Leftovers

Well, Thanksgiving was again this year, different. We kicked off the day by cruising the gulf via kayak thanks to some generous in-laws.

I had Charlie in the front hatch of my kayak, James took Mekayla in his lap and Holly got the hard job - Photographer!

Inside Your Mind

Thursday Holly and I had the chance to go and see The Phantom Of The Opera In Tampa. Because they do not allow photography during the production this is the only picture we could sneak off. Holly loved it being her first time seeing the show and is already contemplating where we will see it next! (which is fine by me)

Fishing Report

FINALLY! I hooked and landed my first red drum this afternoon out in the grass flats! I don't know the weight, but he was 22" long which they need to be at least 18" to keep. Now I was pretty optimistic after landing this one, seeing as there were pods of red drum tailing all over the place, so I let this one go, hoping to catch a larger one later. See, as the limit is only one, I didn't want to bag it and call it quits there. And of course the story goes.. it ended up being the only fish of the day. Just less for me to clean I guess.

Put up a great fight though, a very fun fish to catch. I tried all kinds of lures and jigs in the past... which everyone says should work. However, I have been skunked 4 times now under that idea, so after a few hours of no hits on this trip, I put on a little jig and caught a small bait fish and tossed it on the hook and flung 'em out there. It seemed to do the trick.

Who thought a cake could be SO sinful?

Now there is nothing morally or ethically wrong with this cake (some may disagree). It is, of course the creation of Holly with technical input provided by James.

What it's made up of:

- Middle layer: Chocolate Trinity Ice Cream (pre

mium dark chocolate ice cream swirled with 

mackinac thick fudge and sprinkled with mini thick fudge chips)

- Top/bottom: Thick homemade brownie with chocoate chips

- Outer Coating: Chocolate butter cream frosting with Hershey's shell chocolate topping.

The writting on the top says in programming language: Happy Birthday Buddy!

Going West!

It is official! The Mrs. and I will be taking this years hiatus in California and Oregon! It has been almost a year since we have been to CA and we have never been there since getting hitched, and it has been 4 yrs since I have been to OR!

We are so excited and looking forward to seeing family and friends along with getting away from the norm for a little bit!



See some of you SOON!

Finally Tested!

Today we got to test out our new kayak, (14' scupper pro ocean kayak, right) and it was also Holly's first time ever paddling around and being in a kayak! So the learning experiance was fun and as you can see below it was not without battle wounds.
















We managed to get out inbetween thunderstorms, but only got about 30 minutes on the water before the next storm was blowing in. Holly did an excellent job with it being her first time on the water and next time we hope to be out a little longer and get to see more of what the area has to offer! it was unfortunately high tide today which made the water about 5 ft deep so you couldnt really see much what was going on in the water, but at low tide you can paddle out a mile or so and have it still be 1-2 ft deep which allows for all kinds of exciting encounters....

more news to come soon!

More Than Skunked

Well, no record fish to report. I was actually more than skunked because we have not been able to make it out on the kayaks yet. Between our work schedules, church stuff and bad weather it's proving difficult to find the time. But! I am bound and determined to make it out this weekend, assuming we have clear skies.

have a laugh... at least I did

Award Winning Constructions

I had came across this list of images today and found it particularly interesting and funny. If you are in construction or a service industry, just know this: It could always be worse! :)



































































































































































































And the WINNER is...

The Sunshine State?

Last night we experienced a wonderful down-poor that some would label to be of "Biblical Proportions" However, nothing actually flooded surprisingly!

Below is a snapshot from the National Weather Service on the recent showers. Our area got about 4 inches of rain in just a few hours last night (to which my sad lawn was very grateful for) and now like most rainy days here we are already pretty dry and planning our first kayak trip. It's only about 89 degrees outside, but humidity is up, so the "feels like" temp is about 99. We will most likely spend out day inside with the AC!

Let the Yaking Begin!

We just went and bought a kayak today! (Holly is modeling it and testing out its dry-land capabilities) We are looking forward to taking it out in the local lakes, rivers and most fun; the gulf.

With a few fixer upper adjustments it will be perfect for fishing or just paddling around, so now the FL Mindrups will have to give the weekly ocean fishing report! Although I have a feeling they won't involve as much fish as the Oregon ones, but I'm sure there will be some exciting stories to come from our trips out on the water!

Don't Make Fun of Us :)

I know, I know... Blogs are ridiculous to most, but this will serve as a wonderful way to keep family updates going without having to add friends or fall victim to someone hacking into our account and posting lurid content.

So for all those who don't like blogs, just know... It could be worse ;)

more to come!