Gone Fishin'
After a good night's sleep, when the three little ones woke up and had eaten their bacon and pancakes (no hiding cereal Annie!), they got dressed and voted that we should go fishing. This is something that has become a tradition since we moved here 7 years ago. And, even though I have a horrible cold that I caught the day before the kids got here (drat! drat! double drat!!), I wanted to go with them because...do you know the fun you can have with three little girls, ages 9,4 and 3?
So, off we went to the neighbor's pond which is stocked with bass and catfish. The first thing I should mention is that not one of the girls is afraid to either dig for worms, handle the "bait" fish, or the fish itself when caught. Hats off to THEIR PARENTS!!! In fact, the youngest one is a down right dare devil...she is not afraid of anything!
I honestly don't remember who caught the first fish...it may have been the nine year old...she and her dad caught the most fish. Her dad gave her the name "Bait Girl". She would reach into the canister, grab a minnow and hand it to her dad. Then, he'd say, "now, I need to bite the head off before putting him on the hook!" While I cringed and turned my back, the girls giggled with glee.
Even though the four year had, at one point, gotten bitten by one of the large mouth bass, she was recuperating nicely and decided to make a "worm family" on one of the folding chairs next to me. She named them all...Justin, Amber, Katlin & Kelsey. She kept talking about them all being together as brothers and sisters and hovered over them like a true "mom".
Meanwhile, in between holding her fishing pole now and then, the three year old made a "room" for a worm. Yep, I bet that worm never had it so good! She picked grass, hunted up dried leaves, a few wild flowers and then ever so gently placed them all around and on top of the worm because as she said, "I'm protecting him from the sun".
Then there dad reeled in a huge catfish! The fish really began to bite and one by one, they were reeled in...16 all together. As more and fish were caught, we continued to watch a big turtle in the pond that kept going after the bait as the bobbers floated on top of the water.
After we had been there several hours, the silliness began. The nine year old put a minnow in my hair!! Their dad put a minnow down the oldest ones shorts! Their dad went to cast off and accidentally hooked my husband's fishing pole and it went flying into the water right along with his baited line! By that time, naturally, my camera was dead, so I don't have a picture of that...only in my mind. So that, my friends, will have to remain "a memory...a photograph taken by the mind".
Even though the four year had, at one point, gotten bitten by one of the large mouth bass, she was recuperating nicely and decided to make a "worm family" on one of the folding chairs next to me. She named them all...Justin, Amber, Katlin & Kelsey. She kept talking about them all being together as brothers and sisters and hovered over them like a true "mom". Meanwhile, in between holding her fishing pole now and then, the three year old made a "room" for a worm. Yep, I bet that worm never had it so good! She picked grass, hunted up dried leaves, a few wild flowers and then ever so gently placed them all around and on top of the worm because as she said, "I'm protecting him from the sun".
Then there dad reeled in a huge catfish! The fish really began to bite and one by one, they were reeled in...16 all together. As more and fish were caught, we continued to watch a big turtle in the pond that kept going after the bait as the bobbers floated on top of the water.
After we had been there several hours, the silliness began. The nine year old put a minnow in my hair!! Their dad put a minnow down the oldest ones shorts! Their dad went to cast off and accidentally hooked my husband's fishing pole and it went flying into the water right along with his baited line! By that time, naturally, my camera was dead, so I don't have a picture of that...only in my mind. So that, my friends, will have to remain "a memory...a photograph taken by the mind".
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