Madrona Marsh

I need to start this off with a little shout out. The author of Fun and Educational Places to go with Kids came and spoke at our MOPs and I happened to win the book as a door prize. I was super excited because i rarely win something i actually like or use. Because of various organizations i have belonged to i have been a constant raffle participant and won my fair share of things, i am not gunna lie, but crest tooth whitening strips are not nearly as exciting believe me. it is fun to win though...regardless. i digress...so anyway...i had to run to Torrance (secret secret, which deserves its own post entirely, believe me) and i HATE driving to Torrance...there is no easy way to get there, so i figured if i was going to drag my boys over there, i may as well take them somewhere fun also. so i just looked up the City of Torrance in her Index by City and found several things, but this place was just around the corner from where i was going and sounded right up my boys-who-like-to-run-and-explore-and-get-as-dirty-as-possible's alley...

we went to the Madrona Marsh in Torrance. a natural wetland. i have been to the Bolsa Chica Wetlands and also the one by Murrieta...i forget the name at the moment...but both of the other ones i have run at, and not taken the kidlets.

we stopped in first at the Nature Center. Very new, very clean - lots of hands-on things for the kiddos - bryson got to feel snake skin (very cool) and see the turtles and frogs and snakes and other critters. there was also a coloring table (boring, mom...okay whatever!) and there are also classes there i am told. i asked the lady if the terrain would be okay for my stroller and she said it would...which, yeah, okay i was able to kinda push my stroller, but a jogging stroller or none at all would have been better. i had thought my ergo was in the car, and it wasnt, so better for my back, but not so much fun pushing a stroller around there. i wouldnt recommend it. 

we then walked across the street to the actual marsh. we took the long route all the way around and i would say it took us about 45 minutes or so to do...we took our sweet time.

the most fun part was when we were away from the wet parts i let Bodie out....actually i should back up and say that i made the mistake of letting Bodie out around the wet part and he was off like a dart into the bog...which i got all over me and him and promptly strapped him back in the stroller and he was screaming for a good 5 minutes...so after i learned my lesson and we were away from the nasty swampy water...i let Bodie out. he did such a good job of staying on the trail i was so blown away! i think i expect him to act like his big brother a lot of the times (bryson would have NEVER...i repeat in case you didnt hear, NEVER have stayed on a trail at his age). Bodie did awesome and followed his big brother and i and discovered ants and thorns and plants and it brought so much joy to watch both of them discover this little piece of land in the middle of  a very busy city.

it was a pretty overcast chilly day, which i think made it all the more beautiful there. it was fun to explore this natural wetland, however, i would say that i wouldnt personally drive out of my way to Torrance to visit only the Madrona Marsh. sorry...the time it takes to drive there and back is longer than you would spend there, which is my rule of thumb for driving somewhere.

(PS - i just am in love with that first pic. bryson is becoming such a tender and sweet older brother - most of the time - it is so fun to watch him show Bodie how to explore)