« More Piggytails | Main | Watering »

May 19, 2007

Redding

A couple weeks ago we went to Redding to check out the annual Butterflies Opening Celebration at Turtle Bay Exploration Park. Knowing how much Katy likes butterflies, we thought it would be a nice thing to do. It was, sadly to say, a somewhat disappointing event. I guess we just had a wrong kind of expectations. We were hoping to see clouds of butterflies being released, but it was not the case. For starters, there were more people than butterflies in the Butterfly House (probably in the ratio of 10:1). Little kids couldn't see a thing because there were not enough shoulders for them to ride on. I would still go visit the Butterfly House, but just not that day. We didn't take any pictures of the event. But here is one when we were waiting outside in the play area.

We spent Saturday at the park. It was fun, but I don't think it was appropriate for Katy. They have a museum and a nice garden. Being a two-year-old, it was hard for her not to touch a thing.

Things she could do at the park:

She got to check out a big old car.

Build a tower.

Check out a "mountain" with Daddy.

If you happen to visit Redding, you should check out the Sundial Bridge. It is a nice pedestrian bridge.

Katy was not in a walking mood that day, so we had to coax her a bit. Most of the time, she pretended to be a snake slithering on the bridge.

Look at the suspensions.

They are strong enough to hold a big girl.

Here you can tell the time. It was almost 11:15.

On the other side of the bridge was the garden. Katy was sad she couldn't pick a flower. So were we. She did manage to find a house and she called it "Katy's House." As we were walking away, there were more people coming and she was afraid that people would get inside her house. We promised her we will return one day.

Next day, we went visit Burney Falls.

It was fabulous. I think Katy had a much better time here. She got to take a hike to the base of the falls. The hike was about 1.2 mile roundtrip, just perfect for a little girl.

She was able to do all sorts of things on the hike: checking out maps, reading the signs (hint: Dora), picking weed flowers, etc. People were impressed that she could do the hike; they thought she was the cutest little thing. Her daddy was very proud of her.

Here is one of the bridges we crossed that day. She was looking at the river and boulders.

She likes to pick up little rocks and throw them into the river. We really took our time. It was a lovely day. She did trip once, but she was way more concerned about how dirty her pants looked than being hurt.

Peek at the waterfalls. We were getting closer.

The landscape was rather dramatic, no?

Katy is stretching for the final yards.

Our destination.

On the way up, she started to get tired and wanted to get picked up. We told her that Dora did not get picked up when she was tired. Katy gave us a look like we were crazy. Sure she likes Dora but it doesn't mean she wants to be Dora. But she did it. Katy completed the hike all by herself! She was very hungry and ate two peanut butter sandwiches and slept all the way home. We would go visit Redding again to see the caverns and more waterfalls. It was a great trip; we all had a good time.

Posted by Mike at May 19, 2007 11:49 AM

Comments

Post a comment

Thanks for signing in, . Now you can comment. (sign out)

(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.)


Remember me?