Fireworks & Fishing

The 4th of July weekend is now at it’s close, and a busy one it was! Family function at the parents’ house Saturday followed by a lazy Sunday spent cleaning up after said family function. The question then became, where do we go to see fireworks? By the time a decision was made it was nearly 8 o’clock, but we still had about two hours before most places started their sky display. Kings Island was going to stay open until midnight and have a nice fireworks show at ten, so we drove north to get in some rides and a show. As we waited in line for the Monster the display started, and it continued until we were done with the ride (about 25 minutes in all). It was a nice show and worth the short drive.


Monday was my “holiday” day from work, and it was spent taking all four kids, plus my dad, on a little fishing expedition to a friend’s farm pond. I don’t know how often the pond gets people action, but the fish sure were biting, even in spite of the hot sun and rising temperatures. One minor problem, the autistic son of mine wasn’t catching anything. Sure, fish would bite at his hook, but they would only strip the bait and leave him more frustrated with each cast. After Jake had caught his fourth fish he decided he had had enough and relaxed in the van while everyone else walked around attempting to catch fish. I experienced mild success and nailed a nice 15 inch large mouth bass and some really big bluegills. Even Annika caught a fish! Noah was still fishless by the end of the first hour so I pulled him aside as a meltdown was in the making. I had been watching this little patch of moss swirl for a while and we cast his pole right at it. Almost as soon as the bait hit the water the bobber disappeared. Noah was in a heated battle with his first fish! Even I was surprised when he got it to the bank. As he drug it through some moss I could see it was a decent fish, and a small mouth bass at that. An autism meltdown avoided, a fish caught, and the day was a huge success. While it wasn’t a keeper, his 10 inch bass was the highlight of the day and well worth every ounce it weighed. He carried it to the other side of the pond to show Papaw, and then promptly returned the fish to the pond.

It was a long weekend, but a good weekend nonetheless.