President's Day at Morro Bay

We went to a fun little museum on Monday that we'd never been to called the Museum of Natural History in Morro Bay. It was all hands-on science stuff, and my boys just loved it. They're already asking when we can go back. And Spencer said he especially liked that it wasn't annoyingly environmental, like these things tend to be. Kids under 16 are free, and adults are $3.

It's right next to the bird estuary at the end of the bay.


There were birds flying all around us, and the boys all got binoculars to use. There were also a bunch of stuffed birds and animals inside.

Spencer took this one. It's some kind of whale. I think he has an eye for composition, don't you? His pictures are so artistic and creative. Plus it has shallow depth-of-field and bokeh. Pioneer Woman would be proud.


I don't remember what he was pointing at, but I really like this picture. It's such a natural expression, and I like his reflection in the window.

They each got a worksheet when we arrived, and they had to find the answers throughout the museum. If they made any effort to fill it out, they got a free prize at the end.


Their prize: bird whistles! They were very excited, and the sound was so soft and pretty that it didn't annoy me to have 4 of them chirping.

This is down the hill from the museum. I love boat docks.


Afterwards we drove around the bay to hike at the Elfin Forest. The last time we went there was probably 2 kids ago and Spencer was the only one who remembered it. This is a perfect hike for little kids. It's short and easy and has pretty views and lots of different kinds of vegetation to see. Plus the name is super cute.

The boys would run on ahead while I kept stopping to taking pictures of flowers.

When they got to a bench or crossroads they'd stop and wait for me to catch up.

These are the perfect flowers for shallow depth-of-field.

There were lots of short trees (thus the name Elfin) covered with moss. Too bad we couldn't climb on them - we were supposed to stay on the path.


California poppy, our state flower. I love looking through the viewfinder, seeing nothing but blurriness, then turning the manual focus until a little flower pops into focus. It's so fun.


The hike winds around a hill and ends at a beautiful spot overlooking the estuary.

As you can see, Levi was pretty beat by this point. He even fell asleep on the way home, which is almost unheard of for him. He's getting a cold. Again.

Brennan started getting tired and lagging behind by the end, and I had to hold his hand to help him keep up. I love this picture of him walking slow and making truck noises.

It was a chilly, cloudy day, but at least it didn't rain. Afterwards we went to In-N-Out for dinner. It was a fun outing, and the boys (who started the day cranky that they had to do chores), thanked me profusely for my fun ideas. Sometimes we just need to get out of the house.