TROUT FEST!!

The California Department of Fish and Game hosted the most amazing event last weekend (May 12) outside of Fresno, near Millerton Lake. It was the inaugural Trout Fest, held at their Friant hatchery. When I saw the flyer, it sounded like fun, but WOW!, it was even better than I'd anticipated. And Leila loved it. She started the day out by blissfully feeding at least a few hundred (of the many millions) of California native rainbow trout.

She bypassed the opportunity to hold them in the touch pool, but then she eagerly jumped on the opportunity to learn some fly-fishing moves (below). The girl's got some skills!

And then we were riveted by the patient art of fly-making. This kind man made Leila a beautiful pink salmon fly.

The highlight of the visit was definitely the opportunity to catch a fish at the "Small Fry Fishing Pond" (though we waited in line an hour for this opportunity... next time, we're hitting up a river with Popo).

She was really into it, pretty competitive about it actually. The fish, however, were tired and not biting, so eventually her patience wore out. Luckily, my patience hung around a little longer, and we finally caught a small trout; named him Freddy. 

At this point, Leila was eager to touch her prize and oohed at how soft and slimy he was. After getting to know him, we took Freddy to get him gutted by the experts. I would have been squeamish, but Leila's curiosity and fearlessness gave me courage.

And no "fest" is complete with some face-painting, or in this case, arm-painting. She was very proud of her purple dragon. 

Epilogue: For Mother's Day dinner, we grilled Freddy up. He was delicious!

Whirlwind Tour of the Bay and Beyond

Leila and I made an extended weekend trip to the Bay Area for a visit with several friends in three different cities. We started in San Francisco to visit Auntie Bobbie. After SF, we headed to Berkeley, Sacramento and back home. Great weekend!

Taking advantage of the windy Friday, we took our kite (thank you Easter Bunny!) out for its inaugural flight. Leila loved it!

She was a butterfly-kite-flying pro!

Counting sailboats.

Kicking it at a fabulous SF park that we went to a few years ago (see below). My, how she's grown!

April 2009

Auntie Bobbie, Leila, Maggie sandwich!

Conquering the arch!

In Berkeley - after a visit with Chris (from Peace Corps), we went up to the Lawrence Hall of Science to admire the view, climb through a giant DNA chain and stock up on cool stuff at the gift store.

In Sacramento, Leila stalked the ducks and geese at a great park.

She also got in some serious football time. She can actually catch a football now!

Hike!

And some hula hoop jumping!

Little drummer girl!

Recent Adventures

It's time to get back into the swing of things with this blog. With any luck, I will add all the events/activities that I've been unable to add in the craziness of the last couple months (crazy due to work, a move, taxes, spring break, and just living life). I'll start with our most recent adventures, beginning with today's rainy day visit to Dry Creek Preserve. As most of you know, California has been getting an "April showers" beat down. The forecast had called for an end to the string of storms, but heavy clouds continued to sporadically sprinkle throughout the day, which actually made for a really fun excursion. We enjoyed dry weather for the bulk of our hike today, and for our picnic lunch, but got caught in a bit of a drizzle on our return to the car. Leila giggled uncontrollably every time our feet sunk in the mud. Good times!

These hills are amazing, but Leila was more interested in the grass and the mud.

Picturesque picnic

Ain't no rain gonna slow me down, oh no, I got to keep on moving...

After our outdoor adventure, we headed up to Three Rivers to indulge in some ice cream from Reimer's... what a treat! Just like her Popo, Leila can't resist the mint chocolate chip.

Earlier this month, during Leila's spring break, we took a day trip to Fresno to visit the zoo. We coordinated the trip with one of Leila's favorite friends, Jillian (and her brother, Sean, and mom, Paige).

Leila was in full adventure mode, climbing fences to get a better view of things (much to the disapproval of zoo staff...oops).

Leila and Jillian had fun at the "dinosaur dig" area...

 Leila and Jillian were skilled birdwatchers in the rainforest exhibit.

Leila was so brave touching the stingrays...

Leila was mesmerized the most by the wolves. The wolves were the last animals we visited, and I think she could've spent another 30 minutes watching them circle around their woodsy habitat.

A Spring Break bike ride to Plaza Park. She was more adventurous than usual at the playground and tried all kinds of new things, including this rope climb.

Leila spent a half day with her buddy Jillian over Spring Break and Paige took them on a trolley ride (Leila's favorite... we actually have a bumper sticker on our car that says, "I love the trolley."). And check out the sweet searsucker. Don't these girls both look like sweet little southern belles?

We volunteered (and played) at a cool Easter art event at the mall that also included an Easter hop and visit from the Easter Bunny himself. Good fun!

Easter 2012

 Dying Easter eggs with natural dyes (cabbage, onion skins, turmeric and beets) on various-colored farmers market eggs (white, brown, green) that yielded a rainbow of colors....

Leila, dressed to the nines, hunting down some eggs...  [This picture reminds me of Alice in Wonderland]

 

Sneaky little egg...

Blissful egg huntress

Eggs, with a glamorous glitter makeover...

A Glimpse of Leila's Life in March

  March madness had nothing to do with basketball in our life. Despite an insanely busy work schedule and the rather spontaneous decision to find a new place to live (and apartment hunt AND make the move, all in the same month), we still managed to have some fun...

A winged Leila, pursued by a loyal Penny, took to the streets on a lovely pre-spring day to get in some practice on the bike.

Leila and I went to a jazz/art show and she decided she wanted to document the event with my camera. After snapping a couple shots of the musicians, she moved on to the things she deemed more important... the table of cookies (other pics in this collection included flowers and snacks).

Nana's birthday was in March, so we all went out for a yummy seafood dinner finished off with some tasty cheesecake.

One of the last naps in the old house...

One of the first naps in the new house. I just love these sleepy girl photos.

I recently got her a Lite Brite and she was obsessed for about five days. Good investment, not to mention, it brought back all kinds of memories of my youthful days and nights playing with the Lite Brite.

Fun in February

We celebrated the Chinese New Year of the Dragon at an event sponsored by the Boys and Girls Club. Though it was no San Francisco parade, it was still pretty fun. And she got over some fears to stick her hand in the dragon's mouth!

She even gave the dragon (me) some hugs!

And she really loved banging on the gong.

Leila had fun decorating what would become a little Chinese lantern.

One night for weekly dinner with the Clarks, I busted out the canvases and paints and set the artists loose. Amazing how art unites all the ages!

Picasso in the making?!

 

Romping in the snow near Nana and Popo's cabin.

Packing a snowball...

Post-snowball cold hands...ooooohhhhh!