Other fish news . . .

I am sad to report that Katy's fish, Pearl, died sometime today. She had lived a pretty long life. She was with us for over 3 years.

Pearl came to our house to be a friend for another fish, Dash. Dash's buddy, Violet, had met with an untimely death while we were away for the 4th of July weekend in 2006. She was the victim of overfeeding. Katy knew we were going away for a few days and she was worried about Violet starving. By the time I noticed the thick layer of food floating in the tank, Violet had had her share and then some. Eric and I scooped out what food we could and left knowing that she might not make it. Thankfully, Eric entered the house first upon our return. He cleaned up the tank and Katy was heartbroken. Katy then worried about Dash needing a tank mate. After a trip to Zamzows, we came home with a beautiful black moor. She was named "Black Pearl" mostly after the pirate ship of the same name. When G. G. told Katy that her(Katy's) Great- great-grandma was named "Pearl," the shortened version stuck.

Pearl was a lovely fish. She outlived Dash and four little neon tetras Emma and I bought. Pearl lived with Jack Jack Jr., a tiny algae eater. One of the more interesting things to know about Pearl was that she changed color. Never did figure out how it happened, but her scales slowly turned to a bright beautiful orange. I read recently that they can change color if the water is warm. Her tank was located near the window in Katy's room, so maybe that was how the change occurred!

We had noticed that Pearl was swimming funny for the last month or so. She had a tendency to swim upside down and I mentioned to Katy to keep an eye on her. I remarked that I would not be surprised if Pearl died and we found her on the bottom of the tank, instead of floating at the top. Well, what do you know--that was where Eric and I found her. We did have to poke her to make sure. She often swam close to the bottom and we hoped she was just resting. Katy took the discovery better than expected. Emma quickly reminded us that we now only had 7 pets. I am sure we will be bringing home another fish soon enough. But for now, we will honor Pearl by keeping her in our thoughts for a little longer.

Fun at the fish farm . . .

Frog eyes! There were 2 ponds near the bottom of the property that appeared to be home to several frogs. They were kind of funny to watch.
One of the larger alligators.
Cute little guy hanging out in one of the runs.
Starla getting ready to feed the fish. Emma had just thrown in a little food and you can see the fish thrashing about a bit. I think these were the Tilapia, but they may have been the catfish.

Albino catfish
Fresh water tropical fish. I do not know what kind they are. I was too chicken to walk the walls above the tanks.
More warm water fish--again, too chicken to get close enough to find out what variety.

Eric had the weekend off and it was the beginning of Spring Break for the girls and I. We had not been out of town in quite awhile. (Sorry, Mom. Mtn. Home just doesn't quite count as "out of town" for us) It was decided that we would spend our time in the Hagerman Valley. According to the driving directions I found online, we would be traveling 98 miles to reach the cabin I reserved for Saturday night. After over packing the car with kids, suitcases, food and the dog, we hit the road by 8:30 AM. We met Mom in Mtn. Home and then headed east.

The reason we choose to go to Hagerman was to see Aunt Starla and to check out her cool place of employment. She works for a company called Fish Breeders of Idaho, Inc. I think she told us it was the first warm water fish farm in the area. You can search that name online and find out all kinds of interesting things about the whole operation. I believe Starla is the boss/manager. (Starla, if you read this, please correct me if I am wrong!) They raise fish for food, like tilapia and catfish. One of the properties has sturgeon, used for providing caviar to various restaurants. Something new that they are working on is establishing a set up for raising tropical fish . . . the decorative variety, not the edible kind. But the main attraction was the fact that the site is home to several alligators.

What a sight! The alligators are in an area that is "open" to the public. The fence that surrounds the gators is quite high, I'm guessing maybe 10 feet tall. The fence encloses a pond of the warm water and a bit of ground so they can sun themselves. I would suppose that the gators remain in the water on cold winter days. The pond was filled with tilapia--food for the big guys! It was pretty cool to see.

Above the alligator pond, there were a few "no trespassing" signs. Beyond those signs were where all the other fish, turtles and frogs were located! Since Starla was our guide, we got the best tour, ever!! She was able to take time "off" and show us around the property. Ryan drove over from their home in Buhl and joined us for the fun. It really was great to see all of the different fish. I would not do the place justice if I tried to describe how they run the place. Check out the links above and read all about how the farm works. Eric and the girls were wide-eyed the whole time. Thank you to Starla for a "funderful" morning.

(We were having "fun" this weekend. While watching tv in our cabin, we saw the Olive Garden commercial touting their new "Fonduta" menu. It sounds like "funduta" when they say it and we thought it was a made up word. We started making up our own "fun" words and the girls thought I should use them to describe our weekend.)

A peek at our "fun"tastic weekend . . .

Check out these bad boys! They make their home in rural Idaho, specifically the Hagerman area. Aunt Starla works for the company that keeps these guys contained. More on that tomorrow . . .
Balanced Rock, near Buhl. Eric and the girls are the tiny speck of color near the bottom middle of the shot.
Aunt Starla showing Katy & Emma some of the tropical fish they are raising at the fish farm.
One of the many falls along the Thousand Springs Scenic Byway.
Sturgeon at the Hagerman National Fish Hatchery. You can't tell, but these guys are 3 and 4 feet long.

