I Bit the Bullet

Well, I succumbed. We did it, Dan is officially a Vet now and he can stop saying, “I don’t know if you knew this or not…but I’m a Vet.” He would always say that when we would argue about getting an animal. So, yes we got a pet. Five to be exact. Wandering around in Wal-Mart I took Dan to see the fishes. I didn’t know they had them there and found them yesterday. I didn’t mean for it to happen, but it did. Five fish have now joined our family. Dan says if they are still alive by Christmas we are getting a dog. I told him no way, but really, if that’s the bet, I feel pretty safe in saying we still aren’t getting a dog. I also made it quite clear that while I would help the kids remember to feed the fish, I would in no way be responsible for changing the water and cleaning the tank. Dan agreed, and we’ll see how long this lasts. But I’m not cleaning it. Yuck. Anyway, it all went a little overboard. I thought we’d buy a glass bowl, buy the 14 cent gold fish and be on our merry way. Nope. A five gallon fish tank complete with all the fixing and five non-gold fish later we left the store. We did draw the line at a frog. It probably would have gotten eaten by the dragon fish. “Dragon fish,” you say “What is a Dragon Fish?” Well, it’s a pretty cool looking fish and that’s what started this whole thing.
The Dragon fish is Dan’s. He named it Mr. Wiggles. I elected to get a crab. His name is Siddy. Kember got a “stripey fish” that we couldn’t get a good picture of (look for the little fish under Caden's big one), and named it Kaycee (yes, after her Pullman friend) or Daughter. She said that she named it both names and can go by either. Okay then.
Caden got a Blue Gorami and named it Joey (yes, after his cousin…do you guys just feel so privileged?) No, it isn’t blue. It’s white with two dark spots.

Cole got a Raphael cat fish. I thought it was a sucker fish and I really wanted one to help keep the tank clean, but now I don’t think he is one. Ah well. Dan said it was still a bottom feeder so it’s okay. We named him Bob in honor of the other fish we had when we got married (which died not long after we got it…and had a black growth on it that was probably cancer), the horse Dan’s family has, and to any Bob’s we now know.

After convincing Caden he didn’t want a fish that looked just like Kember’s we moved on to the tank decorations. Kember wanted a hideous rainbow colored rock thing. We suggested something else instead. She finally got excited when she found the log that has pink flowers on it. Caden really wanted a bridge. I think he thought it was a slide for a while. Ehh, he could have chosen worse.
The kids were sooo excited. After we watched them for a while Dan and I were getting ready for bed and the kids would come running to our room to tell us something the fish did. They get worried that Bob is gone (he likes to hide in the log) and that Mr. Wiggles, which Kember calls Dragon, is going to eat the other fish. They both tell the fish constantly to be nice to each other.
We might have been a little too excited. After we put everything together and introduced the fish into their new home Dan started to read the instructions. Turns out we didn’t do much right. Well, we’re off to a great start. We’ll see how long the excitement lasts. I’ll admit I was very into this process and just as excited as the rest of them (though I will also admit that I harbor many doubts). In the mean time…we’re pet owners! Look at us go.