Lake Michigan Fishing Trip

Jennifer and Ken were kind enough to invite Dad, Kyle, Nate, Holden and I along on their family vacation fishing for salmon on Lake Michigan. It was awesome. Here's what happened.

We started off with a lottery to see who would get to reel in the first fish. I drew number one and earned the right to catch the first fish....

...which I promptly lost. This became a recurring theme whenever I was given a pole and I'm sure I led the pack with most fish lost--although Kyle was a quick second with his Incredible Hulk hook setting technique!!

Here is Holden in front of our boat Lucky Boy IV, ready to go out on our first day of fishing.

We motored straight out from the harbor and set up 13 poles trailing lines behind the boat.

When you hooked a big fish on one of the long lines it was an epic battle to bring in the fish. Here I am battling a 15-pound King Salmon. When we hooked him he was almost two football fields behind the boat--that's a lot of reeling. It would take 20-25 minutes to land one of the big King Salmon.
By the time I landed this fish I had blisters all over my hands. It was great!! Here dad and I joke around with the first fish we caught.

Holden hooked into a big King--the first one he ever caught.

Here Ken starts off his fish derby--he caught more kinds of fish than anyone else on the trip.

Whenever Kyle would rush for a pole we all had to yell "Don't set the hook!!" His restraint paid off and here he brings in a big King. Gotta have that tongue sticking out!

All too soon the day came to an end and we headed back to the harbor.

We laid out our catch in front of big group of people that came over to see all the fish.
The next morning we had to get up at 1:30am Phoenix time to head out on the water. Holden texted his girlfriend who was going to bed as he was getting up. This early morning schedule led to a few naps on the boat.

The fishing was a little slow but with great company to enjoy, who cares.


If you spend enough time on a boat, you begin to notice things about each other. For example, Ken seemed to enjoy kissing his fish.

While Kyle preferred to smell the bait.
Ops, my mistake--he actually caught that wee little thing. We ended up catching 7 fish that morning.
The next day Jennifer joined us on the boat.
And thanks to her and a rainstorm we had the best day of fishing yet--12, including Kyle's first steelhead.


Kyle and Dad left shortly after we landed so Ken, Jen and Chandler took us to Green Bay where we went to Lambeau Field.

And I demonstrated my amazing gracefulness.

Everyone was rightly impressed.

While none of us wanted to go home, that is the only way we were going to be able to BBQ up some of the delicious fish we'd caught.
Thanks again Ken and Jen for a wonderful trip!

Cake or Death?!...Cake Please...

Living with Kirk is always an interesting adventure. Even though we had a very busy week filled with many things he decided it would be a cool idea to have a 1st annual cake bake off a la "ace of cakes". We're calling it the "Hays Cake or Death Bake Off".

Some of us took the challenge very seriously. Holden and Noelle literally spent most of the week perfecting their home-made cake recipe and fondant. They did an elaborate cake that took all day. Jordan and Kirk also spent the majority of the day on their cake(s) [yes, cakes plural, because Kirk & Jordan are the over-achievers in the family]

Brennan and I had excuses for why we did not spend the entire day on our cake. Brennan was at a junior lifeguard olympics all morning and I had a splitting headache. Brennan earned many, many medals at his olympics.

Noelle's parents were coming over for a bar-b-que dinner and they did the judging.

Holden and Noelle did a "Dia De Los Muertos" cake. In case you are unfamiliar - that means "Day of the Dead" in Spanish. Day of the Dead is a celebration of Mexico - it is kind of like a mix between memorial day and Halloween. Anyway, their cake was a very cool skull. They had to sculpt each layer and then lay the fondant on top, after which they painted on the decor with a paint brush. Then they added LED lights in the eyes. What an awesome cake! It was also homemade red velvet cake too.



Kirk & Jordan did two cakes based on famous paintings. One was Van Gogh's Sunflowers and the other was a Picasso. They were super cool! The cakes themselves were not homemade like Holden's and Noelle's but Noelle's mother Angel happens to love lemon cake and that is what one of their cakes was - which just put them over the top for the win.



