Last year at the end of June we went camping in Santa Cruz. Benson was barely 4 weeks old and it was the first time we'd really gone camping as a family for more than one night. If you remember the camping trip I posted about when we lived in Idaho, there is a specific incident that repeated itself on this trip. So camping with a 4 week old presented many challenges. However, I think camping with any age range under 18 could be challenging. We were excited to go camping this year and felt much more prepared. For starters, we wouldn't be trying to cram pack all of our stuff into a Corolla. We purchased a van back in May and it has that awesome stow-n-go storage. Loved it! We planned our meals and activities out, and we budgeted! We knew we'd be doing fun things like going to the Boardwalk and out to ice cream so we had to have some set aside for that.
I love baby bed head!
Our first morning there with gingerbread pancakes and sausage! Yum-o!
Nothing says camping safety quite like letting the kids hang on/around the fire pit.
I was rather hoping that Benson would be upright and walking by this camping trip but that didn't happen. As of this posting, he's taking more and more steps but isn't what I would call a full-on walker. Needless to say, Benson got quite dirty on this trip. But hey, it's camping! And what's wrong with going through 3 packs of wipes to keep him clean?
No shower + greasy hair = 'do rag.
We had made reservations to go up on a Wednesday but decided kind of last minute to go up on Tuesday instead. Some friends of ours that were there said we could bunk with them for the night. Their campsite was kind of the central location to all of the other families camping so that was nice. However, they also have 5 kids ages 12 and under so mornings were early and often involved their kids coming over, before we'd peeped our heads out of the tent, to ask if Zoe or Benson could play. Ryan and I secretly thought that as soon as their kids woke up they told them to go find Zoe and Benson. The favor will be returned next year. Ha ha ha.
We loved going to the beach. Again, a much better experience this year than last year. Last year all I could do was hold Benson. At one point Ryan was playing in the water with the other daddies and little Zoe decided to just walk right into the ocean. Then she decided to fall. Ryan didn't see any of this happen and my only thought was "my daughter is going to be swept out to sea." Not a happy thought. Nothing remotely close to that happened this year. Whew!
Hanging out in our shady spot.
My handsome cowboy.
If you look closely in the picture you can see the seagull that Zoe is chasing.
Happy family! Like my farmer's tan?
We had a lot of fun at the Boardwalk. Zoe went on quite a few rides by herself and felt like quite the big girl.
Riding what we call the "sky train" with my little guy.
Benson's first sans mommy/daddy ride.
I love her curls!
This was the campsite we moved to after we were done bunking with our friends. The mornings were nice, but the afternoon sun was awful. There was no shade. We will not be staying at that campsite next year.
We went paddle boating one day too. That was a lot of fun. Poor kids though didn't like having those life jackets right up in their faces. Can't blame them, but it cut our outing a little short.
The mommy who does it all.
I'm so glad we decided to bring along this tricycle. It kept Benson up off the ground a bit more than he would have been.
Yeah, we let our kids play with lighters. So what?
Super delicious ice cream at Marianne's. It's hole-in-the-wall-ish but always busy and always yummy.
Oh, and always messy.
Zoe and her friend Keira got mess with theirs too. You can see it dripping off Zoe's nose.
One of the last things we did was go to this marine lab.
Zoe loved touching the starfish.
We had a fantastic time on our camping trip and we're already excited for next year. Next year should be interesting too as we will be camping with 3 kids. Oh yes, we're pregnant and due in March. We're so excited and can't wait to meet the new Nickel.
