Deception Pass

Every July, my mom and her sisters enjoy a week of camping at Deception Pass.  Being an approximate halfway point between our home and our parent's home, it's often a great place to meet up.  Although we absolutely LOVE camping there, the reservations need to be made months in advance.  With some pretty significant schedule changes at work (not to mention an adoption that rocked our world), it was just not possible this last year to plan that far in advance.  

Uncle Dean showing Cocoa the dog and how to be gentle (she LOVES puppies).

 Thankfully, my parents offered to let us camp on their site.  Now, I am by no means a "diva camper" (which may surprise several of you)....but a tent has proved unsuccessful with our two little monkeys.  Okay....if I'm being completely honest with you, the last time we tried it was when Lil Man was a babe, but it was SO AWFUL we have no desire to attempt that again.  Props for all you families that make it work!  We just decided it was not in our best interest.

So how do we camp?  No we're not "glampers" (but again, if I was completely honest I am not at all opposed to the idea).  We prefer the tent-trailer method.  My husband's parents own one that they have used since they had little kids and they graciously lend it to us each year.  But again....this was not a planned camping trip, so we didn't have time to make the two hour trek to pick it up, pack it, and tow it to Deception Pass.

My ultimate favorite picture of my Lil Man right now =)

So where exactly did we sleep for our one-night adventure?  In my parents' trailer - which is admittedly a "glamping" situation.  It is roomy enough to pull out the couch, add a blow-up mattress, shove Cocoa's pack-in-play in the corner, and a sleeping bag on the floor for Lil Man.  All within the kitching/living area.  And my parents still have their own bedroom!  Perfect for a one night stay....although if we had chosen to stay any longer we would have needed to come up with a new plan.

The best part about the campground at Deception Pass is the easy access to two beautiful beaches (separated by a small rocky cliff).  The north beach, which we favor for the privacy, has a stunning view of the bridge, which makes an excellent backdrop for photos.  (Although I don't have any good ones from this year, you may remember from our first family photos last summer.)

My favorite of Cocoa from the weekend

We were blessed with a beautiful weekend.  Some of our first consistent warm weather of the summer! I tried to keep Cocoa's hair protected from all the sand, but it was a lost cause.  I told you this girl likes to get dirty, right?  She was dumping buckets of water all over to make mud and then would throw the mixture into her hair!  (The bottom of the tub was COVERED with sand when we got home.)

Lil Miss looked like a baby model in her gap bikini and polka dot head scarf (in my very humble opinion that is not at all biased =) and strutted her stuff along the rocky shore!  She's one of those kids that gets a constant stream of lingering stares, pointing, and whispers about her evident adorableness.  Sometimes I pretend like I don't hear it (I don't want her to get a big head after all...well, bigger than it already is with that 'fro).

Cocoa deep in conversation with her oldest cousin, Caleb

 Mama thankfully got a little time to lay out.  But a tan was kind of out of the question thanks to a certain little lady covering me in sand, mud, peanut butter, and salad dressing (weird combination, I know).  Grandma had lots of toys to distract her, but the girl can't stay away from touching me for too long!  =)

After several escape attempts to the shore, I begged daddy to talk Cocoa into the water (a panic swept over me every time she got near, and my heart couldn't handle it).  After her toes took their first dip, she had a moment of panic at the freezing temps of the water (Remember - this was our first WARM week...water hadn't warmed up in the slightest yet.  Wait.  What am I saying?  The water never warms up here.) before she decided she didn't care and splashed around like nobody's business.

And where was Monkey during all of this?  Well...he spent a lot of the time in time out for being a cranky butt and then several hours playing cars in grandma's trailer.  Like I said.  Cranky butt.  Hence the lack of pictures of my Lil Man.  But I have plenty of Cocoa!!!

Back at the trailer we noticed a vast change in temperature.  And a huge rise in the number of mosquitos.  That is why Lil Miss is covered head to toe.  We grilled up some hot dogs and chicken nuggets and had a quick dinner before we put the kids down for bed.  Thankfully, there was no fight in that area.  Then it was back out to the fire where my aunts and uncles and cousins and their kids all gathered for smores and a trip down memory lane =)  Kids slept peacefully...then again, I did shush the crowd on multiple occasions =)

Grandpa and his princess

The grill masters (hubs and my oldest brother and his two kids)

Playing peek-a-boo from the trailer

Monkey's cozy corner

And so goes Cocoa's first camping trip EVER!!!  I don't know if it counts since we just stayed the night with grandpa and grandma....but it was a great test for the UPCOMING camping trip in the tent trailer!!  And now that Monkey has had his taste, he can't WAIT to get going!!!