Summer Fun - Part 2

Oklahoma…Where the fish are biting

Tryon, OK is a small town where John’s grandparents live.  It’s not a big mystery why our boys now love to go out there.  They take after their dad and love to hunt, fish, and ride the 4 wheeler.  They clarify which grandparent we are talking about by calling their great grandpa- “Grandpa with the 4 wheeler”.  To them his nick name invokes good memories and what every boy loves- the outdoors. 



Grandma, Grandpa, and Ian



The boys and Grandpa in the Jeep

 It seems that these last few years we’ve traveled to their house for a visit around the 4^th of July.  This year we braved the heat and lack of rain to visit them.  As always the boys caught more fish then they could count and came away with tons of “fish” stories.  Also Granny- John’s mom comes out to play when we are there. 


Dad and his fishing buddies



Playing bean-bag toss when its too hot to fish

Granny and Eli



Eli driving the 4 wheeler- Watch out Granny and Ian




Makaela in backpack when she would allow me to help with fishing



The Littlest Allens on the swing

  Every trip since we started having kids it seems to be a little harder for John to get his quiet fishing time in.  Once the boys were old enough to walk it seems like they were out there following John around trying to fish on their own.  This year we had 4!  We had three old enough to handle their own rod and one old enough to get into trouble.  It is a true testament to John for having such patience with them all and for giving up his past time to teach them.  As soon as he got one with his rod baited and casted, then start working on the next one, the first would start yelling he had a bite.  Then he was back at the first getting the fish off, taking pictures, trying to get the fisherman to hold and throw back his fish.  After that he would get the first rebaited and casted; then go back to the second.  The whole time the third is asking “where is mine?”, “is it my turn yet?”.  Finially, he would get all three fishing and just as he would cast his own one would yell about a fish on his line.  Or one would reel in his line and notice that the bait was gone.  This year it was hard for me to help out since Makaela was old enough to get bored watching everyone else and would fuss after a while.  I’ve learned how to do a lot of things one handed and with a baby on my hip but baiting and casting lines is not one of my specialties; so poor John was left with the majority of the work.  The boys never really knew of their dad’s frustration he just took it like a dad- and an AWESOME DAD at that! 



Helping Dad get a fish off the hook



Noah's first fish



Caleb's biggest fish





Ian not sure he wants a picture with his fish

  


Makaela watching brothers fish



Now in true Dad fashion John did learn- after we ran out of minnows; which was a gift from God I think- that he could set Noah and Caleb up with a rod and they could cast and reel in one of his lures.  With that the fishermen were off.  Noah and Caleb had such confidence after a while that they started trying to “help” Ian and Eli. 



A funny fishing story- John left the boys on one side of the pond once everyone was good on their own to get away by himself and fish a little.  This of course didn't last long because Noah followed him over.  Then I walked over with Makaela on my back to get pictures of a fish Noah got when Caleb also decided to come over.  Since the pond is very low there is mud that acts like quicksand and the rest of us walked around the mud.  Caleb trying to get to Dad the fastest way he saw possible walks right through the mud and gets stuck.  I tried to walk over but kept sinking so John had to put down his fishing pole and we got a long pole to fish out Caleb.  When Caleb was pulled out, his shoes stayed behind so we then had to use the hook on the pole to get them out of the mud.  I guess everyone learned to stay out of the mud because we didn't have any others stuck the rest of the weekend.

  


Fishing for Caleb's shoes

Also on this trip we went over to Stillwater to watch the City fireworks.  We ate at Hideaway Pizza (another Stillwater Icon like Eskimo Joes) and set up on the lake to watch the show.  This is one of the very few times we have gotten to watch fireworks and not just spot them while driving.  Before the show we hung out throwing the football around and playing catch.  The boys oooo-ed and aaaaaaa-ed as they laid on the blankets stairing up at the night sky.  Eli had the funniest face almost the entire time like he didn’t know if he was supposed to like it or not.

Another Oklahoma trip ends with more good memories to hold onto until the next time.