Gone Fishin'

The church holds an annual fish for fun day at a local hatchery, which happens to be at a larger park and lake close to our house. They hold it in conjunction with an annual game and wildlife expo. So...Saturday I decided to take the kids and see what it was all about. Lucky for me, Todd was especially kind and walked Fletcher through the steps of fishing, because let's be honest...I wouldn't know what I was doing. Dealing with worms and fish are not my sort of thing, although I suppose I might just need to learn. Todd, his wife Paula, and their son Tyler have been doing activities at this park for years and he was a little too happy to get some further use out of their old Little Tikes fishing rod and child camping chair. Fletcher was even more happy to oblige!

When I asked about it last week, Todd was certain that Fletcher would catch something because, afterall, it was the hatchery. They tried and tried for 45 minutes and each time they reeled the line in, I was there with the camera to snap the shot of his first catch.

When it finally did happen, my nice camera stopped working! Thank goodness for my planning...I brought the smaller camera just in case. (This sudden malfunction has been happening for awhile.) I thought the fish might die by the time I got a picture of Fletcher with his first fish, but I got it! It was a baby catfish.

We'll just ignore the fact that Rosco managed to catch this fish in less than half the time. Note that he was also using the Little Tikes fishing pole.

While Holden took a short nap in the stroller, I took Fletcher around to some of the exhibits. We got to see different birds, snakes, frogs, a salamander, and more.

They also had other activities for families to participate in, like kayaking, archery, and shooting.

After a break in the shade we went back by the water to join the Burns Family and try to catch one more fish. Unfortunately that did not happen. But we did have a great time with them for the morning. The weather was unseasonably hot, so I was glad we went in the morning. Something interesting to share is that they are both from South Dakota, and Fletcher's shirt from Grandma and Grandpa reminded us of this connection and we chatted about the midwest for awhile. They'll have a lot to discuss with Grandma and Grandpa the next time they visit.