Finally fishing

Robert has been waiting for this day for a long time, and I wouldn't have pictured it would come in the dead of winter.

Ever since we got here for Robert and Elizabeth to visit Nonna and Da in August 2007, he has wanted to go fishing. And today, actually, was the easiest way to get it done.

The annual kite festival was held on Lake Harriet this afternoon, with just enough wind to provide for a spectacular show but not so much that we froze our faces off. We took a horse-drawn cart ride up the west side of the lake, had some hot cider and Robert took part in a scavenger hunt.

There was also ice fishing, but I don't have the patience for it. Robert and I made it a little further into the day than Elizabeth and Colleen did, but we didn't fish for ice. And that really bummed Robert out. He trudged all the way home, about five blocks, upset and not really interested in my suggestion that we would go fishing when it was warmer.

But Da came to the rescue. He was willing to take Robert back down and do the whole ice fishing thing.

And since Robert had waited about a year and a half for this moment, he made the most of it.

They had about 25 holes drilled in the ice, and kids had been fishing those holes all day long, with poles and bait provided by the Minnesota DNR. So the odds were pretty long that he was going to come up with anything. But he sat, and waited, patiently, watching the bobber, for about 45 minutes.

No luck. But he wasn't discouraged. He came home and told us all what a great time it was.

And an hour later, his cheeks were no longer red.