Foreword Thanks to Jay, who thoughtfully donated a campsite to us, we had a great weekend in Carlsbad.
Now to the good stuff.
May 2011 Day 1: Drive Down/Setting up camp
The day started out overcast and gloomy. By the time we arrived at the campsite, the sun broke out and it turned out to be a beautiful afternoon.
The drive along the coast was very pretty. The campground made you feel like you are really secluded, but actually you are so close to civilization.
The minute we arrived, the kids wanted to go down to the beach. But once we told them that it would be dark soon and they would have no place to sleep, they got to work right away.
The dog was quick with her sleeping quarters. She was done, resting and waiting for the kids…..
Come on….hurry….I want to play fetch or something!
The kids did an awesome job with the tent. There were no arguing or fighting, only cooperation and teamwork. In no time at all, they had the tent up and their stuff organized inside the tent. By the way, you probably noticed that we added 2 kids to the lot. Maya’s friends Sam and Savy.
As a reward, they got to go down to the beach with Marcia for a walk. I got to finish unpacking in peace and quiet.
Marcia took a great shot of the kids with the glow of the sunset on them. Awesome Job Marcia! (kind of fuzzy…..but awesome sunset color) I love the effort.
Marcia really did a great job with my two adopted children’s silhouettes.
After unpacking the Airstream and setting things up, I was rewarded with some time to enjoy the view of the coastline and a beautiful sunset.
Same sunset, but taken with a bit of trickery from me. Filtered light, but not with a camera filter. It was taken about 10 minutes before the clouds rolled in, as depicted above.
We just had a small fire to roast some marshmallows for Smores.
This was my favorite sunset shot, but Maya liked the other one, so it gets a bigger space.
Day 2: Nothing but Fun
I was fortunate enough to bring all the kids with me down to the beach for some boogie boarding fun. Marcia got to stay at the Airstream for some alone time with her Kindle.
The day started out a bit overcast, but it was warm enough to dip into the Pacific Ocean.
Lana was so good. We only had four boogie boards and 5 kids. She waited on shore and played by herself, while the older kids went first into the water to have fun.
Lana was later rewarded by her loving sister. Maya taught Lana how to boogie board. She stayed by her side until she felt comfortable by herself. Good job Maya.
Lana having a great time with Justin.
After a few hours of boarding, they needed a rest.
After a 10 minutes rest period, let the digging commence. They just started digging a hole in the sand and looking for sand crabs. But it evolved…..
The finished product: A Savy Mermaid with claws…..I wonder who would put claws on a mermaid…..hmmmmm
Remember when I said we are not too far from civilization? We had a Costco lunch….yummie and cheap. It’s only 10 minutes from the campsite.
There were a lot firsts on this trip. But nothing surprised us more than seeing Marcia’s aunt and her son camping at the same campground as us. All the years of camping, we have never bumped into anyone we knew. It was a very nice surprise.
On the second night, we had a rip roaring fire. It was a lot of fun.
On the beach we found these river rocks. They were so pretty. I am using them as my background on my iPhone.
Here are just some misc fun pictures I took during our trip.
Day 3: Going Home
This is a first…..Marcia driving? She was so willing, I thought I was in a parallel universe. She actually drove it out of the campsite and parked it along side the road.
The kids were so good on the trip home that we rewarded them with a stop for ice cream before getting home. Thanks for coming with us Sam and Savy. It was a delight to have you guys. You guys are so easy going. You are always welcome at our house and on our trips.
