Beach Campout (many many pictures)

We went on a family campout this week for 2 nights in Carpinteria. The week before, some friends of ours in our ward asked us if we wanted to go camping the next week. They said we could have 5 days if we wanted. (Turns out friends of theirs reserved an extra site for someone who pulled out at the last minute. Our friends took 5 days, and then offered the rest to us.) We were only able to use 3 of those days. We left Tuesday morning and planned to be back Thursday afternoon.



Carpinteria is off the 101 fwy. about 12 miles before Santa Barbara. The site we had was meant for an RV/trailer, so the area for a tent is quite small. Our family sized tent took up 3/4 of the available space.



That blue and yellow tent is in the site next to us. There's little to nothing between sites.



The kids enjoyed climbing what trees there were. They're in a Eucalyptus tree.

Duncan was a big help in setting the tent up.

Once we got the tent and everything set up, Anna lathered up the kids and we played on the beach. They didn't get too wet (by request), but had a great time playing in the sand.

We roasted hotdogs over the fire for dinner. The boys had GFCF buns. We also had chips and juice and fruit for dinner.

Then the best part, as Duncan would say, making s'mores. As you can see here, Duncan has already enjoyed one s'more, and is ready for a double marshmallow one next. The boys used GFCF cookies and chocolate for their s'mores.

Sitting around the campfire eating s'mores... Mmm Mmm good.

Anna trying to show some superior roasting technique.

After eating, we all went to bed. We made sure to put all of our loose food items and trash bag in the van so the raccoons wouldn't get into them. The ice chests were tucked under the edge of the picnic table. I was having a rough night due to some gastric-intestinal difficulties, so I was up about every 2-3 hours using the restroom. At about 3:30am, as I returned to the tent, Anna was standing at the door waiting for me. She pointed her flashlight in the direction of the ice chests and turned it on... there were about 4 or 5 adolescent raccoons eating everything in the ice chest! They just looked at us. Anna said there was a mom raccoon that was HUGE in the area too, but I didn't see it. I chased the raccoons out of our campsite and put the ice chests in the van to deal with in the morning, and went back to bed.

At 6am, we all got up to go check out some tide pools that were a short walk down the beach from us. The kids were all excited. The morning was quite a bit over cast, but our jackets were warm enough. There were lots of sea anemones but nothing else.

After the tide pools, I headed out to find a grocery store to replenish the supplies that the raccoons had destroyed. They ate our other hotdogs, the grapes, the boys' buns, the chocolate, and dirtied up everything else in there. We dumped everything in the trash, so off to the store I went. Luckily I found a Vons not far away and was able to get everything we needed, including dish soap and sponges to clean up the ice chests. I also found a store to buy some kites and a Jenga game. Those were in case the sun stayed hidden for most of the day.

The kites were a big hit! We flew kites for the rest of the morning until lunch time. There wasn't a lot of wind but it was enough to keep the kids happy.

While the other kids were flying kites, Tegan found a couple rocks and had a great time banging them together. The original "rock" music.

We don't think Tegan slept very well the night before, and by the early afternoon she was out! We laid her on one towel, she used a towel as a pillow, one as a blanked and we put one to shade her face. That left one towel for everyone else to use till she woke up.

Duncan and Liam had a great time playing in the waves. Anna even took each of them out a little further to experience the water a little deeper than their knees.

Here's a s'more from the second (and last) night. The best thing about it being the last night, is not having to save any for later. We just ate them till they were gone.

After an early dinner, we went back to fly kites. The fog rolled in pretty early, but the wind was just right for our little dollar kites. The kids loved it.

We had a great time. We got used to our crowded surroundings quickly, and made the best of it all. The kids weren't too whiny or upset at any time (got lucky with that), and accepted the schedule rather easily. Luckily our spot was very close to the bathrooms. I had a rough time but made it through without embarrassing myself. There's a good chance we'll go back next year with some other families in our ward that we're good friends with.

The whole experience reminded Anna and I that we need to try and plan a big family campout out some time in the next year. Does anyone want to take the lead on that?

We had a good time, and hope to have other opportunities like this in the future.

Father and sons...

This past Friday and Saturday was our Stake's father and sons overnighter.

I took Duncan and Liam.

We're ready to go!

Normally our "campouts" are located in the backyard, so this was going to be quite different. I think Liam's only been on one other "big" campout, and that was a few years ago when my side of the family all got together for an overnighter near San Onofre.

Liam can be a little head strong, and quite vocal about his displeasure, so I was a little aprehensive about taking him, but ultimately, he needs to go on these things so he can be used to them.

Luckily where we were going was not far. It is a "farm" type place. I guess it's owned and opperated by a family in the Yucaipa Stake (their Stake borders ours on the east). They have a huge real pumkin patch, and also grow a variety of pine trees for Chistmas. They also have a petting zoo.


We got there early (technically we were right on time, but when everyone runs perpetually late, we were early), and chose a spot for our tent in the designated tent area. The boys were a little helpfull, but the distraction of a new place was very powerful.


