel\u2019s stomach started hurting.\u00a0 She had gotten sick while in Seattle on vacation.\u00a0 Unfortunately, I think the remains of the illness were still with her.\u00a0 We had been pushing water, but she just hadn\u2019t gotten enough.\u00a0 She spent a few minutes hanging over the trail.\u00a0 Then we went on down to the lake.\u00a0 There were lots of turtles in the water.\u00a0 Little heads were popping up all over the places.\u00a0 The kids thought this was cool.<\/p>\n

Heading back up the trail, we stopped at the koi pond to look at the fish swimming around.\u00a0 This is more of a natural pond with lots of little fish.\u00a0 The park had installed a boardwalk that took you down the side of the trail and out onto the water.\u00a0 From here, you could see the birdhouses used to collect more information about the native birds around the bog.<\/p>\n

We decided to walk down the Tamarack Trail a bit.\u00a0 There is a cool overlook that looks over one of the lakes.\u00a0 We could see lots of turtles hanging out on the logs through the low blueberry and other berry bushes around the lake.<\/p>\n

We found that Cael can walk pretty fast.\u00a0 He was good at keeping up with Rich at the head of the trail.\u00a0 Bel and I were bringing up the rear.\u00a0 Neither of us walk very fast. \u00a0Toward the end, Bel was getting tired.\u00a0 I can\u2019t blame her.\u00a0 I was tired too.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think she was feeling too well from earlier.\u00a0 We met everyone else up at the visitor\u2019s center when we continued at our own pace.<\/p>\n

In the visitor\u2019s center, there were displays that told you about the bog.\u00a0 They had recreated the spongy walking surface.\u00a0 There were stuffed animals and skulls from animals that live in the area.\u00a0 At the entrance is a coyote with a squirrel in his mouth.\u00a0 Reminded me of Sascha when she manages to catch a squirrel.\u00a0 Sophia enjoyed playing the birdcalls from the set of buttons that labeled each bird.\u00a0 The speakers overhead played the call when you pressed the button.<\/p>\n

After going through the displays, it was time for lunch.\u00a0 We got back to the cars and headed to Happy Jack\u2019s.\u00a0 This is a little place up in McHenry that serves sandwiches and stuff.\u00a0 The entire place is decorated with Coca-Cola stuff.\u00a0 It is red and white everywhere!<\/p>\n

We ordered our food and settled in to wait.\u00a0 Everyone thought the bog was cool to walk on.\u00a0 The turtles were the best part for some people.\u00a0 After hot dogs, chicken nuggets, or sandwiches, we all felt a little better.\u00a0 Then it was time to go back to the house.<\/p>\n

Sascha was glad to see us when we got back.\u00a0 But some of that might be because it was almost time to eat her dinner.\u00a0 She did her best dance when it was time to put the food dish on the floor.<\/p>\n

We rested up for a bit.\u00a0 It was nice to put our feet up.\u00a0 I decided to put weeds out front.\u00a0 Bel, Sophia, and Cael decided to take their chalk out to the driveway and make some pretty designs.\u00a0 Before long, the three of them were out front entertaining me while I finished pulling up weeds.\u00a0 I had given them bug nets for their stay.\u00a0 They all disappeared for a minute and then returned with their nets to try and catch more bugs.\u00a0 There wasn\u2019t a lot moving around out front.\u00a0 The bees were enjoying the flowers, but that\u2019s not something you want to catch.<\/p>\n

I was done, so we moved back into the house.\u00a0 After taking a shower, it was time to start dinner.\u00a0 Tonight was simple.\u00a0 I made mac and cheese for everyone along with spam and green peas.\u00a0 Each person could add what they wanted to their plate.\u00a0 Of course, Rich added it all.\u00a0 I also put peas and spam into my mac and cheese.\u00a0 Cael tried the spam and found out he liked it.\u00a0 Sophia wasn\u2019t so sure about the spam.\u00a0 Bel was strictly mac and cheese all the way.\u00a0 I think Rick took only the spam as an additive.\u00a0 Overall, we did pretty well for dinner.<\/p>\n

After cleaning up and loading the dishwasher, we took Sascha for a walk.\u00a0 The kids weren\u2019t keeping up so we let Rich and Sascha continue on without us.\u00a0 Probably a little too much walking today.\u00a0 We went back to the house and prepared Sascha\u2019s pool for her.\u00a0 It was warm and I was sure she would look forward to rolling around in it.\u00a0 And she did.<\/p>\n

Rich headed down to the lake to try some more flyfishing.\u00a0 Each of the kids took a bath.\u00a0 Then it was time for a movie as we settled in for the evening.\u00a0 It was going to be an early evening and have some quiet time.\u00a0 Tomorrow will be a busy day.\u00a0 I think the kids are tired today anyway.<\/p>\n

Rick went out to join his friends for Lakemoor Fest.\u00a0 There are fireworks that they have done every year since we\u2019ve moved here.\u00a0 This will be his last year, I assume.<\/p>\n

More tomorrow.\u00a0 Good night.<\/p>\n

\"Cael<\/a>
Cael caught a fish.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Sophia<\/a>
Sophia caught a fish.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Rich<\/a>
Rich caught a small catfish.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Heading<\/a>
Heading out on the bog trail.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Path<\/a>
Path leading out to the center of the bog.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Looking<\/a>
Looking for turtles in the bog.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"What<\/a>
What remains of the lake in the bog.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Watching<\/a>
Watching the koi in the pond.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Prairie<\/a>
Prairie around the pond.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Purple<\/a>
Purple everywhere throughout the bog.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Platform<\/a>
Platform over the lake.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Lake<\/a>
Lake on the trail where the turtles were sunning themselves.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Rick<\/a>
Rick just hanging out.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The<\/a>
The kids used chalk to draw on the driveway. Pretty colorful.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Another<\/a>
Another angle on the chalk drawings.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The<\/a>
The kids watching Sascha in her pool.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So it was a slow day.\u00a0 The kids slept in until almost 9:30 this morning.\u00a0 Rich and I got up early and got our day started.\u00a0 That meant coffee and the paper.\u00a0 We messed around in the office with our computers and personal accounts while we waited for the kids.\u00a0 Rick got up around 8:00 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3168"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3168"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3168\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3186,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3168\/revisions\/3186"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3168"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3168"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3168"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}