Beach Camping!

We knew that Jason would have to go out to the field for an exercise shortly after starting his new job, so before Reagan started school, I wanted to make sure we got in a night of camping on the beach! We loaded up the van, picked up Savannah from school, and headed to Del Mar beach aboard Camp Pendleton. (Luckily Jason wasn't leaving until the next morning, so Tommy didn't have to stay out in the sun with us all day.) 

It took me almost an hour to set up our new tent (awesome birthday present from my amazing in-laws and twin!). It's huge and it was super windy, but I managed to get it set up with a bit of help from the girls. Of course as soon as I was finished, I realized the opening was not facing the water, but oh well, it remained in place:)

As soon as it was up, the girls and I hopped inside, changed into our suits and hit the beach. Reagan found a friend to play with, and Savannah and I sat - for what must have been 45 minutes -  in the surf covering our legs with sand and then laughing as the waves washed it away. There is a great playground on the beach, so we ventured up there and saw Jason parking his car to join us for a quick swim (and to bring me the camping stove that I forgot:)! 

Think we packed enough stuff for one night?!

Once he departed, the girls played on the jungle gym again while I gathered our shower stuff. We washed up, got dressed and walked back to our campsite to make dinner. As I mentioned before, it was super windy, so the task of boiling 2 cups of water was quite a challenge. I ended up holding a large cardboard box in place as a windshield and finally got the water bubbling. The other campers came far better equipped (most of them were in RVs and had full set ups), but we were happy to enjoy rehydrated mac n cheese with our carrot sticks and celery that I packed. 

After dinner, the girls went back to the playground and I set up our sleeping bags. In our previous tent, we were on top of each other, so this was like a mansion!

Savannah was giving Reagan a little help down the slide.

As the sun began to set, our neighbors helped me set up the fire. I wasn't completely confident in my abilities and didn't want to see two sad little girls if the fire was a bust and they couldn't roast marshmallows! We snapped some pictures of ourselves with the setting sun. It was gorgeous!

Finally, it was s'mores time! 

By 9:15, the girls were whooped. I read them a couple stories and they cashed out without argument. I wandered back outside and enjoyed the beautiful night by the warm fire. We all slept well with the sound of the waves just behind us.

The next morning, we were up at 7 and heard the sounds of Marines calling cadence through the campgrounds. It was the perfect wake up call.

 When we got back to the house, I unpacked and let them watch a show while I got some work done (working from home is great until you realize you have to do stuff on the weekends too!). I opened my door to find Reagan passed out on the floor in front of her room and Savannah drooling on the couch. I'd call that success.