Kid Fish

I can still remember the Kid Fish tournaments my mom and dad took my brother and me to when we were little.  They were always held a ta  large pond in the country.  My dad loves to fish, so it was always nice to spend time with him doing one of his favorite things.

Recently, the Kid Fish tournament has been held at the Blue Bell Aquatic Center.  This year I thought Brazos would be old enough to participate in the event, so we loaded up the fishing pole and headed to the pool.  I was super excited to see hundreds of fish swimming in the same pool that my kids swim in during the summer months.  I was also anticipating the look on Brazos's face when he caught his first fish.

Well....the event was fun, but to be honost, it didn't live up to my expectations.  Brazos was sent to the kiddie pool to fish with the six and under age group.  There were about fifteen kids dangling poles into the water all hoping for the five fish that were swimming around to bite their bate.  Yes, I said five fish. 

Brazos was excited to see the fish, but that excitement dwindled as the moments went on.  He held his fishing pole for about the first five minutes, but lost interest quickly.  Matt ended up holding the pole most of the time, while the announcer kept saying on the mic, "Parents, this is for your children to fish.  The kids need to be holding the pole."  So when a fish came close to the Brazos's bait, we would try to convince him to hold, or at least put his hand on the pole.  He wasn't interested.

Matt decided to buy some live minnows from a small booth set up beside the pool.  This had to be Brazos's favorite part of the event, catching tiny fish with a net in a small blow-up pool.  {I used to catch Brazos with the fly-swatter dipped in the fish tank trying to catch Scoot the turtle.}  The rest of the event he was more concerned about the two tiny fish in his Ziplock bag that the big catfish swimming past his feet. 

After about an hour of trying to encourage Brazos to fish, we decided to call it quits.  It was fun, but I think Brazos needs to be a little bit older to have the patience to fish.  I can't blame him though.  Fishing isn't my favorite thing to do.  I wish I enjoyed it more, but I just get so darn bored waiting for that bite on the end of my hook.  Maybe Brazos takes after me in this category, but I really hope he learns to like fishing so he can spend lazy weekends with his Papa just waiting for the fish to bite.  We'll just have to try again next time.

It's funny how Sandy used to want to be held all the time, and now that she can crawl, it's completely the opposite!  She wants to be set free on the ground so she can go, go, go.  She has become such a wiggle worm and she pushes against you just so you know she wants DOWN.  I let her crawl a few times on the concrete around the pool, but you can guess where she wanted to go...to the water.  Since she was so unhappy being held by the pool, I took her to the playground so she could crawl around at her leisure.  She did more sitting and watching the bigger kids run around her, but she enjoyed being free from my arms for just a few minutes.

I also let her play in the mirrors in the bathroom after changing her diaper.  She really likes to look at herself in the mirror.  Even her teachers at Mother's Day Out comment on how she enjoys playing with the mirrors at school.  I don't blame her.  A pretty little lady is staring right back at her.

 

And that's our 2012 Kid Fish adventure.  Better luck next time.