Enjoying a summer weekend on the water
Cooper enjoyed another sunny afternoon on the sandbar this weekend.
It is a safe bet that he loves being in the water.
We went to Moro Bay this weekend and let him play at the sandbar for a few hours.
He was proud to sport his new Batman swimming vest.
He decided it was a lot easier to swim in than a regular life jacket.
You always feel your best when rocking a Batman swim vest with Avengers swim trunks.
Cooper had a lot more room to run this weekend with the river level dropping so much in just a week. The sand bar was full of families, kids and dogs.
Sand castles adorned with small army men and twigs were scattered all over.
Cooper alternated between swimming and splashing close to the boat.
He found sticks, driftwood and a small piece of a 2x6 that was obviously from a dock project upstream.
I told Cooper that if he looked around, he might find a fresh water mussel.
I looked in the sand and found small shell fragments from a few that were broken.
The evidence of raccoons opening them to eat was pretty obvious.
I found a few raccoon tracks and found a rock where they had broken a few to get the mussel out of his shell.
I heard Cooper exclaim, “I found one Mommy!”
He brought the mussel to me and begged to see what was inside the brown and sparkling shell.
I pried it open and he looked at the creature with curiosity and caution.
This animal was foreign to him and he was wondering where the eyes and mouth were.
He also realized that the creature had no legs.
I explained to him that the mussel is a filter feeder.
He eats by letting water flow through the cracks in his shell and he eats the little tiny organisms we can’t see.
Cooper said the mus-
sel looked like a giant booger. He then decided it looked like a tongue.
I told him the “tongue” is actually his foot and that is how the mussel moves around.
I could tell his mind was blown.
After being amazed and confused with the mussel, he decided that he wanted to give up the mussel hunting and play.
He wanted his picture taken with the weird creature before he put it back in the water.
After a few pieces of watermelon and a long afternoon of hit and miss quick rain showers, it was time to head home.
Cooper has already made a request to go back to play as soon as we can.
Pictures? Questions? Comments? Send them to katiem@eldoradonews.com.