Kid-Friendly Beach ~ Abbotts Lagoon

WooHoo!  Summer weather is here!  It's beach time!  Here's one of our favorites....

Abbotts Lagoon in Pt. Reyes National Seashore. A kid-friendly beach the kids and I just love.

When I first came up on Abbotts Lagoon,  I read 'lagoon' and I was in....being a total Gilligan's Island fan, how could I not be?!

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Thankful Thursday w/Linky: Woodpecker Trail

Heading out to the coast for us is just a short 25 minute drive.  It's mandatory to dress in layers.  It could completely sunny and warm at our house and totally socked in with fog at the coast.  This week for Thankful Thursday, I'm thankful we live so close to a place as beautiful as Pt. Reyes National Seashore.

We headed to Bear Valley Visitor's Center {after a brief stop at Bovine Bakery} where a number of trails are ready to choose from right from the parking lot. We met some friends out there for a playdate/hike, we had five kids in total, ages 4-12. We wanted something that would be 'doable' for all ages so we chose Woodpecker Trail.

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Thankful Thursday with Linky: Coastal Natural Air Conditioning

I'm loving Thankful Thursdays.  I'm finding it to be so much fun and easy to come up with things to be thankful for on a weekly basis, no matter how big or small. 

Just recently, as temperatures on the farm reached into the 90's, and a welcomed email from some good friends to join them at their farm beach house was immediately accepted.

Just a short 25 minute drive and we went from temps in the 90's to a pleasant 74 degrees.  It was a girl's trip this time, just Paige and I, Bryce, the 'farm boy' wanted to stay back on the ranch and work with his Daddy and practice target shooting with his BB gun.  I guess I couldn't blame him for his decision.....sandy beach or BB gun....what boy would choose the beach over that?!

So it was Paige and I who enjoyed some of our natural air conditioning and we were thankful to have it on this day.  But we weren't the only ones.  Out in Pt. Reyes, there are a few dairies left and we witnessed some authentically, happy cows. 

There's is no reason these dairy cows shouldn't be happy, what with the ocean as their view, the fog bank just off the coast and temperatures that very rarely, if ever, reaching into 80's. 

Just 5 minutes from our destination, I stopped, jumped out of the car and to our left snapped the photo below.  The vibrant blue of the Pacific Ocean, dairy barns in the center, and if you'll look closely you'll see some dairy cows grazing in the fore front near the pond.

On the right side, Tomales Bay and our destination comes into view.

Playing on a beach in Tomales Bay is just short of heaven in my opinion.  We watched the tide come in, there are no waves to contend with and plenty of sea life to explore and capture.

Paige was very careful to capture a small jelly fish without touching it and then eventually releasing it back to the bay.

My animal lover was loving her day at Tomales Bay, as was I.

What are you thankful for today?  Feel free to link up to Thankful Thursday, a great way to find other blogs or have them find you!  Just copy the code below to paste on your blog post after linking up.

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Thank you for taking time out of your busy day to leave a comment, I love to hear from you!. Have a fantastic day!

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Pathway to Summer~Pt. Reyes National Seashore's Kehoe Beach

June 21st marks the first day of summer, the longest day of the year for us.  The temps crept up into the 90's and has sent a shock wave into our systems here in northern California.  I think every year we go from the mid 60's straight to the 90's, no in between to ring in the summer climate change.  This year was no different.

So to help ease the temps on our northern California bodies, the kids and I headed to the beach.....where it is always 20 degrees cooler.

Pt. Reyes National Seashore is just a 30 minute drive from our front door to one of the many beaches we have to choose from.  Our favorite, Heart's Desire was closed Tuesday so we drove five miles further to Kehoe Beach, our first visit.

The parking is along the street.  At the entrance to the trail head you'll find some pit toilets.  The walk to the beach is a .6 mile trek.  Very do-able with kids.  The trail is narrow though, so strollers aren't an option.  Dogs are allowed, leashed, on a portion of the beach, but we decided to leave Chloe at home.

Just about there, just need to hike over the hill.

During the spring time, the trail is loaded with wild flowers.  I love the color of this thistle we saw yesterday.

Ahhh....a nice cool 70 degrees near the water, but it felt like 80 as we were laying on the beach and the sand was too hot to walk barefooted on unless you were near the water.

We didn't go near the surf, this beach claims to have undertows and sleeper waves that can catch you off guard, but one of the reasons I chose this beach is the fact it has a creek that feeds into the ocean....perfect for kids to play in without worries.

We were having so much fun, we stayed for five hours.....plus I wanted an empty cooler to carry back to the car.....with two big eating kids, mission accomplished.

How did you ring in the first day of summer?

Click the link for directions and information on Pt. Reyes National Seashore beaches.

Thank you for taking time out of your busy day to leave a comment, I love to hear from you!. Have a fantastic day!

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Abbotts Lagoon~Pt. Reyes National Seashore

With Bryce being on spring break this week, and some nice spring weather here, I thought it would be fun to take the kids on an impromptu beach adventure.   We ate lunch and left for Pt. Reyes National Seashore, which is about 25 minutes from home.

Our favorite beach was waiting for us, or so we thought.  Heart's Desire Beach is in Tomales Bay State Park, but it was CLOSED!  Must be due to California budget cuts or just happens to be closed on Tuesdays.

We continued on through the park to see what other adventure we could find.  There are SO many beaches that we haven't explored out in the park, we were bound to find something.

And we did......Abbotts Lagoon. 

Now, I'm a total Gilligan's Island fan, so when I read 'lagoon' I was in.

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A Sea of Jellyfish

Yesterday we drove out to our favorite beach area in Tomales Bay - Pt. Reyes National Seashore with our friends, the Taylors.  It was a foggy day when we headed out but it turned out to be beautiful at the coast a little while later.  A warm 65-70 degrees, bright and sunny, once the fog cleared at around noon.

It must be jellyfish season {is there such a thing?} in the bay this time of year because there were literally hundreds of them we could see.  Tomales bay is really shallow for quite a distance from the beach which is perfect for kids to play in, as long as they dodge the Aurelia Jellyfish that sometime hang out there.....and this was the requirement for yesterday's beach trip.

The 'big daddy' in the photo below was taken at the beach line and was the size of a large dinner plate.

With so many of these transparent creatures in the water, it felt kind of like we were being invaded by alien beings.  Eerie and kind of cool at the same time. 

The beach itself was covered with dead jellyfish.  Of course I wanted to know the reason behind this and looked it up on Wikipedia as soon as I got home.  According to them, the Aurelia Jellyfish die after living and producing for several months.  It's rare for them to live more than six months in the wild.  Apparently, the warm water at the end of summer combines with exhaustive daily reproduction and lower levels of food for tissue repair, leaving these jellyfish more susceptible to bacterial and other diseases which in turn, leads to their death.

Now we know why we found hundreds of jellyfish carcass scattered along the beach.  It's always fun to incorporate some education when the opportunity presents itself.....for the kids and myself.

Well, the dead jellyfish provided HOURS of entertainment for the kids.......okay, mainly for Bryce who took it upon himself to collect all of them {with a stick} and pile them up neatly.  Beach 'clean up'.

This was only the beginning.....the pile grew and grew into a blob-like creation.

Paige played on the sand bar while the clean-up was happening.  She didn't want to have anything to do with the jellyfish...dead or alive.

After the clean-up, the kids fed the seagulls.

This seagull scored a wheat thin.

We drove home at around 5p.m.  Here is a photo of the ocean side with the fog lingering and ready to move back in.

All in all, a great day at Tomales Bay......warm, educational, and fun all wrapped up in one afternoon.

Happy Wednesday!

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