Schooled by Third Graders

Today I headed to the salmon hatchery in Issaquah with Kaitlyn and 52 other 3rd graders. They've been learning about the salmon life cycle over the last couple of weeks and thus, knew a lot more about this whole thing then I did! Like do you know what a redd is? Neither did I but my group of kids quickly informed me that a redd is a spawning nest that is built by salmon in the gravel of streams and is formed by the female using her tail to dig in a small area of gravel in the bottom of the stream. And did you know that when a female lays her eggs, the male must fertilize them within seconds or the eggs will die? Our tour guide, Dave, told us that one. Look at me...getting my learn on!

The kids had a blast and I lucked out a bit - I only had to keep track of four of them. Some groups had six, which would've been really tricky when they were running around the park after lunch and again running along the Cedar River at Cavanaugh Pond (our second stop). Thankfully, I returned all four girls in the same condition as I got them - lol! Favorite part for me was seeing the kids so engaged at the hatchery and asking all kinds of questions. Least favorite part was the bus ride...and of course, we HAD to sit in the very back, ugh! Kaitlyn's favorite part...all of it, she said!

Kaitlyn's classmates

Checking out and learning about the salmon eggs

Checking out the river - super fast flowing and muddy
from the huge amounts of rain yesterday

Watching the salmon on the fish ladder - pretty cool!

This salmon decided to jump at the exact time
I was taking KP's picture!