San Clemente Beach Trip...

The kids got home from Texas on the 1st of August, just in time for our family beach camping trip to San Clemente. Tawna's husband Nathan grew up going to San Clemente every summer with mulitple families and ward members and the Mowers introduced us to this when we were living in California growing up. It's a very pretty beach and I love the memories of going there as teenagers and hanging out together around the campfires and on the sand! So, Tawna, Mom, Jade and I decided to try and go as a whole family this year. Tawna and Nate, and his Mom Frances (Brown Grammy!) were nice enough to call in on opening day for reservations and get camp sites for all of us, which is no easy task because they are all gone within about 8 minutes of the phone lines opening up! So, the plan was set and everyone was going... Granny & Grumpy, Tawna & Nate and the kids, Kevin and I and the kids, Jade & Jeff and the boys, RB & Stacie and gang, Frances & John Mower, Stephanie, Rachel and her cute kiddos...! Well, Grumpy couldn't come at the last minute due to an inspection/audit at work, so Granny stayed behind with him and we missed them a lot! But, the rest of us packed it all up and headed out on August 2nd bright and early off to CA!!! This was our first family trip in 2 years and we opted to take the 3 oldest kids only since it's the ocean and camping and not fun for babies (or Mom!). Plus, it gave us some great quality time with the older three!!!

The kids helped pitch the tent... there were campfires, smores, card games, walks to the beach and the light house (LOL), good food, fun people!!!! There were also lots of ANTS!!! Here's some of the pictures...



Eating at Fishermans Wharf Restaurant on the Pier... Had to be done for the crab & lobster lovers of the group! Maddie and I ate grilled ham & cheese sandwiches and fries off of the kids menu!


The coastline looking down from the little cliff, and the train was coming. I guess the train runs all the way down the coast, which would be a pretty view...

Lobster LOVER!!! All of those little tools just to get at the meat!

Sunset...

I love these people!!! :)

Blurry, but you get the idea! The weather was awesome...

The Restaurant on the Pier...

This is the joke of the trip... I always called it the lighthouse, but in fact it was a life guard head quarters or something. Funny how you remember somethings differently when you're a kid. I also remembered the walk down to the beach differently!!! It's a trek for sure!!! When I was young all I carried down was a towel I'm sure, but with a family Kevin and I felt like pack mules, and the way up almost killed us both! There were many rests taken along the way and some walking backwards!!!

The view...

Monkeygirl!

Pitching the tent...

All done and proud of the helpers that they were! All in all we had SUCH a fun time! Camping is a lot of work though... I was exhausted and needed a vacation after our vacation! We ended up staying Sunday and Monday. Monday on the beach was very relaxing and I loved just watching the kids play together with cousins and talking to my family and reading. Kevin and Daron boogie boarded for a couple of hours early in the morning and then Kev took respite in the shade tent with his book too. I was glad that he got a little R&R and believe me it was a LONG time coming!!! He's been working sooooooooooo hard this past 2 years (he's always worked hard, but the last 2 years had many changes and gearing up!), and he definitly deserved a couple of days off finally! He did manage to get burned though from the knees all the way to his toes, even in a tent. I think his legs were sticking out at times and then the sun moved throughout the day and we didn't move the tent to accomodate. He was so burned that his legs & feet swelled and hurt him for about a week. Dress shoes for work were not fun that week!

Daron boogie boarded ALL day! Nathan also went out with hime for a bit and that was fun for him! Maddie and Kaitlin wanted to look for sea shells for their room and we walked the beach and found zilch! This beach just didn't have any that day. The break on the shore was a little rough the day we were there and the kids had to be cautious and tough, but they all had a great time!

THANK you to the AZ MOWERS and the CA MOWERS!!!!! Good times!