Fishy story

Of all the days to forget the camera ...


Yesterday the whole family went out to Canyon Lake to go fishing with the Deacons and the Beehives. Mason, of course, is always excited to go fishing. Spencer was just excited to be able to "catch" his red fish, meaning that I would cast out the red fish tied to the end of his line and then he would reel it back in. On the first cast I took, the fish went sailing out into the lake, but the fishing line didn't follow. It seems that I had tied the fish to the swivel quite well, but the swivel hadn't been tied to the line quite so well.

At this point I figured my only recourse was to throw some bait on the end of the line. Worms aren't as exciting to reel in as red fish are, but it's better than nothing. So I put a worm on a hook for Spencer and tossed it into the water. Then I turned my back to bait my own line. Next thing I know, Spencer says something to me, and I turn around to see that he had reeled in the line and a fish is flopping around on the pier at his feet. How about that for beginner's luck.

Fortunately, Spencer wasn't the only one who caught his first fish last night. Mason managed to catch a fish as well. In fact, by the time we went home, Mason had caught three fish and Spencer had caught four. I even managed to catch one, which was amazing considering all the time I spent baiting other people's hooks.

Spencer went for a swim with Sister Schneider

After our campout in May, we had vowed never to camp in the heat in Texas again, but our sense of duty got the best of us. After all, Teressa is the second councilor in the Young Women's presidency, and it had been her idea to have a campout to help foster unity among the girls—she had just been hoping to hold it earlier in the year. This time we left Mason home with friends and brought just Spencer and Sam.

On this trip I discovered that camping with a group of girls is not exactly my idea of communing with nature. As we arrived we were greeted by the sound of girls singing popular music at the top of their lungs, and apparently their goal was volume rather than proper pitch. Eventually they were convinced that the other visitors to the campground had come to listen to the sounds of nature rather than an impromptu concert and they quieted down.

That night was windy. The good news was that the wind cooled things down. (Teressa didn't even have to break out her battery powered fan.) But the wind did make plenty of noise as the tents were billowing back and forth. I was tired enough that I could have slept through just about anything, and when Spence finally fell asleep, he was fine until morning. Teressa on the other hand, hardly slept at all, and she wasn't the only one. Lack of sleep was a common complaint among camp the next morning.

On Saturday most of us went out for a 4.5 mile hike. The terrain on the hike was rough for part of the trail, so Teressa stayed back with the boys. There is talk of making this a once a year tradition for the Young Women of the ward, but I suspect that Teressa will vote that I stay home with the boys. Then she can just relax and sing popular music at the top of her lungs.