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Sunday, September 20, 2009

Guess who caught the first fish?

Our extended stay here in upstate New York has provided us plenty of opportunity to experience a little more culture. This is one of our first times staying at a camp for two weeks, and we have been immersed in a new culture for us, called "full time retired RV, let's go fishing!" culture.
We've learned not to take anything too fast.... that the 5 mph speed limit signs really mean 2 mph, and in my commute to work, I need to allow an extra half hour to chat with the neighbors about thier dog, say hi to the camp pastor, and stop and wave at the gate keeper (who will tell me to slow it down to 1.5 mph). One of the kids math projects has been to collect some data about the camp residents... a project they thought might take an hour or so, come to find out that a question like "do you have any pets?" inevitably ends up as a half hour visit with Budgie the bird.
It has been a blessing, and a great lesson for us in slowing down. After "interviewing" our neighbors, they became quite interested in the kids studies and our adventure, and were most intrigued when for science the kids decided our next unit should be about catching fish.
They watched the kids construct kite-string get ups with amusement, heard about our several failed attempts, and one day decided to bestow on us a couple gifts....

Real fishing rods!!

The kids spent the next few days learning to bait,

Discovering wildlife,

And then... on one sunshiney Saturday, it all came together!! Did you make a guess on which Kaler caught the first fish??
It was Josiah!!! He was so excited, and then when dad helped him take it off the hook, the thing slipped and flopped around on the dock just like he was straight outa Nemo.
Shayna became our expert baiter and then the excitement really began......

Those fish are scared now!!
Not to be outdone, Daddy caught one too....
(Please do note the size for future fish story reality checks...)

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