February 15, 2012 by Outdoors Mom
My boys love to build. Beaches full of driftwood are a real favourite with our family and keep everyone occupied for hours.
First you have to select your materials:
Good sticks
Then it’s time to build
Focus
And then this bit goes there
Then relax and enjoy the view
There are many things I love about this activity: it’s outside, it engages the boys’ creative thinking, it’s pretty much self-directed and it pushes their imagination. The fort doesn’t have to be entirely ‘finished’ for them to enjoy it.
Posted in Beaches, Boys Activities, Unstructured Play, Wilderness Activities | Tagged driftwood forts, fort building, forts, playing with driftwood, Toddlers at the beach | Leave a Comment »
February 14, 2012 by Outdoors Mom
pretty
We’re already noticing signs of spring along the trails here. Anyone know what these are?
Posted in Short Hikes, Wilderness Activities | Tagged signs of spring, wild flowers | Leave a Comment »
January 10, 2012 by Outdoors Mom
We were lucky last weekend that a negative tide occurred on a gloriously sunny afternoon and fit in perfectly with the PuppyDog’s naptime. The shore at the Reserve is always beautiful but on a negative tide day, when the sea goes out especially far, the rocks and tidepools are revealed and accessible from the beach and it becomes an irresistable destination for small people. The boys both had a wonderful time clambering around on the rocks and checking out the marine life in the pools.
Surf, tidepools, and harbor seals
The PuppyDog flouting Reserve rules
Before we went down to the beach, we stopped off at the visitors centre to pick up a guide to the tidepool creatures on the beach. The Monkey loved identifying all the animals he found. He especially loved the giant starfish and sea anemones.
"It's a sea enemy Mommy!"
It was a great toddler day out — just make sure to being several changes of clothes and either water sandals or wellington boots if you plan to go down for the next low tide.
Posted in Beaches | Tagged beach with toddlers, Fitzgerald Marine Reserve, negative tide, rock pools, tide pools | 1 Comment »
January 3, 2012 by Outdoors Mom
We’ve only recently discovered this little gem in Cupertino, but it’s quickly become a favorite with the boys.
The boys on the trail
There are wonderful fallen trees to climb on and jump off:
A Puppy Dog in a tree
Nothing improves a hike like things to jump off
A numbered nature trail to follow:
Mom, there are numbers in the woods!
and a creek to throw stones in (complete with handy natural barrier to prevent soggy children).
Hmm..now how can I get into the water?
What’s so lovely about this little park is how wild it feels even though it’s small and surrounded by suburbia. And how empty – we’ve never seen other hikers there on any visit. McClellan Ranch is also beautifully maintained and it warms my heart that it’s treasured so much by the locals that there is never any trash to be found. A perfect toddler trek destination on a sunny afternoon.
Posted in Short Hikes, Uncategorized | Tagged hiking with children, Hiking with toddlers, McClellan Ranch, Toddler treks | Leave a Comment »
November 3, 2011 by Outdoors Mom
This weekend we found an awesome, kid friendly and interesting-to-adults trail in Los Trancos Open Preserve: the San Andreas Fault Trail. The trail was wide enough for a jog stroller but The Monkey walked the whole way, and The Puppy Dog most of the way.
The Monkey running down the trail map in hand
Puppy Dog liked it too
There was lots for the kids to look at — interesting trees and flowers, little rabbits and a family of deer. There’s also a guided walk with points of geographical interest. The Monkey loved running ahead and finding the numbered posts that marked each landmark and then finding them on the map. It was really neat to see him understand how maps work and how the things represented there relate to the real world. His parents enjoyed the information on the San Andreas fault–we learnt lots about pressure ridges and sag ponds, and how fault features looked like great building spots to early settlers until they realised what had made them.
An exercise in map reading
It was also a nice trail to use to talk to The Monkey about earthquakes and to help him make sense of the earth quake drills that he’s been having at school in previous weeks. Broken fences and mis-shaped trees made great visuals to help him understand what an earthquake is.
