who thought camping was a little like Heaven
so on Labor Day weekend
they went to an island
with no cars and no engines a revvin’.
The only way to commute was by boat
on the lake (not an ocean or moat)
and when the natives grew restless
they hopped into the vessel
and went out to catch fish while afloat.
They had no poles yet the Sunfish were biting
which for the children was naturally delighting
but when Dad got the idea
to bring a fish near
they all enjoyed a fish kissing sighting.
Now no one was quite sure what to think
of touching a fish with the spot where you drink
but the children did ponder
and consider and wonder
would kissing a fish make them stink?
The three oldest boys loved that fish
so they sealed that love with a kiss
one by one that Sunfish they pecked
with no fear and no looking back
but their sister she only said, “You wish!”
So she touched the fish instead
and watched her daddy kiss the fish telling her, “Go ahead!”
And not to be outdone by her brothers she did.
The end!
I love your photos and your stories!
AWWWW!!! That is so cute! There are some fantastic pictures of Nuggey in that post!
this is fantastic! I want to get a picture of my kids kissing a fish!
i love how the story slowly built up and then ends with a huge WOW! the cutest photo ever! precious! love that girl!
This made me smile.
Oh, you’re good!
Loved this! So cute!
what a cute story!!! how fun that you guys can just up and do stuff like that. we just relaxed this weekend… actually, i worked a bit.
how’s things with you?? good, good!! hope all is well.
Um, yeah, i sent an email to that old “mycharmingkids” account you had… did you get it?
eeeeeeewwwwww. i only make fish lips… i don’t actually kiss them.
but so glad your kids are open to new experiences and that maisey is not afraid to jump right on in there and run with the big dogs.
A-dorable! Looks like a blast. Wow, I was impressed when my girls touched a fish earlier this summer at the lake in MN. Now KISSING a fish… that would be something. Beautiful pics, beautiful kids. You are one lucky Mama!
Ooh, you were in MN this summer? Fun! And yeah, touching a fish would be a lot for me, too!
They are just ADORABLE!
It seems to me that you try to portray yourself and your husband as “crunchy” nature-loving, animal admiring, outdoorsy folks. But, you continually post pictures and stories that show a disrespect for nature. Handling that fish out of water for the amount of time I would assume it took to take all of these photos and convince the kids to give the fish a kiss caused great stress and harm to it. Please, please consider teaching your children how to appropriately interact with nature and to leave no trace. Our Earth depends on us to teach our future generations to love and respect it. We have not inherited our Earth from our parents, we are borrowing it from our children.
It’s so interesting to hear different perspectives! Actually, I think my husband is a great respecter of nature, and he has taught the rest of our family to be the same. That’s my perspective at least. The fact that he throws fish back instead of keeping them (unless they are big enough to be worth keeping and eating, which certainly causes harm to the fish in that case), and is teaching our children to love nature (and even to love the fish themselves…as they were all kissing it goodbye and enjoy letting them go back in the water “to their mom and dad), to me illustrates a crunchy, nature loving, animal admiring, outdoorsy person. I love that about him! In our opinion, we think being out on the lake, seeing the loons, dipping our toes in the water and catching and releasing (and kissing and photographing) fish is teaching our children to “appropriately interact with nature.” I suppose everyone has their own definition of respecting nature, but that is ours!
I think it’s great that you are exposing your kids to nature! Kudos for that. And it’s great that you put the fish back in the water, but responsible catch and release of fish is more than just putting them back.
Here is a really great document on proper catch and release of fish written by the National Park Service.
http://www.nps.gov/pais/planyourvisit/upload/fishing%20brochure-3.pdf
The 2nd page has GREAT info about handling and photographing fish!!
And she kissed the fish with her eyes closed! How cute!
I know! She does that when licking ice cream and suckers, too. Cute!
Having a father who doing so many activities with his kiddos is a dream.
PC is so happy with your kids, it’s really cute to see PC observing kids.
Thanks, Charotte! I think it’s cute to see my husband with our kids, too.
