Carpinteria Beach

Apparently we came to California to play with tire spikes.

Normally I don't count educational outings as school but today was the exception.  This was very much a field trip.  Sandy had been in search of tide pools in which the kids could see sea life.  We had been told that Carpinteria Beach was the place to go.  We had already been there and hadn't seen anything, but we decided to walk even farther this time.

First we started to find sea shells.

I then thought if we just found a Starfish we would have seen it all.

Then I though, if only we could find a sand dollar.

Another starfish on the underside of the rock.

Remember the tar on our feet after walking the beach?  The Santa Barbara Channel is known for underwater tar seeps.  Here is one above ground.  When we come back after these walks we have to use olive oil to clean the tar off of our feet.

Timmy found a clam that was still alive.  He put it in a water bottle and it started to open up giving the boys another of many lessons today.

Nora

The boys were having so much fun that I had to beg Tim to come let me take this picture.  They were finding so much on the beach that sea caves held little interest for them.

Nora and a half a lobster.

Another tar seep.

A sand crab.

Seaweed.

The pier was where the workers from the off shore oil rigs return home by boat.  Look close and you can see the men walking back across the pier after being dropped off.

Heading back.

We ended up walking 5+ miles in our explorations.