Bug got to take a surf trip with our family friend, Pete, and Noah, another of his protegees. "Uncle Pete" has been so good at introducing kids to surfing and encouraging them as they learn.
They spent two days and nights in Santa Cruz, trying out a popular spot, The Hook, and then ending up back at their favorite spot, Manresa.
The two boys spent 10+ hours in the ocean between the two days. They loved the experience of multiple days, surfing on and off all day.
Even if they weren't the best waves they've ever surfed, it was such a great time.
And the LOVED having the van.
It was a little snug with all the stuff inside. They had to shuffle boards back and forth when they wanted to sleep or drive,
but I think they thought it was worth it to have somewhere to hang out when they were tired and to sleep in comfortable beds after a long day.
So glad that Bug got to do this before he takes off for 2 years and has to give up surfing and swimming and everything else. He's trying to really fill this summer with experiences and time with the people he loves.
We have been trying to plan a visit to Elkhorn Slough for years now and finally found a Saturday where we could all make it.
This meant we got to use our kayak (I think for the second time in 3 years--need to work on that!)
Bug and I dropped of these 3 with the kayak at the public dock and then we went to the rental place next door and got a second two-person kayak for the morning so we could join them. Didn't have to go far at all to start seeing birds everywhere!
The tide was coming in as we headed into the slough, which meant a lot of exposed creatures on the pilings as we passed by. It also meant that it was really easy to paddle going into the slough, but as we were told numerous times at the rental shop, it was going to be a lot harder paddling back, so we were told to save time and strength for that.
Peanut was the only one who got a free ride, haha. Our kayak is a big two-person and had enough space for him to sit between the two seats, so he had it easy.
It was incredible being out in the water with all the birds flying around us, seals swimming by, and otters playing and feeding. I will say that after being in the Galapagos where the animals came right up to us and really had no fear of the boats or people, it wasn't quite as fun having to stay 100 feet away from everything (and they'd leave if we got too close in most cases.) But binoculars made it nice and we still had some seals and otters pop up pretty close to us at times.
Seals are some of my favorite animals--they're so cute!
But the otters here are definitely one of the best parts. We probably saw 100 otters or more, sometimes gathered in rafts of a couple dozen, sometimes just on their own.
With as many birds as we saw flying around, it's hard to believe that this isn't actually the best bird watching season. Elkhorn Slough is a major migration stop for many different shorebirds and there are times in the fall/winter/spring where the species are changing every week or two.
There were lots of pelicans out--both brown and white (which aren't as common in our area).
And egrets, cormorants, and willets and curlews.
It's such a unique opportunity to explore ocean and shore animals. And I will say that even though the paddling back was significantly more difficult, it wasn't as hard as we were led to believe, haha. We hit the 1-mile marker really quickly going in, which was where they recommended that we turn around, but we knew we'd be able to go farther, so we paddled to another section of the slough where we found the white pelicans, as well as a lot of otters, so it was worth the extra effort.
So glad we finally made it to this bucket list location--and now I want to come back in the winter!
We always end our Mt. Madonna trip with a beach day.
The water was cold, as always, but Bug and a couple others spent some time surfing while most of the rest of us braved the water without wetsuits for boogie boarding and wave jumping. I only get in once or twice a summer, and this was the day (and I convinced two of the other moms to join me!)
Bug started feeling like a legit surfer--we had the boards since the family who they belong to had too much stuff they needed their roof rack for.
And. . . on the way home, he got his own board! (It's sandwiched between the other two up there.) We grabbed pizza with everyone after the beach and then our friend who has been such a great mentor for Bug for all things surfing related (along with another friend) took us to a couple surf shops to search for a board. Bug ended up getting the one that the Santa Cruz Costco carries because it was just too good of a deal for a beginning surf to pass up. He's excited to keep learning!
We were way too busy having fun to take a lot of pictures, but it was an excellent weekend in Santa Cruz with the friends who helped me survive the pandemic shut down. We hung out at the beach, ate good food, stayed up way too late talking and laughing and sharing hard things.
