Tide Pools!

Crazy surf

Rock Climbing

Growing Bump

Yesterday the weather was a glorious 80 °F, so we decided we HAD to get outside and enjoy it. We opted for the tide pools instead of the regular beach (we've already done that a few times) and it proved to be the perfect, if exhausting, choice.

We drove to White Point and had a picnic lunch as we waited for low tide. There are some awesome rocks around the beach, so I taught Tommy a few rock "climbing" (aka scrambling) techniques, and we watched the waves together for a bit. Then we ventured into the actual pools. There was a very high and wild surf, so we stayed away from the outer banks of the pools where all the really good creatures are, but safety is more important than sea cucumbers...

In the lower pools we did find lots of neat shells, as many hermit crabs as one could ever want to see, mussels, barnacles, sea anemones, and little fishy things. Tommy enjoyed collecting shells and looking at the various creatures, while Nic wanted to splash around with all of them. He was putting his little toes in with the hermit crabs, poking (gently) at anemones, and spent the entire time wading and splashing. As the tide began coming back in there were some pretty spectacular waves breaking along the outer banks, so we sat and watched those for a while to both boys' delight. Then we poked around at a nearby land conservancy/nature center before heading home.

It was so much fun, but all of that activity wiped me out (and the kids too). It is a lot harder to lug kids over rocky tide pools and over trails when you are great with child than when you are not. We were so hungry when we got home that Tommy at 3 1/2 of my mom's special tacos...which is more than I can eat! For my part, I could barely stay awake to get myself into bed. I must say that it was entirely worth it though. The boys had such a good time that I would do it over again in a heartbeat...aching feet and all.