Beach Camping

This was our first camping trip together as a family and we had such a fun time. I couldn't believe that it took us so long to go as a family. Between jobs, church callings, school and whatever else it's just so hard to find time. But we finally did it. Growing up I camped so much with my family and it's something I've always wanted to do with my own family, so I'm glad that we actually had a free weekend to go.
We left last Friday (10/3) and stayed for three days. We went to Manresa Beach State Park. It's about 2 1/2 hours from our home. I guess it's a pretty popular place to camp, so we had to make our reservations a couple months in advance. They have a bunch of campsites right by the beach. They're not right on the beach, so you have to walk like a half a mile to the beach. We got to the campsite around 6 p.m. and I'm never doing that again. I definitely recommend getting there earlier in the day. We only had an hour of daylight to get everything to the site, the tent up and dinner made. All that took longer than an hour so the kids were all crazy and whiny and after finally eating dinner at 8 p.m. we put the kids to bed. They were so ornery and fell right asleep. It took Jason longer than he expected to set our tent up because it was new. But once he got that thing up it's like we had our own personal hotel room. The thing is huge! It's 10 x 20 feet. There's a big room in the middle with two smaller ones on the sides. We knew it was going to be big and I wasn't sure if it was so good to have one that large. I was worried it wouldn't fit in most campsites. And Jason said that the campsites were all really big so not to worry. And of course we got like the smallest campsite ever. Our tent barely fit. It was right up against the picnic table. But it all worked out and I loved it. Having all that space was awesome! I'm glad we have it.

The first night there it rained all night long! And I didn't sleep well because I was worried about getting wet. The tent is basically all screened. It came with a huge rain fly that covers the whole tent. Jason secured it really well and it covered the entire tent, but I was still worried that we might get wet. But we all stayed dry. The thing is definitely water-proof.

The next morning the sun was out and shining. So we headed down to the beach. The kids had fun playing in the sand and collecting seashells.

I love my hubby!

I love to take beach pictures, hence all of the beach pics. I think they all turn out so cute.

Love this one of Jason and Logan holding hands.

This one's my absolute favorite. I just snapped it and loved how it turned out. Then I messed with the tinting on Picasa.

After the beach, we went back to our campsite and played some games. Afton is an avid UNO player now. Jason introduced her to the game and that's what she wanted to do the entire trip. She loved it! My kids are so funny about the dirt. It takes them a little while to get dirty. They've actually gotten much better about it. They didn't seem to mind the dirt so much. Logan was really funny about the dirt. Whenever he would fall or get his hands dirty, he would look at them and then come over to me with his hands in the air wanting me to wipe them off. He did that a few times and then I looked over at him and he was sitting in the dirt playing with it. I guess it takes a little while to get use to it.

Playing UNO and roasting marshmallows. Afton didn't like the sticky mess on her fingers. She kept trying to clean it off and it just got stuck other places.

That night we roasted hot dogs for dinner and then marshmallows afterwards. The kids had fun making smores and eating them. I asked them what their favorite part of the trip was and Dax said playing with his friends Kaitlyn and Ashlyn. They only stayed the first night so Afton and Dax were pretty sad when they left. Afton said her favorite part was playing UNO with her family. I think Logan really enjoyed wandering all over the place and pushing his stroller around the campsite. He also loved dancing. The maintenance people were cleaning the bathrooms and they had their radio on and as soon as we got over there, Logan was instantly bobbing his head up and down and grooving to the music. I have video of it, so I'll post it when I get a chance. That kid loves to dance. He especially loves to dance to church hymns.
I'm so glad that we got to go camping as a family. Although, we missed our friends and family who couldn't come. But we'll definitely be doing this again. I'm thinking we'll head to the mountains for our next trip. I'm so thankful for my little family. I'm so blessed to have such a great husband and three wonderful children. I love them so much!

We were on our way out and I had to stop and get a picture of the gorgeous view. Isn't it beautiful? The waves were huge this morning. You could see them from where we were at.