Day4: Beach Hopping

On our last full day camping we wanted it to be relaxing and stay close to our camp area. So we decided to go to Manchester beach this morning and play. We flew kites including Aubrey's Tinker Bell and Noah's trick kite. We built sand castles, driftwood forts,and enjoyed exploring the quiet beach. Where we found a lady bug in the sand and the Snowy Plover Birds. The landscape of the beach has changed since October, but it still is nice. We had a nice BBQ at the beach for lunch and soon after left for Greenwood State Beach.
This has become mine and Noah's favorite of all the beaches in the area. Just the view from the top of the bluff is amazing. As we walked down the beach we saw so many colorful flowers blooming. Once we got on the beach it is always a blast to go exploring. This time we found lots and lots of giant starfish. The only problem was they had gotten thrown onto the shore and were drying out and dying. They girls wanted to save them all, but they were to squishy to grab. So we left them sad about their fate. It is not a huge beach but it full of surprizes. One fun surprize were the deer tracks we found right in the sand next to the ocean. Our biggest surprize was that there was a very very deep stream running through one end of the beach. Last time we were able to explore the cave on this side. Not this time it was much to deep, swift, and colliding with the ocean.We decided it was safer to not cross and watched as the different sea birds enjoyed that side. The girls did enjoy throwing rocks in the stream. As we started to go in the other directon it was fun to see all the driftwood and giant redwoods on shore. We even found giant log sticking up and out of the sand. One was so long it fit all of us for a photo moment. At the other end we found an old tractor and more beautiful beach. This is why this beach is our favorite. There is always something to explore, it is never the same, no one is ever there and it is breathtaking.

Day3: Point Cabrillo Lighthouse and Glass Beach

This morning Autumn noticed that something got into our green cupcakes, left penny's lying around, and made a mess with flour on our picnic table. She knew exactly what it was: The Leprechaun! After our St. Patricks morning surprise we headed to Point Cabrillo Lighthouse. It was a beautiful sunny day. By the time we made it to the lighthouse after having to stop several times we decided to eat lunch before we walked down to the lighthouse. It is a mile walk down to the lighthouse and the girls were excited to show grandma. Our walk down was beautiful and everyone took in all the sights. Our 1st stop was at the lighthouse keepers home. It was really cool to see how they lived and how different their home was compared to ours. Our 2nd stop was at some overlooks and small building that has aquariums set up with sea life and hands on fun for the kids. It is sure is gorgeous here. We could have stayed and looked forever. The 3rd stop was the Point Cabrillo Lighthouse itself. I wish we could have gone up to the top where the lens is kept, but they only give tours 4 times a year. The girls love to color pictures that they have in a kids area. It is a small lighthouse, but full of history.
On our way up to Fort Bragg we stopped at the girls favorite beach: Glass Beach.They love it here. This beach used to be the dump in the early 1900s and they would dump lots of glass off the sides. As time goes by the waves crashing and tumbling the glass on the beach has made it smooth and shiny. The girls love go through all the glass and find all the different color. Even Noah and I love to look through all the Glass and find our favorites. I like the royal blue and ruby red glass. After glass beach we took Noah's mom out to dinner for her birthday . We ate in Noyo Harbor at Silver's at the Wharf. The food was pretty good, we had a great bus boy who Autumn thought was very cute, and we had a nice view. We ended the night by getting ice cream at Cowlicks. It has become one of our favorite stops.