Monday, January 10, 2011

New Years and boys' toys

A few months ago a friend showed E the compound bow he hunted with. He brought it over and a couple of guys shot at a target in our side yard.

E had mentioned interest in archery before, but after using the bow several times he began talking about it. a lot.

When I was last in Chicago for work, I was able to see some family, and shared E's interest with my cousin (who is into bow hunting). He just so happened to be selling his old bow for a newer model.

I made arrangements to purchase it, and got a bunch of accessories from a local sporting/hunting store, and gave E the whole package on Christmas.

dec 042

He was pretty surprised, but excited about it. My cousin came over and showed E a few things about the bow and they practiced shooting into a hay bale at my parents'.

dec 047

also pictured: my parents' quaint country chicken coup. (my mom raises free range chickens for eggs)

dec 049

I'm glad I have these few pictures of snow, because the next day the temperatures got SO warm and all the snow melted and wasn't seen for the rest of our trip!

dec 051



Then we headed to Wisconsin to celebrate New Year's with E's best friend Alex and his family, who are basically E's second family.

While there, we engaged in more outdoorsy activities and went to a shooting range.
However you feel about guns, (and I'm not sure I'd ever want to own one), I have to say that learning how to use the gun correctly made me feel safer and more respectful of them.

(Feel free to skip the next few pictures if you don't want to see guns in use)

dec 061

(it was a pretty foggy day, but we were at 10 yards, and the only people on the range)

dec 064

dec 068

not bad for my first time shooting a handgun in about 4 years!
dec 072

we had lunch at the cutest small town cafe

dec 073

New Year's was spent with games, good food and great friends.

geschmas

(clockwise, from top left) an old fashioned, bananas foster (SO fun to make!), port wine Merkts, and gold-flecked chocolate


dec 082

Happy new year, indeed.

3 comments:

steph c said...

That's so sweet of you to get your hubby the bow! I'm sure he'll enjoy the heck out of it.

And I hear you on the gun thing.. I'm still not sure what I think about them, but my fiancé has a couple and I've learned how to shoot them. I do feel a bit safer knowing that I know how to use one, should I ever need to.

Either way, love all your pictures!!

beka said...

My dad loves to hunt with bows and I bet that gift was such a hit with your hubby!

I'm with you on the guns- I don't own a gun, although I am probably going to buy one for nights when my husband is working out of town, but knowing how to safely handle one is really important.

Katie said...

Sounds like a fun trip! I'm sure you missed the snow during that warm spell, but we were in HEAVEN! It's been BRUTAL here this winter, and getting slammed with a lot more snow right now. :(

Post a Comment

 

Latte Love All rights reserved © 2008-2011 | I am a HowJoyful Design by Joy Kelley