K-I-pickle-I

Our first camping trip has got us hooked.

I have to admit...any time I cross the bridges and tunnels in Chesapeake, I get a flutter of excitement in my stomach and a relaxing smile across my face. Seeing the barges and that great blue expanse of water, I know beaches and surf are right around the corner. And when that group of dolphins popped up beside the bridge to welcome us, I was the one yelling, "Dolphins! Dolphins!" like a preteen at a Justin Bieber concert.



We got to pick any open tent site we wanted, too. That was a hard decision. We ended up picking a good one, across from the bathrooms, but not next to them, and a quick walk through the woods to the beach. We went through the usual tent set up bickering, which I happily stayed out of and they got the thing up in no time. I heard that the sun sets three and a half times faster when you're trying to set up your tent, and I'd agree with that.


(We were next to some camping pros. They had music, games, bikes, you name it. A great tip we saw them do...bring a rake and clean up your site. They probably could have eaten off their ground, it was so clean. We did remember a clothesline though. Great for wet clothes at the beach.)


Diego stayed occupied picking the bark off the pine tree.


This was actually his preferred activity when we were at the campsite and he spent a lot of time doing this.


And speaking of sunsets....I convinced Juan Pablo to wait on starting a fire so that we could catch the sunset at the beach. Spectacular!






Little feet were eager to feel the cool water.


We walked almost to the pier, but decided we better get back and start a fire before it was completely dark.


Isabela was our wild fire woman. We had a hard time with the fire because of the wood being slightly damp, so Juan Pablo had her collect pine needles and cones to throw on it. She had a hard time knowing when to stop.


Breakfast was great....and early...we were all up by 6:15am! This cast iron pan was a great investment. Juan Pablo cooked bacon and eggs on it, along with steak and peppers, onions and mushrooms for dinner. I was fine with the powdered donuts and cereal I had brought, but JP doesn't think that is breakfast.


We were there for the annual clean the bay day. One day. Thousands of volunteers all along the Chesapeake Bay. Our group at Kiptopeke had about 25 people in it.


This was Joaquin's great find of trash. All in all, they collected 359 lbs. in three hours. We lasted for one hour. (We did have one casualty. Juan Pablo. He disappeared for awhile, only to return with a giant bandage on his arm. It was a rusty sign stuck in the sand that beat him. Did it have to be rusty?)


Here's what we did while he was gone...sand and waves...


...where Isabela found the largest clam shells I've ever seen.


This was our walkway to the beach. Kiptopeke is known for its bird sanctuaries. This was the osprey boardwalk.


Luckily, Diego was more than happy to walk it on his own. And most of the time barefoot!! The poor thing....his mom forgot to pack him socks.


Kiptopeke also has this amazing barrier made out of old sunken barges. It makes for great stories about pirates. (That's Joaquin acknowledging the ocean in the red shirt.)


Diego was so funny. He would lag far behind, then slowly walk to catch up with us, saying, "Mom. Mom. Mom." with each step. Sometimes, his caring big brother would go fetch him.


We spent most of the second day on the beach. I debated about bringing my camera, but thought I'd take a break as well, so I don't have pictures of that part. But there was an incredible sand bar....the kids were able to sit in inches of water a hundred feet out from the shore. Rippled sand glistened beneath the subtle waves of the Bay and it was amazing. I even said, "This is like a vacation!" Juan Pablo looked at me and laughed. The kids built huge sand castles with crazy colored sand. About an inch down, it was black. Juan Pablo tried to steer a school of fish into his man made puddle trap, and just when they were about to swim in it, some kid would come splashing through and scare them away. Quite funny.


Isabela, Diego and I went geocaching, too. (The other boys were wiped out.) The treasure was near the pier. All the state parks have special geocaches hidden for the 75th anniversary this year, so if you're in one, make sure to look.


These are calling us for our next adventure.


Kiptopeke was a great first camping grounds. The bathrooms were very nice...especially if you ignore the hundreds of daddy long legs perched on the walls staring at you. But, really, it's hard to go wrong with a beach this beautiful.

We did catch some rain the last night. It held off until we packed up and got on the bridge, then it let down a torrential flood. But....the kids declared this the best trip ever. You can't beat that.


(About the title...The kids play a hand clapping game and the ending goes: K-I-pickle-I, pickle-I-K-I, humble berry, wally wally whiskie, chinese chopsticks....chow mein!" I was slowly spelling the name of the park for Juan Pablo. I said, "K-I" and Diego quickly added, "pickle-I". We laughed and laughed.)

memorial weekend

The start of our weekend was shadowed by dark clouds that seemed to follow us wherever we went.


The first stop being here. This store is so fun for some reason...even though we rarely buy anything. This time was no exception. The kids started picking up things on every aisle. At one point, Joaquin was lugging around a backpack, trekking poles, a water bottle belt and a sleeping bag.


Diego was chillin' in some sunglasses and checking out the kids books after running around the store, knocking things over and getting lost under every clothing rack. He's like a mini tornado. You can see where he's been, but rarely catch a glimpse of him.


I believe tears were shed and bargains were trying to be made as we walked away empty handed.

This weekend was our preview of next weekend. We're planning a camping trip on the coast and had never even slept in a tent with the kids before. So we set up in the yard. This is a HUGE tent. I think it sleeps six. The kids found every blanket in the house and lugged them out to make a cushiony base.


Playing with the zippers was the first order of business. If there's no chance of rain, we can sleep with the blue tarp off and it's a full view of the starry night sky. How exciting!


We ALL slept out there the first night. Me, not so well... everyone else was fine. The ground was real hard. (Yes, I know...it's camping.) A couple of noisy bugs were dive bombing the tent in the middle of the night. And cars kept driving by!

The second night, Diego and I slept in the house, and everyone else camped out again. That night, Kitty got in a cat fight and was trying to get into the tent, but ended up running off somewhere. The kids said she was protecting them from some wild animal. (She's fine, by the way.)

We hit the pool Monday afternoon...the crowds were leaving and it was still packed.


I love Diego's reaction to the water. Super cautious...which actually makes my job as life guard so much easier. We sat on the side playing catch with his ball. He watched the waves lick at his toes. We learned that the small ball will rise up and down with the fountains on the edge of the pool, but the big ball was too heavy.


And we learned that ice pops have to be eaten real fast.


Every last drop.