Tide Pools

Exploring tide pools has been on my bucket list for years . . .

. . . and today we finally decided to take a family drive out to Leo Carrillo State Beach.  At first I was kind of disappointed to see what looked like fifty square yards of boring rocks on a beach . . .

. . . but on closer inspection we found that the little puddles caught between the rocks were full of surprises.  We saw tiny fish, hermit crabs with shells in a variety of shapes, sea slugs in several different colors, and even a little starfish.  Joy asked if we could take a hermit crab home, and I reminded her that one had clamped onto Papa's tongue when he was a kid.  She promptly dropped the subject.

We explored the tide pools for a while, then the big kids went climbing on the rocks . . .

. . . while Todd toddled around with Daddy then sat on the beach tossing sand around.

We all had a great time--until Daniel slipped on a rock and fell in the water.  Fortunately it was a shallow spot, but he was soaked through and rather chilly . . . 

. . . so it was time to head home.