A fence split asunder by a quake
Looking down the fault--deadly but beautiful
Posted in Short Hikes, Uncategorized | Tagged hiking, hiking with kids, Hiking with toddlers, Los Trancos Open Space Preserve, San Andreas fault, short hikes | Leave a Comment »
November 1, 2011 by Outdoors Mom
- Dancing on the Beach
This October in North California has been glorious. We’ve spent each weekend at the shore and keep discovering ever nicer beaches. Manresa State Beach may now be my all time favourite for this bit of the coast. It’s a little off the beaten path, is usually completely empty and is spectacularly gorgeous.
Do beaches get any nicer?
I love the super gentle slope down to the sea and how shallow the water remains for 100 feet or so off shore. The Monkey really enjoyed running in and out of the waves and was dancing on the shore with glee when we first arrived last weekend.
running in and out of the surf
The boys had great fun digging, checking out the many crab carcasses that littered the beach, paddling, jumping in holes and driving their trucks along the shore.
- Perfect sand for trucks
Plus, there was plenty of wildlife to watch. The Puppy Dog loved chasing the sea gulls and watching the birds and, on this visit, we were joined by a pod of playful dolphins for about an hour. They were leaping out of the water and surfing in the waves. As the group was only 100 yards or so from shore, Mommy and Daddy took turns to swim out and join them (I find the water in the Bay here significantly warmer than at Half Moon Bay and fine for swimming on a hot day). It was one of those afternoons that make me infinitely thankful that we live in such a beautiful part of the world: what can be better than watching two happy, sandy babies run free on the beach and swimming with wild dolphins in the October surf?
- Dolphins. Honest.
There are only very basic amenities at this beach — just a small car park and toilet block. And there is the usual $10 day use fee. But if you want an empty, remote (ish), beautiful beach perfect for toddlers, I don’t think you can beat Manresa. We’ll certainly be there a lot again next year.
Posted in Beaches, Uncategorized | Tagged dolphin spotting, good beaches for toddlers, Manresa State Beach, Santa Cruz | Leave a Comment »
November 1, 2011 by Outdoors Mom
We love this great little park off Kings Mountain Road in Woodside. There is a small day use fee ($6), but that seems pretty good value for a family day out. The trails here are beautiful, shady and well maintained. We usually take the single jog stroller up into the hills there with no trouble.
- Plenty of room for strollers
There’s plenty for the kids to look at along the way: the trails are bumpy, there are lots of fallen trees (my three year old loves speculating what happened whenever he sees a fallen tree), spiders, banana slugs and, at this time of year, masses of colourful leaves.
The park also has great amenities and we usually stop for a post hike snack in the picnic area. I particularly like hanging out by the volleyball pit which serves as a sand play area for my little ones. There’s also a nice grassy hill next to it which the kids love to run up and down.
- The Puppy Dog in the sandpit
Both kids got really into hiking at Huddart, and I love that they are spotting things in the natural world for themselves and then asking about them. The Monkey was particularly fascinated by banana slugs this visit, and the Puppy Dog paid close attention to the curly moss growing on the trees along the trail.
- My little tree hugger
I also love how empty this park is. Our group were the only people we saw during the visit and the kids could run wild and be noisy without fear of disturbing anyone.
Posted in Short Hikes | Tagged hiking with kids, Hiking with toddlers, Huddart Park, jog stroller friendly trails, trails for kids, trails for toddlers, Woodside | Leave a Comment »
October 26, 2011 by Outdoors Mom
We love going to the shore, and North Cali beaches seem to be at their finest in October. There’s just one problem. Pumpkins. It takes more intrepid souls than us to sit in three hour traffic to Half Moon Bay on October weekends, so we’ve used the past few weeks to check out some more Santa Cruz beaches. New Brighton State Beach has quickly become a favourite. It’s absolutely beautiful and usually (by my European standards) really, really empty. An added plus in October are the monarch butterflies–we were surrounded by them on the short walk down to the sand.
The beach here is wide and slopes gently to the sea.: perfect for sand play and paddling. The boys loved it.
