scenes from the beach : day 1

Our first full day in Florence I wanted to take the kids out to my favorite beach while the tide was out. This little section of rocky beach has the most incredible tide-pools and if you're adventurous enough to step lightly along the rocky formations you'll be rewarded with one small pool of sea creatures and crustaceans after another. I'd be likely to say that there are well over 100 tidal pools in an area that stretches maybe a quarter mile. It's quite impressive! We found starfish, sea anemones, mussels, barnacles, and a few tiny hermit crabs. The kids walked along the beach collecting sea shells and I started my own collection of drift wood sticks - I have a project in mind for those later on! Today we're heading out to the beach again and maybe a little shopping in town. I'm taking in as much of this cool ocean air as possible while we're here!

Great Grandma Judy and Great Grandpa Howard drove down from Washington to meet us at the house and spend a few days with us! I need to make a point to take lots of photos with all of the grandparents while we're here!