Camping on the beach with one year olds was definately not what I thought it was going to be. In a good way. They were happier and entertained themselves better than they do at home. And we had family and friends to help for the times inbetween. Sigh of relief from me. We brought more people with us this year. Police Chief Stratton and his wife, retired Deputy Chief Peck and his family, the Farnsworths (who is the new Deputy Chief by the way), Grandma and Grandpa Parkinson, and ourselves made up the line of Fords-pulling-camping-trailers-with-Utah-plates on the way down. Grandma Talbot and Rachelle and Hayden came down mid-week and stayed with us to the end. The weather was cooler this year but it was still pleasant and we all went home with sunburns.There are a LOT of pictures here and all out of order but it took me long enough just to download them :)
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| We realized we've never taken a picture at the State Beach entrance sign. Got one this year. |
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| Grandma P. pulling Ivy on the boogie board. |
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| Ivy absolutely LOVED the waves washing in on her feet, cold water and all. |
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| After an early breakfast one morning, we wandered down to the tidepools at low tide and let the girls explore by poking the sea anenomes and making them squirt, feeling the bumpy starfish, and letting the tiny hermit crabs crawl on their hands. |
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| Uncle Kalin encourges Jocy to stand in the waves but she was not such a fan of cold water (jus like her Mom). |
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| Ivy didn't want a thing to do with the sand. The waves made her happy. |
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| On our way to the Farmers Market where we picked up some farm-fresh oranges, strawberries, peaches, quark, and honey. |
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| One day for lunch we ate at the tamale shop downtown. I LOVE their tamales! |
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| Tidepools as the tide is coming back up to cover them. |
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| They don't like their stroller and will only tolerate it for short periods of time. |
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| I wondered how the glob of sand got stuck to her forehead but since she wasn't crying, I didn't ask questions. |
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| Playing with blocks in Grandma P's trailer. |
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| Taste-testing the different flavors of honey. They have different flavors according to what plants the bees that made the honey were pollinating at the time. Avacado, sage, wildflower, clover, and orange blossom were several we tried. We ended up with a big tub of ORANGE blossom this time. Mmmmm. Last time it was wildflower. |
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| Ivy getting squirted in the face by a sea anenome. |
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| Tidepools |
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| Ivy and me sitting 'round the campfire |
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| I think Jocy gave a few of the anenomes new belly buttons. |
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| Strolling around the campground. |
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| Just after we got into town. Girls stretching their legs and seeing the ocean for the first time. |
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| Lunch time with Uncle Kalin playing ref. |
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| Eggs for breakfast |
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| Ivy practicing walking. She did it on her own the day after we got home from the beach. |
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| Ready ready ready - ready to run! |
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| Our campsite. Grandma and Gpa's was right behind ours, the Farnsworths were just across the road, and the rest of the party was in the next campground. |
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| The ocean was just so beautiful this evening. I prefer the clouds and shadowy look to colorful sunsets anyday. |
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| Get. Me. Out. Of. The. Sun. Thanks. |
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| Face planted the beach ball. So that explains the sand on the forehead. I get it now. |
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| They'd rather be on one together than one on each I guess. |
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| Me and the bebes. |
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| She ate so much sand I was a bit worried but everything came out fine so... |
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| Reading Mom's book |
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| Lets see what the water does to it |
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| Chasing seagulls |
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| Kyle with all three babies (Hayden is the girls' cousin, they came with us). |
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| Dad demonstrating sandcastle building to Ivy |
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| All tuckered out and nappin' in the shade. |
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| One of the days when we were all fried to a crisp, we cruised north to the Santa Barbara Zoo to check it out. It was a much smaller and prettier zoo than I'm used to but an excellant one. Here's Jocy melting Uncle Kalins heart by snuggling on his shoulder. |
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| Dad and Ivy working on figuring the zoo layout. |
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| Caution Kalin. We bite. |
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| Dad and Ivy, Uncle Trent and Jocy watching the ducks and koi. |
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| They had a neat, slick, faux-grass hill in the playground area that all the kids were sliding down on pieces of cardboard. The uncles helped the babies take a turn. |
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| Huge white crepe-paper like flowers. The girls wanted to take them home. |
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| Lion Exhibit. |
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| The last morning we were in town, me and the babies took a walk up to the railroad tracks while Dad was packing, and found a big field of dandelions (their favorite flower). They were both in heaven. |
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<><> Grandma P and Jocy
Then it was time for the trip home. I'm not gonna lie. It was kinda miserable for them to be strapped in their carseats for 8.5 hours while I sat in the back with them and tried to come up with ways to entertain them. Ugh. We did buy a DVD player with dual screens the day before the trip. which, by the way, goes against every moral fiber in my body. When their legs would get stiff and antsy they'd grab their feet and do kicks and stretches. It was pretty cute. | <><>
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| Double kick |
