Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Tide Pooling at Abalone Cove

I always wanted my kids to be outdoorsy. I wanted them to love adventures and hiking, to always be looking for the next bend in the road, to enjoy the sun, and the wind and to climb every rock that they can.
Turns out it isn't very hard to turn your kids into the outdoorsy types. If you offer them a taste of the natural world, a hunger for it follows. My kids love exploring. They love adventure. They want to climb that mountain, and follow that stream.
I love it!

So when we're coming up with a plan for our weekend outings, time spent in the great outdoors is always on the agenda. This Saturday we went to Abalone Cove in Rancho Palos Verdes. It is not far from our house, a half hour maybe, but it feels worlds away.
The beaches on Palos Verdes are so different from the rest of the beaches in LA and the OC. They feel more wild and remind me a lot of the beaches that I love so much on the Central Coast. We had never been to these tide pools, and it turns out they are great! I mean, amazing and fantastic. Another great adventure.

On the cliffs above the beach. Our 3 hikers-- could they be any more adorable?
We hiked down a steep path. Even though Lilly is already a great little trekker, she needs to be carried on some parts of the trail.

When we reached the bottom of the trail, we saw these tide pools.

On this beach.

And we immediately began to find the treasures of the sea.
A tiny hermit crab.

Sea stars.
A clam.
A sea urchin.
I am not sure what this is, or was. I need to look it up. We guessed an urchin's old shell.

James was in his element.

Rocks every where to climb.
He even found a cave.

William was also having a spectacular time.

Stomping and splashing and finding lots of his buddies, the sea anemones.

It was a perfectly beautiful, winter day.

The best part? Spending it with my most favorite people in the world.

Maybe someday we'll all backpack through the Swiss Alps together. Or hike down the Grand Canyon. There are so many adventures waiting to be had.
I can't help smiling just thinking about it!

2 comments:

Christ in the Chaos said...

So fun!

Erin McDonald said...

can I sugest you take the Donkeys down the grand canyon! We did half the hike down and well it took almost three times longer to get back up and well NEVER AGAIN!!!! I will take my kids there and enjoy the view But neve hike it way too much! But have fun and if you dare the grand canyon isn't THAT bad just tuff!