One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Once I Caught A Fish Alive.....

Sam rediscovered his fishing pole last Tuesday and wanted to go fishing. Vicente told him that he would take him out to our little lake on Thursday. There were lots of tears because Sam wanted to go fishing right then, but we were able to calm him down. On Wednesday night he was so excited. He had brought home a book from school called "Ten Fish" which he read to Vicente. After he was done reading the book he told everyone that we were going to have fish for dinner tomorrow. He then proceeded to ask everyone how many fish they wanted to eat. He decided he needed to catch NINE fish. I tried to tell him he might not catch any fish, but he wasn't having any pessimism. His big eyes were sparkling and he told me with a smile on his face that he was going to catch NINE fish. On Thursday, as soon as he walked in the door after school, he grabbed his fishing pole and told his dad "Let's go fishing!!" At 5:00 Vicente called and asked us all to come out to the lake. Vicente is not a fisherman. He can't even preform a decent cast. So out we trooped. When we got to the lake Daniel had forgotten to get his pole so I gave him my chair, and water bottles and told him to head down to the spot where Vicente and Samuel were.

When I came back with the pole, Gabrielle ran up to me to show me a picture of a snake that she took. I freaked out. I pretty sure it was poisonous. I mean it looks poisonous. What is my Honey Husband thinking? How come he is letting my kiddos get close enough to take a picture?

Okay I looked it up and it is poisonous. It is a copperhead, and although they are venomous, they have a low toxicity rate and normally are not fatal. (But I didn't know that at the time.)

Once I herded all the kiddos away from the snake, we all sat down and then Vicente asked "Where's Daniel?"

I just looked at him blankly. "I just got here. How should I know?"

"Well, didn't he go with you?"

"No, I sent him to you before I left."


"Well, he never made it here."


Now this is a small lake. The trail around the lake is only a mile and a half long. I know he can't really get lost, I mean he is 14 year old boy, but that mother-child instinct kicks in and I kind of lose any rational thought process. All I can think is that someone could have grabbed him and dragged him off into the woods! So I decide to go look for him. Vicente decides to wait. He doesn't seem worried. I ask the girls if they want to come with me. I leave with Gabrielle and Marielle. We are walking and then what do I see in the middle of the trail but this!

EEEEKKKK!!! Another snake. It's dead but it is big. So now instead of just thinking that my child is lost, or abducted I now am imagining that he has been bitten by a poisonous snake and is lying on the side of the trail dying. I know these are not rational thoughts, I tell myself that he is just on the other side of the lake and I just can't see him, but that anxiety will not go away! I call Isabelle and tell her I am going one way and she is to go the other way so we can find him more quickly. I mean if he has been bitten by a snake every second counts right? Ten minutes later, I can see him walking over the dam. I am so relieved. Poor kid. He had just finished track where he ran about 5 miles and now he just did that trail around the lake carrying a camping chair and water bottles. He was ready to go home and I made he walk another quarter mile back to where Vicente and Sam were fishing. He was not to happy about that.

So after all that drama we were back where we started from. Isabelle and Gabrielle had found a little stand of bluebonnets. I have been wanting a picture of kiddos in a field of bluebonnets. You can't live in Northeast Texas and not have a picture of your kiddos in a field of bluebonnets, so I made everyone walk over so I could take some pictures.

How come my children can't all look in same direction, and smile at the same time without me threatening bodily harm?

They act like this is some kind of cruel and unusual punishment.

Wait. Are these even my children?

After the photo session we went back to our fishing spot. Samuel still hadn't caught a fish. He was quite upset about that. He didn't want to leave until he caught a fish. I let him know that maybe it was too windy, (it was) or maybe everyone was too noisy and were scaring the fish away. This is what followed.....

Well, that was about as long as the girls could be quiet. It was beginning to get dark and we were hungry, so we left. We stopped and picked up pizza and met Vicente and the boys at home. Although it wasn't fish (NINE to be exact), it was still pretty darn good! By the way, Samuel is already planning his next fishing trip.