take the kids Archives - Page 27 of 27

Tide Pool group looking for swimming creatures

Look Who’s Swimming, Tide Pooling

February 27, 2016February 3, 2025Silvia

As a kid I once did a Wattwanderung (mud-flats walking) when we stayed on Sylt, a Northern Sea island. When I signed up for our tide pool walk with the Marine Science Institute I had the old images in my head of the creatures who appeared just as you pulled back the sand.

So, I was quite surprised to see the interesting rock formations that we walked on and explored. Not too rough a terrain, but you needed closed toe shoes, something that could get wet, and you needed to dress in layers.

Rules for tide pooling are: Always watch your kids, and NEVER turn your back on the waves! And of course: Take only memories, leave only footprints.

We saw sea stars (below), a little black crab, a shrimp, and of course hermit crabs.

Overall this was an exciting excursion. Our very knowledgeable tour guides from the Marine Science Institute brought buckets and nets and knew the names of the creatures and where to look. This made it a perfect day.

What was the coolest thing you’ve seen on the beach?

Go See the Donkeys, Bol Park

February 21, 2016February 3, 2025Silvia

One of my favorite movie quotes is: ”I’m a flying, talking donkey!”

I was very surprised to learn that the real donkey that ‘donkey’ was modeled after lives in Palo Alto!

There are currently two donkeys on the pasture behind Bol Park (http://www.barronparkdonkeys.org/):

Perry, a minuture donkey, was the model for ‘donkey’ in the movie Shrek. Niner, a standard donkey, came to greet us when we were visiting.

He has really soft fur and I think a beautiful smile.

I learned from their website that they take the donkeys each Sunday morning out to Bol Park where they can graze on the lawn.

If you have smaller children you might also enjoy the big playground in Bol Park.

Have you seen any other movie stars in the Bay Area lately?

Hanging out with Elephant Seals

February 2, 2016May 6, 2022Silvia

There are two options I am aware of to see elephant seals up close.
First is Año Nuevo State Park and also Piedras Bianca near San Simion.
In order to see the seals in Ano Nuevo you have to book a tour online that, if you want to pick times that suit you, you probably have to book about two weeks in advance. I think the $7 per person plus $10 for parking was well spent. On a 2 ½ hour hike we learned a lot about the seals and came up close to watch the little babies get nursed.

Piedras Bianca has a short, more accessible, walk up to a viewing point where a park ranger answers questions. Here no reservation is necessary but a donation is appreciated.

January/February are probably the most visited months for the state park to see the elephant seals. Breeding season is from late December till early February. In March the adults leave their pubs behind. Yes! Imagine that. The pubs tech themselves to swim and will depart in April to swim up north.

Mature females will be somewhat pregnant after about 24 days after giving birth, they do a delayed implantation which means the fertilized egg will not be implanted in the wall of the uterus for another four month.

Another unbelievable fact is that the females don’t eat anything while they give birth, nurse and breed, and the males go without food for up to three months while they are on land mating.

Do you know of any other places to watch elephant seals in the Bay Area?

Earthquake Trilogy

January 24, 2016February 3, 2025Silvia

Living along the San Andreas Fault sometimes feels like living on the edge. (Excuse my pun)

Recently we learned a lot about earthquakes. While the exhibit in the Tech Museum in San José was the most descriptive, the two earthquake trails we walked were especially good for exercise, and made it feel more real.

In the Tech Museum, I liked the platform that reenacts different quakes the best. The three earthquakes I experienced so far all had slightly different motions. On the platform in the Tech Museum it confirmed that it wasn’t just me feeling it, they are different!

Point Reyes National Park has an earthquake trail which is about a 30 minute loop. It’s near the visitor center for Bear Valley, which I also highly recommend for exploring.

It was great for the kids to read out their descriptions

On the trail are two different signposts, one for adults and one for kids. They also had markers to follow along the fault. The most impressive one is a fence that did a 16 feet jump during the 1906 quake.

This shows the two parts of the fence 16 feet apart.

The other earthquake trail is a 1.5 mile hike in Los Trancos Open Space Preserve. http://www.openspace.org/preserves/los-trancos We picked up a brochure (you can also see the PDF here: https://earth.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/San_Andreas_Fault_Trail.pdf) at the main parking lot. The 9 station long walk in with more than 2000 feet elevation was more scientific than Point Reyes but with some spectacular views.

We had problems finding the things in the description. There was also a fence that had been put there as an example, but it was only 3 feet apart.

Do you know of any examples for Earthquakes in the area? Have you ever felt an earthquake?

Capitola

December 22, 2015February 3, 2025Silvia

One of the things that amazes me around here is that every beach and the towns near those beaches are different.

The other day I took my in-laws to Capitola, a nice little beach town near Santa Cruz, California.

I’ve only been here once before with my family to enjoy the beach. That was during spring break. While it was entertaining to watch teenagers, the atmosphere was not too relaxing. This time is was a bit too cold for hanging around at the beach.

While we watched some surfers we decided that it is proably a great spot to learn how to surf. The surf seem to slowly come in and giving you enough time to get ready.

We explored the little town with its cute shops. What stroke me as amazing was our lunch right next to the beach, a great meal with a beautiful view.

The colorful houses are the historic Venetian hotel “The first Condominium Beach Community in the United States, built in 1924”.

What is your favorite beach in Northern California?