The Salmon Hatchery

We took a field trip today the Salmon Hatchery. It is salmon season and so the best time of the year to go. This weekend is Salmon Days but I don't want to fight the crowd for a spot on the bridge. It was very informative. We didn't have a tour but there were enough people around ready to show us things and explain things that we were able to learn quite a bit.

Beginning in late August to mid November the salmon begin to return to the hatchery. They travel through the Ballard Locks, Lake Union, Lake Washington, a stream to Lake Sammamish and then into the creek leading to the fish hatchery. One interesting thing that I learned is that it is believed that smell is what guides the fish back to where they were spawned.



They were waiting for the gate to be opened to they could go up the fish ladder (fish ladders are things that Civil Engineers here will design -- my husband is willing to show you the one that he designed). 

We learned that one of the educational things that was happening today was spawning. We continued that discussion at dinner. Most of the salmon here are Coho or Chinook.



We were able to see a male up close and see the various insides -- the heart, spleen, liver, etc. We saw them squeeze the milt and collect it for using in the spawning.



Then we saw the females and the eggs that were taken. Each female Coho has approximately 2,500 eggs while the Chinook females typically produce around 4,500 eggs per fish. The statistics are that only two fish will return and spawn successfully. J said it looked like caviar.



The kids were able to touch a salmon or two. J said he touched the eye. K said they were dead.



 

We enjoyed just standing at the bridge and watching the fish jump. They can jump three to five feet but the water was a bit too swallow for that high of jumping. The Coho can jump up to 10 feet.



I am so glad that I took the kids to see this. It is interesting to see what Miss K learns and what she tells about her trip. We enjoyed our time and it is not something that we are able to do on the East Coast. Together we marveled at how God has designed the salmon.

Carkeek Park

Aunt B came to visit. Miss K was looking forward to her visit for weeks, putting a glass of water next to her bed and counting down the days till she arrived. One of the things that was on her list of things to do was go to Carkeek Park.



I forgot how rocky the beach is. We did get the chance to see lots of barnacles. The kids had fun throwing rocks into the water and trying to skip stones.


Miss K had fun. Since trying to get her to look at the camera and smile is a challenge, I have come to enjoy side views and back views of her.


J managed to climb up and then "me too" wanted to join him.



I love the way both their arms are in the same direction as they are walking the log. I was impressed with Miss K's balance.
The cross walk was even fun as it tells you to "Play Attention".



It was a fun afternoon at the park. There are so many parks here that we could enjoy.

Aunt B then introduced us to Yogurt Land. I think she has created an addiction. Miss K was asking to go again the next day.

 

Another fun Seattle thing to do

One of the things that I enjoyed when I lived here was walking along the ferry pier. This was one of the things that J remembered and enjoyed from two years ago. We went there today for a bit of time.



Her eis what they looked like two years ago. They have grown. It is still a challenge to get a good picture of Miss K.



The kids wanted to get in the water but it was a bit cold. Miss K enjoyed digging.



J had fun walking along the beach and seeing what things he could find.



 

Teaching Reading

Last year Miss K and I worked our way through Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. We finished the book. Miss K has a long list of words that she is able to sight read which is good but I just felt that she wasn't really sounding out words and understanding how to do that. Thanks to LeapFrog Fridge Phonics she has learned  her sounds. She has begun to read books but most of those are using all the sight words she knows. She is doing great at reading Biscuit books and a few others.

I had Scaredy Cat reading system on my shelf and decided it was time to use that. I have Letters, Vowels, and Words. Since she has  her sounds down, we jumped right to Vowels. I think this is something new for her. We are learning the vowels; she did an activity circling the vowels. It is fun to see her apply this when we are out and about. She was trying to read the Fred Meyer sign. She did say that e was a vowel.

Scaredy Cat has a number of ideas for making this a multi-sensory  approach. One of the ideas was a cornmeal tray. I didn't have cornmeal but had a can of hot chocolate powder that I wasn't sure how old it was so I decided to use that which was so much better than cornmeal. When you do a good job, you are allowed to lick your finger. Just what my chocolate loving girl wants to do.



As we have been working through this program I do see progress. We have learned our vowels and now she is working on the scared vowel sounds. She is sounding out words which is one of the goals for phonics this year.

Seattle

Nothing says Seattle like Pike Place Market. I know there is the Space Needle and a few other things but since we went to Pike Place that is the part of Seattle that I have pictures of.

We got there a bit late but still had a bit of time to enjoy the market.

 



We got our picture taken with the pig.



My husband is a tea drinker. His favorite tea is Market Spice so it was exciting to him to buy Market Spice tea where it all began.



Maybe someday I will enjoy tea. That might be one of the thing that I will need to do when we move. I enjoyed going to the original Starbucks.



Then we went to our favorite Greek restaurant. We stumbled upon it a few years ago when visiting Seattle and it is on the list of places to go while we are here. On the way, we drove a bit of the route I drove going to grad school here. That meant going through Fremont where it is a toss up of what says Fremont. Is it Vladimir Ilyich Lenin statue.



Maybe it is the troll that lives under the bridge. I think J thought that was a bit scary.



I do have to say that Seattle is a fun place to visit.

 

Chess

My husband enjoys playing chess. In fact since finishing his degree he has had time to read chess books and he plays some of his friends online. I know the basic moves that each player makes but it just requires more thinking then I like for something fun. J has learned to play and seems to enjoy it. We are thankful for various opportunities we have where we live for him to take classes and participate in chess tournaments. It has also been nice for him to be able to play some chess while we are here.

He did a quad the other week and won two out of three games. He also played in a beginners tournament and won a trophy that day.

He has learned, "be aware of Asian girls wearing Hello Kitty shirts".

This is an excellent extra curricula activity that builds so many skills -- thinking and logic as well as patience and paying attention to details.

Spray Park

The weather was warm this afternoon, the locals might call it hot but coming from the East Coast this is not hot. It was warm enough that I decided to take the kids to the Spray Park. I have driven past it and thought it would be a fun place to go. Maybe because it was not a super hot day here it wasn't too crowded.

The kids had fun climbing and getting sprayed.



The big orca welcomes you are get to the spray area. Then there are two smaller ones following.



The little ones were just the right size for Miss K.

There were also some rock walls to climb. J climbed with no problems. I think he was king of the hill.



It was a good place for Miss K to climb as well. Climbing gives her a good all-body workout.



The kids enjoyed it and did ask to go back. We will have to see if we get any more warm/hot days.