Good. Good. Good. Good.

Last Friday, I dropped off the girls at Maya's house for a cousin sleepover, and came home to find this note, scrawled on the back porch with a black-eyed susan.  

Casey and I decided a few weeks ago that we'd start taking turns planning a special outing with one of our kids each month--mom dates and dad dates.  We are starting small, since the Sullivan family schedule is fuller than full, with one of us taking one of the kids each month.  This month was Casey's turn with Zeke and they planned to go fishing.  They'd been talking about it for days and last Friday was the day!  Casey wanted to go up to some ponds in Millcreek Canyon, but the weather had turned cold, so he opted for Millcreek--the one that runs through our neighborhood.  Our friends Cheri and Adam Hansen live on the perfect fishing parcel, so off Casey and Zeke went.

The evening's bounty--three brown trout--which Zeke named, Evergreen, Pokey, and Stick.

Zeke told me that HIS job was to scoop the fish up in this net after his dad reeled them in.

Zeke, declaring this outing with his dad "good, good, good" and "good"

After Zeke came inside (because he was freezing and starving), I watched Casey stand over the bucket where he'd collected his still-alive fish.  He stood there admiring them for a long, long time.  He was considering the beauty of their creation and decided that if they were still alive and swimming in the morning, that he and Zeke would return them to the stream.  They made a trip in the morning to Millcreek.