Day three of our trip started with this view...
Beautiful!
We spent the morning relaxing on the beach, building sandcastles, looking for sea shells, and trying to get Landry to put his feet in the water. :)
Landry and I worked on a pretty cool sandcastle.
He was very focused on the roads.
Not going to lie...I think our castle turned out pretty cool.
Clearly, it wasn't the most structurally sound castle...but it had some seaweed flourish...and that's what counts when building a sandcastle...right?
The weather was perfect...sunny, warm, nice breeze. The water was a bit cold but nothing like it is in Pismo. We did get Landry to finally get his feet wet...and then he fell down...and that game was over. :)
It took quite a bit of coaxing just to get these pictures...and a LOT of reassuring that he would NOT get wet.
That afternoon we headed to Stearn's Wharf.
On the wharf they have a wonderful little aquarium, the Ty Warner Sea Center.
It isn't nearly as big as the Monterey Bay Aquarium but it is still pretty neat. If you have been to the aquarium in Avila...it is a little larger than that one.
Landry immediately wanted to check out the tide pools.
They have a small octopus...that is quite active!
One of the neatest things...in my opinion...is at the back of the center they have a small science lab area set-up. In this area they have an opening down to the water, where the kids can send nets down into the water, and catch sea creatures. Some of the kids actually caught some crabs while we were there!
Landry wasn't interested in catching anything...but he did work with one of the staff members to determine the clarity of the water. Here he is pulling up the tool...I forgot what it was called. :)
After following the directions, we determined that you could see 7ft down into the water.
A fun fact...that water is only 13 feet deep underneath the wharf.
The sea center also had a jelly fish exhibit going on.
I could watch them all day long!
They have a large whale hanging from the ceiling...Landry thought it was pretty cool.
Checking out the sharks...you can actually pet them!
Don't worry...Landry had NO interest in petting a shark. :)
Here is one of many shark eggs they have on display.
You could actually watch the little sharks move around inside the egg...pretty cool.
Landry's favorite part...hands down...was the touch pools with the starfish, sea cucumbers, and urchins.
I think we spent about 45 minutes touching, holding, and "watching" the animals.
Chad and I joked that he seems to have a liking for the most inactive animals...elephants, alligators, starfish, urchins...he cracks us up!
Seriously, if he would have had his way, we would have stayed there all. day. long.
We finally got him talked into leaving to check out the rest of the wharf.
Here is a quick picture of the view of Santa Barbara from the wharf...stunning!
Next on our list of fun...the Lil' Toot boat ride!
I had read about this online, before our trip, and was secretly so excited about it.
It is this darling little boat...seriously how cute is it...that takes you from the wharf to the harbor...and it is super cheap.
Even better...right?
Landry was a little nervous at first, because the boat was rocking quite a bit while everyone got on, but he quickly warmed up.
During the ride, the "tour guide" gave information about the harbor and different fun facts about it. Here is a large vessel they use to keep the sand from building up in the harbor.
When it isn't being used...many animals use it as a home...like sea lions...and...
just a few pelicans!
Our normally shy, quiet, reserved little man jumped at the opportunity to drive the boat. They let all of the kids have a turn...and he couldn't wait!
On the way back he was the only child that wanted to drive...so he got to drive the entire way!
Everyone complimented him on his good driving...and he even called it "his" boat. :)
We had a great morning at the beach and lots of fun on the wharf...wonderful way to end our trip.
The next morning Landry got a little teary eyed when he found out we were going home.
His quote, "But I love the Santa Barbara Beach and our nice hotel. I don't want to go." I think he had fun...what do you think? Another clear sign that it was a good trip...even Chad said it was a lot of fun. I know. Crazy! I was really proud of him for "unplugging" for the few days and just relaxing. :)
On a side note...
one of the funnier conversations during the trip was when Landry was asking me about my phone.
Landry: "Mommy...when you were little did you have a phone like this?"
Me: "Nope. When I was little they didn't have phones like this."
Landry: "So you had a phone like Daddy's?"
Me: "No...when I was little we didn't have cell phones. We only had phones like that."
(pointing to the land-line phone in the hotel room)
Landry...with a very confused look on his face: "What? You couldn't bring your phone with you?"
Me: "Nope, you couldn't. You had to stay at home to talk to someone on the phone."
He just shook his head at this response! :)
He became quite fascinated with the land-line phone...no, we do not have a land-line phone...and when we were in the room he would spend most of his time just listening to the dial tone or "calling" Nawnie and telling her about what we were doing. It was quite hilarious!
