Sunday we took a little family fishing trip to Independence Grove Forest Preserve. We'd spent Saturday running errands and buying new fishing equipment, so Sunday was the day to try it out.  We lugged stuff up to a prime spot on a hill, complete with two picnic tables and lots of red-winged blackbirds. DS hobbled off (recently had leg surgery) to scope out some good fishing spots along the shore and DD and DH plodded along the bank to try out their pole. Throughout the day they all changed spots and lures, seeing where and what brought the best fishing.

Me, I opted to not yet get a fishing license (DH has one and the kids aren't yet required to have one) so I spent most of the time up on the hill with our stuff, sitting in a chair, listening to a CM conference MP3 on my Palm T|X while I dabbled a bit in watercolor pencils. (VERY TOUGH for me, I totally need more practice)  Here's what I came up with:

My angle of view is waaay off, this makes it look like I was up in a lift somewhere!LOL But, this is sort of what I saw sitting on the hill. A young tree in the foreground, grasses on the shoreline, then the lake (this is just a SMALL portion of it) and more grasses  & a tree on the far side. It turned out way too bright freen (guess I got carried away) and doesn't really look anything like watercoloring in this scan, but I promise you it is. I just need to practice watercolor techniques. The grey sky covered it all as shortly after lunch IT RAINED on us and we left!! No one was able to bring a fish all the way in but both DD and DH said they had a couple of "good bites" and now need/want stronger fishing line. Good time had by all, and besides outfitting the family with equipment and license, it was free!