In a last minute attempt to salvage the last few hours of summer (actually, it was the first day of fall), Douthit's invited us to the lake for a campfire and fishing adventure. Lars was thrilled, and was screaming in his #5 voice, "Mark-y's going to take me me fishing!!" over and over and over again.
I was pooped after a long day and on my way home to veg, but Laura said she'd bring everything and all I'd have to do is show up with the kids and Lars' new fishing pole (which was in the car with his new Spiderman tackle box before I even gathered my things up and got OUT of the car).
After a few minutes of throwing some things together from the fridge, jackets and bug spray, we loaded up and headed to the lake. But I forgot the bag of stuff that I'd just packed up. And Laura forgot the 'fire stuff' and Lexi wanted me to bring her a pair of flip flops. And then there is the small detail of matches to LIGHT the fire. And the dog. At least Dave stopped to get worms.
At any rate, we got out to the lake in plenty of time to make three trips back to town, fish, eat and socialize. Lars wanted to eat the fish we would catch, but Laura said we didn't have a knife to fillet it. All Allen heard as he was climbing back into the Ford for the 1st trip back to town was something about not having a knife and he asked, "Did I hear that I needed to grab a knife, too?" And we all said, "NO" at the same time.
While Dave put the pole together and stung the line, Mark and Lars dug into the tackle box. Lars started looking for the perfect spot to fish. He told the girls "I need it quiet, I'm fishing!" in his loudest whisper, and they wandered further up the banks to look for sea shells. With Mark-y's diligent (and patient) guidance, he taught Lars how to cast, turn the handle half a crank till you hear the click, and stand there quietly. Lars seemed willing to wait all night if he had to, he wasn't in any hurry. He kept whisper yelling to the girls (who were getting closer and closer with every find) "I'm fishing. I need it very quiet!"
In no time at all, he felt the tug. Mark set the hook and Lars started reeling it in. The look on his face is impossible to describe. It was like he didn't know what he was about to find on the end of the line and then when the fish came wriggling out of the water, Lars' face lit up like the sunset. The fish was a small trout and Lars had the most excited look on his face ever when it hauled out of the water. He was squealing with glee, and of course moving around so much, I couldn't get the camera to focus for a photo. Mark got it off the hook and Lars studied it, felt it and studied it some more. Mark suggested they put it back in the water so it didn't die and Lars agreed, so long as he could catch it again later.
When asked at the campfire how big the fish was, he held up his hands in the appropriate length (he's as honest as you'll ever meet) but said, "about 20 foot long". Said like a true fisherman!
In all, it was a good night with friends and family and a couple of labs thrown in for fun.
Fall is here and with that, another season of memories to make.
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