- The Puppy Dog had a magnificent time
- Look Mom! Sand!
There was plenty of parking right by the beach. I should mention there is a $10 charge to park: coming from England I think that is entirely reasonable for a day use fee, but I did meet one American who thought it was outrageous. The state beach is nicely maintained. There aren’t many amenities, but there are basic bathrooms and a great outdoor shower to de-sand toddlers.
We stopped in Capitola on the way home and found a fish and chip supper with this view. Hard to beat.
Who needs pumpkins anyhow.
Posted in Beaches, Uncategorized | Tagged babies on the beach, Capitola, New Brighton State Beach, Santa Cruz, toddlers on the beach | Leave a Comment »
October 3, 2011 by Outdoors Mom
The Redwood Grove Nature Preserve in Los Altos is one of my boys’ favorite local spots. This hidden gem lies just off University Avenue a hundred feet south of better known Shoup Park. There are no big signs, and no designated parking. You just find a spot on University and head down the paved road into the forest.
At the bottom of the road you enter the speckled light of a beautiful old redwood grove. There is a wide boardwalk trail winding through the trees and along Adobe Creek which is easy to navigate with kids and strollers. My toddlers love running along this boardwalk, and I can relax and let them explore safe in the knowledge that no cars or bikes will come whizzing past. At places you can climb down off the trail and play in the creek (although it does dry up completely towards the end of summer) and there’s plenty of opportunity for wildlife spotting. The Monkey has become quite adept at finding and pointing out every banana slug in the grove. We usually take a bucket along for collecting leaves and sticks as there is so much for the boys to notice.
Where's the water?
At one side of the boardwalk there is a grassy area complete with picnic tables and hay bales to climb on which makes an excellent snack stop, and from there you can also head up the short hillside track and check out the old, dis-used animal cages and vegetable garden.
Look at Me Mom! (He was three hay bales high)
There’s plenty to keep busy little ones happy, and there is something magical about the place. It’s so quiet and secluded that it’s hard to imagine you’re in the heart of Silicon Valley. In fact, each time we’ve been, our group has been the only people there. I think it’s Los Altos’ best kept secret. We intend to keep going back all winter to watch how the forest and creek change throughout the winter season and to enjoy as much peace and seclusion as one can with two toddling companions.
Posted in Short Hikes, Uncategorized | Tagged banana slugs, Hiking with toddlers, Los Altos Parks, Redwood Grove, Redwood Grove Nature Preserve, Shoup Park | Leave a Comment »
October 2, 2011 by Outdoors Mom
Last week we checked out Edgewood Park for a spot of hiking. The Edgewood trails are great for summer as most of them just wind through shady forests, and those that do emerge into the upper grasslands usually have a nice breeze (as well as wonderful views).
Tree Tunnel
The paths are quite steep and windy which my kids enjoy, but this is definitely a park for the more serious hiking family. You do have to put in some work to get above the tree line and enjoy the views. The preserve works for us on those days when my toddler is in an easy-going mood and is happy to meander around. On those days when he needs a destination, and he needs to get to it quickly, I usually choose another park. I no longer take the double jog stroller–pushing that up to the upper meadows last spring was serious work–but you can make it up with a single jog stroller easily enough if you don’t mind some steep inclines.
Other than the trails, this preserve has a couple of nice features for pre-school age kids. There are numerous rocky areas for scrambling and lizard spotting, and a big, old, short drainage tunnel which is fun to play in during the summer months.
- Are you in there?
Edgewood preserve has nicer amenities than most. Just past the lower car park, a little way up the hill, there are toilets and bathrooms and a shady picnic area by a field where toddlers can let off steam. My only complaint about Edgewood is the parking. The two car parks are tiny and usually full, which means having to park on Edgewood Road and loading and unloading toddlers into heavy traffic. Afternoons seem slightly better than mornings for grabbing a spot.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Edgewood Park and Natural Preserve, Edgewood Preserve, Hiking with toddlers | Leave a Comment »
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