Beach Time

Just steps from our campsite was the beach! We went every day after my nap when the fog burned off. We did lots of fun stuff at the beach. There weren't waves that I could really surf so....

...I took up boogie boarding!

It was pretty fun because I could do it all by myself! The only down side was the water was pretty cold so I didn't stay in too long.

Dad went out with Uncle Jeff every day paddle boarding. He was a little shaky the first day, but by the end of the trip he was pretty good!

I had a nice deep pit dug for me every day as well. I spent hours upon hours in that pit. I played, I rode the boogie board into it, and I peed in it!

This is what Buzz called the "Death Drop". He could do it standing up of course, but I thought it was a little safer sitting down.

It was pretty steep!

We brought my Buzz Lightyear kite along to see if we could fly it at the beach (since we have had no luck at home). Unfortunately it was missing a couple pieces. Even after dad rigged it with some string it still didn't do so hot.

This is about all it did before making nose dive after nose dive into the sand. I guess this McClellan family was not cut out for kite flying!

We don't have the pictures from Aunt Jen yet, but one thing I can't stop talking about is the platform. A little ways out into the ocean is a platform you can jump off of. The whole crew (minus Mom) swam out to it, while I rode on the boogie board. Then we took turns jumping off. It was lots of fun!

Every day I ask Mom when we can go camping again. I LOVED every minute of it. Thanks Uncle Jeff and Aunt Jen for letting us tag along!

Biking Around Camp...and Beyond

"You want to go on bike ride wid me?" is the question I asked repeatedly all day....starting at 6:30 a.m. Aunt Shalaine and Uncle Cort were nice enough to loan us their awesome bikes for the trip, not to mention the cool seat on the front that I got to ride in. We road our bikes every day, a few times a day. I LOVED it!!!!! Here are some of the places we went:

Tar Beach. There is all this tar seeping out of the hillside into the sand. It is a pretty cool sight!

Here is Kate and I with our poking sticks. You can poke the tar, glob it on your stick, and chase people with it:)

Dad and Blake were also enjoying the tar poking. Blake was headed up to the top of the hill where it was oozing out. Unfortunately there was also a giant dead bird up there! Gross...but cool.

I Love Tar! Until it got on my shoe and we had to throw away these flip flops at the end of the trip.

We also biked to the Seal Sanctuary.

Brooke and I are looking down over the cliffs at...

tons of seals lounging on the beach. They were fun to watch, especially as they would swim in from the ocean and flop up on the sand.

Some days we biked into town. One of my favorite places to go was The Spot. It was a yummy burger joint with delicious fries and chicken. Aunt Jen treated me to a sticky guy from the quarter machines.

Yummy lunch at the Spot. Too bad I couldn't enjoy it because a ton of policemen were having lunch there. What's wrong with policemen? you ask. Well Mom thought it was funny one day to tell me that the police were going to get me if I was bad. Ever since then they make me really nervous. I couldn't eat a thing until all the cops left!

We also biked around the camp grounds and along the bluffs of the beach. I think I loved it so much because I didn't have to do any of the pedaling and got all of the benefits! It was definitely one of my favorite parts of camping.

CARPENTERIA!!!

There was a huge build up to our family vacation this year. My Mom and Dad talked a lot about going camping at the beach and how fun it would be. We spent an entire weekend gearing up with all the camping necessities. Then it happened...we loaded up the car, strapped Uncle Cort and Aunt Shalaine's bikes to the back, and headed off to Carpenteria.

From the moment I got there I loved camping. I had my own little chair to sit by the fire (but not too close) and ate marshmallows every night. Since I have a fear of fire I preferred them unroasted.

Mom was pretty impressed that I got within 10 ft. of the fire. I figured since everyone else was around it I was pretty safe. I never walked by the fire though--I took the longest route around possible!

I forgot to mention who made this fabulous trip possible! Aunt Jen and Uncle Jeff come here every year. They were nice enough to let us tag along. I was stoked to have Brooke, Kate, and Buzz as my adopted siblings for the week.

Aunt Jen got into dutch oven cooking this trip...and it was DELICIOUS! This is the first crack at it. Bacon, potatoes, eggs, cheese, and green chili's for breakfast. I don't think you get much better than that!

That's what I'm talking about.

I had a special air mattress/sleeping bag for the trip. I slept in it at home for two weeks before the trip so I was pretty comfy in it! I slept great in the tent and even took a nap every day. That's probably because I was up with the sun every morning!

We did tons of fun activities. So many in fact, that I had to put them in a couple seperate posts...so stay tuned!