Bigger than a Guppy

Last week was spring break for Ben's kids and so we wanted to do something with them during that time. We checked the weather conditions and it looked like Friday would be a perfect day for fishing...84 degrees. By Thursday it had turned windy and chilly, and we were afraid we were going to have to postpone. But come Friday it looked like a good fishing day. We are able to go to a little private pond that is owned by one of Paul's clients. One of the good parts about it is that it is only about five minutes from home. We picked the kids up around 12:30, bought worms, etc. and were fishing by 2:00. We only had Hannah and Harrison because Autumn had gone to Mexico with her other grandma. We threw out the first casts so their memories could be refreshed on how to do it; but after that they were totally on their own. When I kept saying, "Great cast!" I wasn't even trying to be nice...they really were great casts. Hannah caught the first fish...a great big bass. Then when she caught her second one she reeled and reeled, but when it got too heavy for her she just walked away from the pond, with the pole resting on her shoulder, dragging the fish out of the water. Oh, to have had a video going. Then sometime later Paul was able to hook one. After Harrison had been sitting on the dock for awhile he made the casual comment, "If you want to catch a fish, you have to be patient." Not too long after that his pole bent, and he reeled in his fish. What a great day...they both caught fish. I was the only one who didn't catch any, but it was still a great day. (I remember when Katy was little she said, "I really like to go fishing. I don't care if I catch anything or not; I just like to hold the pole.") We had told the kids that we would leave whenever they wanted to. After three hours they were saying things like "one more cast", "We have to stay until you catch one, Grandma." Finally Hannah said, "Uno mas." (One more.) And it was still about an hour before we headed to the car. They both made the comment that had they gone to Mexico they wouldn't have been able to go fishing. Now that's a successful grandparent/ grandchild day!