Beach Camping

Since our Outerbanks trip didn't happen, Craig figured we might as well get to the beach and camp there.  We'd heard about another park, First Landing, from some friends of ours and we were able to book a campsite there, so we had a plan!  Of course, as soon as it was booked, Craig remembered that he was supposed to have his leadership retreat those same days, but since EVERYTHING has been canceled, we weren't really sure that this was happening, either...  So rather than figuring out what was going on, we mostly forgot about everything.  Typical of Craig and I, especially these days.

So, of course, we had a bit of a crazy wake-up call when we realized we WERE going camping but I'd accidentally scheduled oodles of dentist appointments at the same time and had to scramble and reschedule everything.  But we got it figured out!  We always do!

So this was another camping on the beach adventure for us-- our 4th time doing this!

And, not gonna lie, it was a bit of a disaster.  No, let's not use that word.  Let's say it was a "fiasco."  That sounds a little more fun, doesn't it?

It started out just fine.  We spent the morning packing and getting food prepped and arrived right when we were allowed to check in.  Craig got the charcoal heating up and I helped him set up tents and then took the kids to the beach while he finished organizing our campsite.  We headed back to eat and Craig was just getting a good flame going so the kids could roast hotdogs when it began raining.  We'd been aware this was a possibility, but the forecast said to only expect .01 inches of rain, so we weren't particularly concerned.  We'd closed the tent windows (which I totally left open last time we were camping in Shenandoah and all our sleeping bags got soaked-- that was NOT particularly fun!), put phones in the car, and set up the pop-up over the picnic table.  We figured we'd be fine.

And then it just DUMPED on us.  For twenty minutes.

Even under the pop-up, we were all soaked.  We were splattered with mud.  All our coolers and bins of food and camping chairs were equally splattered with mud.  The campfire was put out and sadly my dinner was not even close to cooked.  (Some people might have been okay with a little raw steak, but I am not one of those people.)  It was pretty miserable.

We finally ducked into the car and I passed out twinkies to everyone for dessert.  I was glad I'd impulsively bought those, since we clearly wouldn't be roasting marshmallows.

The rain let up a bit and we decided we may as well head back to the beach.

That was pretty awesome-- the storm had churned up the Chesapeake Bay so that it was full of whitecaps and now there were legit waves along the shore!  The kids were delighted and we learned that Camille must somehow be a daughter of Poseidon, because she ran back and forth into the big waves cackling maniacally for the sheer joy of it all.  She'd roll around in the sand and then dash back into the water to wash it off and then go right back to the sand.  She'll make a great Navy SEAL some day. She also comPLETEly ruined her cute little sundress.  But oh, well.  She would have outgrown it soon anyway.

So that was actually really fun, even if it was also pretty crazy.  But I was worried it was going to start raining again, and began urging Craig to get the kids back to the campsite and ready for bed.

He finally listened and we found everyone's toothbrushes and were busy brushing their teeth in the bathhouse when the second round of the storm hit.  We got thoroughly drenched-- again-- in the 30 second walk back to our tents.

Craig figured out a plan, which meant moving the pop-up over the entrance to the kids' tent and then drying them off one-by-one and helping them into their pajamas as they stood in the mud before allowing them inside the tent, one foot at a time as we toweled off each foot.  It was a VERY slow process, but it kept their tent clean and dry, so it was totally worth it.  By the time we had Ryder, Colton and Camille all tucked into their sleeping bags, the rain had let up again.  The big kids were hoping to see bioluminescence at the beach, so Craig took them back and I crawled into my tent with my book and got some dry clothes on myself, which felt wonderful.

As soon as I was dry, it began raining.  AGAIN.  I couldn't believe it.

This also meant I had to close the tent windows again, but this tent is a black-out tent, so now I couldn't see anything.  And I'd left my phone (ie, my flashlight) in the car, but there was no way I was running out and getting wet again.  So I was just stuck.  I sat alone in my tent in the dark, waiting for the rain to stop again.  Craig and the kids had come straight back (at the beach, it was blowing so hard the rain and sand HURT), so they hit the showers since they couldn't come into the tents until the rain stopped, either.

So that first evening was a mess.

And that was definitely a WHOLE LOT more rain than .01 inches.  Thanks, weather forecast.


The rain continued for about half the night, but I think it stopped around 2am?  The kids were awake by 6, and the sun was shining, so we hit the beach for real.  And had a marvelous time:

The good news about 7am beach: no one else there!  Can you see my kids all bobbing around together?

We're lifeguards!

And now they pose "cool" for me...

Colton spent a chunk of time pretending to be a puppy...

I came back from the bathroom to find Ryder buried up to his chin!

This little guy totally freaked me out when he went scuttling past!

Awesome hermit crab!

Camille loved floating around on this boogie board

I got some good reading time in!  Happiness!

So silly!

She looks cold, but trust me, she wasn't.

Kendra hardly got out of the water

He named this, "Shelly."  Naturally!

How to eat fruit-by-the-foot in one bite!

The beach was WONDERFUL.  The water felt great.  The kids played and played and played.  When people got hungry, Craig or I would wander back to the campsite to scrounge up food.  He made french toast for everyone.  I made sandwiches.  We probably could have stayed all day except (despite our best efforts) everyone was getting sunburned.  So we finally decided we'd had enough around 3pm.

And even though the forecast kept changing another rain storm was getting less and less likely, I just couldn't bare the idea of a repeat of the night before, so we finally decided just to head home early.  Craig packed up our campsite and left me with the pop-up for shade.  When he came back for the pop-up, we all headed back and took showers and put on whatever dry clothes we could find before we drove home.  We stopped and got Five Guys on the way, so that made everyone happy!

And it was sooooo wonderful to sleep in my soft bed with the air conditioning blowing and everything perfectly dry.  Nothing makes your home feel more lovely than a miserable camping trip!