Monday, October 06, 2008

Texas Parks and Wildlife Expo

Saturday morning found us at the 2008 Texas Parks and Wildlife Expo, and event teaching about and celebrating all kinds of outdoor activities. The great thing about this event is that it is so hands-on. There is something to do in every area of outdoorsmanship and it all introduces kids (and adults) to new and fascinating things.

This year we didn't have a lot of time to be there, so we let Zack pick what he most wanted to do and started there. He was most interested in fishing for a real fish and we were able to get to that activity before there was a line. There were two separate tanks, one for catfish and one for trout, that were very heavily stocked with fish. Each kid got to hold a pole and if they caught a fish there was an attendant to help them hold it and then release it. Zack's pole caught a catfish almost before he had picked it up, so I don't think it felt like his own catch to him, but he was very interested in it.We followed that with a visit to the sea critters tent, where he got to touch a live sea urchin, hermit crab, sponge, blue crab, turtle, and other items. We had some fish identification books we were given at other booths and we looked up the types of fish we saw in various large aquariums showcasing different underwater habitats. There were fish on ice as well that you could pick up and hold (I touched a moray eel!).

Zack got to try casting (and I had to try it too):

And Sammy had an all around good time being out of doors.

We did save a few minutes for the dino dig, then it was off to wedding work for Mommy and off to naps for boys!

1 comment:

  1. Thank you so much for all the stories! I love seeing more of my nephews' lives!

    ReplyDelete