After setting up the tent, we got in line to let the boys jump on this bungy/trampoline thing. There were no lines at first because no one was really there yet, but there were enough kids that every spot was taken, and because it looks like no one is waiting, they got to jump for a long time. More and more people begin to arrive, and rotations to jump began. Again there's no line, so when one kid finished, there was no clear indication on who's next (sometimes I feel like we're the only parents that are teaching our kids the idea of "someone was here before me, so I go after them"), and we kept getting cut. Eventually there's enough kids that lines are a must, and we get in one. It felt like it took forever for our turn. Liam was having a tough time being patient. Then it's finally our turn, I take Liam's shoes off and put him on the trampoline thing and he says "No, I don't want to go!" (of course), so Duncan's up next and has a great time "jumping big". Oh yeah, the camera was in the tent! Grrrr!



Duncan finishes his turn, we get our pillows from the car to put in the tent, and I remember to put the camera in my pocket.


Dinner time. The Stake was providing all the food, which made me a little nervous. The boys can be pretty picky about their food. Luckily hotdogs were on the menu. For the men, there was steak, so that was pretty cool. It wasn't the best I've had, but it was tasty. Also rolls, potato and green salad, and baked beans. Liam ate a roll and his bun, didn't want the hotdog, and lots of koolaid. Duncan ate his roll, and half of his hotdog, then ate his friend Sam's roll (he asked first).


After dinner, the boys discovered the goat pen. And like most all of the boys at the campout, began feeding them any leaves they could find. No one ever told them no, and everyone else was doing it, and I was already so tired of being the dad that's trying to do the right thing (like asking if it's ok that the boys are feeding the goats), that I just let them.

There were actually about 40 goats in that pen.

Eventually Duncan found the rope bridge someone had put up for the campout, and I was excited that he wanted to try it. I didn't suggest it to him at all. He did great! There was a boy that started on the rope bridge about 5 steps behind Duncan, and the bridge was getting pretty shaky from both boys being on at the same time (again, how is it that this kid doesn't understand waiting his turn?! He was older that Duncan). Duncan did get pretty scared a couple times about falling, but he kept on going and made it to the end.

Oh yeah, in the mean time, Liam is still finding leaves to feed to the goats. I needed a little bit of a break, so I took the boys over to the trailer of a buddy of mine from our ward. He had his dog with him (old english sheepdog-shaved) and had a TV. He was watching the Lakers vs. Jazz game. But he also had cookies and rootbeer. The boys were actually in one place for a while, and I could relax a bit. Chris's son came and said it was time for the program. The stake put on a very cool program with a narrator, simple hymns played by a guitar and fiddle, and a live "slide show". It was about the restoration of the priestood. Very well done. We had some ice cream sandwiches for dessert, I helped Duncan make some smores. (I forgot to take a picture, sorry) We then went back to Chris's trailer and finished the game. Liam and Duncan were both out by the time the game was over, so I hung out with Chris a while longer before carrying the boys to our tent.

Even though our friend Rich was snoring like a bear in the tent next to ours, the boys stayed asleep. I slept pretty ok. I had put up an air matress for us to sleep on, so that was a big help.

The next morning, the sun was up, so then, were we. The boys were in a good mood, and I was glad for that.

We ate breakfast. Or I should say, I ate breakfast. The stake provided breakfast burritos. Duncan ate half of one with just eggs and cheese, and Liam was having none of it. Not even a plain tortilla. All he wanted to do was feed the goats.

After breakfast we packed up our stuff and put it all in the car.

The stake had set up for some father and son games. Really, the games were more geared to slightly older boys and youth, but Duncan wanted to give one a try. Liam just wanted to feed the goats. The game Duncan wanted to try was a race game. (sorry, no pics) The son stands next to a bucket of water with an 8oz. cup. About 20 feet away are the dads, lying on their backs on a bail of straw, with an empty 24 oz. (?) water bottle on their forhead. On go, the sons run over with a cup of water and try to pour as much of it in the bottle as they can without the rim of the cup touching the top of the water bottle. When the cup is empty, they run back to the bucket and get more water. The one who fills their dad's water bottle first wins. Of course the dad's are getting a face full of water, and that was Duncan's favorite part. I don't even think he was trying to win. He wasn't so interested in switching places for the next race though.

After the water race, we were pretty ready to come home. Liam was not too happy about not being able to feed the goats anymore. I think he cried the whole way home.

Later in the day, they both were knocked out on the couch. It was a tiring 24 hours.

Epilogue-

I was in the kitchen washing dishes when Anna saw the boys sleeping on the couch. She asked for the camera. I told her I already took a picture of them. Then what she said next really surprized me... "Did you see your sleeping picture?" I had knocked out on the couch a few hours earlier (Anna had our bed covered in paperwork and stuff, no room to lay down), and had no idea my picture had been taken! Here are those photos...

They got me good.

All in all, it was fun. It was a lot of work to keep an eye on both of them when they are doing different things, but in the long run, it's worth it.

Here's some more random pics from our overnighter.

*sorry about the long entry. I wanted to fit it all in.