Majestic beauty. The tallest organisms on earth, the coastal redwoods, humble me every time as I gaze upward in utter amazement as the sunlight streams through the woods.

I love Muir Woods. It is even better when shared with visiting family.



Though it is always fun to watch my kiddos create their own adventure.



A ranger's creative approach left me chuckling as we headed to the car.



Though the chuckling ended abruptly as I watched two cars fight over my parking spot...literally. Well, actually the cars were behaving, but the drivers were yelling at each other and maneuvering their cars in the battle...I couldn't even back out.

Finally, we were off to the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve where the tide was scheduled to be out giving us the opportunity to explore the tide pools and learn what lurks beneath the surface.

I was delighted to see my first starfish!



I love the anemone's bright colors.




Our spectacular guide, Kade, can spot and identify so many cool things like this family of anemones. I love this photo of him pointing out the details (not touching like it might appear). He absorbed every detail during his week of outdoor education. He even spotted a banana slug in the woods!



He didn't even miss the most carefully camouflaged critters.



Eventually the tide started rolling back in and jolted the basking seals back to work.