Amanda invited me to do some bank fishing with her one morning. We had a blast together! We went and caught a large quantity of fish in just a few hours. We each had a fish on the line within the first two minutes. We watched an eagle and osprey fighting, had a heron land right next to us, and talked to a nice older man. When we took a break to take the fish home to freeze, I asked Emily (6) if she'd like to fish with us.
When we returned, nurse sharks were feeding by the dozens in the shallow depths, so I knew we'd not catch any fish. It was exciting to watch the nurse sharks feed! The water was churning with them. They were hunting in a pack and forming circles to catch their prey.
We saw minnows jumping out of the water to get away from the sharks, so I set Emily up with a small hook to see if she could catch one of those. I asked the Lord to let her please catch something so she'd enjoy the trip. She caught an itty bitty one after some effort! Amanda took the picture below with her phone.
Amanda had set her 55 gallon aquarium up with croakers she had caught (legal here), so she decided to add Emily's little minnow to be nice. I went to the aquarium to get a picture for Emily. I looked and looked all over. Clint came out and helped. We move the castle and big clay pots around. Emily came and helped us look. Then Hannah came and helped us. We called Amanda and asked her if she had meant another tank. Since we couldn't find it, she came to help us look. It finally dawned on me: "Emily, Amanda put a little fish in with her bigger fish that live in the same river. They know each other and aren't friendly." I saw Emily's eyes open wide with awareness. She frowned and looked at the floor for a second. Then, she threw back her head and laughed: "Amanda! You goof! You fed MY fish to YOUR fish!" Emily JOY laughed and laughed, and we laughed with her!
A tiny fish, an honest mistake, a big laugh, a memory made, and something to tease her big sister over for a lifetime ...these are fun days!
(unless you are the minnow)
Her first fish with absolutely no help whatsoever. 100% Emily!
