Yikes. I got behind. Again. So we'll start with the most recent and work backwards. Eventually I'll catch up.
We went camping last weekend at Camp Disappointment State Park. It's located on a peninsula at the mouth of the Columbia River. It was a bit of a hike to get there, but a very cool spot and the kids had a blast. It was a beautiful weekend in Seattle and the weather looked good for camping as well. We headed out on Sunday morning. It was a gorgeous drive down along the coast and was sunny until we hit Ilwaco, about 3 miles from the camp site and then we were hit with dense fog and high winds. Apparently the peninsula has it's own weather.
We got out of the car and immediately had to put on fleeces and sweatshirts... it was not warm.
We went to check out the surroundings. Mom wonders "Is there a reason it's called Camp Disappointment?" Only Nora seems entirely unfazed.
As a child of the Northwest, I should never had expected sun and mild weather at the beach. Erin and Nora were happy with the sand regardless of the temperature.
The views are spectacular there, but this was all we could see when we got there ... fog. Like I said, the kids didn't seem to mind the weather. Erin found a driftwood house. Nora rediscovered how much she likes (to eat) sand.
The second little hike took us on the bay side of the peninsula and through some old growth forests with some HUGE sitka spruce.
Erin was pretending to be a bear in her den.
We were looking at different types of pine cones. Even Nora thought it was interesting.
Erin crashed for a nap and Nora and I drove to Astoria to get her a nap. She's amazing. She won't fall asleep with other people around except in the car. And when she sleeps in the car, you'd better plan to drive the whole time because the moment the car stops, she's wide awake. Stinker.
Luckily the weather improved some after nap time and we got to enjoy some sunshine and enjoy the views on the beach. Note that our fleeces are still on because it was still only 60 and VERY windy, but at least we got the use the beach toys.
Back at camp for dinner we were treated to some of Nora's best silly faces.
We enjoyed a tasty dinner of hot dogs, potato salad, carrots, grapes and lemonade followed by some very tasty s'mores. We got Nora to bed around 8:00 without too much fussing and Erin followed at about 9:00. Unfortunately Nora woke back up at 9:30, but by 10:15 we were all snoozing.
The weather on Monday was a repeat of earlier Sunday. Foggy, cold and misty. Luckily the wind had died down so we did a little exploring after breakfast. We walked out on the North Jetty and saw the fishermen, the pelicans dive and a few ships in the distance.
Just to prove that Matt was there. He was the photographer all weekend. What a treat!
Lessons learned from our solo camping trip:
1. Bring more warm clothes than you think you'll need..
2. Ditto number 1 and not just for the kids.
3. The solar lantern only works if you remember to charge it during the day.
4. Nora is officially an 1:1.
5. We're not ready to do any real cooking because of #5.
6. Although I felt like we brought SO much stuff, in comparison to several of our camping neighbors we were minimalists.
7. Bring/buy more wood.
8. Somehow 36 hours of camping requires several days planning and several more to recoup. We're exhausted!
9. It's hard for a 4 year old to understand why we can't just take all the cool things we find home. Strangely I remember trying to learn this same lesson when I was 4 in Yellowstone.
PS. Just because I may forget to include this elsewhere, Nora is saying a lot more words. She's still spotty about using the ones that she knows, but she's always good for animal noises. She's 15 months old in a few days and here is her list of words: All done (done), cold, ball, bowl, shoe, nonono, Mama, that, hi, car, milk, rock and good. She'll also make animal noises for: crow, dog, cat, cow, horse, elephant, lion and owl. She has learned to play "kitty," from Erin and the cousins. In REI the other day she refused to be carried and wanted to crawl around the store meowing. She still has a temper and is easily frustrated by things, but also loves to get snuggles, give kisses and read books. She's still a total ham for us and loves to play silly games and make silly faces. And unfortunately she still bites and pulls hair, but I think it's getting better. Gotta love our little biter.
