What am I going to do?

We spent the Thanksgiving holiday visiting Cheryl's sister in a suburb of Peoria, Illinois.  I didn't bring a fly rod.  I didn't bring a shotgun.  I didn't even bring my fly tying kit, their apartment was too small.  I can't remember the last time I went on vacation without at least one of those things!  What was I going to do for four days?  Of course, to add insult to injury, the day before we left I got an invite to deer hunt on some private property here in Mississippi over the weekend.  It was also the opening of the Mississippi duck season.  But being a loving and supporting husband and father, I took one for the team and headed to Illinois.

My nephews and the C-ster (he's the chubby one on the far right).
Who would have thought the 2 year old would cause all the problems?

Okay, so I had a good time.  I really enjoy seeing my sister in law and her husband.  I got to play with my 2 year old nephew and hold my newest nephew, who is 3 weeks old.  They're great.  They're all I've got.  We had Thanksgiving turkey, we watched a lot of football, we played games, I went running a couple times, and I got to check out the new Bass Pro shop in East Peoria.  It was fun.  Most importantly, I got to spend some quality time with my wife and son.  It was a good trip.

The C-ster.  The only way to get an image in focus on the kid is to crop out
his arms and legs.  If he's awake, they're moving.  Fast.

Driving South through eastern Arkansas we passed a field that had a few hundred Canadian and Snow geese mixed together.  Then, another mile down the road, there was a field that had, conservatively extimated, a thousand ducks flying over it.  The field was already black with ducks that had landed in the flooded stubble.  I have no idea how many ducks were on the ground, but I would have to estimate it at a few thousand.  Yep, Thanksgiving was great - next weekend I'm going duck hunting!