Gone Fishing

A couple months ago we had an interesting experience around here. The last time I went fishing, a catfish swam off with my fishing pole and my dad went swimming after the fish and pole. Needless to say, fishing is not on my list of fun things to do. This time, I went fishing in a different fashion.

I believe I mentioned a while ago that the boys put a hole in the wall. Well, that hole grew. It grew and it grew and it grew. It grew until it was a giant cavity in the face of the wall. Tyler patched the hole when it was relatively small. We were gone for the day, so he had a great opportunity to fix the mess, which he did. Unfortunately, the boys decided they liked the hole there and pushed the patch through and into the wall. They then proceeded to make the hole bigger. They also decided there are lots of fun things you can do with holes in the wall. There are so many fun things you can do, they decided they needed another hole to go with the original one.

And so our story begins.

Some of the weapons of choice... plastic knives. They also used a toy saw, pencils, and anything else they could think of. You can also see the nice patch work they pushed back through.The damage. Well, one of them. Tyler ended up cutting out the wall. You can see the other pieces in the background. In the end, a 2x4 was put in the wall behind the door knob to add some extra support. If they break through that one, we have some serious problems on our hands.

Now for the fun stuff, the loot!

I first sent fishing in the wall to get a turtle shell out of the wall. Something is definitely not right when the turtle shell is at the level of the door knob, yet inside the wall. That thing wasn't floating, there was plenty of stuff underneath to hold it up. Toilet paper, snuggle blanket (the original reason for going into the hole in the first place), and that was just with my hands. I could see more, so I went and got Tyler's little grabby tool thingie. Yes, that is the technical term for it, now leave me alone. A little flashlight and mirror became my buddies for the next little while. I pulled out a stuffed dog, another stuffed dog, several little people, little people cars, Thomas's belt that disappeared during Christmas break, hippo, sensory blocks, regular blocks, Clara Thomas train, snake, toy screwdriver, and other stuff I don't remember. I had my arm in the hole up to my elbow. I was covered in sheetrock dust.

On to the next hole in the wall to see what we could find. More Thomas trains, little soap crayon bathtub things, Thomas train canopy, insulation (oops), and... drumroll please... a lizard. Picture this... you are pulling things out of the wall, out of the hole comes a lizard head. Sudden shock and surprise, until you realize that the reason this head is coming out because you are pulling it out. You may now start laughing at yourself.

After an hour of fishing and killing the flashlight battery, I quit. I was frustrated, irritated, amazed, and dirty.

Fast forward. Tyler cuts out wall to fix the mess. I told him to put the loot into a box so I could see what actually came out that I couldn't reach. Here ya go, piled into a diaper box.

So, what was I unable to get out with my tool and patience?
11 blocks
7 little people
2 knives (hide the evidence)
2 train tracks
large water from Rescue Heroes fire truck
small water from mini version of Rescue Heroes fire truck
pacifier leash
2 train signs
toy wrench (wondered where that went)
2 nuts, the tool kind
1 bolt
car
fireman
blocks
magnet "z"
and of course, the original snuggle blanket that started it all

So, next time your kid's toys go missing... check in the wall. It's like finding a buried treasure.