An unexpected adventure

One Saturday, we set off with friends to find a park in south Orange County that I had read about. We never found the park, but spoke to some soccer moms who recommended that we salvage our afternoon by visiting the Ocean Institute. They gave us directions, and we were on our way. I had never even heard of this place, although Frances' friend Colby had apparently been there on a school field trip.

They had several "touch pools," in which were sea cucumbers, anemones, and sea stars. Docents were available to tell us all about the creatures we were looking at. At one point during the afternoon, an announcement was made about the opportunity to participate in a squid dissection! Carrie and most of our kids were all for it, but Frances was a bit squeamish. I took one-year-old Corbin outside in his stroller, and he and I watched Frances use a low wall as a balance beam, while the rest of the crew dissected a small squid.

We also saw the skeleton of a whale, and a really cool documentary about one specific whale and the things it encountered during its lifetime. Fascinating.

So, although we did not follow our original plan of going to the park, and despite the two ten-year-olds being determined to not have a good time (because they are just too cool for it all) we managed to have a really fun afternoon down near the ocean!