Forestville Camping Trip

Our friends Vincent and Claire had just bought a new tent and were keen to try it out. Having never taken Lucas camping they figured it would be good to stay close to home in case things went south. We also had never taken Pierce camping so it also seemed like a good idea for us. Natalya was up visiting her grandparents in Grand Marais.

We wanted to combine a few things like a pleasant campground and some trout fishing so Forestville State Park was a natural pick. The park is along the Root River (south branch) and this stream just happens to have a good trico hatch at this time of year. This is a substantial hatch and one I've been wanting to fish for several years but never gotten around to.

Jessica had to work so we didn't get to leave until well after I'd planned so when we got there the Leonard/Repellin's had almost set their tent up and gotten their camp organized. It was a fantastic Saturday afternoon with no clouds in the sky, a touch of fall crispness and no humidity to speak of. The campsites were shaded and pretty well separated from one another. There was the early signs of fall filtering into the woods but the trees were yet to begin turning. The squirrels were very active and vocal so they must have been aware of the passing of the season.

After setting up and relaxing for a while we cooked up a camp feast and sat around the campfire for a relaxed and very enjoyable evening. We had s'mores and chatted away well into the night. Lucas and Pierce both seemed to be really enjoying themselves and it was great to have no mosquitoes to bother us.

The two camp sites in the woods

The Wilkes' campsite

From what I'd heard the best of the trico hatch occurs downstream of the park towards the town of Preston and the dunns come off around four in the morning and the spinner fall occurs around first light. We had a late night (and I wouldn't change that for a few trout) so the idea of getting up super early for the chance to fish a hatch I'd never even seen before wasn't too appealing so we slept in a bit.

The night was tailor made for camping and was cool, clear and crisp. Cool enough you stayed close to the campfire and snuggled up in your sleeping bag, but not so cold you just didn't want to leave the sleeping bag when it was time to get up in the morning. It was beanie weather in the morning and you could see your breath and the steam rising from the morning coffee.

As I (almost) always do I got up pretty early and played the guitar quietly as I waited for the rest of the camp to stir. Claire awoke fairly early as well while the others resisted the pull of the day. It was quite late when Vincent awoke and we finally headed down to the stream by the campground with our flyrods and I didn't have much hope for success. The pools looked good but they see more than their fair share of crawlers, spinners and flies. However, it didn't take long before we noticed swarms of insects at the head of some of the upstream pools. It was tricos and there was millions of them. Perhaps because of the unseasonably cold evening they were late coming off but it was quite a spectacle to see. There was sporadic rises but the fish weren't keyed in on the hatch. Vincent and I fished hard but to no avail.

The trico hatch

The Root River

Vincent working a pool

From what I'd read that wasn't unusual and our observations in the stream agreed with it. The fish were all sitting and waiting in the tailouts. They were just waiting for the spinner fall so they could sip the dead bugs as they floated by. Why would they waste energy now when they could wait a few minutes and feast? Almost as the textbooks say, the rises started as I began to see the spinners floating down past me. It was as though someone through a switch and turned the fish on.

Not that the fishing was easy. The fish have seen a fly or two and they were in the silky smooth waters of the tailouts, so they did have an advantage. Even when feeding on a natural you could watch the fish slowly rise, carefully scrutinize it and then casually sip it down. I watched trout refuse naturals for not looking "natural" enough. Also, these educated fish would spook easily. It just took a shadow or fast waving flyrod or fly pulled tight in the current and the fish would sulk down to the bottom and sit there. Even though fish were feeding all around us and there were hundreds of fish visible in the clear water the fishing was tough and technical. I was fishing with a leader of about 12 feet with 7X tippet and two size 22 trico spinners. The point fly was a natural tie while the top fly was tied with a bright pink parachute to give me some idea where my flies were. The only way I found possible to succeed was to target an individual fish. Still, I only got three of four fish and none were particualrly large (probably ten inches at best). There were some bigger fish around though. The fish would regularly sip down my flies but they were so casually sipping it was hard to get a good hookset on them. Still, it was rewarding and now I can say I've fished the famous Root River trico hatch.

Lucas and Pierce just hanging out

Claire and Lucas relaxing

Mummy and Pierce bonding

After a relaxing lunch we went through the routine of pulling down the camp and packing up. We ended the trip with some ice cream in Rochester making a perfect end to a great little camping trip, something we'll have to do again soon.

Corn on the cobb days

After an evening of fun at Joanna and Nate's Sunday say Plainview's big celebration; corn on the cobb days with the central attraction being free corn dipped in butter being handed out to everyone. Last year the celebration was washed out by the record floods and before that we'd never been in town for the celebration but this year we figured we'd better go, besides Jessica was in the parade.

