Hooked!

The girls have been begging Perry for a few years to take them fishing. Yesterday was finally that day. After 2 hours of him getting poles and line and hooks and bobbers ready, we were off.
Off to Walmart that is. He needed more hooks and bobbers and I decided at the last minute to get a fishing license. Now we're off. To the gas station that is. He needed worms. OK, now we're off. 20 miles to a fishing hole. Really it's a lake. We get to the lake 20 miles away and find out that Perry does not like it at this lake. His sister told him it was a good place to fish. So much for little sisters advice. We're off. Back to our neck of the woods. There may or may not have been a fight between the adults on the way back.
We are now at a local park about 5 miles from our house. Jazzfest is going on at the park which makes for tons of cars, but we find a quiet place to fish in some canal. A canal where boats park. The water is filled with gas and oil slicks. Yum, can't wait to catch fish in here. Someone may or may not have been still mad.
But on with the fishing.

It didn't take long before the fish were biting. I'd want to eat too if I had to live in that gas and oil infested water. The girls were excited to see the bobbers go under water and they learned quickly how to set the hook and reel in the fish.
Phoebe caught the first fish, and as I ran to get the camera, Abby had a fish on her line too.

Look at this fish! It's almost as long as the canal is wide!
OK not really.

Abby's first catch.

Phoebe and Abigail's first fish ever!
They caught perch, bluegill and bass. They were excited with every nibble and catch.
Abby and I were sad when putting the worms on the hook. At first I didn't mind, but when I saw them (the worms) squirming as I was stabbing them with a hook over and over, I started to feel sad for them. But that didn't stop me from continuing my stabbing.
Of course it started to rain. What fine fishing day doesn't have a little rain in it. But we fished on, and continued to catch fish.
Even I caught a fish and was ready to give those fish lips a kiss. He didn't want one, so I threw him back.

The girls had a great time. They lasted longer than the 20 minutes that I predicted. Abby did say that she was bored with fishing later on, but she enjoyed the picnic lunch I packed. The adults may or may not have still been crabby at each other, but they had a good time anyway. If not for the heavier rain that came, and the dark that was coming we would have stayed out longer.

Hours spent getting ready for first fishing trip... 2
Money spent on the tiniest worms ever... $4
Money spent on bobbers and hooks... $5
Money spent on a fishing license... $20
Miles spent driving to a place we didn't fish... 20
Miles spent driving from a place we didn't fish... 20
Number of minutes spent fighting about this... 10
Number of nibbles.... many
Number of fish caught... 10
Number of smiles by happy, excited children... lost count
Seeing the smiles on happy excited children.... Priceless!

We may go again today. Someplace different, where we will catch fish with some length and weight on them. Some that we could actually keep and eat.

Happy Labor Day.