The Kenai River Fish Festival

Every year the Watershed Forum hosts the Kenai River Fish Festival. It's a (practically) free event with all sorts of activities for the kids. There is live music and food. It is and has always been a pretty wonderful event. Especially if the weather is nice, like today. It was brilliantly sunny but there was a cool breeze that kept everyone from being hot. In fact a light jacket was even acceptable if one was wearing a light t-shirt, like me. :)

Of course we live in a rather small town so it seems like a big event.

This was our view walking in. A lot of the venues are crafts and activities for the kids to do that bring attention to maintaining the beauty of the river and protecting the wildlife, including the Salmon.


These beautiful guys were near the entrance and were gorgeous. There have been a lot of eagles around our area lately. Seeing these guys up close made me wish I had better photo opportunities of those eagles.

Right after we got there we found a salmon coloring spot which included a brief lesson in handling fish and protecting the oils in their skin. The girls and I colored our salmon and then they were dipped in some oil coated water. It gave them a shiny appearance. I hope to make something with these; I'll keep you in the loop.

After we colored we decided a little lunch was in order. Every year they sell a grilled salmon plate with couscous salad, potato salad a apple muffin and a piece of garlic bread. I remember craving it one year when I was pregnant. Scott and the kids always eat the salmon and garlic bread and I eat the salads. It was the same this year.


The entertainment while we were eating was a wonderful ukulele' playing guy we call Mr. Dan. He works for the Watershed forum with which our school has a fabulous relationship with. He has taught in the classrooms of both of my older girls. He is a marvelous teacher and an equally fun entertainer. The girls and I had many giggles over his hilarious educational made up songs.


We stopped by the booth our school was sponsoring- the kids attend an art and science school- and experimented with color changing which Cali loved.





They also had an aluminum boat making challenge. The idea was to see how many metal washers one could float in their aluminum boat. I didn't do so well. I made mine to small, thinking thicker would be sturdier.

Obviously, spreading your aluminum over more surface area worked best; the kids already knew that! :)

We also tried painting a wooden fish.

It was a little overwhelming and Cali didn't like the fact that the some of the colors were mixed up. So we brought our wooden fish home to paint later this afternoon instead. We'll see if that happens or not. Cali came home and plopped herself on the couch. She has a slight fever. It may happen tomorrow instead.

I should have recognized Cali going downhill, she actually sat down with a friendly gal from the library booth to listen to a story. She is usually too busy for that but today sat the whole time fairly engaged in the story.

It was another fun and busy day. We are going to work on our Dandy honey later. Cassi said she will help me pick more dandelions. I am hoping to make a stockpile. I really liked it. Cassi seems to like it on biscuits, like me. I will share the recipe and pictures soon. Keep your eyes peeled.