Our first family camping trip...

Every year our friends, the Carters, go to Carpinteria State Beach to camp for a week. Last year some of our other friends, the Thomas' and Belews went with them and we heard all about how much fun they had. At that time Rich was not yet fond of camping, but since he is this year the Carters and Thomas' invited us to set up a tent on the Thomas' site and hang out. We didn't go for the week, only a few days...we have to break this new family camping thing in slowly...so we went Monday and came home Wednesday. We figured out the things we want to bring next time to make the experience a bit more convenient and fun...a rug for outside the tent door, a broom to sweep out all the dirt, our bikes to ride along the beach path, etc. But we were prepared enough to have a good time.

We actually bought a family tent several years ago. My attempt at being prepared just in case we ever went camping, which paid off quite nicely. We almost all fit. Five of us slept in the big room, Jeremy slept in the little room which is supposed to be an enclosed porch, and Jackson slept with his friend Brandon in his two man tent next  to us.

Monday was spent playing in the water and sand and digging holes and watching some dolphins playing near the shore. It was overcast but in the upper 60's which I thought was nice. Monday night we had a potluck diner with all the families and Rich and I headed to bed a little early to get the girls down. I woke up early Tuesday morning and everyone was still asleep so I put on my running garb and headed off down the path that ran along the bluffs. It was so beautiful. It was hazy and cool. Several bunnies crossed my path along with an army of snails. I felt like I was back home in Oregon it was so green and smelled so good. On my run I passed several rocky areas where a few early risers were out looking at the tide pools. Next I passed a sign for Tar Pit Park, the second largest tar pit in California next to La Brea. About a half mile past that was a Harbor Seal Refuge.

After another half mile I turned around to get back to camp to drag my kids out to see what I had just run past. I met Rich and the three little ones on a walk a little way from camp so I told them all about what we could see and ran back to get Jeremy and Gage. We all walked the path and saw the rocks with the tide pools.

Ally and Julia had fun seeing Starfish and poking at the Sea Anemones. (Yes I had to look that up to spell it right).

Julia would not stay out of the water! We walked up the beach to see the huge chunks of tar just sitting on the beach. It wasn't very  "pittish" but still pretty cool. The tar was leaking out of the cliffs along the beach. It was strange to see this naturally occurring.

After the kids poked at the tar we ventured over to the look out where we could watch the Harbor Seals.

It's funny how clumsy they are on the rocks but how graceful they are in the water.  We just played and explored that day. We drove up to Santa Barbara which was 20 miles away because the boys wanted to see if they could see any of the scenes from Psych, one of their favorite t.v. shows which is set in Santa Barbara. We didn't find anything in particular. That night we ate at a local little place called The Spot which was yummy. That night we went out to the beach to see the bioluminescent waves. This phenomenon happens when there is a "red tide" which I have no idea what that really means.  All I know is that when the waves break on shore at night the white water turns a glowing neon bluish green. It's so amazing to watch. We walked up to the water and when the kids drew in the sand with their finger the sand lit up the same way. Jeremy tried to take pictures but nothing really turned out since he doesn't have a night lens. I wish I had a picture!

The next morning the girls and I got up about 6:30 and went out to the tide pools and to see the seals again. We found great shells, a few sand dollars and even two seals that swam along in the surf next to us for a while. Rich and the boys met up with us to search for shells. Jackson found a big one intact which he was very proud of. Later we went back to camp and had a delicious pancake and egg breakfast cooked by Suzanne Carter and Cari Thomas. Then we packed up and headed home. It was a very nice few days away and we will definitely do it again next year but maybe for the whole week this time!