Fishing Friday

Anniston's preschool holds an annual Fishing Day each April at the Wildlife Federation. They have an entire catfish pond just for our preschool. It's beautiful and all the kids bring their parents, grandparents, siblings, neighbors- you get the picture, anyone is welcome. And we fish. With hot dogs. Yes, that's right- slices of wienies. And we catch fish. Well, we did last year. Wes and I totally caught the most fish last year and I caught the biggest- not that anyone was keeping track...
So, I went into this years big fish certain I would have no problem whatsoever reeling in a monster catfish on my daughter's Princess pole. Wrong! People all around us were catching fish left and right. We were totally LOSING (again, not that ANYONE was keeping count...)! We were LOSERS! So, we did what anyone else in our shoes would do- we packed up and relocated ourselves closer to the people who were catching fish! Anniston's friend Jerrica was fishing with her parents beside us. They were ahead by like 47 fish (who was counting?). As Jerrica's dad, Jeremy, felt the 48th take his bait and hook himself to the end of his pole, he coyly said, "Hey Wes, you wanna reel him in?"
So, I did what any super competitive mom would do and yanked gently removed the pole from my 5 year olds hands and took matters into my own! We had fish to catch and I couldn't let these people leave before we caught some.
While everyone else was loosing interest and packing up, I was on a mission to catch fish. Did I mention it was catch and release? Well, it was. By this point I think Wes had caught one and shortly thereafter got his 2nd and final fish for the day. Just as Jerrica's family had packed up and were saying their goodbyes and good lucks to us, I felt it. That beloved fish on the hook feeling at the end of my line.
"Oh, no you don't!" I said to them. "You aren't leaving until you see me reel this fish in!"
All in all, it was a great fishing trip! Aside from my crazy ridiculous slight competitive streak- we had a nice, relaxing morning around the water on a beautiful spring day.
Oh, and Anniston caught the last fish of the day all by herself.
She said, "Hey Daddy, I caught you a fish...." totally nonchalantly. She's not a bit competitive!


Waiting patiently...trying not to notice everyone else reeling them in or act bothered by that fact.



"Here Daddy, maybe you should use this bait."

One of Daddy's 2 fish- we were thrilled!

"Hey Anniston, my dad just caught ANOTHER fish!" (Na-na-na-na, boo-boo)


The bobber that just wouldn't bob.


"My mommy is the best fisherwoman!"


Anniston's "prize" fish. She was super proud!