Beach Treasures

The kids have found the best times to find shells and other interesting items washed up on shore are right after a big storm.  The ocean creates a big shelf in the sand that is fun to play on too.  At first I thought a tractor created the shelf.  Weird I know, but we see tractors all the time landscaping the beach.  Probably because we are close to the school and they try to keep that area well-maintained.

Anyway, this last storm was a doozey!  But the finds were awesome!!!  We headed down to the beach to burn some time before dinner.  Audrey started bringing me a collection of really cool clam shells she was finding.  Pretty soon we realized they were real clams and they were still living!  They had been washed up on a higher part of sand during high tide, and were left behind when the water receded.

Audrey wanted to bring them back to the house to eat them.  Brandon and I were headed out so we left Audrey and her friend to research how to cook them.  While at the movie, I searched online if they were even safe to eat!!!  I didn't want the girls poisoned!  Turns out they were safe, but they girls were too chicken to try them.  

They boiled the clams on the stove, three time as long as called for, without seasonings, or even cleaning out all the sand.  The boys licked them and that was enough to know they were gross!  Tough and nasty.  But the shells are awesome!

The following morning we were down at the water edge again and Corbin found a starfish just laying on the beach!  We brought him home as a pet for a day before throwing him back in the ocean.  Our tupperware box was not quite big enough for a suitable home.