Kim, in true Hoosier slang, calls it the "crick."  He spent countless hours along this stretch of water as a young boy and teen, fishing and trapping muskrat.  So I guess he can call it whatever he wants.

It's become a favorite summer activity, now that the grandkids are getting old enough, to spend a morning fishing at the crick.  Sometimes I tag along, not to fish but just to be with them and soak up the peace and quiet and take a few photos.  Often his dad Kenny goes along too...love seeing these 4 generations of Gray men enjoying time together!

If you're thinking well-groomed trails and cleared stream beds like you find in parks, you'll be thinking wrong.  It's wild and woolly just climbing down to the water, and then there are trees to maneuver around and sometimes wading through head-high water. 

This tree fell just recently...

...downed by a growing population of beavers that call the crick home. 

I stood in the water 6 feet away from this fella for a couple of minutes before he ducked underwater and shimmied away.

Kenny is amazing!  At 84 years old, he still can work circles around the rest of us.

He knows this stretch of crick like the back of his hand, and has his favorite fishing holes.

Kenny has always been a nature-lover, and after he retired he took at job with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources where we think he is the oldest employee of the State of Indiana.

He's telling me about the medicinal properties of jewelweed...just in case I find myself in a patch of poison ivy (eek!)...

Karter caught the first fish of this outing...and later also caught the biggest fish!  Great-Grandpa Kenny pays out $1 prize for each category.

The boys love the fishing part...

I just love to take pictures!

This huge softshell turtle (I'm guessing the shell was 20" long or so) looked like a big rock halfway submerged along the crick's edge...good thing I didn't step on it!  Those things have a nasty bite!

A few signs of fall beginning to show up....

Kaden likes to do his own thing...

A couple of nice bass!  And a couple of very cute boys!!!

Essential for every crick fishing expedition...Walt's Crawlers.  

I may or may not have worms chilling in my refrigerator all summer long....

Kaden getting some fishing tips from the old expert himself...

My man, crick fisherman extraordinaire!

A lot of time, it seems, is spent untangling fishing lines...I guess those are lessons in patience and perseverance.

My oldest son Kristoffer...he always has had nice legs!

Kado's smile lights up my world!

Wild turkeys have been here...

Pretty little painted lady butterfly...

"There's surely a big bass down in there..."  

The bridge marks the end of our property, but Kenny's land continues on past it.

We weren't the only ones fishing that morning...

...down at the crick.