Brennan and i finished 3rd with our chocolate mountain range. We did not deserve any higher than 3rd because ours took FAR LESS time than everyone else's. BUT I have to say, our cake was the only one that was completely eaten before having to throw them out - which I attribute to my home-made chocolate frosting, which is pretty darn good.
I'm pretty sure we're going to make it annual event!

Watterson Family Reunion

New member of the Hays Family.

Wayne named the Rhino 'The Vicki Jo'

You can ride in the feild in front of our house or go up the steep hill and get the mail.

Wayne found a wonderful trail that does forever. It is a snowmobile trail. This rock was found on the trail

Kip and his grandson Kip playing Jacks. Kip was pretty good.

The three cousins. Grandma, Georgia, and Mary Ann. We lived our life on the same street. I remember when my mother was pregant with Kelly and Mom expected to much from me ( so I thought) so I ran a way from home (down the street to Mary Ann's) and slept in Mary Ann's closent. In the morning Aunt Mary came down, opening the closent and told me to take the milk (we always got Bessies morning milking) to my mother. Aunt Mary knew all along I was there. I could have slept of the bed.

Russell Watterson and Aunt Jane Mc Bride. Russell and his wife Nila have recently returned from their mission in the Baltic. Russ is my cousin that offered his Granby lodge for our next reunion. Cindy in the back ground.

June 24 Tori and Chase came to visit. June 26,27, and 28 was the Watteson Reunion. If you are wondering who the man is with a tatoo on his arm he is Kip's Linda's youngest boy. I believe his name is Chad.

And The Winner Is

With a crushing victory, next year's Hays Family Vacation will be in Granby Colorado. We are looking for dates in July or early August. If anyone has an irreconcilable conflict for those times, please let us know asap. In 2013 we will be going to Mexico.

I've been so preoccupied with the vacation planning lately that I haven't given an update as to what we've been up to lately. So here is a catch up blog entry of 10 things we've done in the past few weeks.

1. Mom and Dad came to visit and we had a great time with them--even if the visit was short.





2. We continued working on our back yard project.





3. We went on a photography safari.


4. We went to Tombstone Arizona and to the Bird Cage Theater where 26 men were killed in gunfights, the longest continuous poker game was held (over 8 years without stopping), Doc Holiday met his future wife who was promptly attacked by his present wife and they have the horse drawn hearse that transported all but six of the residents of Boot Hill.




5. We goofed off in Tucson.



6. We explored the beautiful high desert around Sonoita. Anyone that says the desert isn't beautiful has never really experienced the desert.





7. We went to Patagonia (population 824) and sat across the street from P.I.G.S. (the Politically Incorrect Gas Station) to watch their 4th of July parade.





8. We went to Flagstaff and spent the night at the Little America before picking up Brennan from EFY and then went to the Lowell Observatory where Pluto was discovered.





9. We spent a lot of time swimming.


10. We played empty nesters while Brennan was at EFY, Jordan was at Young Women's Camp and Holden spent 4-days at Noelle's family's cabin. And no, I'm not posting any pictures of that!

Needless to say we love Arizona and all the fun and beautiful places we can explore that are so close. With all the color and beauty all around us, why ever stay home? And so we've decided that our life motto should be: "Never live a beige life!"

Voting Time

The nominations are in and it's time to vote. E-mail your votes to kirkhaysart@mac.com. Rank all three nominations in order of preference. Two votes per family--one for each spouse. Each spouse must vote separately. Votes must be in by Saturday night. Failure to vote by that time forfeits your vote. There will be no reminder calls to track down your vote. The winner will be announced Sunday morning.

Three options have been selected out of six. The other three are being put into the voting for next year. Nominations fell into two basic categories--beach and sun vs. mountains and fishing. So if we do beach and sun this time, next trip is mountains and fishing and vice versa. So for the next trip, we've grouped the possibilities into those two categories. You should rank your preference for both the beach and fishing vacations. So your vote should looks something like this.

"This year I vote for (1) Grand Tetons (2) San Diego (3) Granby. In the Beach category for the next trip I vote for (1) San Diego (2) a cruise (3) Mexico. In the Fishing category I vote for (1) Grand Tetons (2) Albion (3) Park City."

