Spring Break Camping Trip

We had such a great time camping with our friends in Big Sur. We went with the Heywood family and the Lewis family. The kids had soooooo much fun playing with their friends and loving the natural environment. One of the children's favorite things was the huge mountainside that our campsite was up against. They climbed the steep slope to the top and then would slide down (either on their bum or surfer style). The first time all our kids climbed up, Albert and I were a little nervous because it is a HUGE mountainside and even the little ones were up on top where we couldn't even see them! So Albert sent ME up to check on them. It was a big climb up and I didn't even go all the way to the top. I looked down and got a little dizzy. The kids slid down right past me like it was nothing and then I contemplated on how I would get down. That seemed much harder then getting up! I'm not sure why it was harder for me than for the kids. After that, I just stayed down in the campsite and let the kids climb up and down over and over. We decided that the worst thing that could happen was that they would slide down the hill. Not so bad! They all had a few bruises and scratches on their legs by the end of the trip but that's what being kid is all about.

Another fun adventure was our hike! We hiked through the redwood trees up to a waterfall, somewhere between 2-3 miles, which ended up being a very good distance for the little children. Many of the redwood trees were hollow and the kids enjoyed going through and into them and I heard some imaginings of sleeping in them. Some of the pictures below are the kids in a hollow tree.

One of the memorable experiences was the icy cold creek! The water was very cold! Colder than the ocean! Brian Heywood challenged the kids to swim across and back and offered a little incentive as well! Jacen, Linnea, Sasha and Tristan all swam across and were proud of their accomplishment, and rightly so. I wondered if I had had my bathing suit, if I would have done it! I don't know!? They will remember that experience for a while though. They called themselves the Survivor Club!

We had such a fun time and are anxious to go back this summer. Are any of you interested in going with us? Just let us know!