Camping at Gualala

This past Memorial day weekend, we drove 4 hours north to Gualala to go camping with some families in our ward and our good friends, the Johnson's. It was such a great time! There was a playground right across from our campsite so the kids would run between there and our campsite all day long. The food was great thanks to Mike and Alex and all of their Dutch oven yumness. There is nothing I love more about camping than the FOOD!!! Just to name a few we had mike's famous chicken dutch oven, tin foil dinners, apple cobbler, peach cobbler, barbecue pulled-pork sandwiches, smores and we even got to try some abalone which some of the men in the ward go skin-diving for. Oh, I almost forgot the breakfasts too- pancakes, french toast, sausage, eggs, bacon and even biscuits and gravy. I think I came home 5 pounds heavier. Another great thing about this trip is that there are so many people in the ward who go that they are able to have a sacrament meeting up here and even hold a primary, youth and adult sunday school class. I had a hard time picking just a few pictures out of the many we took- each of them make me smile. I can't wait until next year to go again.
Gualala is named after this river. The kids loved playing down here- especially Tyler. The beach is rocky and so he spent all of his time throwing rocks in the water and jumping (with his windmill arms) while he watched them make their splash. Next year we might just have to borrow someone's raft to go paddling with the kids on the water.

This is by far my favorite picture of Austin camping. He was a really good sport. The first night in the tent was a bit rough but then it got better when I started putting him down for naps in the car seat in the car where it was quieter. Luckily, someone had mentioned to bring a space heater for the tent since it gets mighty cold up there at night (Yes, they do have electricity and hot showers at this campsite which I love) so he was able to sleep in his pack'n play and not with me.

Tyler was a hoot on this trip. I don't think he ever stopped from the minute he woke up to the minute he fell asleep. He would go from playing in the trees with Max, to playing pingpong, to chasing the girls, to playing catch with Mike, to playing whatever. He would keep on asking me and Mike if we would go play with him and when we couldn't he would go to Amy and Alex and ask them. One day he asked Amy if she would take him down to the river to play and she made the mistake of saying "not right now, maybe later". He never let it rest after that. He probably asked her every 5 minutes if it was later. Finally, I think out of exasperation, Amy told him that she had to wait and talk to Alex about it. Unfortunately, Tyler was too smart for that and went right up to Alex, got his attention and told him that Amy needed to talk to him right away.

Needless to say, Tyler had a great time and can't wait to go again.

Our campsite

My good friend, Amy, who made camping survivable with a baby. She was always there to hold Austin and help rock him to sleep when he was getting cranky.

Austin getting fed.... again. Boy does he eat a lot.

Our campsite and the pretty surroundings. The redwoods were gorgeous. It was wierd to come back to the real world on monday after being in this beautiful area for the weekend.

Mike and I by the river.

Makenzie loves camping. She remembered our camping trip a year ago with my family and got more excited than anyone else did before we left on this trip. She loves getting dirty, she loves to eat, and she LOVES sleeping in her sleeping bag and tent. Every night we would let her watch a movie in the tent on the laptop before bed-- and whenever we went in to tell her it was time to go to sleep she would just say, "ok" and get in her princess sleeping bag, zip it up and close her eyes. The best thing about Makenzie is that she is so laid back and so friendly that she can make friends and be happy with just about anyone. She would go play on the swings and come back 30 minutes later telling me about some new friends she made. And sure enough the next day when we were down at the river, she saw one of her new friends, a girl named Emma, and introduced her to me. I hope she stays this way forever- she is one of the happiest go-lucky girls I've ever seen.

Overall- the trip was a HUGe success and we all can't wait for next year to come.