Fishing!

Deciding where to throw his rocks

"I am making sand music"

He was so excited about these sticks

Checking out his gear

He reminds me of an old man hanging out trying to catch a fish!

Casting pro!

So Cute!

Beautiful shot of the lake when it started raining

Walking with Hayley in the rain- He kept sticking his tongue out

Hayley, Hayden, James and Carter the dog- Hayden was laughing at the rain hitting his neck

On the way out

Soaking wet in the car! At least we both had undershirts...but they were wet also!

Thankfully I had dry clothes for Hayden

We had an absolutely wonderful time today on Mt. Lemmon. First, we got Hayden's hair cut this morning and he told the stylist "I am going to look handsome and then I will catch a shark but let it go. And it will not bite me!" We took Hayden's Spiderman fishing pole and met his godparents, Hayley and James for a morning of fun. We went to Le Buzz first and picked up some pastries and an awesome thing they have called the "Mt. Lemmon Special". You get 2 sandwiches, 2 chips, 2 cookies and 2 drinks for $20. It comes in a little box to carry it in. We took our picnic lunch up to Rose Canyon Lake and ate by the water. At first, you can smell the fishy smell from the trout-stocked lake and I thought it would be hard to enjoy lunch there, but we quickly got accustomed and chose a spot. As we were eating, a duck came out of the lake and Hayden had a blast feeding it his pirate's booty (little puffed rice snack things). He fed the duck for at least 20 minutes and it wasn't the slightest bit worried about a loud toddler sitting right next to it. We also had some adorable little chipmunks come to us and carry off bits of bread and pirate's booty. I'm pretty sure feeding the animals is a no-no in the Forrest, but oh well, they were too cute. After we ate, Matt and James helped Hayden cast out his fishing pole. We weren't using a real hook of course, so they tied some rocks and branches to it and it was perfect. Hayden fished for a long time, while still taking breaks to give his duck friend a snack every now and then. After fishing, we took a walk on the trail around the lake. We found a big rock to sit on and let Hayden be a typical boy and slide around in the mud. After about 15 minutes, we felt a few sprinkles and decided to walk the 1/2 mile back to the car. We got about 30 seconds in to walking and it started pouring. I don't mean a light mountain rain, I am talking full on monsoon! We had the time of our lives walking back to the car soaking wet, splashing in puddles, slipping all over the place. I felt like I was Hayden's age and we were 2 toddlers experiencing playing in the rain for the first time. I guess it's been too long since I have just said, "forget the fact that we are muddy and we can clean the car seats another day". It was the best feeling seeing our little boy sticking his tongue out and saying, "I am eating the rain!" I hope we have many more of these days soon and it is just a reminder that as Hayden gets older, we can do complicated activities such as fishing and just have a good time. I think a couple of adult-sized fishing poles are in our future! Above were the pictures from today...I apologize for them being so grainy...I didn't realize our lens was filthy until a few minutes ago!