After Palouse Falls we went down the road and found the Lyons Ferry Fish Hatchery. It was fun to see all the baby salmon, but Colty was really disappointed that we couldn't feed them. Dave thought it was boring to look at baby fish.
So, we moved on. Then we saw the sign for the Little Goose Dam, so what the heck, we stopped to check it out. The dam is on the Snake River, and it is cool. We told Tanner that this was a dam, and asked if he knew what that meant. He said "yes, Beavers make them." We told him that this was a man-made dam, and he really wanted to know the name of the man. It took some explaining, but I think he might get it.
There was a lock for the barges, and fish ladders.
Then we went into the fish viewing area. There was a lady sitting there and her job is to count how many fish that are bigger than 18 inches long go through the ladder. We could only see little fish in the 20 foot tank, but they have to go through her 12 inch window to get out, so she sees everything.
It was pretty cool to see some big ones. The window is 32 inches long, and the tape marks 22 inches and 18 inches. The dotted line is 12 inches. We felt bad for the lady - what a boring job. Today they had counted over 800 fish, and they are chinook salmon this time of year. She said that last week they counted over 9,000 fish in one day. They have someone sitting at the window counting fish from 5 am to 9 pm every day April through October.
Then we drove through the famous Palouse. Dave couldn't get over how beautiful it was, the rolling hills of dry land wheat and peas. I have a feeling we will be coming back in the fall so we can watch the side-hill combines harvest. When we get to create our own heavens, this is what Dave's will look like. It was very beautiful.
Then we drove through a little town called Dayton. It is historic and has something to do with Lewis and Clark, but it was raining and the kids were asleep, so we just drove through. There was a cool little railroad depot. The town was all really neat. It was clean and looked like it was all original - the way it was in the late 1800's. The houses, the courthouse, the stores, everything.
Then we drove on to Walla Walla and stopped for dinner at a nice family restaurant.
The boys were so good all day, they got pop for dinner - a real highlight. It was so fun for us to spend the day doing whatever we wanted. We had nothing to get back to, no schedule, and the whole day to ourselves. I loved us being together as a family, Dave loved driving on roads he'd never know even existed and being outside exploring with his boys, Tanner loved the snakes, Colty loved the fish, and Braden loved being outside period. It was a fun day had by all!! Tanner said to Dave this morning, "If you had to work while we came to the waterfalls, we would miss you." We are so lucky our Daddy could spend the whole day with us! And, we get tomorrow too!
They had a good time with flashlights and telling stories before falling asleep.
I thought Dave would come to bed when the boys were asleep, but he slept in between them all night. I think Father and Sons with the ward is a great idea, but I know that this meant more to Tanner and Colty and probably Dave then a 2 hour drive and sleeping in bunk beds at a lodge.
The other morning he and his brothers were showing their muscles at breakfast over and over again. It was funny and we were all laughing.
As they were flexing, I got thinking about this baby's pretty teeth. At 15 months, he has 2 on the bottom and 4 on the top.
It has now been nearly 3 months since the first fall and he has beautiful white teeth that seem strong and healthy. What a blessing!!!
So, we moved on. Then we saw the sign for the Little Goose Dam, so what the heck, we stopped to check it out. The dam is on the Snake River, and it is cool. We told Tanner that this was a dam, and asked if he knew what that meant. He said "yes, Beavers make them." We told him that this was a man-made dam, and he really wanted to know the name of the man. It took some explaining, but I think he might get it. 
There was a lock for the barges, and fish ladders. 
Then we went into the fish viewing area. There was a lady sitting there and her job is to count how many fish that are bigger than 18 inches long go through the ladder. We could only see little fish in the 20 foot tank, but they have to go through her 12 inch window to get out, so she sees everything. 
It was pretty cool to see some big ones. The window is 32 inches long, and the tape marks 22 inches and 18 inches. The dotted line is 12 inches. We felt bad for the lady - what a boring job. Today they had counted over 800 fish, and they are chinook salmon this time of year. She said that last week they counted over 9,000 fish in one day. They have someone sitting at the window counting fish from 5 am to 9 pm every day April through October.
Then we drove through a little town called Dayton. It is historic and has something to do with Lewis and Clark, but it was raining and the kids were asleep, so we just drove through. There was a cool little railroad depot. The town was all really neat. It was clean and looked like it was all original - the way it was in the late 1800's. The houses, the courthouse, the stores, everything. 
Then we drove on to Walla Walla and stopped for dinner at a nice family restaurant. 
The boys were so good all day, they got pop for dinner - a real highlight. It was so fun for us to spend the day doing whatever we wanted. We had nothing to get back to, no schedule, and the whole day to ourselves. I loved us being together as a family, Dave loved driving on roads he'd never know even existed and being outside exploring with his boys, Tanner loved the snakes, Colty loved the fish, and Braden loved being outside period. It was a fun day had by all!! Tanner said to Dave this morning, "If you had to work while we came to the waterfalls, we would miss you." We are so lucky our Daddy could spend the whole day with us! And, we get tomorrow too!
We loved it. The boys were a little disappointed that we didn't go to the bottom of the waterfall, but it was a really steep hike so we didn't attempt it. The boys had a good time wandering around and hiking and climbing.
We brought lunch with us and had a picnic at the falls. When there is so much to see, there isn't time to sit and eat, so mostly just Mommy and Daddy ate while Braden ravaged the table, and the boys continued to explore. 
We saw some "prairie dogs" and then ran right down their hole. Tanner is pointing at the hole here.
There were quite a few look out points, and we went to them all.
We saw two blow snakes, which were so AWESOME!!! 
Tanner says it was his favorite part. Colty wasn't as excited about it and carried a handful of rocks around to throw at the snake if he saw another one. He was really glad we didn't.
Little Mr. Independent liked to walk by himself.
It was a baby waterfall, and wasn't blocked by a fence, so we had to be very careful. Our Daddy gets real nervous about stuff like that.
We drove all over the farm checking the pivots and switching water. 
After a while Colty decided he really needed a tractor ride. Braden joined, but took a few minutes to warm up to the idea.
Tanner just wanted to draw. He took the chance to finish his pictures while the truck was holding still and not so bumpy. He drew a fantastic picture of pivots. Dave was way impressed - we are pretty sure we have a genius artist on our hands. I guess it is a big deal when he chooses the pencil over the tractor!
We were way excited when we saw a Coyote. Daddy tells us all the time that he sees Coyotes and snakes, but I didn't think we would really see any. We didn't get to see any snakes, but we saw a cool Coyote.
It was a fun afternoon with Daddy. Now we know what he does all day, and the best part is that he gets Monday and Tuesday off since he worked Saturday and Sunday, so we're going to find some place fun to go tomorrow. Maybe we'll go see the big waterfall....
