Sunday, July 27, 2008

Carpinteria, Camping Fun!



We just returned from our 2nd Annual Hendrickson Family camping trip to Carpinteria State Beach! We had so much fun last year that we had to go back. Unfortunately we were only able to reserve 4 nights :(For those of you who don't know, it is pretty difficult to get a beachfront site in the summer, so I guess we were lucky to have it). This year we brought our bikes and were able to bike around town to shopping, dinner, Foster's Freeze, etc..... Carpinteria is a pretty small town, so the kids had no problem keeping up. We had a lot of fun, here are some of the highlights....................................
Jeff and Brooke setting up camp.
Baseball on the beach.
Innertubing is fun here, the waves are really gentle and rolling.
The kids were loving it, they got to have their own tent this year!
Jeff and Buzz coming back from town. A bike with a basket just makes me smile :)
Roasting hot dogs on the fire......gourmet camping grub. Everything tastes better cooked outside.Kate became obsessed with boogie boarding on this trip, the water was cold, but felt "refreshing" once you got "used to it" aka "so numb you loose feeling".
Boogie Boarding trio.
As much as Kate became obsessed with boogie boarding, Buzz became 10 times more obsessed with skim boarding. He would literally stand by the water and practice for hours.
more practice.
This is the 2nd year in a row that the girls picked out their backpacks from a cute surf store on the main street. I feel a tradition in the making.
This hamburger stand is called "The Spot", delicious hamburgers and fried foods!
Foster's Freeze :)
On our last day, Kate was so tired she fell asleep for an hour. We called it "The Starfish" pose.
Brooke practices Smashball a lot this trip. Notice "The Starfish" in the foreground.
S'mores....yummy!
We biked to a Seal Sanctuary lookout.
The seals are well camouflaged , but when we first got to the lookout there were roughly 50 or so on the beach and rocks, some were babies with their moms. Too cute!

P.S. I am interested to hear your opinions on camping. Most people that have asked me about the trip say "somebody has to like it" or words to that effect. So I'm just wondering what you guys think. Are my family & I really in the minority for liking camping? Let me know what you think.

5 comments:

Gretchen J said...

Can I be adopted into your family? I don't like camping but your pictures sure make it look like fun!! Maybe there is a hotel nearby that I bike to at night...

loubige said...

Looks like you guys had a blast!
You already know I'm not huge into mountain camping.....never done beach camping but I have a feeling I wouldn't mind it. But I also have a feeling that I would always prefer a sweet hotel over a tent. :-)

Andrea said...

I love camping, but it really sucks if you have a baby that screams all night.

Anonymous said...

We are die-hard campers! Just got back from a 10 day camping trip in Eastern Sierras . . . one shower the whole time. . . Yep, we all had only one shower, but we caught lots of fish, roasted many marshmallows, picked up many rocks and did lots of hiking around. We really enjoy being far away from the rat race for a while and we LOVE camping!!!! Your family is NOT weird. . .(not by our standards, anyway) Love and miss you guys!!!!

Nana said...

I commented a while ago but then the attachment went hey-wire. BUT I love camping . . . we have many a tent and sleeping bag but rarely do I get to go camping because I'm marrired to Mr. 4 Seasons. How can you see the stars from a bed? I really loved my Dad pointing them out to me and talking of the stories behind them. Go go go you campers.