Mountain Mom and Tots

Carpinteria State Beach, California

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Playing at the beach is the perfect way to spend a summer day. But since I live in the mountains, I don’t get to as often as I’d like. On our recent trip to Carpinteria State Beach in Southern California, we camped at the coveted Carpiteria State Beach Campground. Reservations for this campground sell out six months in advance, but luckily the tot’s aunt had an extra space and invited us to use it.

The beach at Carpinteria is known to be family friendly. I was pleased to see a gentle surf and plenty of sand and seashells to hunt. I was less thrilled with the oil rigs out in the ocean, obscuring an otherwise perfect view of the unending horizon.

The campground has private bathrooms, outdoor showers and kitchen sinks, plus warm private showers at a quarter a piece. The walk from camp to the ocean is less than thirty seconds, and was the closest I have ever been to living at the ocean.

Big E and little g joined their cousin Eden for some fun in the sun and the sand. The highlight of their trip was chasing waves and digging, digging, digging. Perhaps that’s why my tent and sleeping bag were covered in sand for the entire week.

When they weren’t playing at the beach, the tots spent time playing at the Carpinteria State Beach’s playground, which was a quick walk or bike down the campground trail. We also enjoyed quick trips to the nearby Foster’s Freeze, as well as a longer drive to visit Old Mission Santa Barbara. There we enjoyed perusing scenes from the recent chalk art festival, while little g napped in the car.

If you have a chance to visit Carpinteria State Beach, do it. My only complaint was the sand accompanying me everywhere, including into my sleeping bag and tent. Next time, I might try an RV.

Carpinteria State Beach, California

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Big E and little g examining anemones.

Our family vacation this summer was a week long camping trip to Carpinteria State Beach in Southern California. With the gentle surf and long stretches of sandy shore, it was easy to see why Carpinteria has a reputation for one of the best family beaches in the nation. The tots were thrilled not only with the ocean, but all the wildlife they saw as well.

Not only is this giant starfish doing some amazing acrobatics, it’s in the process of eating a mussel.

As a Mountain Mom, the ocean is an unfamiliar place to me, exotic and powerful. In previous trips to the sea I had never explored tide pools; I hadn’t even realized that was something I could do. But on this trip to Carpinteria State Beach, observing the amazing sea life was the highlight of the vacation.

Watch those toes!

A few days before our trip, I took the tots to The Living Planet Aquarium and got a preview of what to expect. At Carpinteria we saw hermit crabs, sand crabs, star fish, brittle stars, anemones, sea slugs and sea snails in person. It was awesome.

The starfish were plentiful, and beautiful.

Tide pools are explorable only during low tides, which happen first thing in the morning. The gentle rhythm of the waves and the diversity of sea life helped wake up me and the tots, not to mention the cool waters soaking our feet. Big E and little g loved seeing all the cool creatures, except for the sea anemones, which would curl into themselves if the tots touched them. When they were done watching creatures they enjoyed climbing on rocks and digging in the wet sand, even in the early morning hours.

I’m not sure what this was, but it looked cool.

The whole family enjoyed exploring the tide pool creatures at Carpinteria State Beach. If you’re headed to the ocean this summer, you don’t want to miss the tide pools.

I love that Mountain Dad is wearing a flannel shirt and fleece vest at the beach.

Happy Fathers Day Mountain Dad!

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You Might be a Mountain Dad if…

You’re more likely to be found on a hike than mowing the lawn on a Saturday morning.

Your kids ask, “Do we have to go camping again?”

Your dream vacation includes dirt, campfires, a four wheeler and some explosions.

You pack bear spray everywhere you go.

You can name every person on Duck Dynasty.

Requirements for a Mountain Dad:

1. Love your kids.

2. Love the outdoors.

NOTE: Numbers one and two are interchangeable, just don’t tell the kids if you love the outdoors more.

To all the Mountain Dads out there, I hope your fathers day is a great one.

To my favorite Mountain Dad, thanks for getting me into the outdoors all those years ago when we started dating.

Storm Mountain Amphitheater, Big Cottonwood Canyon, Salt Lake City, Utah

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One of the benefits of living in Utah is the incredible access to the outdoors. Anywhere on the Wasatch Front is within a thirty minute drive of the mountains. On this adventure with the tots, I joined some friends from the Rocky Mountain Mommas meetup group for a campfire at Storm Mountain Amphitheater picnic area in Big Cottonwood Canyon near Salt Lake City.

My nephew, the tots and I loved exploring everything Storm Mountain had to offer. The boys loved climbing on the big rocks and foraging through the forest near our group campsite (number 1). We cooked hot dogs and marshmallows over the fire, and discovered some awesome s’mores techniques. (Try topping your roasting marshmallow with a rolo. When you pull it off the candy will sink inside the mallow!)

Big E spent most of his time running around with the older boys but little g was much more interested in following the wildlife. In addition to a visiting crow, attacking moth, hungry deer and some bugs, little g was a big fan of a duck named Donna that waddled up for a visit several times during our adventure. Big E liked the duck for other reasons.

Storm Mountain Amphitheater Picnic area is a beautiful place to spend an afternoon. A river meanders through the picnic area, it’s melodic gurgling combining with other sounds of wildlife to make a forest symphony.The tots loved throwing rocks in the water, which seems to be their favorite outdoor pastime anywhere we go.

In my opinion, the best feature of the area was the playground located at the base of the Storm Mountain. Here Big E, little g and cousin Adam ran, climbed and slid amidst the wafting smell of campfire smoke and crisp fresh air. Storm Mountain Amphitheater is a rock climbers playground as well, with several routes headed up the jagged crags around the trails.

The picnic area gets its name from the amphitheater that was built by workers during the great depression. It’s a picturesque location for a group activity, set beside the backdrop of rocky crags and verdant forest. The fee for a single family picnic site is eight dollars, sixteen for a double site. With all the fun my kids had I think that was money well spent.

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You Might be a Mountain Dad if…

Requirements for a Mountain Dad:

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