family camping

We had one last hurrah for the summer.

A road trip, not too far away.

To the city of Carpinteria for some beach camping.

It was my girl's first time ever camping besides the backyard,

our first time camping as a family,

and my first time camping right across from the beach.

They were all pretty excited, Piper included.

Our adventures took us a short walk/bike ride away to the dog friendly beach.

And guess what, it was Piper's first time seeing the ocean.

It was pretty cool for everyone.

Relaxing and downright beautiful.

And then my adventurous boy doing what boys do

started jumping from those rocks, running around

and doing it again.  I just said, "You probably shouldn't

be doing that, because you don't know what's under the

water there."  He assured me it was fine.

And a moment later was screaming "crab, giant crab!"

 with blood gushing from his ankle.

And I suspected he probably stepped on a sting ray.

This child has one of the highest pain thresholds.

He broke his arm clear through both bones without crying.

But he was writhing in pain and barely able to walk from this.

Fortunately we got him to the lifeguard headquarters

where they got the hot water ready and confirmed it was a sting ray wound.

We all learned a little science lesson that day.

The lifeguards informed us that the poison in the sting,

(which is really more of a deep puncture wound by the way)

is a protein and putting it in hot water cooks it like an egg,

it coagulates and is drawn out.

Pretty trippy. 

And so for two hours they kept him there.

They let him shower and eat some cake.

Because his bravery called for some kind of treat, poor kid.

They said a fifteen year old girl earlier that day

was going into shock and throwing up from the pain.

And described it as being similar or worse than childbirth.

So he now knows about 

the stingray shuffle.

And I think he also learned a hard lesson

that when Mom cautions about something, 

she just might have good reason.

The pulling out of the poison took until

sunset, so we got to enjoy it from

the lifeguard station.

And then the view from our camp.

After dinner, the night called for s'mores.

And what they called the roasting wars to find the perfect 'golden delicious.'

The next day, my husband so graciously made a 

starbucks run to go with breakfast.

It kind of helps that everything is walking distance away.

Despite not sleeping so super well

due to the family of five racoons climbing up and down the

tree above our heads and the nearby train causing our dog to howl

her head off, we still had a fabulous time.

The kids loved the park just a few steps away.

And I loved the walk through town.

Especially the fun antique shops!

A used book store was calling all of our names.

Each kid got to pick a book, at the price

of a dollar an inch.  

I almost forgot to mention,

Piper's favorite part,

Squirrel hunting.  

There were plenty just waiting to torment her.

Then we ventured for another trip to the ocean.

My son said he would not go in.

But eventually he did.

And all was well.

And last, but not least the day rounded out perfectly with a gorgeous sunset.

God did not disappoint.

All in all, it was a really beautiful

first time family camping experience

and a wonderful way to say goodbye to summer.