Sea Shore Fun Part 2

We finally made a fun trip out to the beach.  The entire month has been crazy busy around here and to say the least Dad has been trying to keep up.  (He's doing a great job too!)  My California boogie board riders were ready to hit the waves and sand yesterday:

We were there for several hours and the kids were non stop the whole time.  The weather and waves were just right for them.

But enough about fun; lets get down to some nature study. The kids have been enjoying our sea and sea shore readings. They were more than ready to point out a few things all along the beach coast.  We picked a spot and drew a square on the sand:

Within the small square we found several things that we've talked about like a birds feather, seaweed, rocks, shell fragments and even some sand crabs.  After we were done with our square my sons had a blast collecting sand crabs and comparing their sizes.  They filled a bucket with sand/water and couldn't get enough of watching them burrow into the pail.

We also had a very unexpected lesson on sea life and it's dangers.  A huge Elephant Seal was washed up on the beach.  The kids were very intrigued and did walk over to take a look.  Our kind guess is that it was old or maybe met a propeller before washing up to shore.  While we were there two different tractors showed up but it was clear this massive animal would not budge.  We left before we could see it be taken away.  It was sure a topic of some talk.

And wouldn't you know it: mom forgot the discovery scopes : O  We did have plenty of plastic baggies to bring home some samples of our treasures: sea weed, rocks, sand, and even some washed up sand crab shells that we will enjoy examining more closely.

It was a good day!