September 26th 2013 Ron and I and the boys were able to go on a quick little family trip. It has been a couple years since we were able to go on a family vacation. But this weekend we decided that it was time. Kaeryn and Tristan were in school and were unable to come but Jaxen was off track from school so it was the perfect time for him.
We decided to go down to Half Moon Bay. We were lucky enough that there was still a camping spot available. This was our first time camping next to the beach and ocean. We were so excited, especially Jaxen. He loves to go camping!
After we set up camp we had to spend some time and play on the beach. The beach is another one of our favorite places to be. There is just an amazing feeling that comes from the beach.
The water was too cold to swim in but that doesn't stop Jaxen from at least putting his feet in. It's tradition that whenever you are at the beach you at least have to put your feet in the water.
Dancing and racing the waves is so much fun. You can never get enough of that. It's one of Jaxen's favorite places to be.
When we weren't playing in the water we were walking along and exploring the beach. Jaden seemed to enjoy having a little freedom and following along with his big brother.
He wasn't interested in going in the water but he did seem to enjoy looking at the waves.
Once we were done with our exploring it was time to do one thing that our boys do best and that is play in the dirt. Jaxen has never had any issues with getting dirt all over him. He loves to bury himself in the sand.
Jaden doesn't like the sand sticking to him but he does seem to enjoy playing in it. I was glad that I remembered to pack some of our sand toys right before we left.
I knew the boys would want to play with them once we got there.
Especially Jaden. I think it helped to give him a direction of what to do while there and distracted him from the sand sticking to his legs.
He was also in little scientist mode. He loved scooping up the sand, examining it, and then watching it fall out of the shovel. He did that over and over. Then he was able to do the same with the trucks.
It was such an enjoyable and relaxing time. We were loving it there so much.
We were also lucky enough that the beach was fairly empty and open while we were there. It was so nice to not have to be overwhelmed by crowds of people. There were a few people there but there was plenty of space in between.
Which made the evening perfect!
We had almost no worries in the world then. It's such a blissful feeling.
We could have stayed there forever. But eventually it was time to go back to camp.
We were not able to get a hold of the guy who runs the kennel that we usually drop Kati off when we go places. So Kati came with us this time. Ron stayed at camp with her while the boys and I enjoyed the beach. It was nice having Kati with us but she wasn't allowed on the beach. She was a little anxious as usual but I think she was happy to be with us.
Playing at the beach is a lot of fun but we were starting to get hungry. Ron started to get some food out and ready for dinner but since it was a lot cooler than we anticipated he decided to go into town to get us some warm drinks.
He knows how much I love the beach and what it means to me to be able to just sit and watch and listen to the ocean. He took the boys with him to get some hot cocoa so I could go and watch the sunset. It was a beautiful and serene moment. I've seen many beautiful sunset in my lifetime but some of my favorites will always be the ones over the ocean.
After the sun went down I came back to camp to enjoy roasting hotdogs and marshmallows with the family. Such a fun and tasty tradition.
Jaxen loved being able to do his own. He was a little nervous but he wanted to do it. I wasn't sure how Jaden would do around the fire since we haven't gone camping with him yet. But he did pretty well.
He stayed by the table with his cars or trains. I think he had a peanut
butter sandwich instead. Plus some chips and graham crackers . He
still doesn't like to eat most foods. But he definitely likes the
chocolate in s'mores!
After we were finished eating we stayed out as long as we could. Just
enjoying the stars and the peace and quiet. It did get pretty cold
though. We weren't completely prepared for that but we did have blankets
to bundle up in.
It was a bit of a rough night though. We did bring our 3DS's to play
mario cart for Jaden so he would have something familiar to his usual
bedtime routine.
He had fun during the day but the night time and sleeping in a tent proved to be hard on him. Needless to say that me or Jaden didn't get any sleep that night. He wasn't crying or fussy, he just wouldn't close his eyes to sleep. He laid in between Daddy and I with wide eyes all night.
The morning was just beautiful! I wish I had gotten a photo of it. The
sun warmed the tent right up. We had a yummy breakfast of doughnuts.
Apparently some large bees or wasps thought so too because they came
into our camp and wouldn't leave Jaden alone.
We couldn't shew them away so we decided that maybe I should take the
boys back to the beach to play for a bit before we left for home. Ron
stayed back to start packing up the car. But the bees followed us there.
For some reason they would just not leave Jaden alone.
I got really anxious so we went back up to the car. By this time Ron had
everything ready to go. We still really wanted to enjoy some beach time
so we drove a ways to the other side of the state park.
But they found us there so we got back in the car and drove a couple
miles until we found and area on the side of the rode we could go to.
It was perfect! The bees no longer bothered us and we could play in the sand before we made the trip back home. It was the best way to end our little vacation. It wasn't a very long trip but it was well worth it. The memories we made will last a lifetime! I think we will definitely be back for some more camping! Hopefully sooner rather than later.
