We Bite Stupid ~ Semi- Wordless Wednesday

Last weekend we ventured out to the Oceanside Pier.  The kids had a great time and we thoroughly enjoyed eating at the Ruby's Diner at the end of the over 1,000 foot pier.

On the way back we came upon this fantastic sign and the pelican sitting right next to it.  I've decided I need a ceramic sign for my front door saying "Warning: Dog bites stupid people".  Let's convince Amy at Beachy Keen Pottery to make one up!

Happy Wednesday!

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Summer Bucket List - Beach Day (Semi- Wordless Wednesday)

My boys are out for Summer vacation already!  Loving the early Summer!  Yesterday we had the chance to head down to our favorite beach - Crystal Cove State Beach in Newport Beach.  The boys had tons of fun exploring.

A beach day was number one on our Summer Bucket list.  What's on your list of must do activities for the Summer?  I'd love to hear about them and share them in guest posts!  Send me an email at OCMomActivites (at) Gmail (dot) com.

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Sand Castles at the Beach - Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday...  Sand Castles at the Beach...

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Surfing? Yeah... No thanks.

Ummm... yeah.  This is one reason you won't find me surfing out in the Pacific Ocean.  In a wave pool, maybe, but after this video taken off the coast of San Onofre Beach, CA it is clear I will never become an ocean surfer.

Me my Shark and I from Chuck Patterson on Vimeo.

Are you a surfer?  Have you ever seen sharks in the water around you?

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Our Recent Tidepooling at Crystal Cove - Wordless Wednesday

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Beach Clean-up in Seal Beach This Weekend

Looking for a great family activity this weekend here in the OC?  Head on over to Seal Beach for the monthly beach clean-up sponsored by Save Our Beach.  It starts at 9 am and goes till Noon.  Meet at the beach parking lot at the end of 1st street in Seal Beach.  Bring gloves and a trash grabber.  For more information head here.

It's a great way to teach your kids to respect and take care of the beach!

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Ambassadors of the Environment Program at the Ritz Carlton in Laguna Niguel

"People protect what they love...

teach the children to love the planet and they will protect it." 

-Jean Michel Cousteau

Hearing him say that in person at the launch event for the Ambassadors of the Environment program at the Ritz Carlton in Laguna Niguel echoed a sentiment I have felt for many years.  As an ocean loving Mom, you've probably noticed I have a tremendous amount of posts that relate to the ocean or nature in some way.  I always find myself heading to the beach when I need to just relax from a crazy day (or week or month!).  Teaching my kids to love the ocean is very important to me.  

I am so excited to hear and share information about some of the AMAZING programs that are being offered at the Ritz Carlton in Laguna Niguel, CA. The Ritz Carlton is partnering with the Ocean Futures Society to bring these amazing programs to Orange County. 

You don't have to be a guest at the hotel to register for them.  Everything from sustainable gardening, snorkeling in the nearby kelp forest (Ever seen the murky water off Dana Point?  I had never realized THAT is actually a kelp forest!), organic cooking, underwater photography, tide pooling, boogie boarding, whale watching and much much more.  The programs are very reasonably priced and with the world renowned hospitality of the Ritz Carlton, you know your kids will have an amazing time!  Go here for more information about these amazing programs.

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Beach Clean-up This Weekend in Huntington Beach

Looking for a fun family activity this Saturday (July 10th)?  Head on over to Huntington Beach from 9 a.m. - Noon for a beach clean-up.  It's a great way to teach kids to be more responsible about their trash, especially while at the beach.  Beach clean-ups were one of my favorite activities as a kid! 

• Meet where Beach Blvd meets the sand, and help us keep trash off of our beach and out of our ocean. Pull into parking area at Magnolia and drive towards Beach Blvd until you see blue canopy in the sand. As always, we provide parking passes, garbage bags, protective gloves (AND certificates for school credit).
• Please bring a light jacket - could be 55 to 80 degrees depending upon weather. Please bring your own sunscreen, work/garden gloves, reusable water bottles and trash grabbers so we don't create more trash.

For more information go here.

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Kool-Aid Fun Fizz- My Kids Love it!

