The Allen Family: Fishing

This post was written a few weeks ago, and apparently got forgotten about. I need to learn how to adjust the dates when it's posted. Or just get on the ball and not get behind on posting :)

Summer has begun! This summer, we are trying something new. I've made up a bunch of cards for the kids, we call them 'punch passes', with a fun activity on each one. The kids take turns choosing an activity they want to do as a family that week and they work toward earning it. Last week was our first one. Jayden chose to go fishing. Every time they got all their jobs done, practiced piano, did a little bit of homework (reading & some review worksheets- Yes, I am one of THOSE moms), and had excellent behavior they earned a punch for each one on their card. When all the pictures were punched, they had earned a fishing trip. All kids did super good and I heard NO complaining all week long about jobs. We have enough punch passes to do one fun thing every week of summer. I'm pretty excited.

So, Friday evening we headed up to Payson Lakes and went fishing. The kids had such a fun time. So did the grown-ups. I felt bad for Johnathan because he loves fishing so much, but he spends most of his time helping the kids with tangled lines, teaching them how to cast better, and changing their hooks that he doesn't get much fishing done. But, he says he still has fun.

All the fish we caught were pretty small, but the kids didn't care. Jayden caught 2 fish, Johnathan caught 2 fish, Johnathan & Jacob caught 2 fish together, and Jacob caught the last fish by himself. We were packing up to leave and Jacob started crying because he hadn't caught a fish by himself yet. I told him we would try for a couple minutes longer and then it was time to leave. Meanwhile I was just praying he would catch something. I cast it out for him and he would reel it in (we used spinners that you just keep casting out and reeling back in). I announced that this was the last cast, and he got a fish! He was so excited!