This morning, I took six children (three of my own; three borrowed) to Tumwater Falls Park where we saw a presentation about the life-cycle of salmon. The man would pick up a salmon by its tail from the holding pond to use as a visual aid. The children were enthralled and exclaimed loudly each time a salmon jumped into the air. (I couldn’t get a picture of a the guy and his salmon up close, though, because of the crowding children. Alas.)
At one point, the man picked up a female salmon and squeezed some of her eggs onto the concrete wall. Then, he picked up a male and squeezed milt from it. The milt looked like milk and I’m sure all the children wonder why their mothers make them drink this white stuff squeezed from salmon. (This link shows all about the reproductive cycle of salmon.)
My little kids grew bored by the questions and so did I. Why do people insist on asking dumb questions? I have always hated those who raise their hands when a speaker says, “Any questions?” and asks questions. As far as I’m concerned, “Are there any questions?” is a purely rhetorical question, needing no response.
We wandered away and saw this sign: 
Then we walked down the path by the river and waterfalls and no one fell in or died. Hooray for me.
At the very bottom of the walkway, we saw salmon swimming upstream, waiting in a watery traffic jam to get up the fish ladder. The bumpy surface on the stream are wriggling salmon as big as your arm. 
Here’s a shot of a portion of the fish ladder. 
Then, as if that wasn’t enough excitement, I spotted this slug, which can only be a Banana Slug, in my slug non-expert opinion. 
We had a little picnic afterward and the kids all played on two cement play structures shaped like boats. The two-year old was covered in grime. A fine time was had by all and I even met a few other school-at-home mothers, which was dandy, indeed.
Now, all the kids are crabby and tired and my house is in disarray, but meatloaf is in the oven and it’s only three and a half hours until the four-year old goes to bed. Not that I’m counting.
Actual Unretouched Photo 
What beautiful pictures (slug and all). Sound very interesting.
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Sounds like a cool trip. Are these pictures done with a digital? Are you using the Canon 35mm camera at all?
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What a cool fieldtrip! Your photos are gorgeous, but the slug–that is a little too big for me. Yuck!
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What a fun day. My kids love their annual school field trips to the fish hatchery where they get to feed the baby salmon.
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Sounds like a really fun day! I remember when my girls were younger and I would count the hours until bed time. Now it seems like bed time gets here awfully fast after Dad gets home, we eat dinner and do whatever else needs to be done before bed.
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You’re right. That was a gorgeous day for a field trip! So glad the a good time was had by all – well until the crabby kids/disarrayed house thing.
I’ve counted the hours too. It’s a mom thing.
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Whoa! That slug!! I need a reference point by which to measure it because in the picture it appears to be a 2 1/2 foot slug weighing something like 20 pounds! What was it on?
I’ve seen tons of massive slugs before but that looks beastly.
I must say, I always laugh when I hear people say, “There is no such thing as a dumb question. The only dumb question is the one that isn’t asked.” When we all know that that line is a bunch of hooey. There are dumb questions. We just don’t want to make anyone feel badly when they ask them so we say they don’t exist. LOL!
That is a blogworthy concept for sure.
Nan
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That slug is huge!!! Great feild trip.
Thanks for commenting on my 100th post.
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Ahhhhhhh…. I grew up in Olympia, so near the brewery and the Tumwater Falls Park that we could hear the lunch time whistle for the brewery from our back yard. Falls Park was and always will be one of my favorite places. The salmon run thing is as familiar as my own family.
Feeling nostalgic. Thank you.
xxx
(living in Wyoming now)
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Look at those curls! Now I have a glimpse of what Mia will look like as she grows!
Sounds like a great day, with lots of fun education!
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