On the Coast

Ethan's class took a trip over to the coast last May. They were able to visit four marine habitats. First was the rocky shore...


It was May, but we still needed jackets in the morning!



At the rocky shore, they were able to investigate the life found in tide pools.

such as barnacles...



They were all wearing waders, but a few kids still slipped and got wet. Fortunately, Ethan wasn't one of them!


Next was the sandy beach. We ate lunch here.




















The third habitat was the marsh. We were there at low tide, so the kids were able to use these suction devices made out of PVC to suck small creatures out of the mud. They would find a tiny air hole, put the device over the hole and pull up on the other pipe. Mud would be sucked into the pipe which they then deposited on the ground. With their hands, they dug through the mud for creatures. They found ghost shrimp, mud shrimp, and crabs.


Inside the marine science center, they participated in a class to see more ocean creatures up close.




The last habitat was the fouling community. Not birds as I thought. Not even this sea lion that was perched on the dock. The fouling community consists of all those creatures living on the underside of the docks and boats at the marina - barnacles, seaweed, small fish, etc. The kids lay down on their bellies on the docks and looked over the side to see what they could see. Made me just a little nervous that one might fall over, but everyone made it back safe and sound. It was a beautiful day for such an educational adventure!

Tulips

Yes, it's October, and I'm just now posting pictures from spring! That's how far behind I am or how much of a procrastinator I am. (Truly, the problem is my camera broke on this tulip outing. Everything I've taken since then has been on my iPhone, and I'm not good about getting the pictures off of it and on to here!)

Back in April, we visited the Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm about 20 miles or so north of Salem. They say the tulips grow so well here because we're about the same latitude as Holland. I don't know about that, but I do know they were the most beautiful flowers I have ever seen! Tulips are my favorite flower anyway, but it was hard to fathom how many were in this field. Supposedly every tulip they sell was planted here so you could see what it would look like in person rather than just on a catalog page. Simply amazing!



Some were grouped by color like those above. You can see the rows of color below. Those are the Cascades in the background.


Did you know tulips could look like this??



Some of the rows were mixed colors. It's not Where's Waldo, but Where's Ethan?




This is my favorite picture. Just happened to get the sunlight streaming through.