Gone Fishin'

Today is Saturday. This means that Mason doesn't understand it's a weekend, so it's ok to sleep in and Nate doesn't work until 4 PM. So that leaves a lot of open space to fill for this awesomely energetic 2 year old! Today is almost 90 degrees here (in March!- So crazy!) so we took a trip to the lake for the first time of the season. We also learned many lessons today.

Lesson 1: "Back up" because you're about to fall in and give your mama a heart attack.

Lesson 2- less than a minute after lesson 1- SNAKES...because these DO give your mama a heart attack. I don't know that Mason has ever seen my "frightened for my life" look, but he got it this morning along with a deep inhale like it might be my last breath of life and my arm around his waist like JAWS clamping down. He automatically knew I was not joking, laughing or messing around. This was serious business! I told him to back up and get close to the car. Then while on the way home I asked "What do we do when we see a snake?" Mason replies: "Umm....shut the door." The teacher in me says we're gonna need to reteach this lesson...another day....without actual live animals.

Lesson 3: This wasn't really a lesson so much as practice. Mason's been "Fishing" in our living room since he was about 1. Today he got to put it to the real test. He did fabulously. :)

My fair skinned prince. SO happy to be outdoors and in the sun! This is his favorite place ever! This is about 10 minutes after bathing him in SPF 50+ Sun block. :( And normally he has an awesome K-State baseball cap but he left it at school yesterday. :(

All boy! Lesson 4: Sticks and old burned up stumps are great fun! He managed to rub nice little groove in the stump, in case we got stranded at the lake and had to build a fire later. We're talkin real live Bear Grylls survival here!

And sometimes when you're in survival mode- you manage to hit yourself in the head with your big stick. That's why you have mommies to kiss it and make it better. Even Bear has a mama to kiss his head.

And we're back to beating on the stump until......

Lesson 5 happened! This lesson is called "Oh yeah! I'm fishin here!"- We aren't great at waiting. He comes by this naturally. So Nate watches Mason's pole for him and reminds him he's fishing when he gets a bite. Nate sets the hook and lets Mason real it in. He reeled in his first fish this morning! :) Then came Lesson 6: Sometimes fish swallow the hook and just when you think they're going to die you incorporate Lesson 7: Prayer. My child is very compassionate and very concerned for the lives of others. He comes by this pretty naturally too. So you say a little prayer for Mr.Fish that he doesn't die. And then comes Lesson 8: God doesn't always answer prayers right away. But today- it only took about 10 minutes and that fish was off and swimming again! :)

And Mason was back to building his fire.....