carlsbad

when you get your campsite 6 months in advance it seems like such a long time to wait. But then that week comes, and it goes by so stinking fast. We arrived Thursday afternoon and set camp up pretty quick. The older boys are good helpers. This year we set up two large tents, Jack and Jasper had their own {that way I didnt have to cringe at their mess}. We were able to make it down to the beach that evening.

Friday and Saturday were pretty much the same. Breakfast, hang out, read, ride bikes, make lunch and head down to the beach till late in the afternoon. Showers, Dinner and dessert. Kids to bed and then play games till 10 and then crash.

Saturday night, we had a bunch of friends come to dinner. I didnt think we could top the craziness of last year. But of course we did. The Millers arrived about 10 minutes after Wade and his buddies took off to surf. Wade had forgotten that he was in charge of the fire. So I was in a rush to find firewood. Then trying to get the guys out to come help with the fire and fill the aluminum can with sea water. It seemed that every time we would get their attention, they would just wave and then head back out for more surfing. My BIL Jacob decided to try to wade out in the water with the can and hope they guys would come in to help him. Unfortunatly the can got weighed down with water and he lost it :(. About that time Ashlee and I thought we should just skip the boil and grill the corn. But oh no the guys wouldnt give it up. So Jacob ran to HD to get another can. Meanwhile the Carters arrived as did the Mundalls. Fallers, Nichols, Findlays and Winns. Sadly the new can leaked water and never came to a boil and we ended up grilling the corn. But we had a great time chatting with our friends!

Monday was probably my most favorite day. Our beach day started early and it was most pefect. The waves were awesome for boogie boarding. I enjoyed my book, the others played volleyball, kids played with friends and cousins. We packed it up early to have a big BBQ for Lunch. That night my brother arrived with his family.

Tuesday and Wednesday we spent as much time at the beach as possible. We got in a little shopping as well. Wednesday morning Lisa, her cousin Melany and I rode bikes down to the donut shop and brought back donuts for eveyone. This is how we spent our evenings. Playing games!!

Carlsbad State Beach

We had an awesome time in CA. It was great to get away. It was great to have cooler weather. It was great to play in the ocean & sand. It was great to be with friends. It was great to be gone. It sucked to come home! Here are a few pictures.

This is our campsite. Although campsite is a little stretch of the word. It was more like hmmm...I guess there is not a word for it. Lets just say there were tents, canopy's and fake green grass that covered the whole site. Not too much dirt. Although plenty of wild life. Did you know that squirrel's will eat most anything!!

Sand Crabs-loved by any boy, some girls & not at all by Mom's!!
This kid loves the ocean & sand.
Gavin loved the ocean and wasn't afraid at all. He wasn't so much a builder of sand castles as he was a destroyer!!
There were only like 5 pics of me, and none of them was I smiling, I will blame that on the photographer...This one is the best of the worst.
Wade relaxing, after a hard day of boogie boarding, swimming and snorkeling!!
This is how Garth spent most of his beaching time. Under the canopy, under a hat or blanket, and he still got burnt! He was pretty good about the "camping". Although I am glad we brought the swing!!
Gavin loved to ride his bike in the street, the middle of the street. And he is not bothered by cars that are trying to drive through. They can drive around him for all he cares, he will not be getting out of the way. (This was the one crimp in my vacation-kid GET OUT OF THE STREET)
Jack loved the biking as well, although he was obedient and did it on the side. We had one day where his legs below the knee swelled up and he could NOT walk on them AT ALL. It was too weird. He was all hopped up on meds but they didn't seem to work at all. The next day they were swollen, but at least he could walk. Sill have no idea what happened.

Lego Land- The kids had a great time. The Parents survived. We did not buy one thing while we were there, our parents would be so proud!! Our favorite thing was Mini Town, where they had displays of all the big cities -New York, San Fran, Vegas.... It was cool. Wade loved the Manufacturing of Lego's tour.

We had a wonderful 4th. Laying on the cool grass, looking up and seeing the fireworks fall over our heads. Gavin was not a fan, Garth didn't mind and the rest of us thought it was awesome. Did you know it could be the 4th and not 110+ degree's Wow it was sweet!!

Thanks to Lisa and Torel for sharing everything & showing us a great time. We will be back next year!!