We took a jaunt to Markham Springs a few weeks ago.  It was a wonderful way to celebrate early springtime in Missouri.  I hadn't been there since I was a young thing myself, and Kent had never been.  The kids had a blast.

At Markham Springs there are five different springs.  We didn't actually see them all because the kids got sidetracked with fishing in the springfed pond.  It is a lovely, clear, basically fishless pond.  There were some small minnows that the kids were able to catch with nets and use for bait, along with the worms they had dug up from Fernnook Farm before we left home, but besides those few little minnows, the pond was fishless.  Beautiful-yes, cold-yes, clear-yes, but fishy-NO.

Still, the Fernnook Kid's Club was busy for hours with casting, and rebaiting, and moving to more likely-looking spots.  There were some great quotes overheard by Kent and me.

Kathleen to me, "Either the fish aren't biting or there aren't any fish in this pond."  Me, "There aren't any fish here."  Kathleen acknowledged this with a shrug of her shoulders and an immediate recast of her line ino the pond.

Judah to Kent, "I don't care if there aren't any fish here, I am going to fish!"

Andrew to Kent, "I just love fishing."

So, fish they did!

And, I was so proud of them.  The biggles helped the middles with re-baiting, fixing lines, and any other fishy things that needed to be done.  Basically all Kent, Hattie, and I had to do was watch them and enjoy the beauty of the day.