#170: The Freakin' Camping Trip, Part 2

Back at the campsite, the guys and the kids were roasting the fish they'd caught,

except for Declan and Erin, who were playing cards.

"Fishing is stupid!" Declan sputtered, slamming down his cards in disgust after losing a hand to Erin.

"Oh, come on," Erin tried to cheer him up.  "So we didn't catch anything today -- big deal.  We don't know how to fish yet.  We'll probably get better tomorrow."

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"Come and get it, folks!" Bill said, as he started roasting more fish.  Dude, D3, and Erin took their food over to the picnic table and quickly devoured it.

Erin enthusiastically dug into her dinner,

 although Declan stubbornly remained at the card table.

"Hey, this is pretty good -- want some?" Scout offered.

Declan grudgingly joined Scout at the picnic table, mostly because he was starving by that point.

"So, kids, great first day, right!?" Bill asked.

"Yes, Daddy!" Scout agreed happily.  Declan said nothing, and instead just moped and picked at his fish.

"Declan, let's get some food into you," Bill suggested, "and then you get a good night's sleep.  And maybe you'll like tomorrow better."

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The 2 dads put the 4 kids to bed,

then sat around the fire for a while before putting it out for the night.

"So, what do you make of Declan?" Bill asked Dude.

"If Lou were here, she'd say 'he's a nightmare'," Dude said, swatting at mosquitoes.

 
"But my kind wife, Alice," he added, "would argue 'there's hope for everyone'.  I suppose that's because of her own difficult life journey."