I always look forward to Labor Day weekend. It's like there is one small mini vacation left before summer is over and I have to go back to work. This weekend we decided to take Cooper fishing since daddy went last weekend and Cooper wasn't invited. I was a little nervous about how all of this was going to work out. So Sunday morning we headed out to Mantua reservoir. I was a little skeptical about going all the way to Mantua because it's 1/2 hour drive. I was afraid that we would drive all the way out there and we would only end up staying a few minutes. I always seem to think the worst in new situations and I really need to stop doing that. When we arrived there was hardly any one around. That's the nice thing about going out on a Sunday in UT. We found a small spot to stand down by the water and got all set up. Since I didn't have a fishing license I wasn't able to touch the fishing poles.
Since Cooper is still little and his pole was twice his size he had trouble keeping it up while reeling it in. I found this a little frustrating but managed to help him out if he'd let me. When ever he was holding the pole no one else was allowed to help him out. " No, I do it all by myself" was all he would say.
These are the fish we saw swimming right in front of us. I swear they were mocking us because they didn't bite our line all morning.
This was one of the few times Cooper let Paul help him.
Cooper got a little tired of fishing and enjoyed throwing rocks more. I of course didn't like this because I thought he was scaring all the fish away.
This is a moment I can say makes my heart melt. I love seeing Cooper and daddy doing things together. My little boy is growing up so fast and wants to be just like his daddy.
Cooper loved the tackle box. No matter how many times we asked him to say out of it he thought all the colorful pieces of bait were fun to play with. He kept asking daddy to use the pink one.
About 11:00 it was getting warm and we hadn't caught any fish. Not even a nibble. I think Cooper was getting bored with fishing because all he wanted to do was throw rocks. I kept asking him to stop and because he didn't we ended up leaving abruptly. What a disaster! He screamed all the way home and didn't even take a nap when we got home! I felt a little bad because Paul didn't seem to think that throwing rocks was such a big deal. And I kept yelling at Cooper for throwing rocks, as well as climbing on the rocks. No permanent damage was done and once we were at the park Cooper forgot all about the rocks and fishing. He was just happy he wasn't taking a nap. Well, even though the day wasn't exactly like I pictured we decided to try again Monday.
On Monday we tried to leave earlier but man, Cooper is JUST. SO. SLOW! Getting dressed and brushing his teeth are brutal! We eventually mad it out the door a little before nine and were on our way. This time when we arrived there were many people fishing. I was worried that we wouldn't find a good safe spot for Cooper to fish. Much of the shore is rocky and Cooper being only two with difficulty balancing wasn't a good combination. Paul finally found a spot that to me was a little rocky and didn't leave much room for Cooper to stand. Later, we found out this spot wasn't so bad because it kept Cooper contained and not climbing all over. Cooper was so cute trying to do it 'all by himself'.
This was our first fishing spot.
The perfect spot to catch a fish! A bluegill fish that I am so proud to say I caught. Cooper was pretty proud of me too.
He thought it was so cool to touch it. He's definitely not afraid like his mommy. Yeah, that's me, I like to fish but I won't touch the worm or the fish. That's for the boys.
Cooper loved the fish. It was so cute to see how excited he got. By the end of the day he was my little cheer leader hoping I'd catch another fish.
Shortly after I caught the fish I found a flatter spot that had a little more room to stand that I thought would be better for Cooper. I was so worried about Cooper falling and getting hurt on the rocks. That's me, an always worrying mom. So we moved and Cooper decided he wanted to throw rocks again. This time Paul and I decided we would let him throw rocks as long as he didn't throw the rocks at us. Cooper being a boy, couldn't help but continue to throw rocks, which was ok except for the few times he threw them at me. Not on purpose of course. He just wasn't watching where he was throwing, something that happens to all two year old's right?
Cooper is a daddy's boy. So when daddy sat down to fish, Cooper had to sit on his lap. Paul was thankful that didn't last too long.
Daddy got up but Cooper still wanted to sit down and hold his fishing pole all by himself.
Cooper decided he would let mommy sit next to him for a minute before he got up and started to climb on the rocks again.
Did I mention that Cooper thought climbing on the rocks was much more fun than fishing?
That is the face of mischief!
Finally, about half an hour before we were going to go the fish started biting again. It all had to do with the sun going behind the clouds and the wind picking up. This was the end result. Paul caught a small largemouth bass.
Cooper, of course, had to get up close and personal with the fish.
And even touch it!
Cooper then decided he was hungry and there he sat until we were ready to go. Eating and eating.
And the trip wasn't complete until we took our family photo.
I can't wait to go fishing again!
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