I’ve kissed many a fish growing up on the Potomac River. Maybe this is why I live with flair. Fish flair.
Hehe. Thanks for the smile!
Cute, that fish sure got a lot of lovin that day! now the question is, what happened to the fish after all the kissing?
After all the kids (except MckFlurry) said goodbye to the fish with a kiss, Nuggey released the fish back into the lake! That’s always his job.
He loves it…and is at this point the most trustworthy with handling fish. He even knows how to slowly touch it from head to tail instead of vice versa. I only learned that from my husband this weekend! Not that I plan to touch fish myself anytime soon. I am satisfied watching my family members do it! 
Ewww!
HI! I love reading about your family. So beautiful. I cannot see a name written in the sand without thinking of Stellan. Awesome stuff. I remember the day I saw all the names written from all around the world and I just cried. My husband also cried. We were sobbing messes that day. I love seeing how Stellan’s story moved mountains!
I’ve been reading about your family for so long. I even won a photo contest! (Small Fry-ropractic. . . ha ha, I felt so clever that day.
If you feel led to read this plea for a little girl named Kate, please do. She’s a little girl from Latvia who is disabled. This awesome homeschooling, Lord-loving, 6 kids and counting family is trying so hard to adopt her but time is running out and they are short on funds. If you know of a way to share their story please do. The family is a friend of ours. Thank you. Love to you all.
http://adore4orphans.wordpress.com (her short one-page story).
loved it! laughing out loud thinking of small fry not being outdone by her big brothers and caving in to kiss the fish!
Cute! looks like a lot of fun! All my kids love to fish and we are thankful that we get that opportunity everytime we visit my parents! Also, soooo jealous of the fact that y’all (yes I’m from the south) are wearing long sleeves!! Please send some of that cooler weather our way!!
What fun pictures!!!!! I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t be able to kiss a fish! My daughter though would’ve loved doing that! Say, I’m working on a blog for my church’s women’s ministries and I’m wanting to post some pictures. I really want to add text on top of the pictures-like I see you do so many times. You know, nothing fancy, just a verse or a little saying. But I can’t figure it out. The blog is through blogger and I am not able to find out how to do it. You are so computer saavy I thought maybe you could teach me? And maybe I need a fancy program like photoshop-which I don’t have. Is there a way for me to do it with basic programs on my basic computer?! If you could help me that’d be great! Thanks!
So fun! My dad always said it was lucky to kiss the first fish we caught… so we left the kissing up to him! I LOVE the boys sweatshirts…. can you tell me where you got them?- you dress them all so cute! Thanks for sharing- looks like a great get away!
Love the limmerick!
And the pics, of course. I am sooooooo jealous that it’s cool enough for them to be bundled up like that! Love SF’s pigtails, too! 
Looks like you’ve had a great time! 
I love love love it…. so stinkin adorable
Where is the limerick police? Are they off duty today? I wonder if they work with the Haiku police?
Such cute pics, I love the one of Small Fry kissin’ it. Super cute:)
LOL Julie..the limerick police are lurking like the losers they are
along with the grammar police—”where IS” should be “where ARE” the limerick police. Unless you are referring to a police officer, then IS would be the correct verbage.
And no, that was not a limerick–thanks for pointing that out!
They’re lurking alright! And misreading comments and passing judgement while they may.
FYI, Caroline, that last comment wasn’t directed at you! I think we were posting at the same time! Thanks for the grammar tip!
AND, I wasn’t saying it was or wasn’t a limerick b/c heck if I know the rules!
So cute- You could write childrens books. That would make such a cute book. Id buy it. Hope you and your family are enjoying your weekend.
Those pics are adorable, but I was blown away by your limerick-writing skills!
Cute! But, ew…!
That looks so peaceful. I’m spending labor day home alone with the 2yo….not so peaceful! The other two are with their nana (helping her clean her house, which is always spotless anyway, and I have to beg to get them to help me), Hubby is working. I’m wishing it was labor day for me in another way!
haha love it! so creative. and the pics are awesome. happy labor day
southern love and prayers from alabama!
