Goldmine fish

Friday night something momentous happened in our home.
I won't keep you in suspense: Lizzie won a goldfish at the Family Fun Night at her school. Hannah thought it was too boring to wait in line to play the toss the ping pong ball into the goldfish bowl game, but Lizzie didn't mind. AND, she didn't even know that the prize was a real live goldfish -- she thought it was one of the little plastic (and oddly enough GREEN) goldfish at the bottom of the winning goldfish bowls.
So, my little athlete tossed her three ping pong balls and scored a winner.

And the next day we went to the pet store to get our FREE goldfish. We were all so proud that we decided to get Lizzie's goldfish Spottie a friend. So we purchased Drippy. And then Hannah thought that maybe she'd like a goldfish, too. So -- since these goldfish only cost 10 cents each when you buy them -- we decided to purchase Goldie, too.
Here they are. Cute aren't they? And here they are in their first home, an oversized tea cup. You probably can't tell from this picture, but these goldfish are actually dying. They are asphyxiating right here in this teacup.

At least that's what the pet store fish guy told me.
It seems that modern-day goldfish don't much like having to breathe underwater, so they need AIR PUMPS that cost $13 to help them breathe air that is pumped into their environment. Otherwise, he said, they will die.
Modern day goldfish don't like to clean up after themselves either, and will dirty their tanks if you let them. Which no self-respecting fish owner ever would. Said the pet store fish guy. So $7 later, we had a lovely filter to attach to the side of the fish bowl.
But, you see, the air filter that I had to purchase did not FIT in a teacup. It required a tank. A $12, 2.5 gallon tank. And really, when you're shopping with two six year olds you really can't leave the store without hot pink gravel ($3) or a plastic plant ($2.50). And fish need to eat organically created fish flakes that rather cannibalistically come only in salmon flavor (and smell) and cost $2.99.
The pet store fish guy ALSO tried to talk me into a LID for the tank because, he said, goldfish tend to jump, but I knew -- being an experienced goldfish owner back in the day -- that goldfish do NOT jump or fly or in any other way leave their tank except for maybe if a little hand reaches in a pulls them out.
I will be going back to the pet store to purchase said lid though, as Goldie TWICE jumped from the teacup onto the counter and I don't trust that she won't attempt this same Olympic task from her new home tank. Although I feel I must add here that you'd THINK a goldfish would learn after flopping around on the tabletop for a minute or so that it might be a good idea to stay in your tank with the fresh air pumped in and the icky waste pumped out, but I remember reading somewhere that a goldfish has no long-term memory. Like they can't remember what happened two minutes ago. Sort of like when you're going through menopause.

Sooooo, our FREE goldfish ended up costing a little less than $50. But did end up with these stylin' digs:

Which turned out to be a small price to pay for this happy face:

Or these happy faces...