Russian Gultch State Park

This is the last of my beach posts... Enjoy!These are pictures from the afternoon we spent at Russian Gultch State Park. It was lovely and slightly sheltered, which provided some protection from the wind and cold.Holly was eager to get out of the car and into the sand to play. In order to get to a nice sandy spot we had to walk through a stream that was a combination of the Creek from the river going towards the oceans and tide pools from High Tide.Playing with Bucket Here Holly is at Russian Gultch State Park playing with her Bucket in the sand with Mommy.I think this was my favorite outing from the trip. We really enjoyed all that the Northern California Coast has to offer. I actually enjoyed that it was slightly overcast and that I didn't spend the afternoon feeling my arms and face burn from the sun.After we found or spot we finally convinced Daddy to let us play with the water in the sand, it was a messy affair but well worth it.At first Daddy said it was too cold, but mommy said that we couldn't build sand castles with out water. In an effort to find some we dug down deep looking for damp sand and created a little pit for Holly to sit in.Eventually it was Nana Mary who gave in first and filled out bucket with water. Holly squealed with delight. She splashed and stirred the water and eventually dumped it all out on top of herself, but of course, that's the fun of it.Once Daddy realized that Holly would not turn into a Popsicle and say how fast the sun did dry up the water and her top he got us some more, and with that we build these little mini castles, Holly helped get the wet sand into the form and mommy helped pack it tight and flip it over.Holly really liked the varying textures of the wet and dry sand and this sand was really nice, it didn't get muddy in the water, it kept its sandy grit and was easy to wipe off her hands when she wanted them clean.She did get dirty though, but that's what kids do, especially at the beach. We had a lot of fun soaking in the scenery, listening to the waves and watching the birds.After a while Daddy didn't even mind when Holly dumped the water on herself, and it did clean her off a bit. She really liked watching it get soaked into the ground, and well she just loves water.It was fun watching her experiment and figure out how things work, and I had a lot of fun digging in the sand too. it will be so awesome when she is big enough to make her own sand castles.I love her little feet they are so adorable, and as far as sensory things go, she did amazing, walking int he sand, and the wet sand, it is more then a lot of kids could handle, but she sort of relished in it.I think that speaks towards her sensory seeking behavior, she liked to bury both her own feet and Mommies too.On the way back Mommy convinced Daddy to let Holly walk through the creek and into the tide pools, He said it was too cold, but she so loves the water, it is kind of hard to say no to her.At first we were just going to walk from one side to the other, quick like, then rinse off at the other side in the parking lot. Mommy walked through also, so that I would know exactly what the temperature was like (it wasn't "that" cold)But soon that plan was side tracked by a wandering baby who just didn't want to leave. She wanted to walk all around and splash and explore.The log was supposed to be a "pathway" from one side to the other so you wouldn't have to get your feet wet, but I think its more trouble then it's worth, imagine trying to stay dry, just to fall in off a wobbly log.Holly however climbed over it back and forth several times. Eventually I could tell she was cold, and even though she didn't want to leave, i picked her up and we went back to the car where there was a spicket we could rinse off on, then we changed her into some warm cloths and all was well.The bridge at this state park is a bit of a famous landmark, so we were sure to get some photos of it, but what I thought was even cooler was this view directly under the bridge and across it. It was Joel's idea to get this picture, and I think it is so unique. Overall we had an amazing time at the beach, it was a successful first family vacation where we weren't staying at a relatives house, and though we brought about two car loads of stuff for the baby, it was a great first attempt, I think there are many "car hiking" trips in our future, Holly travels really well. But truth be told, she was ready to be home by the end of it, and she recognized home when we got there, and she was glad.