Outing With The Nature Girl

Living in California, Celeste sadly hasn't had as much time in nature as she did when we lived in Monona. Whether she was exploring our large back yard or paddling her kayak in Lake Monona's Sqaw Bay, she was always on the hunt for critters and finding peace in the natural world. Although we live a short distance to the beach, she's still hasn't fully warmed up to the ocean, preferring quiet and calm lakes.

This afternoon we headed out to Calavera Lake in north Carlsbad to do a little exploring. Calavera Lake is a small freshwater lake in an ex-quarry, now nature preserve. The area is also has a decent network of unmarked mountain bike trails. I rode there with a friend a few weeks back and will return to get a better lay of the land.

(crappy photos alert - all I had with me was my phone)

Bringing a small bait net, a few toy buckets and a bug net, we hit the perimeter of the lake on the search for frog, fish, tadpoles, etc.

She managed to snag a couple of *very* small fry at this spot. One pictured below at about eleven o'clock.

Being a true kid, she did manage to slip and fall into the lake up to her waist at one point. No biggie, she shrugged it off and continued her quest and found a few snails and snagged a damselfly.

All in all, a great way to spend a couple of hours with my grrrl.