We had been looking forward to our Santa Barbara visit. My grandmother lives out there, and it’s always a treat to visit with her. The girls adore seeing their Great-Grandma and, of course, the beach time that goes with visiting the coast.

Sadly, the beach was not meant to be. Our second day there, Goose fell off her scooter and broke her wrist. That stopped all our plans in their tracks, but we persevered and had a great time anyway.

We also had our first ant battle on the road. I pride myself on my ability to fend off ants. Unfortunately these little buggers defeated me. I could not find their entry point. Finally, Bear figured out that a branch was touching our awning and they were coming in on the roof! Argh!

After our trip to urgent care, we considered our alternate options. Santa Barbara has the Stern’s Wharf, filled with shops and a very small aquarium. We met my grandmother for lunch and then took our field trip to the aquarium.

As mentioned, the aquarium is small! It does have beautiful tide pools for kids to explore, and a neat jelly exhibit. I love my jellies!

The following day, we explored the Santa Barbara Zoo, where we met the usual zoo animals, including some chatty parrots. We even spotted some dinosaurs! The girls and I really enjoyed this dinosaur presentation, it was completely unexpected and right up our alley.

Despite the scooter mishap and the ant invasion, we had a great time. It was wonderful to visit so long with our family, and we got to see a part of Santa Barbara we usually pass over for more beach time. Although we were bummed about missing the beach, I reminded the girls, and myself, that come November, we’ll be on the Atlantic Shore!