August 19 – “Teach a man to fish …”

We began our journey to Waco with three grandkids in tow yesterday.  The purpose of the trip is the piano recital by Zak and Caleb this morning.  At least that was the stated purpose.  I don’t think that’s the answer you would receive from any of the kids.  This was pure, unadulterated cousin time for them. 

The trip down was nothing short of entertaining.  The sounds emanating from the back seat were … varied.  I was especially intrigued when they started actually singing.  At first it seemed the songs were from an actual source.  The response to my query was that they were written by “the Perky Pink Band that was My Mom’s favorite when she was a little girl.”  Interesting.  Sounds like you had a great childhood, April.  They did gravitate toward creativity the farther we drove, however.  So you tell me.  How should I have responded to lyrics such as these?  And see if you can identify who said what.  (Cailyn, Micah, or Josiah)

“If you wanna be my lover, first you gotta hold my hand.”  I think this one might have been a “Perky Pink” original.

“When I was six years old, I broke my leg.” 

“When I was six years old, I got a wife.”  Followed quickly by … “That’s messed up.”

“When I was six years old, I pulled out my hair.”

“When I was six years old, my head popped off.” 

“When I was 100 years old, I was in the ground.  When I was 101 I rose from the dead and met Cailyn.  And then I became a zombie and ate you.  And we became zombie husband and wife … together forever.”

Things deteriorated from there, and ended with a rendition of what I could only assume was the theme song from something called Little Einstein.

When we arrived Cailyn pretty much laid claim to AnnaGrace.  They disappeared into her room and talked like … well, like girls.  The boys?  The boys were … everywhere.  All at once.  As a quick example, they had a nerf gun battle, named by Zak “The Magnolia Massacre.”  He was correct in his usage of “massacre” rather than “battle.”  This was not so much a battle as it was an extermination.  Zak and Micah and Luke had guns.  Caleb and Cailyn and Josiah did not.  A bit unfair, you might say?  See the title of the exercise … The Magnolia MASSACRE.

Last night after a meal of grilled fajitas (nice job, Josh), we went to Lake Waco to be instructed in how to fish in a fresh water lake.  We had some live minnows for bait, and after getting seven poles all hooked up and baited, we were set to go.  Of course it was brutally hot, so Christi and AnnaGrace stayed in the shade and eventually Luke joined them in the cool of the car’s air conditioner.  The others made some casts.  Micah even managed to cast his entire pole.  Forgot to hold on, I guess.  But they ended up shedding the fishing gear and going swimming.  Finally there were only two lines in the water, mine and one that Chris ended up holding for one of the boys.  As I reeled in to get some more bait, I noticed that Chris’ cork was under the water and she was doing her best to reel in quickly.  I set my pole down and walked over to watch.  I asked if she had one or if she was hung on the rocks.  She was sure it was a fish, but she couldn’t tell if it was still on the line.  That’s when she dropped the end of her pole and let slack in the line.  You never let slack in the line with a fish on.  I encouraged her to keep the pole up, because the fish was obviously swimming toward some rocks.  About that time Josiah decided to help her see if it was really a fish.  He grabbed her line and started tugging on it.  “Yep.  It’s a fish, Nana.”  Thanks, Josiah, for the confirmation.  Chris finally handed me the pole to finish the task, and sure enough she had about a pound and a half bass.  Josh was, well, let’s say it this way.  He commented, “I have been fishing this lake for three months and I haven’t caught anything.  And here you come for the first time and you catch a nice bass.  That’s just wrong.  Not that I am bitter or anything …”  Love you Josh, and thanks for teaching us how to fish.

1 Peter 4:7 says, “The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray.”

Father, thank you for the fun the kids have been having together.  And thanks for that fish.  Amen.