You must provide ranks for all three categories because whether we do a beach of fishing vacation in 2013 depends on what we do this year and we won't

Here are the options for this year:

(1) Grand Tetons--Jackson Hole, fishing, horseback riding, canoing, ATVs, cabin, etc.

(2) San Diego--Sea World, beach, San Diego Zoo, San Diego Wildlife Zoo, Coronado Island, snorkeling, beach houses, etc. This didn't get as much explanation but we would all be staying in a beach house(s) right on the beach.

(3) Granby--Fishing, hiking, maybe ATVs, canoing, crazy right wing nut museum tour, cabin.

Here are the beach options for the next trip. If we do Grand Tetons or Granby this year, we'll do one of these three options in 2013.

(1) San Diego

(2) Cruise

(3) Mexico

Here are the Fishing options. If we do San Diego this year, we will do one of these in 2013.

(1) Grand Tetons

(2) Albion (see Kristi's post)

(3) Park City

Chose wisely.

Granby Colo Video

I did some research on Granby Colo and found this video. It gives a good idea of what the town looks like--at least the part of it that is left. Maybe they have a tour we could take or a museum dedicated to this guy. Totally awesome!

Check out the video.

Wayne and Vicki's nomination

Vicki came up with this idea Thursday. Before Alabama, the Watterson Reunion was held at her cousin's vacation home in the Colorado Mountains. Kyle's family went with us to Granby Colorado. The gorgeous mountains astounded us and so did Russ Watterson's gorgeous resort home on a pine covered mountain overlooking alpine valleys. The house is large you would probably call it a lodge. Vern and Georgia have been there many times. Vern believes there are at least five bedrooms with multiple beds, each with a bath and a washer/dryer. It has it's own Jacuzzi and multiple large TV’s. It's constructed of logs with a high vaulted ceiling. The living/family room is huge and has very high windows overlooking mountains, valleys etc. There are game areas outside. Travel miles from: SLC 410 miles, Phoenix 816 miles and Denver 93 miles.

Some of the fun activities are rafting, fishing, boating, (3 lakes in area), canoeing, jeep tours, horse back riding, ATV rental and 10 minutes from hot-sulphur springs with pools and spa's. Grandy is a good size town with many restaurants, hotels and very good shopping.

Price: The house cost will be small and Wayne and Vicki will handle it. This way we can spend our money on activities and travel. Meals can be cooked in the Lodge, or we can eat out at any of the many restaurants surrounding our activities.

Check out these web sites or just Google “Granby Colorado.”

http://www.granbychamber.com/activities.html

http://www.winterpark-info.com/

http://www.grand-county.com/hot-sulphur-springs.html

Nominations

It's like herding cats trying to get you guys to make a decision. People have objected to the three proposals and so we are going to open it up for nominations. You have until Sunday night to make 2 nominations per family. Failure to make a nomination by then and you surrender your chance to nominate. Feel free to explain what we will do where ever you nominate and why you think it would be a good place to go. No one can nominate West Yellowstone, Mexico or Lake Powell (those boats have sailed).

Monday we will post the three choices for vote. You have until Saturday night to vote and the winner will be announced on Sunday. Voting will be anonymous. E-mail your votes to kirkhaysart@mac.com. Failure to vote by the deadline surrenders your vote. To avoid the Tammy v. Kyle controversy, each spouse gets a vote, but they have to each e-mail separately--no I vote for my spouse stuff!!

Life is short--lets try not to do something we've done before. It's a big world, lets go explore it.

The Vote Is In!!

In a contest as closely debated as the Iranian presidential election, the final vote is in!! And its a tie--three votes for West Yellowstone and three votes for Mexico. With no clear winner we are declaring a mis-trial and calling for new elections. We don't want to pick one or the other and have other people feel like their vote didn't count (we've learned our lesson watching CNN coverage of Iranian riots). So those three picks are off the table and we're starting over. Please do not try and change your vote post-election to create a majority--we're not running this family like a reality game show aka Survivor.