You never know what you'll see in the neighborhood . . .

Boise River in the spring.
Must be a good view of the backyard . . . or a really good place to keep and eye on this guy . . .

It really is a live cat . . .

We took a walk around the neighborhood after dinner tonight. The kids had spent time on the computer and the Wii this afternoon and I insisted we get a little fresh air! Eric had his share of the fresh air earlier in the day while mowing the lawn but he was a good sport and joined us. We walked down to a park near the Boise River. Katy and Emma played on the equipment and then we explored the riverbank. It is kind of fun to wander around when the river is so low. Lots of nooks and crannies that are usually covered with water. I told the girls to remember how it looks today and in a few months, we'll check out the difference.

We were nearly home when Eric looked up and saw the ducks. About 6 houses later, Eric looked across the street and saw the cat. Different houses, same idea? Makes you wonder which one hit the roof first . . .

Spring "Sprang" already . . .

Little signs of spring in my yard . . .
These are near the front steps . . .

I had hoped to have a new picture of the house looking all "springlike"for the top of my blog, but I failed to take advantage of the gorgeous sunshine we had Saturday. Clouds are in the forecast for the next several days. Maybe I'll have more luck during spring break next week!!!

Speaking of a break, I am so looking forward to a week without standing out on the playground constantly reminding certain students(those who apparently suffer from short term memory loss) of the safety rules. I tell the same 20-30(more on a "good" day) students the same thing every single recess. And every time I have to remind them to play by the rules (hands to yourself, don't jump off the equipment, don't throw bark, talk nicely to each other, don't jump the fence, etc., ) I get looks of complete astonishment that I would dare interrupt their mayhem! It is enough to make a person crazy . . . On the other hand, and much more importantly, there are so many more sweet, kind, loving, well behaved students I visit with each day to really make the job a little brighter. I might actually miss a few of them.

Said goodbye to his 20's three years ago . . .

Ryan and his wife, Starla, celebrating Emma's birthday last year.

Another brother celebrating a birthday this week. Ryan is 33 today! Wishing a pretty nice guy, fledgling college student and awesome uncle a fabulous day. I hope it was wonderful!

For the life of me, I can't find a photo of Ryan when he was younger. I just had some in my hand the other day and I seem to have misplaced the stack. If I ever find one, I'll be sure to post it. Might be even more fun to add a few to my facebook page for all the "friends" to see . . .

Say goodbye to your 20's little brother . . .

Here he is at age 6--first grade I believe! What a cutie . . .
Travis and Dad at Redfish Lake, back in the late 80's. I worked in Sun Valley at the time and they were visiting. We took a day trip to the Stanley area. I sure hope to get them both up there again!

Happy, Happy Birthday to my brother Travis! He turns the big "30" today! Travis is a great brother, a pretty fantastic dad to his two adorable kids and an all around good guy. Hope you had a marvelous day!!

P.S. I also hope Dad took your 30th better than he took mine . . .

Buyer beware . . .

Eric and I watched the documentary Food, Inc. Saturday night. It was, to say the least, very disturbing. I'd like to think that the we should all have a say in how our food is brought to our table. It should not be a red state/blue state issue. It should not matter who our president is. This is something we should all be working on, together. Do yourself a favor and check out this movie. Just make sure you aren't watching during dinner . . .

A picture (or 5) is worth a thousand words!

Old pantry . . .
Another view . . . am I organized or what? Heh, heh, heh . . .

And now for your viewing pleasure, the new bathroom or WC as our handyman likes to call it. Eric just refers to it as his "man cave!" It is still a work in progress, but the plumbing is up and running.

Behold the temporary pantry. Doubt this arrangement would hold up under a city health inspection. Don't tell me you don't notice the huge guinea pigs cages that do not fit anywhere else in the house. . .
Finally, the pantry I have been dreaming of for 12 years! It is lacking paint at this time, but the shelves are lined with Contact paper and I hope to fill it with food and miscellaneous kitchen items tomorrow afternoon.

A super huge thank you to those who made our little dream a reality. You know who you are and we are forever grateful. Eric suggested "relieved" but that is just gross potty humor!!!

March Madness . . .

So much to write about, so little time. We Hilburns meander throughout our days doing fun, interesting things here and there. I always think, "hmm, something to blog about later" but I just don't seem to make it to the computer. Perhaps I am suffering from spring fever!

It is beautiful here in Boise. We have had temps in the mid to upper 50's. Absolutely fabulous! We took the girls for a long walk this afternoon. Eric thinks we covered over 4 miles. Our goal was to check out parts of the Greenbelt that we had never seen. We convinced Katy & Emma to join us by promising a side trip to their favorite dessert place, Blue Cow. Two and a half miles later, we arrived there. After enjoying the frozen yogurt, we headed towards home. We decided to take the less scenic route which involved walking along a very busy street. We were about 3/4 of the way home when we spotted a sign that said "Kids Eat Free on Sundays!" At this point, it was 5 o'clock and we had started our walk at 3! Detour to the restaurant for a relaxing meal that I did not have to fix! Woo hoo . . . We made it home by 6:15, not too worse for wear. Katy & Emma managed the trek without any complaints. Double Woo hoo! Our little adventure provided a great ending to really good day spent with my family.