Summer is here!  That means lots of trips to the beach, pool, park and other fun places.  In our house, we don't allow the kids to have sodas, very occasionally we allow the kids to have decaffeinated sodas like root beer or 7-up.  It's mostly water, milk and the rare juice for my boys.  But I always try to mix it up when we have a special event, like a BBQ. 

A couple weeks ago Kool-aid Fun Fizz sent me an advance sample of the new Kool-Aid Fun Fizz drink drops.  My kids were so excited because they had already seen the commercials.  So what did we do when they arrived?  We headed to the beach of course.  Talk about handy!  We grabbed a couple water bottles and once we got to the beach dropped the tablets in each water bottles.  The kids loved them giving them 2 thumbs up.

My opinion?  They are a great way to make water fun, especially if you have a kid with a picky palate!  We'll definitely always keep a few on hand when they kids are bored with water!  They are available at most grocery stores now, but you can find more information here.

(and by the way the photo above was from the day we headed to the beach!) 

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Sunset on the Balcony at the Ritz Carlton Laguna Niguel -Wordless Wednesday

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And that is why... Wordless Wednesday

You don't swim in the outlet of the creek at Aliso Creek Beach...

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Sunset at the Beach - Wordless Wednesday

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Wordless Wednesday...

Because I can't get enough beach pictures in...

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Wordless Wednesday Aliso Creek Beach

My boys showing off the coconut they found at the beach earlier this week.

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Hyatt Recency Huntington Beach Spa Discounts for Beach Clean-up

One of the biggest draws of people here in California is its’ beaches. But unfortunately from time to time people forget that the beach doesn’t clean itself! I can’t tell you how many beach clean-ups I have participated in over the years (I started waaaay back in Middle School!). It’s always been something I loved doing (any excuse to go to the beach!) but am always saddened to see the junk that people leave at the beach. Kinda leaves you wondering if people forget what the garbage cans are there for! I’ve personally found everything from syringes to wrappers to hundreds of cigarette butts to let’s just not mention… Gross!!!


When I found out that the Pacific Waters Spa at the Hyatt Regency in Huntington Beach Resort & Spa would be offering fantastic discounts to participants in the upcoming OC Coastal Clean-up Day on September 19th, I knew I had to share it! Volunteers who take advantage of the Pacific Waters Spa discount will have access to the resort’s 20,000 square foot spa that includes a full-service beauty spa, 24 hour health club, Jacuzzi, steam room, sauns, outdoor co-ed relaxation garden with waterfall and a spa retail store! They are offering a drastically discounted rate of $99 (normally $145!!!) for the Pure Results Facial for participants in the Coastal Clean-up effort! What a deal!! To get your coupon click here and for more information about the Coastal Clean-up click here.


Get your kids started in volunteering early and teach them some great personal responsibility at the same time!

For more information about the Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach click here.

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Tide Pooling Times for 9/2/09 - 9/9/09

Here are some of the photos from our last time tide pooling (at Aliso Creek State Beach) and the high/low tides for the next week (including the best times to go tide pooling here in Orange County, CA). Be sure to pop back on and post a comment if you did go tide pooling during one of these times and how it was! A quick reminder that the best time for tide pooling is when the tide is going out after a particularly high tide. You want to catch it before the new tide starts to come in.

There are some great ones over the next week, all of them falling in the afternoon to early evening. I’m highlighting & staring the best times to go tide pooling because there are so many of them! Click here for a post about our favorite beach to go Tide Pooling – Crystal Cove State Beach, Newport Beach, CA.


9/2/09
High 9:15 am & 8:41 pm
Low 3:01 am & 2:36 pm*


9/3/09
High 9:35 am & 9:12 pm
Low 3:23 pm & 3:06 pm*

9/4/09

High 9:55 am & 9:43 pm

Low 3:44 am & 3:38 pm*

9/5/09

High 10:17 am & 10:16 pm

Low 4:05 am & 4:12 pm*

9/6/09
High 10:40 am & 10:52 Pm
Low 4:26 am & 4:49 pm*


9/7/09
High 11:06 am & 11:32 pm
Low 4:47 am & 5:31 pm*


9/8/09
High 11:35 am
Low 5:08 am & 6:21 pm*


9/9/09
High 12:23 am & 12:11 pm
Low 5:30 am & 7:25 pm

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Waves From Tropical Storm Ignacio

Just had to share some of our pictures from Aliso Creek Beach earlier this evening (yes that is an adult in the photo!)... The waves are huge from Tropical Storm Ignacio just off the Baja California Coast is bringing in the large waves and causing dangerous rip currents - so be careful!

