East Beach

East Beach is known for its volleyball courts, but it has many other amenities as well! It has one of the only beach playgrounds. This is beach can be crowded especially on the weekend so it is not easy to socially distance.

Directions: The beach is located near the zoo on Cabrillo Boulevard. Take the 101S from downtown/Goleta and take the Garden Street exit. Turn right onto Garden St, then left on Cabrillo Blvd. The beach parking is on your right.

Pros
There is a kid's playground.
There is a restaurant with food options.
There are public bathrooms.
There are showers and foot wash stations.

Cons
The close parking is self-paid and often hard to come by on popular days.
Food options are expensive and slow.
Bathrooms are not close to the playground and volleyball areas.
It is a more adult area at times because of the volleyball.
You will encounter more tourists here than many beaches.

Restaurant and Bathrooms

Looking toward downtown

Looking towards Montecito

Playground

Volleyball Courts

Showers and Footwash Stations

Volleyball Courts

Looking out onto the water at East Beach

Related Posts:

Summer of the Beaches

Summer of the Beaches II

East Beach Playground

West Beach

Beach Packing List 

Best Scooter Parks

 

We are in a scootering and learning to bike phase at our house. We don't have great sidewalks in our neighborhood so we often take scooters and bikes to the park in the afternoons. We have several favorite parks for this. The best (*) have a large open space that kids can roam where you can see them (but don't have to chase them to do so!). 

Best Scooter Parks

* Willowglen Park (be aware that after school hours there is a bridge leading to Monte Vista School) 

* Girsh Park (this park is big, so I limited it to where I can still see them) 

* Shoreline Park (this park is big, so I limited it to where I can still see them) 

* La Mesa Park 

* Chase Palm Park  (this park is big, so I limited it to where I can still see them) 

Bella Vista

Emerald Terrace Open Space, 

 Evergreen Open Space

Andree Clark Bird Refuge (Bike Path),

Any elementary school after 3:30 PM or on the weekend

Some parks have one element that is fun for littler ones: like the hill at Hidden Valley Park, the circle at Rhoads Park, or the hill at University Circle Park.

Arroyo Burro Beach

Arroyo Burro Beach is also known as Hendry's Beach (after the owners of a nearby farm). I have fond memories of coming here as a kid! This is a dog friendly beach near the Mesa and Hope Ranch. 

Directions: Take the 101N from Santa Barbara to the Las Positas exit. Turn left and follow Las Positas Rd to the end. Take a right at the T onto Cliff Drive. Turn left into the parking lot (preferably the second left at the base of the hill).

Pros
There are bathrooms
There are foot and body showers.
There is a restaurant for food options.
This is a beach where you can bring your dog.
There is dedicated parking and the beach is only steps away.

Cons
Parking is limited on a busy day.
The restaurant is not kid friendly or quick.
It is a very popular beach on busy days. This is not a beach where it is easy to socially distance.

It is the only official dog beach in Santa Barbara with off leash areas. Of course, it is hard to keep a happy dog contained to a specific area. 

The beach is next to a creek that does bring water into the ocean. I steer further away from the creek.

Arroyo Burro to the East toward Shoreline Beach

Arroyo Burro to the West toward Hope Ranch Beach

Related Posts:

Summer of the Beaches

Summer of the Beaches II

Shoreline Park 

Leadbetter Beach

Hans Christian Andersen Park

Over the Thanksgiving break, we headed up to Solvang to visit friends, enjoy the bakery and check out a new park! Hans Christian Andersen Park is just outside the main road in Solvang near the elementary school. The park is large with group areas, tennis courts, an incredible skate park and playground.

The play ground has a 3 story structure over wood chips that is designed for kids aged 5-12. There are two long slides from the top story and one small double slide there is a "rock wall" climbing area as well as two other climbing areas. There is also one regular swing. Note: the park website says there is a second playground next to the skate park, but it appears the play structure has been disassembled.

Pros:
The park has bathrooms.
The 3 story structure is fun and the slides are very long!
The climbing wall is long rather than high.

Cons:
The bathrooms are not close to the playground.
This structure is not good for toddlers.

Grassy field by the playground

5-12 play structure 

Shaded group area

My Recipes on the Blog

My recipes:
Vietnamese Bun Salad
Chicken Taco Salad
Chinese Chicken Salad
Chipotle Sauce

Vietnamese Bun Salad

I was making a meal for a friend who had a baby and was gluten free/dairy free. It was hard to find a recipe to make (life is easier for all you GF people now, seriously!). I found this recipe....somewhere. I would cite it if I knew, but honestly it has morphed into my own over the years (and probably isn't so authentic). When I asked my people which recipes I should submit to the Goleta MOPS cookbook, my 6 year old described this one in detail! Sometimes I make the dressing and sometimes I uses the Annie's Organic Sesame Ginger Dressing.

Ingredients:
2 cups romaine lettuce, chopped
2 cups bean sprouts
1 1/2 cups cucumber, peeled, seeded and julienned
1/2 cup mint leaves, roughly chopped
1/2 cup basil leaves, roughly chopped
2 cups grilled meat (chicken), diced
1/4 cup peanuts, finely chopped
4 ounces thin rice noodles

Cook the rice noodles according to the package directions.Toss all ingredients. Add peanuts as the garnish.

Dressing
1 T peanut butter
3 T milk
1/2 t garlic powder
1 t tamari (or soy sauce)
1 t chili sauce
1 dash chili flakes

Whisk all ingredient together and add as desired.

Meal Planning

This is my 100th post, y'all! It started just for the parks, but I have loved keeping it going. I have a few more park and beach posts coming, but on another topic....

On Friday, we had a MOPS speaker, Paige, share about meal planning. She had shared before about meal planning 2 plus years ago. Both times it was really helpful! Here are some of the things I have run with.

My first monthly meal plan

1. Start with what you are already doing. When I started, I only had a few meals in my repertoire and I commited to adding one a week. It took a long time,but now I have a 4 week rotation.

4 week meal rotation using themes.

2. Plan around themes. You can plan around mexican meals for a specific night. Or soups,or salads, asian, etc. Here are our themes (in the list above): Mexican, Asian, Pasta, Salads, Soups, and Quinoa Salads.

3. Organize! I know several people who love the Paprika app. I tried it and went back to my binder. Each recipe has its own sleeve after I try it and decide it belongs in the rotation. It is civided into categories: mains, salads, soups, breads, desserts, breakfast, drinks and sauces. The front has a month calendar. You can use a cute one like this or simply print out monthly calendars with the numbers already on it (I print several months at a time.). The back has the weekly planner that I have our themes listed and all 4 options