Here fishy fishy fish!

we had a really nice day yesterday. there is one mom from playgroup who hosts hikes on friday morning at various parks and conservation areas around here.

so this day we were at the columbia land conservancy's ooms conservation area at sutherland pond.

the sunfish next to the shore are trained to eat worms!! ok, practically! and there were some other visible small mouth bass that come darting out from the lilly pads after the litttle fish, so i am inclined to believe there is some really good fishing in that pond.

first we played at fishing (with out hooks, as i was there alone with a toddler and pre-schooler with really strong arms!) and we saw the fish! then we played in the grass, and got our picnic basket and started out for a hike.
i found some other families from playgroup, and i got to take one fish off a hook (i had my pliers and the hook was down in it's mouth away)
waylon was a little sad he didn't catch a fish, but i told him we'd go back soon and catch one!

we tried to hike up the hill to the gazebo with our picnic. both kids did GREAT at hiking. they run around, look at dandelions and birds and generally have a good time.
we got interrupted by a little pug dog, who wanted to play with mr. w... my boy is still a bit afraid of dogs, especially ones that jump on him, and because i was holding miss n, i had a hard time getting this pug to leave him alone. the owners didn't help much, so i think it was another step back for my boy. we talked about it afterward at great length. we agreed that the nicest dogs have the nicest people who take care of them. we also agreed that if we get scared of a dog, we yell NO DOG-STOP! i hope he gets more confident with dogs. and i also hope dog owners can stop their dogs from jumping on little kids!
after our hike interrupted, we found a picnic table right next to the pond and had a lovely picnic lunch. then we played pick dandelions for a long time, and a bunch of ring a round the rosie, which miss N loves to sing.

it was a fine day!

we also chucked rocks in the water, and met some birders and a couple planning their wedding ceremony in this field. the bride and groom will arrive from opposite sides of the lake in canoes!!

we often get set up at home, and don't want to go out, but i will have to remember to go to sutherland pond!