Hunt and Find in Real Life

Who needs "Where's Waldo?" when you have a fish pond with teeny tiny fish swimming around? Despite their bright orange coloring and a small number of hiding places, our tiny fish have managed to all but disappear into our little pond.
We brought 7 comets (feeder goldfish, but "comets" sounds a little fancier, doesn't it?) home from the pet store earlier this afternoon, and after allowing them some time to acclimate to the cooler temperatures of an outdoor pond, we released them.

The little things probably feel like they have a whole ocean after living in a crowded tank, and quickly disappeared to the bottom of the pond.

The kids are hoping they'll grow fast so they'll be a little bit easier to see! In the mean time, the afternoon has been spent in many games involving who can spot the first or the most fish.

Pond Plants

Today, we shopped for plants. Water lettuce, some "parrot feathers" and a water hyacinth now call our little pond "home". We also hooked up the pump and tried out a few different head shapes.

And after quite a bit of splashing around, decided on this one. It makes just the right amount of water noise and still has a fun "play factor" when they stick their fingers in.

This is our view from the deck.

The Fish Pond

A couple of days ago, Lily and I drove past the local pet store and noticed they had their pre-formed fish ponds on clearance. Unable to resist the bargain, we went in to check out the price and came out the very happy owners of a small 72 gallon fish pond!
Tonight was the night we put it in the ground. First, we had to decide exactly where we wanted it. We put it on the side of the house, away from the area where the kids run and play so no-one accidently or on-purposefully runs into it.

Then, the digging began.

And the exciting job of getting the hole to fit the pool and making it level.

Once it was in, there was some back filling to do.

And the younger kids helped by getting the excess dirt out.

And the part they'd been waiting for most....FILLING. Who knew a hose could be such fun?

And even though it was cool here today, we told them they could get in just this once....But they didn't get in too far!

This is how the pool looked at the end of the day! We hope to soon get the pump ready, buy a few aquatic plants, and then bring home some new little inhabitants!

Monkey's New Do

Here is Monkey sporting his new "do". He is quite proud of it, but says his hair is crunchy and that it's hard for him to scratch his head. He showed his famous grin as the stylist started adding gel, and it about split right off his face when she added the green!