We've changed it up a bit and are proposing two shorter, more centrally located vacations and one further away but still with a shorter time together. The idea is that for those worried about scheduling issues they can come to the family part and then go home. For those that want a longer vacation they can spend as long as they want in the area.

So pick your new vote wisely.

Here's the choices:

1) 2 days in Saint George
2) 2 days camping in Bryce Canyon
3) 3 days in the California Redwoods (14 hour drive from SLC, 19 from Phx).

We can flesh out the details more after we pick one. Please cast your vote by Sunday.

Fathers Day!!!!

Happy Fathers Day Everyone!!!!!!!!!!!! We all love all the work all you fathers do!!!Have a great Fathers day and Make today a special one!

<3 The Hays!!!!!

2006 Chevy Impala



We installed a charcoal great mental roof. Kyle and Matthew helped and of course Wayne worked hard to get it just right.

Who Wants To Go On Vacation!!

We love going on vacation with everyone. It means a lot to us since we don't get to see you guys as often as we'd like.

It's time to start planning the next one! The vacation would be next year. We're going to plan out a couple of possible vacations and then let everyone make comments and then hold a vote in a couple of weeks. Please express your opinions, make suggestions and tell us your concerns so that we can collectively make the best decision when we vote.

Option No. 1--Reliving Our Childhood In West Yellowstone

Activities:
1) Two-Days in the Park
2) Whitewater rafting trip
3) Canoes
4) Grizzly Bear Discovery Center
5) Smores
6) Fishing

Length: 3-5 Days

Cost: Dad is researching cost options so this may change
Hotel: $150 night/room (camping an option)
Park Entrance: $50
Whitewater Rafting: $150/person
Grizzly Bear Center: $30/person
Food:
Travel:
Fishing License: $30/person (more if we fish in Montana and Idaho)

When: Best in Summer

Option 2: Water Skiing At Lake Powell

Activities:
1) We would rent a 24' pontoon boat (holds 12) to use as a base for 3 days and then a water skiing boat for 2 days and a catamaran (like a big jet ski) for 2 days
2) Hang out on the beach (rock beach--don't get your hopes up)
3) Hiking in nearby canyons
4) Smores
5) Day trip to the Grand Canyon
6) Colorado City polygamous tour!!
7) Swimming
8) Fishing

Cost:
1) Boat rentals: about $350 per family
2) Lodging: $150/night per room (Camping an option)
3) Grand Canyon Trip: $75 per car
4) Polygamous Tour: your soul
5) Fishing: $30/fisher
6) Food:
7) Travel

Length: 3-5 days

When: Spring or Fall--Summers too hot

Notes: We looked into renting house boats and it was going to be $14,000 to rent enough for everyone.

Option 3: Doing Nothing On The Beach In Mexico

Activities:
1) Doing nothing on the beach in Mexico
2) Snorkeling
3) Deep Sea Fishing
4) Fireworks
5) Shopping on the Beach
6) Banana Boats
7) Horse riding on the beach
8) Smores--I'm eating some frickin' smores wherever we go!

Cost:
1) Beach House Rental for 5 days $170 per night per family
2) Snorkeling: Free
3) Deep Sea Fishing: $45 per person for 4 hours
4) Shopping on the Beach: $1000 for Lezlee!! Everyone else $15.
5) Banana Boats: $4 per kid per ride
6) Horses: $5 per kid per ride
7) Smores: Priceless
8) Food: Recommend fresh shrimp and guacamole and tortillas!!
9) Travel:

Length: 5 days/4 nights. Everyone says the last Mexico trip was too short.

When: Spring or Fall

Notes: As of today everyone needs a passport. It takes about a month for the paperwork and costs about $50. Or you can get a passport card, which is cheaper.

Other Options:
1) San Francisco
2) Seattle
3) Snowmobiling in West Yellowstone in December/January
4) Cruise
**If you have any interest in these options, please let us know and we'll work on an agenda and costs.

We need lots of comments on how long you want the vacation.

Finally, its been suggested that we also start coming up with ideas for the one after that. Please make suggestions (trip to Washington DC? Hawaii? Magna?) Also how often do you want to do this--every other year, every three years, never again.