Mother's day weekend we went camping in Santa Cruz with some friends from our ward - The Hawkes, Stewarts, Petersons and Thompsons. We had never camped in the coastal mountains, so it was really cool. To be in the wood and mountainous areas and then drive 10 minutes and you are at the beach. We stayed at a camp ground called Henry Cowell State Park. It was really fun but we will not be returning to this particular camp again...too many rules and regulations for our liking :) We left about 1pm on Friday, it took about 3 1/2 hours to get there.
There were many friends for the kids to play with, they had so much fun - even though there was poison oak everywhere, the kids did great about staying out of anything "green"
Getting the fire ready for the first night
The first night, the Stewarts and Thompsons were in charge of dinner. It was delicious! Nothing like eating burgers -n-dogs in the woods...plus chips and some amazing watermelon!
CJ, Clair, Allie, Nathan (Jenny Stewart holding Nathan), Katelyn and Grace
After dinner, we made s'mores...nothing like given the kids a weapon and tell them not to impale anyone but to just roast a marshmallow on it
I was initially worried that Sabrina and Allie had nobody their age but they were great...Sabrina was a big help with the little kids and Allie just played with them and was happy to do so. Sabrina helped Claire roast a marshmallow on a stick :)
Nathan and Jenny Stewart
Time for bed...I didn't have a air mattress for these two..so they really roughed it on the ground in their cars and princess sleeping bags :)
After the kids (and Scott) were in bed the rest of the adults stayed up and laughed and laughed...we even were giving a warning from the ranger that it was "quiet time".
The next morning Allie found a tree to climb
The Hawkes made a delicious breakfast and then we were off to spend a day at the beach. The weather was AMAZING...not a cloud in the sky and about 77 degrees...only complaint...no waves and the water was a bit chilly.
The Santa Cruz boardwalk was so cool, with all the food and rides
We mainly spent our time on the sand...but we did try out some of the interesting food...such as this potato!
Back at camp, we were in charge of dinner, we made Carne Asada tacos - awesome!
Sabrina, Brogan and Grace
Me and my boy
Der Hawkes and I
Mother's day morning, the men cooked breakfast - eggs, bacon and pancakes with strawberries and whipped cream. After the men did dishes, it was time to break down camp and attempt to get to sacrament meeting.
We didn't make it..so we found a nice park and had a church devotional and talked about mothers. It was really nice, then we had lunch and explored the park, which had this cool, covered bridge.
Afterwards, we found this place that had a real steam engine train rides.
Claire and Grace
Brayden Hawkes, Grace, Claire Hawkes, CJ and Brogan Peterson
(The Stewarts and Thompsons went home on Saturday night)
We were there when the steam engine pulled back in, it was so cool and the kids loved it!
Our whole group
We made our own train on our way back to the car
We headed for home and stopped at this place in Hollister, CA called Casa de Fruta. They had fruit and fudge and rides, etc.
Brayden and Grace
CJ and Claire
Having a few treats before getting back in the car
Driving out of the parking lot, we saw a peacock...just walking down the rode :) It was such a fun weekend! So thankful to have good friends to spend time with when family is a bit far away!
