Long Beach Nature Center

Today my sister-n-law and I took our kids to the Nature Center in Long Beach. I remember going there as a kid, but I didn't remember just how isolated it really seems, even though it is smack dab in the middle of a big city. There are two trails to choose from, the 1 mile and the 2 mile, being that we had 5 kids ages 4 and under we chose the 1 mile trail. I had originally thought we could get through it in about 45 minutes and finish just in time for lunch. I was wrong! The kids really enjoyed taking their time exploring, watching the turtles, squirrels, ducks, fish, dragonfly's and butterflies.
The only problem was that 1. they are little, so their legs get tired pretty easily and 2. we forgot to bring snacks, so the kids ended up being hungry = fussy. My very laid back little boy, who almost never complains, ended up crying the last half hour or so asking to 'hold me'...meaning he wanted me to carry him. Normally, I wouldn't have minded, but this then meant that Elsie was free to escape and get to close to the water's edge or go adventuring into the tree's leaving her with many scratches. Kya was having quite the time exploring, finding every little acorn, rock, leaf, etc. I would have loved to sit back and let her explore, but like I said earlier, we had tired/hungry kids. Hopefully next time I will be more prepared and then Kya can explore her heart out!


Elsie and Seth checking out the turtles below. Lots of fun for the kids, but a bit scary for mom as the railing bars have large gaps and the kids kept wanting to climb up on them for a better view (i.e. check out where Elsie's feet are!). I could just see one of them sliding between the railings and falling down into the mucky water and I was not in the mood to go diving in after them! lol
A better view of the turtles.

The ducks here are very friendly. There are signs everywhere saying to not feed the ducks, but I am guessing that people do, because they kept coming up out of the water whenever we came near. Of course, as soon as the kids tried to pet them, they would waddle back into the safety of the water.

Even though all I could get were the backsides of Elsie and Caleb, I thought this was a cute picture. The babies of our family walking side by side like old friends. Of course, the reality of it is that if Elsie would even brush up against Caleb, he would start crying and come look for his mom. I think he is afraid of being tackled by my fun loving daughter.

Chasing the ducks in hopes of getting a chance to 'pet' them.

Seth and Elsie ventured of the trail path and into the thickness of these trees, leaving them with some gnarly scratches. They don't seem to bother them though.

My serious hikers.

After the hike, we ventured on over to the museum/store. Here the kids got to feel and pick up all sorts of 'nature' things. Animal pelts, feathers, bones, etc.

Here Seth, Grace and Kya are checking out all the spiders and tarantulas.

Kya getting up and close with a feather and Seth in the back ground looking at the stuffed ducks.

The hit of the museum was checking out all the cool bugs, skeletons and such in this box.

Afterwards, I loaded up the kids into the van and called my mom so that she could get lunch started. By this time it was 20 after 1pm and we were all hungry! She only lives 15 minutes away, yet Elsie was sound asleep when I pulled into her drive. I put her down in the guest crib and the rest of us chowed down. I was hoping to get back on the road for home no later than 2pm to avoid rush hour traffic, but obviously that didn't happen. Instead, we stayed until after dinner and then headed home. All 3 kids were sound asleep and went straight to bed. Loads of fun!