Montana de Oro

Not much of the Summer left, so we decided to take a trip to the coast with some of our neighbors. We went to Montana de Oro so the kids could play in the tide pools and the water.

Beautiful!
Clara, Mikaela and Izabella
Searching the tide pools for anemones and starfish
Chris was carrying Matthew all over with him, up and down the rocks. I was so nervous they were going to fall!

They didn't fall, but Matthew enjoyed the salty water!

A crab hiding in the rocks

I finally got Matthew with me on stable ground, so I could breathe!

Once I put him down, he was content just moving the rocks from one side of himself to the other.

Thankfully there wasn't a shortage of rocks, so it kept him busy for a while.

Clara. Jonathan, and Matthew

Chris and Hunter

They found a sea urchin!

Sea Urchin

Going exploring

Chris, Mikaela and Izabella -- Watch out for that wave!

The kids decided to make a dam in the river that was running down into the ocean.

Jonathan

Piling on the big rocks

Jonathan and Dylan filling in the holes with little pebbles and mud

Belle and Chris helping

Hunter, Clara and Jonathan

Clara

They never fully stopped the flow of water, but they slowed it enough that the water found another route around the dam.

Matthew wanted to get in the water so badly, but it was very cold (not that you can tell by looking at the other kids!)

He finally made his way into the water!

The view from up on the mountain

So pretty, so powerful!

This was the way up and down the mountain. As you can see, the drop off is nearly up to Chris' shoulder, and he's 6'2", so it was roughly 5ft off the ground. I needed his help to get up, and again when I came down. Only, my descent wasn't as graceful as Becca's is here. I slid on my bottom from about where Matt is standing up top to where Chris caught me there on the bottom. If not for Chris standing there to catch me, we would have likely been searching for the nearest hospital!

We had a great time. I love that we live so close to beautiful things and that we have awesome friends to take these day trips with. It all makes living in Lemoore more than bearable!