We even snuck in a few hours at the Refuge spa which might be my new favorite place. We didn't do all of the treatments, but just hung out at the hot and cold pool section where there were four temperatures of pools to move between, a sauna, and a steam room. It was incredibly relaxing.
As hard as it is to get away during the school year, I'm never sorry when we do it. This was a quick 2-night camping trip to Memorial Park in the Santa Cruz mountains and it was absolutely beautiful. We met up with the McClouds and had a very lowkey weekend which was just what we all needed.
Lots of hanging around the campsites (and a few empty ones around us.) Peanut was able to get the twins to play with him, which was nice since his siblings have pretty much outgrown all of that. They indulge him once in awhile, but not like they used to a couple years ago. The high schoolers all hung around talking and listening to music and reading on this trip, but at least the three younger ones did a little imaginative play and generally running wild through the trees.
We did a little hiking. The trails right from our campsite connected with a lot of great spots.
There was even a little bit of fall to be found.
These two crack me up. They saw a stage and within seconds were up there doing a dance (and within seconds of this photo, Bug was on his bum, haha.)
And Daddy-o had to get in on the action.
They got it down pretty good :)
Found this cool log. The size of redwoods never ceases to amaze me.
These six kids go back pretty far now. They didn't know each other very well when we moved here since we'd only seen them a couple times in the years before that, but it's been almost 5 years now of pretty regular contact. So fun to see this next generation together after 35 years of S and I being friends.
Found a banana slug!
Lots of creek crossing and tempting fate at the edge of the water.
Found a LOT of crawdads.
I even snuck in a couple early morning walks while everyone else slept in.
The redwoods are my happy place. I don't think I'll ever get tired of them and will take any chance I have, wherever it is, to spend some time under these giants.
We went on our first college tour--UC Santa Cruz. My friend, S, was kind enough to take us since she went there and was able to tell us a lot of stories and details.
I can't believe I've never been there before--I didn't realize it is literally in the middle of a redwood forest, and that we would have wildlife sightings.
Turkey running down the road, coyote running through the trees. It was like we were out hiking.
I don't think Bean was really considering this school. It was a little closer to home than she was hoping, not as warm of beaches, but I think she was won over and it's going on the list.
It's a little crazy to think that one of my children will be leaving in a year to attend a college somewhere. Not sure if I'm ready for this next step, but I know she will be by then.
When the air is bad, and you are desperate for outside time, you'll drive to the beach just to watch the sunset for an hour.
We were feeling pretty desperate to get outside for a bit, and the AQI in Santa Cruz looked pretty good, so after all our normal Sunday church stuff (online church, family meeting with Rara) and and early dinner, we headed out. Turned out Santa Cruz beaches were closed for the weekend, so we had to go further south to Rio Del Mar, but we found a parking space (which is a little bit of a miracle) and got an hour on the beach with the beautiful sunset.
When half of CA seems to be burning down after the hundreds of lightening strikes from Sunday morning, and the air is so full of smoke that you can't go outside, escaping to the beach seemed like a great idea. We met up with friends for one last beach day of the summer (although I'm still hoping for more beach time even after school starts.)
It ended up being a lot smokier down in Santa Cruz/Capitola than we'd expected, and you could still smell the smoke until you got right on the beach, but as long as we were near the water, we were good, and we had a great day.
(You can see how different the view looked to the south, away from the fires.) Bean and Bug spent 4 hours straight in the water, boogie boarding. They weren't sure about this spot when we first got there, but it turned out that while they had to wait for the right wave, the ride was worth it. I can't believe they didn't freeze to death. Maybe by next year we'll get them some wetsuits.
Peanut got wet a couple times, but didn't last long in the water, so he spent a lot of time reading and playing in the sand. He's the one we really need to get a wetsuit for.
There were even some mini tidepools to check out.
I always like finding whatever creatures I can.
We made a stop of pizza on the way home, which made the kids' day (I usually don't want to take the time to stop--once we leave the beach, I'm done and ready to just get home.) The sun was so pink, it was kind of apocalyptic. It wasn't very fun driving home, knowing we were going back to terrible air and bad news about all the acres that were burning in fires on all sides of Livermore (luckily far enough away to not be a threat to us in town, but still so sad.)
