Long time readers will know all about Maggie’s love of all things animal and animal related. It’s just how she rolls. Animal Planet is her favorite channel and just about any Saturday or Sunday morning can find her tuned in to Dogs 101 working on her animal wish list. While some people worry their kid will become the strange cat lady down the street with an online bingo dependency – I worry about setting up a savings account for bail money for when Maggie is old enough to start breaking into labs and releasing animal test subjects. While Ethan holds out a hope that she will eventually become a CIA assassin, I’m afraid she’ll become an assassin for PETA.

Recently she’s been absolutely addicted to fishing. She nags her father every weekend (oh yes, this is a HUGE disappointment for him – yeah, right) to take her out to the lake to go fishing. I was slightly confused at the contradiction of being a huge animal lover and avid fisher-person. Until she caught her first fish…

AND BROUGHT IT HOME TO LIVE…

In our pond with our other fish, the beautiful goldfish that we bought over 7 years ago and moved from our old house to this house. We recently added a few more tiny fish to the mix. After two days with a wild trout in the pond some of our tiny fish had disappeared. When Maggie found out that her trout was snacking on the other fish she damn near lost her mind. What followed was nearly an hour of re-catching a super fast, ninja trout and moving him over to the large wine barrel – alone. Solitary confinement and no yard time with the other fish.

He’s probably happier that way… alone, in the dark, cold depths of the wine barrel. I’m sure our pretty fish are happier too, you know, since they are no longer considered breakfast, lunch and or dinner.