Big Fish, Grey Fish, Blue Fish, Dead Fish

Fish, fish, fish. That is the topic around this house of late. It all started a couple of weeks ago with the goldfish that unfortunately did not have longevity on their side in this house. We learned about the facts of life like how short their life span can be and how they compare to that of cheap toys. We learned that Beta fish are more durable and dependable and down right social when becoming the honored pets to both the kids and cat. I am not too sure who spends more time talking to the fish: Kaelen or the cat. Luckily for the fish (one in each kid's room), they have tamper proof lids on them so no one but an adult can get into them with ease.

With all of the fish talk around the house of late, it seemed like a brain child of an idea to take my children and the daycare children to the local provincial fish hatchery. I mean why not? You get to feed fish and fish for free with help. Because let me tell you, there ain't no way this princess is going to beat that fish senseless to become tonight's dinner. Sure I can de-bone it and fry or bake it up with the best of them, but I draw the line at baiting the hook and then having to put it out of it's misery. This is where the hatchery comes in: they have a children's pond with volunteers that actually take the kids out and teach them how to fish.

So, packed into the van like sardines in a hot, steamy, humid day of +33 which is actually reading at +36 C, with the a/c cranked we are off on an adventure. Sadly, no one told us not to go out on a Monday, so after 20 minutes in the van we arrive only to realize that they only thing that we will be doing is feeding the slippery things rather than eating them for lunch and dinner. The place was pretty much shut down due to "slow traffic visits on Mondays". And due to the heat, I was hard pressed not to comment about putting that disclaimer on their website to inform us slow traffickers that the facility would not be open for the children. But, I should not complain as we did feed the fat buggers food for about an hour, plumping them up for some other child to proudly catch and take home to their parents. AND .... I didn't have to be faced with the awkward situation of bonking the stupid thing to death and grossing both the kids and myself out in the process.

Instead, we marvelled at the talent of two or three trouts and their abilities to swim on their backs for long periods of time. And, emotions were avoided until Kaelen crushed the Olympic dreams of gold for these finned swimmers by remarking, "hey guys, look at those dead fish. Mommy says they are like cheap toys and can break (or die) at any given moment". At least that got a few snickers from the other slow traffic visitors. All in all, we had a fabulous 30 minute visit with the healthy fish and headed for home. Next trip, I will be sure to call ahead of time too to ensure that all facilities are open.