Today was Kayda's last day before school starts (Dillon, being in kindergarten, doesn't start until Friday because they meets with the students individually the first three days). She wanted to go to the beach so this afternoon we decided to go explore Saltwater State Park. The park actually wasn't bad, there were some rocks you could climb around on to look for critters, a little sandy beach area, a set of play toys (though they weren't good for little ones like Carson), and TONS of picnic tables. It is apparently a pretty popular park, there were a lot of families there picnicking and playing in the "waves" the sound produces. Kayda and Dillon were enthralled by the rocks and constantly wanted to go "exploring". Carson wasn't such a big fan of the rocks. He wanted to be right in the action but he had to be in somebody's arms.
We finally let Kayda and Dillon go climb around as long as we could see them. They kept getting in different spots and yelling "Mom! Take a picture!" It was hilarious. They were both quite the camera hogs today! Hopefully that will continue for tomorrow and Friday mornings since I'm going to want lots of pictures!
Carson was content to play with the sand!
This is a little creek that runs into the sound in the middle of the park.
Success! We found dead crabs, dead crab parts, dead muscle parts, tons of barnacles and FINALLY we spotted some anemones! They were only about the size of a quarter but we still found some!
Kayda was willing to touch one, Dillon wasn't interested...
Look at all those things!
Climbing around on these rocks reminded me of a lot of camping trips with my family growing up. One of my favorite things we did was racing the tide down the beach near Kalaloch. I remember climbing all over and around the rocks while we hoped we made it back before we'd have to swim! I can't wait until we can do that with our kids!
Carson finally braved the water! At first he refused because he saw seaweed and kept saying "Bleh!". It got on his feet once and he started screaming! He REALLY hates that stuff! Funny thing is he remembered that he didn't like it from Tolmie State Park. The moment he saw it he pointed and said "Bleh!"
I don't know why it's insisting in putting this picture vertically... Anyway, this little guy's feet fascinate me and I could resist them all covered in sand. Notice the blue nail polish... Kayda wanted to do nails as part of her "last day before school", Dillon and Carson both insisted on having their toes done. They both chose boy colors and Dillon immediately removed it but I thought it was funny.
"Daddy, come with me out to the water!"
He got braver and braver until eventually he'd wander a few feet away but for the most part he had a grip on Daddy or Mommy as he explored the water.
Snuggling and waiting for the waves to come tickles toes.
This was a fun afternoon visit, though it's not one I think we'll go to again soon. There were too many people there for a park with relatively small areas. We had a family set up right between us and the water when we were not far away at all and then while we were playing in the water another lady came and laid down her towel so close to our mat that she literally laid her towel on top of my shoes! I caught her as she was laying it down, grabbed my things and we went to the toys. I turned around and she had stripped down to a swimsuit she should not have been wearing... SO glad I caught her before I had to ask her to move without actual clothes on! It was insane. There were plenty of other places to set up yet everyone kept crowding us out where ever we went. We like a little more space to relax and play! Despite the crazy people we still had fun and look forward to exploring more parks soon.
