Weekend Update #42: They grow up so fast.

My sister, my niece and their dog Emmy came over to visit Thursday night. Actually, it was a play date for Sam and Emmy. :-)

Lauren really wanted to come over, because she thought Uncle Mot might be home...and she really needed to talk to him.

Turns out, she REALLY REALLY wants to start turkey hunting with Mot and I. In fact, she said she wants to get a turkey and eat it for Easter - how cute is that?

He took her downstairs and had a "gun talk" with her while Inny and I babysat the playing puppies (tornadoes in fury bodies). He starting showing her shotguns and explaining how they work, etc. Neither my smaller 20 gauge or .410 fit her quite yet....her arms just aren't long enough. But...he still wanted to introduce her to shooting.

So...Saturday morning we picked her up and took her to our local indoor shooting range.

My little girl, in her pink shoes and coat...walked right into that place with all the confidence in the world. I knew she was nervous...but she handled herself very, very well.

We doubled up her hearing protection, and the noise didn't bother her in the least. Mot did another "gun talk" with her...and then started her off shooting one .22 round at a time.

The first target we had up didn't show her shots very well...so we switched to a more visible option. Once she could see where her shots were going...she had a blast!!!

I might be a little biased...but she did great! Her first target had three shots on the edges....but the second target didn't have one outside the center rings.

The range was pretty full.

Of guys.

Who kept stepping back to watch her shoot.

One guy right next to us had his target a little further back than hers...but not much. His shots were all over the paper.

Once he saw how she was doing....he pretty much kept to himself, and you could see his concentration level go up a few notches.

I giggled.

After we left the range, we had to drop her off at a birthday party.

I can only imagine what everyone thought when she arrived with her two targets. The first thing she said my sister when we dropped her off..."Aunt Nej says I can put this on the fridge, with my other artwork!!"

(hehehehe)

Reminds me of my aunt and uncle from St. Louis, doing the same thing with my cousin's targets. Any smart burglar will think twice when breaking into a house, and seeing targets with "Jane Doe, Age 7" scribbled on them. :-) :-) :-)


Getting some more instruction from Uncle Mot before starting.


Learning how to aim, and about sight pictures.


Loading.


And finally shooting.



She was grinning from ear to ear when we left, and was already asking when we could go back again. :-)