After enduring a brutal Missouri winter (brutal for a couple southerners anyway) and a lot of recent downpours, mother nature has finally dealt a few days of warm and beautiful weather. So...seeing as though we are training for tribal missions I thought I see how my girls would handle a little of the jungle life and expose them to the great outdoors of Roach, MO...that's right, "Roach." After slathering the girls with some sunscreen like we were basting a Christmas turkey we were out the door with fishing poles in hand (Lu, of course, sporting a fashionable Barbi pole.) Lucy was SOOO excited to finally go fishing. Jessi and I had made the mistake of telling her back a few months ago that once the weather got warmer we would take her fishing. At the time we had no idea what a persistent barrage of "Is it warmer yet?" questions we would, from that moment on, endure.
Well, her day had come. It was, at long last, warmer. And with only one worm's demise and just a couple bobs of her cork Lu had caught her very first fish. Now, there is never a moment that I am not proud to hear my girls call me daddy...but, when Lucy screamed out in excitement "DADDY, LOOK!!! IT'S A BBBBIIIIIGGGG FISH!" I was one proud papa indeed. The Barbi fishing rod had served her well. In fact, Lucy and I went on to catch four fish together. Certainly, it was a day I will not soon forget...my first born's first time fishing.
Fish, however, were not the only thing we caught in the "warmer" days that followed. From lizards to crawdads, snakes, turtles and frogs, my daughters handled them all like true jungle girls. Every bump and scale was examined closely, every croak and hiss mimicked. Even Jessi faired well with just about all the creepy crawlies...except the snake, of course. That's a hill that just won't be crossed. My jungle girls, all three of them...I'm a lucky guy!
