It's the Little Things....

Thanks to my boss, I was able to get off half a day and get a headstart on our drive to Chattanooga. The girls and I were heading up there for Chad's weigh in on Friday. The first weigh in was Thursday but Jessie wasn't out of school until Friday. So, we loaded up and were on our way. The girls were really excited - they love 'quick trips' and act like we've really gone somewhere. We went to Chad's Triton Gold tournament this summer in Florence, AL and the hotel had a great pool...the girls were in heaven and you'd have thought we really went some where. The girls and I made a day trip to Chattanooga two years ago so Shelby was 2 1/2 and she really didn't remember a lot of details from that trip. We arrived at Chad's hotel Thursday evening and settled in. Chad was laughing at how giddy the girls were and commented you'd think they were in Disney World - told ya - it's the little things! Chad had a decent day of fishing on Thursday and weighed in at approx 9.15 with four fish. This placed him around 22nd place out of 146 boaters. This is the Regional tournament for the BFL and he had a nice showing in the points this season. It was a nice follow up to him winning the points in the Mississippi Division on basically unknown waters to him. He got up bright and early for the tournament this morning and I told him bye, love ya, get 'em in the boat, all the loving things a fisherman's wife says.....and got directions to the weigh in before I turned over to try and sleep in some more!!!! The girls did actually sleep in but then were pestering me about going to eat breakfast. I told my little hoggly wogglies (jk) that we were not going to make the 10:30 cutoff and that we would get them something for lunch on the way to the aquarium. Got directions from front desk to the aquarium and made it there with no problems. Got great parking and headed in. Shelby was much more interested in the exhibits this time and at one point looked up at me with those big brown eyes and said "this is the BEST day of my life"....she can really melt me! Again, she showed me 'it's the little things'. She was dying to get to the "sharks" but at the first sight of one...she was thru! Hate we couldn't squeeze in the IMax Shark movie - she would have really had a fit! I took plenty of pics of the girls and will post later. After leaving the aquarium complex, we headed across the river to North Shore. Chad and I visited Chattanooga on a quick weekend trip when we were dating and I gave him a hat as a 'souvenir' from the trip from a store called Choo Choo Fish and Fly. It was well worn and has been retired. I was hoping I could replace it...but no luck, the store is closed! The girls and I browsed the shop windows and got ice cream from Clumpies. We then headed to the pedestrian bridge over the river and the girls loved that. After that trip, we went down to the riverside park and rode the indoor carousel, then walked around the park. They had a blast and I had fun just watching them....it's the little things. We got to the weigh in site and waited for a glimpse of Chad. When we finally saw him, he shook his head and I knew that wasn't good. He weighed in one fish and I knew that would not put him in line for a check that would pay to the 24th place. I was disappointed for him but as I would tell his parents later....all the guys there fishing this weekend had to qualify and fish well all season to get there, so they are all good if not great fisherman and it's a tough tournament when they are all this good. Several of his friends got checks and in his usual style he was very happy for them! We left to head out and grab a bite to eat before hitting 59 south to the Ham. One parting thing about the tournament, was that Shelby and Jessie ran to see him when he was getting ready to weigh in and much to my surprise, Shelby had already decided she was going to weigh in on stage with him. Jessie sat next to me and said "I wish Chaddy had more fish...I wish he had made the cut" and I could tell she meant every word......at the same time I watched Shelby go on stage with him and his one fish. She could have cared less one fish or five as he held her up there and told the weighmaster her name.....she was with her Chaddy and that was all that mattered......I was glad we were there....it's the little things! We love Chaddy and I love my girls!