For more information about the wave warnings click here.

Happy wave watching!

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18,000 Reasons to Leave Your Flip Flops Outside Door!

I just found this piece on MSNBC and was HORRIFIED! Since I am a self proclaimed flip flop-aholic, I will from this very second on be spraying my flip flops with Lysol on a weekly basis, using hand sanitizer more frequently (maybe 3x a day instead of once) and continuing to enforce the no shoes in the house rules!

I have found since being a mother of two boys that a no shoes in the house rule has dramatically cut down on the need for carpet cleaning and general “stuff” that gets tracked in to the house. But I’m now re-thinking my shoes just inside the front door rule and seriously debating a leave them OUTSIDE the door rule.

Are you a flip flop fan? Will you change any of your habits in light of this article? Tell me about it! I'll be back after I bathe my flip flops in Lysol...

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Best Times to Go Tide Pooling in Orange County August 15 to August 22, 2009

The best times to go Tide Pooling in Orange County are August 20th at approximately 3:30pm, August 21st at 4:30 pm and August 22 at 5:20 pm. One of our favorite locations is Crystal Cove State Beach (click here). Enjoy!


High Tides/Low Tides

August 15
Highs 7:34 am & 5:25 pm
Lows 12:24 am & 10:25 pm

August 16
Highs 8:07 am & 6:31 pm
Lows 1:18 am & 12:04 pm

August 17
Highs 8:37 am & 7:27 pm
Lows 2:02 am & 1:10 pm

August 18
Highs 9:07 am & 8:17 pm
Lows 2:42 am & 2:05 pm

August 19
Highs 9:39 am & 9:05 pm
Lows 3:19 am & 2:55 pm

August 20
Highs 10:11 am & 9:52 pm
Lows 3:55 am & 3:43 pm

August 21
Highs 10:45 am & 10:37 pm
Lows 4:29 am & 4:32 pm

August 22
Highs 11:19 am & 11:25 pm

Lows 5:02 am & 5:23 pm

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Tide Pooling Time in Orange County!

One of our favorite family adventures in Southern California is Tide pooling. I’m always surprised to hear how many SoCal residents haven’t taken the time to go. Maybe it’s because I’m such a beach lover that it has naturally rubbed off on my children, who knows. But I’ve always found that I start to get the itch to go to the beach if it’s been more than a week or two. There’s just something about the sound of the waves crashing on the beach and the sweet smell of the ocean mist. Whatever it is – I’m hooked!

As I was “surfing” through the App store on my iPhone I found this really cool App called Tide Graph by Brainware. I downloaded it and have got to say it is pretty cool! Whether you’re a surfer, beachgoer or boater, this little App will definitely come in handy. What it allows you to do is find the tides according to your location (using GPS) and it tells you in real time where the tide is at (in feet) and shows you the wave curves so you easily know whether the tide is coming in our going out. No more guessing or having to look it up on the internet before going to the beach – it’s all right there on your phone!

And for those thinking “Oh, Cool! ... but I don’t have an iPhone!” Here are a few of the best times to go tide pooling here in Orange County, CA over the next week or so. (I’ll try an continue to post these under the Tides archive tag, so check back if you’re looking to go tide pooling.)

-Saturday 8/8/09- Low tide is at 5:04 pm and the tide will have dropped about 3 feet from it’s peak, so it should be a good one.

-Sunday 8/9/09- Low tide is at 5:30 am and 5:45 pm. If you’re game to get up early, I’d head out there at 8 am, the tide will be coming back in, but will still be pretty low after a high tide overnight.

-Monday 8/10/09- Almost the same as 8/9/09 with the tide not being quite a low.

-Tuesday 8/11/09- Low tide is at 7:43 pm and this is following a really high tide, so there should be some really cool tide pooling and a beautiful sunset to match!

Happy Tide Pooling!

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