Well we had quite the weekend…
Friday
Friday evening was the school carnival! It poured rain almost the entire time and the kids were a muddy mess but they had a blast! And just as I had feared…both of them won fish.
Meet “Bubbles”…
…and “Raspberry.”
Saturday
Saturday we had a pre-scheduled “Snooze Day!” Our weekends have been so packed and on the go lately that we scheduled a day to have NO plans. The kids were pretty good sports about taking a break from running all over town from birthday party to birthday party and enjoyed spending time relaxing at home. I asked Caroline what we should call days like this and she declared our plan-free day a “Snooze Day” which I love.
So Saturday morning Thomas played Nintendo, Matt whipped up a huge breakfast for the family, I tackled some sleepaway camp prep (I cannot believe how soon this is approaching) and some last day of school party planning, and Caroline made donuts from one of her cookbooks (which turned out terrible but lots of lessons learned on what ingredients cannot be substituted with random ingredients from the fridge)!
We promised the kids when we had gotten home from the school carnival the night before that if our new goldfish friends made it through the night (we had set their expectations suuuuuper low) that we could ride our bikes up to the shopping center so they could purchase supplies for their new pets. Surprisingly, both fish were swimming Saturday morning so Matt pumped air into all the bike tires and we pedaled up to the pet store. Matt and I agreed to cover the container, gravel, water solution drops and food, but the kids were on the hook for all the decorative stuff for their fish home. Usually they complain about having to pay for things with their own money but they were both SO excited about their fish that they gladly handed over some of their cash at the pet store.
After a successful pet store haul, we grabbed lunch from Panera for Caroline and then headed a few doors down to Smashburger for everyone else (because of course we all couldn’t agree on one place).
When we arrived home Caroline excitedly unpacked all of our pet supplies to set up the new fish home and…well, Bubbles was floating. Caroline burst into tears and we felt SO bad for her that Matt quickly ran her back up to the store to get a replacement goldfish…
I should have known better than to send him to the pet store with a distraught 8 year old. They arrived home with not one…but two…BETA FISH…along with a new set of supplies for these fish (which I did not realize were different than goldfish). Anyway, this was definitely not what I signed up for as I am already the primary caretaker for Sprinkles…so I wasn’t exactly thrilled. We informed the kids that they are 100% responsible for taking care of their fish and Matt is their point of contact for all fish things.
So in addition to “raspberry,” meet “Rainbow” and “Red Skull.”
Saturday evening we ate dinner outside and then rolled into Family Movie Night!
Sunday
Sunday morning we discovered Raspberry floating…but thankfully Thomas was unfazed by the loss of his goldfish. So we are officially down to two beta fish (thanks, Matt!) plus one extra beta fish that we’ve been pet sitting for our neighbor.
Sunday afternoon we took the kids to the Charlotte Knights baseball game! It was a “spirit day” for the kids school so they had an absolute blast running around with all their friends while the parents shared updates on their carnival goldfish. Out of all the families that attended the baseball game, there is only one goldfish still swimming.
Sunday evening we threw frozen pizzas in the oven, prepared all the teacher gifts for the last week of school and caught up on chores.
And that was a wrap on our weekend!
Anna
Monday 6th of June 2022
Strange but True: I’ve owned a Beta fish for years to help keep my plants THRIVING. If you clean the fish once a week, use their water to water your plants. It’s “fertilized” so it helps them really grow well, and the fish always stay clean. It’s a neat way to show how things in nature work together for the kids too!
Shawna
Monday 6th of June 2022
My husband and I wanted to get my niece a goldfish for her 5th birthday two weekends ago-but for some reason ALL of the goldfish in the area (Northern CA) were out. The pet guy said that the goldfish were a "bad batch." We ended up on the eve of her party frantically buying a beta fish. Our niece was THRILLED! We started her out with a mini tank, PH drops, food and a little mermaid statue and "Adrian" the beta is still alive and swimming!! Who knew that fish were so popular??!! Our niece wanted either a snake, a unicorn or a fish. 😂 I always enjoy your blog, especially all of the pet updates. xoxo
Brooke
Monday 6th of June 2022
Best frozen pizza?
sherry
Monday 6th of June 2022
Please oh please share your sleep away camp prep. I have to start soon. Thanks!!
Amanda
Monday 6th of June 2022
My girls were given two fish at a local carnival - they're literally the most expensive free fish EVER. One didn't make it past about three days, so he was replaced, and the replacement died about two days later. The other carnival fish is a survivor though, and once he made it past a month, he got a tank upgrade (hence, the expensive part). I never thought I'd be a fish person (we're more along the lines of dogs and horses), and I never thought I'd spend THIS MUCH TIME obsessing about how to properly take care of a goldfish!