Natalya tackling the bouncing castle

Our friends Claire, Vincent and Lucas brought some other friends, Lina and Trixian (sorry if I spelled that wrong) so mid morning we headed down to the park for the festivities, with Grandma and Grandpa along as well. There was a petting zoo and jumping castle and a few other attractions for kids as well as food stalls and the playground equipment. Lina especially loved playing on the jumping castle but I think his mom had an even better time. Poor little Lucas was a bit under the weather but soldiered on like a trooper. By the time the parade rolled by it was hot, and wouldn't you believe it Jessica was almost at the end of the parade. We sat in the only place we could find any shade and it wasn't long before the kids figured out how they were supposed to grab all of the lollies and candy being thrown for them. Despite the heat I think the kids had a good time. The worst part of it was that we all missed Jessica when she finally came past. She was over on the other side of the street and not one of us spotted her. Oh well, maybe next year.

Lucas, Vincent, Natalya and Grandma waiting for more candy to pick up

Some of the paradeClaire sweltering in the heatA high school marching band

Trixian and Lina enjoying the paradeTata and Daddy waiting to see MummySome heavy tractors

A patient little girl

Pierce turns One

Having a summer baby means we can have a birthday party at home and have friends over to enjoy the day. Pierce had great weather for his first big day, not that I'm sure he noticed. Grandma and Grandpa were down visiting and Jessica organized a party for the neighborhood kids at 3:30pm. I got home just in time and soon the guests began filtering in. Kids from all over Plainview came and the house was soon crazy with young kids and parents trying to maintain some sense of order. Jessica baked a cake with a lego theme and it was a big hit with the kids..............and especially the birthday boy. Although Pierce wasn't too sure of what was going on, his big sister was helping him out and she knew what to do. I think Natalya enjoyed the day more so than Pierce.

The kids getting ready for the big momentPiece enyoing his birthday cakeAfter the cake and singing the party headed outside to work off some of the sugar

In the evening Pierce's big buddy Lucas came over and the fun continued. He was a bit overloaded with all the new toys and attention, but Pierce has never been one shy away from attention. All in all he had a great day for his first birthday.

Everyone enjoying the evening sessionAll of the kids having a good time

Family Circus

Playing on the playground equipment before the show

Thanks to Claire we found out about a small family circus that was coming to Rochester. Vincent doesn't like clowns or circuses so he got out of it (and Jessica is still jealous) but Claire brought Lucas and Trixian brought Lina and Jessica and I brought our two kids. As it turns out the circus itself wasn't that spectacular and was really little more than a bunch of kids from a couple of families from South America. It was almost more like circus school than a big, fancy circus. Still, I think the kids had a good time and I was entertained also. It was pretty expensive though.

Lina and Trixian on the elephant

Natalya on the pony
Mummy and Natalya

I didn't take any pictures during the actual show but before it started there were pony and elephant rides and we all shared some dinner in the park while the kids played. I got to ride on an elephant for the first time and Natalya really liked riding on the ponies. All in all it was a great little event for an evening after work and the kids slept well that night. There was one balloon bursting incident but even that didn't cause too much trouble.

The mommy's being mommys
Lucas trying to figure it all out
Me and the kids on the elephant

Soccer Breakup

Once a week Natalya and Daddy got to go into Elgin for soccer training. The early cut off for kids was three years old so Natalya was one of the younger kids and with so many older, and rougher kids (especially the five and six year old boys) she was often intimidated when the actual games were being held. However, she did very well in her practice and skills sessions and was always very proud of herself. One of the best things for her is that her friend, Alex was there to help and he was great. He took her under his wing, made sure she was OK and doing fine. He helped her and encouraged her. Without Alex I think we'd probably have only gone to one soccer lesson, but with Alex there she was always sure to go. The one session when they were in different groups was a tough one for Natalya and we left early.

Natalya and Alex playing defenceNatalya rushing over for her water bottle

Natalya enjoyed herself overall and did the skills at her own speed and usually at speeds comparable to the older kids. However she didn't always get the concepts of some of the games, especially the team games. Still she always wanted to go back. I finally remembered the camera on the last day, which was a game. The session went a little longer because the game was a 0:0 tie until finally Alex scored the winning goal for Natalya's team. Not that she noticed and the highlights to her was when the coach called timeout for a drinks break. Still, I'm very proud of my little girl and she says she wants to go back next year. At the end of the game they all recieved a medal of which Natalya is very proud.

The kids all cheering after the gameThe proud medalists