Carpinteria

Our little haven

The weekend already seems so long ago, it is amazing how quickly our minds can loose a thought or a feeling. We arrived in Carpinteria at 10:30 on Thursday night. It was Andy's last day of work, so we had to wait until he got home. By that time, there would have been terrible traffic, so we went to dinner with some family and then hit the road. There was NO traffic and we zipped right up there. We pulled into our gorgeous spot ON THE BEACH and felt the waves of relaxation wash over us. Carp is great... when I say ON THE BEACH...that is exactly what I mean. The back end of the motorhome was hanging over the sand. It is AWESOME.

We had dressed the kids in p.j.'s and put them in their beds for the drive, so they were already out cold when we arrived. Andy and I took advantage of that fact, and sat a while on the sand in the light of the full moon and listened to the roar of the ocean. We reminisced about sitting on the shores of the Indian Ocean, falling in love and how we never could have imagined our lives being what they are today. We have a GOOD life, a GREAT life. We just sat there, taking it all in. Finally, our beds called and we gave in to a great night's sleep.

This was my view of Gavin all weekend long

The weekend was spent on the beach and in the ocean. We just played and relaxed. When we got there on Thursday night, I was admiring the lights that the camp site next to us had put in the trees. It looked like a magazine and so very "vacationy", I was envious that we had not brought our lights. This weekend is one of our only getaways this summer, and I really wanted to just enjoy it. Andy got up on Friday morning and needed to run to the store for ice and a few other things that we had forgotten, so he hopped on his bike and was off. He is THE best husband ever, because he not only came back with ice and beer... he bought me LIGHTS! AND a BEACH CHAIR!!! He too, really wanted me to enjoy the weekend and boy, did I!

I read a book (NOT a text book) all weekend long... I decided to start "Love In The Time Of Cholera" on our last trip and had only gotten a few pages in. I read half of the book and am LOVING it! I can't wait 'till our 4th of July weekend, when I will get to finish it!

I got some sun, sat in my chair, ate yummy food (but not too much) and watched the kids PLAY. Ella decided that she loves the ocean and Gavin made tons of friends and played in the waves, dug in the sand and tried his hand at boogie boarding. I hardly saw that kid all weekend. Ella got stung by a bee, poor thing....and Andy played in the water and with the kids and we all just had such a wonderful time (except for the bee stinging part). We showered that night and felt all clean and shiny. Oh, that is the other thing that Carpinteria has... HOOK UPS! That means water and electricity in the motorhome... these are BIG. The kids crashed and Andy and I sat outside, listened to Jimmy Buffet and Jack Johnson (the Curious George song guy) and loved the waves and the moon and my lights in the trees. That night the Grunion (lil fish who come up onto the beach to lay eggs) were running.. so we sauntered down to the waves to watch. It was really very interesting and we thought that it was really funny that there were so many humans on the beach all waiting to watch, "fish sex". They don't actually "do" anything, the female digs a hole, lays the eggs and then the males flop up and make their contribution. After that, they all head back down to the water!

This is BEFORE the bee sting - Ella in her "itsy, bitsy, kind of teeny, yellow, polka dot tankini"

On Saturday, we had company! Andy's cousin lives in Lompoc and he, his wife and 2 year old daughter came to hang out with us for a couple of hours. Right about the time they were getting ready to pack up and head out...our friends from Santa Barbara stopped in. A buddy of mine from college days, who went to UC Santa Barbara, came with his wife and their 2 year old daughter. The girls left after a while to head home, but he stayed to have dinner and relax. Of course we talked about the "good ol days" and laughed and stayed up way too late.

Sunday came to soon, and it was time to pack up and head out. Before going home, we went into town to have lunch. We really wanted to treat ourselves...we rarely eat out when we are camping, but heck...this was our vacation! We went to "Senor Frogs" and had the most wonderful lunch. The restaurant was relaxed and peaceful and the kids were so incredibly well behaved and the food was excellent! Gavin ordered off of the regular menu, which he read by himself! He was so proud and so were we! We then walked across the street to the candy store which has just about every candy you could want, and a red and white checkered floor and big white paper bags that they put your purchases in. We each chose something yummy and then, the trip was done. We drove home with little traffic and enjoyed dinner with Andy's parents. Then it was off to prep for our new schedule. School for me, and day camp for the kids and summer school for Andy. I put my head down on the pillow relaxed and refreshed (and tan!) and ready for the adventure that I was about to begin.