skimitos, s'mores, and lots and lots of sand

We did it.  We packed the van to the gills and set off to live with only a thin piece of nylon separating us from that which they call wilderness.  With the forecast looking worlds better than "Family Camping, Take One," we were delighted and excited.  Wouldn't you be?

You see those ZERO PERCENT chances of precipitation?  Holy cow, did that ever make me happy.

This time around, we went east instead of west, and made our way to Cape Henlopen State Park in Lewes, Delaware, for a beachy camping experience.  Our camping companions from last time were brave enough to head into the wild with our crazy bunch again, although we tempered the group with two additional families with seemingly more sanity and calmness.  Thankfully, they were all knowledgeable about this park having camped there before, and they hooked us up with the most perfect sites, and collectively we had more supplies and materials than we would have needed had we camped for an entire week.

Rather than me being all-words-all-the-time, what if this camping recap were more visual than talky.  I present to you, Camp Sights:

See that kick-ass tent?  Hubby fell in love with the video for the tent- from the door that closes on its own and the windows that roll down by themselves to the light in the tent that runs on batteries- it was fabulous.  And it fits the queen, two twins, and one toddler-sized air bed comfortably, which is the ridiculous amount of beds our crew needs.  (And yes, that's a potty you see sitting outside the tent.  You just never know.)

Talking about ridiculous amounts of stuff.  Yeah, this one shows just some of the bags of the "stuff" we brought, which doesn't include our clothes, beds, linens, blankets, toiletries, or food.  What the hell is in those bags?!

 Now these two can be respectively labeled, "What are you doing, I'm trying to make the beds?" and "Hello, you knocked?  Welcome to our humble home."  Mama prefers to know when you'll be snapping pictures, just FYI.

It may not be easy to see the expression on JAM's face, but suffice it to say that he was thrilled to see that a huge segment of our campsites was a giant sand box.  The other seven kids enjoyed this feature just as much as he did, which resulted in eight filthy, filthy children.  Unfortunately, the proximity of said sandbox to our friends' tent, without the fly on, resulted in a sandy sleeping area for them.

The beach called us down, so we of course complied.  As we walked to a less crowded space, Red whimpered and ran from every incoming wave that might touch even one toe, but soon enough, she was splashing and jumping over the waves with the other kids.  Beachy girl, she just might become.

Okay, beachy girl I am most definitely not.  So when a huge group of dolphins swam by, with their bodies arcing over the waves and their fins poking out, I tried my best to document it through my squeals of joy.  You're just going to have to take my word for it, I guess.
 

Pudge took some time to work on his beach poses for his apparent future in modeling.  These pictures make me smile because he was finally having a good time-- little did he know what was coming.

Shortly after he worked it for the camera, Pudge's hat somehow got completely soaked and sand-filled, so hubby took it out in the water to "wash" it off.  This pic captures that moment, the moment just before Pudge decided to walk a bit further than he should have, despite my tentative calls that turned to shouts just before the wave came that knocked him over and covered him for the longest few seconds of my life.  Yeah, I'm sure it happens all the time to folks who are regulars at the beach, but it was a terrifying experience for this hardly-ever-at-the-beach mama.

Other than the ocean's attempt to consume my youngest, the beach provided a fun time for all, especially hubby who got to engage in the manly art of throwing around the football.  Ain't he a handsome fellow?
 

Hubby and JAM went off on a bike ride to explore the military stuff that's left over in this area from, um, World War II?  Yeah, I don't know what the hell I'm talking about, and there are a whole lot of pictures about the stuff that I don't know, so I'm going to let hubby tackle that part of the trip over on his blog.  Remember the good old days when he remembered his blog?

At the suggestion of a friend, we stopped at a little ice cream shop in town, just a short drive out of the park.  Each and every consumption of ice cream is required to be documented with the Pudge-wearing-his-treat-well picture.

I have no idea what extra ingredients were slipped into Red's ice cream.  You should probably look away.  Quickly.

 
After two days and nights of camping it up, which included a whole lot of the title items, our campsite was pretty much trashed.  Sunday morning brought a delicious breakfast followed by a frenzy of cleaning up, organizing, divvying up supplies and materials, and packing it all up.  Sad, sad Sunday.  (In case you haven't figured it out, "skimitos" is the beyond adorable name that Pudge calls mosquitoes.  I really don't want to forget that.)

I call this one "Deflated Tent as Metaphor."  Yeah, we were seriously bummed.

The vans and cars were packed, and the party was officially declared over.  For a family still relatively new to the camping experience, we're loving it and looking forward to next time.


Anxious to get her camp on again soon,