Mullins' Men Fishing Trip

4 Generations of Mullins' Men

Matt, here.......I've hijacked Alli's blog for 1 post, so sit down and enjoy the change of pace.  Things have been a bit busy at our house lately, so this is about a month late!  She asked me to write this when we got home and kindly uploaded all of the pictures for me--so the least I can do is write.  It was a great week and I am so glad we can have it documented here on her blog.

On Wednesday Sept 1 my dad calls me to brag about going fly fishing for the next week in Gunnison, CO (where we went camping back in June).  We grew up going there so of course I was jealous, but knew I wouldn't be able to make it.  Well, 15 minutes later I looked at my calendar and saw I only had a few meetings that week and could move those around some.  I went home and ran it by Alli and she gave me the green light---which was huge, especially for someone who's 5 months pregnant!  I'd been reading Wild at Heart (girls--do your men a favor and read this) and thinking about how I want to raise Hud and Holt to be boys/men who appreciate and find God in the great outdoors, so you can't imagine my excitement when she gave me the green light to bring Hud too!

What an awesome opportunity to have Hud, me, my Dad, and G-daddy together alone for a week fishing.  We all rode up there together from Norman, OK and arrived just 14 short hours of "are we there yet?" by the little man.  Johnny Cash kept us going strong and we finally made it.

1st on the Agenda--hit up Walmart to buy groceries.....I say this because my Dad would eat SPAM, Velveeta, and Vienna sausage (and anything else from a can) all week if we let him......this is a recipe for disaster for 4 guys in a cabin w/ 1 bathroom.

10 Minutes after we arrived.  Let the games begin!

We pulled up to our cabin at 11PM and within minutes, Hud was in his PJ's, boots, and winter coat and announced that he was ready to go exploring.....yes it was a little late and dark, but he was wired, had a flashlight and a black rubber knife, so he and I went on a bear hunt.

For the next 4 days, our schedule was the following:  wake up early, drink coffee, drive up to the lake and/or a river and fish/kayak, eat lunch, fish, drive down closer to our cabin, fish, eat dinner, campfire, bed.  Hud caught on after day 2--"are we going fishing again today?"

Taylor Reservoir--360 degrees of mountains!

Morning workout w/ my future whitewater kayaker

Biggest catch of the week by my Dad, the fish whisperer

Hud aka Huck Finn, pulling in a trout that Gdaddy caught

Afternoon icecream snack after a long day of fishing

Getting ready for the day

That's a rod-breaker!

Pizza--we couldn't cook hamburgers and hot dogs every night, now could we?

Dad and Hud playing a little Star Wars before bed

You have to know something about my dad--he's HARDCORE when it comes to a fishing trip--I'm talking packing toilet paper in the fishing vest because the guy's not gonna get out of the river, but when it came to hanging w/ Hud he was 110%.  They played Star Wars (we all played a lot of StarWars), made bows/arrows, went exploring, etc.)  This was awesome because it gave me some time to get quality fishing in too.  (I partly think he was so kind with his time because he knew he was coming back in a couple weeks with my mom to spend 2 1/2 weeks of solid fishing).

Dad and Gdaddy enjoying the great outdoors

Hud and I doing a little mountain climbing

Dad and Hud found a tee-pee, so we ate lunch there

One of our more serious moments

Jedi Training

Playing Star Wars while we were cooking (if you look closely you can see his figures hanging in the 'tree').

Hud and I having a good talk

Hud did awesome while we took turns fishing/playing with him, and each day when he came to his limit, we took a break and got some good quality time in.  One of my favorite memories of the week--After looking for Indians, we were hiking and sat down for a bit.  Hud was asking a lot of questions--we talked about how big God is, about what its going to be like when Holton's here, etc. and then out of nowhere, very seriously, Hud asks me, "Who's your favorite Star Wars guy?  Anakin or Obi-Won?"  I love this age of innocence where he's such a deep thinker and also such a little boy.

I had such a good time watching Hud interact w/ Dad and G-Daddy.  Gdaddy thinks that Hud's the funniest thing that ever walked the face of the earth and Hud thinks the same about him.
It's quite a sight to see a game of hide-and-go-seek between a 5 yr old and a whippersnapper in his late 70's!

We had a lot of fun sitting around a campfire in the evenings, drinking coffee and hot chocolate and singing campfire songs.  Gdaddy has passed some good ole songs down thru the generations, like Johnny Burbeck, Do Your Ears Hang Low, Little Skunk's Hole, etc.  Hudson is still singing these songs even now.  I guarantee he is the only 5 year old that has the word 'keen' in his vocabulary thanks to G-daddy.  For example just today he said that a Halloween card he received was keen.  It makes us laugh.

Campfire time on our last night!

Thanks Dad and Gdaddy, for letting a couple of young bucks crash your fishing trip!  This week together with y'all was so special and we made some great memories.  I know Hudson one day when he is grown will remember this week.

Thanks Alli, Mom, and GG for understanding that your guys have to get away sometimes to have a few less showers and shaves, a little more gas and some male bonding---it's good for the soul!