Last weekend the DEEP (Department of Energy and Environmental Protection) held a hunting and fishing appreciation day at Sessions Woods, right up the road from where I live.  Dad had been gently bugging me about it, and I decided that after the last couple of months something close to home appealed.  I figured we'd go, spend a few hours, and come home.  We ended up spending all day.  There were all sorts of booths and activities.  We met some sort of African tortoise named "Bob."  He has his name and phone number riveted to his shell in case of escape - he's 120 pounds, and was working on pushing the hay bales out of his way: escape was a real possibility.  They move faster than I would have thought.  There were all sorts of interesting people there - lots of displays from the DEEP, trappers, rod and gun clubs, dog demonstrations, archery, fishing stuff...  All four of us had something to do and something to see and people to talk to.  It was also nice to see how many families were there, and how many kids.  My dad pointed out later that it was the best behaved bunch of kids we've seen in a long time - no meltdowns, no bad behavior, almost no whining.  Astonishing.

First thing we tried out was a setup to teach the kids how to cast using something called "Backyard Bass."  Very clever - I think those might make an appearance at Christmas.  The guy was incredibly patient - he kept at it until Charlotte "caught" a fish.



Grandpa gave her the Smith & Wesson hat.

I wasn't sure she'd be able to shoot the BB gun, but I asked and they told me that she wasn't too little.  Our timing was good - the line that formed behind us was enormous.  She was barely able to reach around the stock, but with some help she managed.  To pay our toll, I blew up about a dozen balloons for them while we waited.  I suggested that they ought to walk the bag of balloons down the line and tell every parent that they had to blow up two balloons for their kid to shoot.  The lady smiled, but I wasn't really joking.



She was VERY excited about the archery, surprise, surprise.  Technically she didn't reach the "you must be this tall to ride this ride" level, but they managed to make it work.  She actually stuck one in the target, and was just beside herself.  Somewhere around here was where dad complimented me on how well she waits - and she does.  I've been taking her to things where she has to wait quietly since she was born, mostly because I couldn't be bothered to get a sitter and wouldn't give up business meetings and such.  Worked out kind of well.



I think that daddy's job for the winter is to make her some "pointy arrows."  That's my kid - we're doing our best to start her off right.

It was a nice, relaxing day for everyone, and was really the first chance that dad has had to do "his" stuff with her.  Mom said he was bubbling about it when he got home.  And SHE got a day to herself, so it was something for everyone.  Assuming no scheduling conflicts we'll go back next year.