ADORABLE!!!
Stellan in that little life jacket? SO cute! Odd to say, but PC is looking.. young?? I think it’s his longer hair. Also loving Stellan’s longer hair
<3
Hahaha how cute! Look like you guys are having fun.
So Cute!!
Oh my goodness! Today was just a semi-rotten day but now to be ended with a little giggle. Thank you for that!
Looks like fun. But you’d NEVER catch my kids or hubby kissing a fish. But you will catch them screaming when it jumps out of Daddy’s hand in the boat. As if a flopping fish could hurt them.
God bless.
very cute post. Keep them coming..
Your pictures are gorgeous. Makes me want to hop in the car and find a lake too!
Hahaha…Husband just took our little one fishing and she caught a bucketful of pan fish! She was so excited, but I doubt she would kiss one!
Soo Fun
Love coloring and joyfull pictures
And love love the “kiss a fish” pics.
Oh, how delightful! What a talented limerick maker-upper-er-er you are, indeed
How cute! Not to mention the adorable limerick =) My little brother used to kiss every fish we caught before it went in the bucket. He thinks it’s disgusting now!
Mmmm, looks like your having a great time, but have to disagree with the secluded part…wifi or 3G coverage? Not so secluded, lol
Favorite photos ever.
What fun! Thanks for sharing!
Cute kids, semi-cute fish, but kissing the fish? Yuck-o! Not for me!!
This is a GREAT post! I love it!!! Once again, you never cease to amaze us with your beautiful pictures and witty words! Glad to see you are all enjoying the holiday weekend
Fishy kissies! How cute! They look like they are having a wonderful time, along with your husband! And little Miss Small fry, what a sport she is! Hope your weekend has been great.
Fishie Kisses! I absolutely LOVE the photos!!
Hoping you had a great weekend!! 
Tara
LOVE the fish kissing pictures!! So fun. I wonder what that fish was thinking, though. Here he is, his life flashing before his eyes, and then suddenly he’s being kissed repeatedly!
Very cute. What great memories you’re creating with your kids!
I have similar pictures of me kissing a baby shark
how cute! i hope my little girl is as fun as small fry is out on a boat! 
good post, mckmama!
just wondering where you are since most places I know have very poor internet access up north especially if its an island…..
So cute!
I love that Nuggey still has his Crocs on the wrong feet!! Way to be unique!!
Melissa, your comment made me think of one day, before church, when I noticed my 3-year old daughter M’Lissa had her shoes on the wrong feet. (BTW, she has always taken things literally). When I told her about her shoes, she looked up at me and then down at her feet and very concerned said, “But Mommy. These are the only feet I HAVE!” I chuckle every time I see Nuggy’s Crocs and/or think of her serious comment!! =o)
MckMama I loved this post and your clever writing – from the moat to the ‘you wish’ Funny stuffins’!!
very adorable
Hope everyone washed their lips before goodnight kisses!
so cute that they all kiss with their eyes closed!
way to be a tough girl, small fry!! show your brothers you won’t back down
cute post!!!
SMALL FRY!!! You caved!!!
She totally did!!!
very clever limerick–looks like a fun time and a great way to spend some quality, family time!
great photos too!!!!
mommy didn’t want to kiss the fish??? lol.
Um, no. No fish kissing for me!!!!!
hahahaha!
I would have been just like you–just happy taking the cute pictures!
Love how all the kids have their eyes closed when kissing….adorable!
Looks like you guys had a blast! Family time is the BEST!!!
Very cute pictures and love the limerick! Also impressed that they caught those fish without a pole. Glad you are enjoying your long holiday weekend!!!
Wonderful! I totally needed a smile and giggle before I went to bed.
Looks like fun – we’re hoping to go fishing tomorrow too.
(Just won’t be kissing any!)
Looks like you are having a great time!! Enjoy!!
Sorry, just gotta say it! I’M FIRST!!