Camping at Santee Lakes

We braved our first family camping trip over the weekend of August 27th at Santee Lakes, campsite #30. I have to say, for our first experience, it went pretty smoothly. We got to the campsite around 5 on Friday and quickly got the tent pitched and things in their appropriate places. Then Garrett whipped up a delicious meal!

But before we unpacked anything, Garrett needed to get a pole in the water. :) Our site was right on this pond and the kids loved watching Daddy prep the pole and fish. They were so good too, after he'd get it ready and in the holder, they'd just sit and watch it, never bothering it, waiting for the fish to bite. So cute. Maybe we've got some fishermen (or fisher woman). :)

Our friends, the Richardsons, were camping a few sites away so as soon as they were done setting up their camp site, they came down to enjoy dinner and some smores. Lots of fun!

Garrett decided it wasn't necessary for us to bring a pack n play so I decided it was necessary that the two boys sleep together on one side of the tent, and the girls sleep on the other. :) Not that the three room tent was really three rooms. The room is made by hanging a sheet of tent to block off a section, but Ty found he could just crawl right underneath and come sleep with Mommy. He kept coming over and asking for me to sing him a song, and then crawling back over to lay with Daddy. This was all at 10:30 pm! Finally, by around 11 he fell asleep. Actually, the whole tent was asleep besides me. Who said sleeping on the ground was a good idea?! Next time we'll be using air mattresses! Anyway, I got up pretty early (if I ever fell asleep at all!) and our late sleeper was asleep till almost 8! Look at this little man, so cute.

After a great breakfast provided by chef Garrett, we headed off on our first hike. :) Well, it was more like a stroll, but we checked out some other camp sites and found a fun play park for the kids.

Here are the Richardsons! I'm so glad we tackled our first camping experience with them. The kids had lots of fun together, which made it a bit easier for us, and we all shared meals which also made it easier. We're definitely doing this again next summer!

After our hike, we packed up a picnic lunch and walked to the pool. Santee Lakes is great in that it has lots of amenities such as pools, play parks, a splash park, and lots of activities like paddle boats, a teen hang out room, etc. Keeps everyone happy and busy. We were able to find some shade and enjoyed our lunch in between dips in the pool. It was a very hot weekend, record heat I think, so the pool was refreshing and fun for all.

After a quick shower, we all enjoyed sitting in the shade and watching Daddy fish.

Here's Colin, Tatum and Ty down by the pond. They enjoyed watching the fishing, but loved riding their bikes around the site and playing with toys. Thank goodness we brought lots of trucks and stuff to keep the boys entertained.

Tatum, on the other hand, wasn't too interested in playing trucks. The heat was waring everyone down and at one point, the kids ended up in the tent, trying to get out of the sun, playing games on my phone. There's no napping in camping I guess.

Ty was definitely more interested in the fishing. He would sit up on the hill, playing with rocks, but always watching Daddy and the fishing pole. You'd think he'd lose interest but definitely not.

Finally, later that evening, Daddy caught a fish! A catfish! The kids were so excited and interested.

They were amazed that a catfish has whiskers like a cat! :)

We were all up early Sunday morning and I think the general consensus was let's go home. But it was so refreshing to wake up under the beautiful clear sky and listen to life and nature around us. Here's a crane walking by our site, doing a little early morning fishing. Everyone enjoyed our first camping experience and we're looking forward to our next one in Carpenteria!