Camping Adventures/Newport Dunes

 I thought I would break up the silence on this blog with a little recap of our most recent camping/trailer adventure.  Two weeks ago we ventured out on a four night stay at one of our favourite summer locations : Newport Dunes in Newport Beach.  I love that you can lay by the beach all day if you choose or rent a water toy of some sort if you want to be active, splash in the pool or even take a leisurely stroll or bike ride around the beach area and just ..... breathe.
The noisy atmosphere of the all the kids doing their thing, laughing and screaming and truly enjoying their summer is pretty infectious.

  With our little trailer there is some hard setup work that needs to be done upon arriving at the site and then of course the clean up on our last day. My ever so strong husband is in charge of all of that and my job is to keep our kids away and occupied until that work is complete.
Ice cream on the beach kids?  Isabel gives a resounding 'Yes'!!  And Owen gives the cutest 'yes please' I have ever heard.  It sounds more like 'es peeees' ... he has the best manners of any almost two year old. Yes he does.

Speaking of Owen .. that boy gets more and more adventurous with every new camping trip we embark on and I get just slightly more nervous.  Baby proofing is pretty much non existent in or around our trailer so you will constantly hear 'watch your fingers' 'watch your head' 'watch your step' 'be careful buddy'.

He was loving the freedom of being able to follow his big sister around on her bike (well technically it is his hand me down bike but she refuses to ride her 'big girl' bike) on the little street right in front of our site (cars drive super slow) and I was very happy to see how quickly he moved his little legs to come back to one of us an hold our hand the moment he saw or heard a come coming.
Good manners and knows the road rules?  Proud mamma over here!  

 

"Mummy isn't this the most beautiful shell you have ever seen"?  Yes it is the most beautiful shell I have ever seen Isabel. Playing with sand, dirt and water and staying up waaaay past her bedtime? Isabel was in pure kid heaven. 

As much fun as Owen had playing in the sand and being allowed to play on the street,  I'm pretty confident his favourite part of this camping trip was being super duper close to the airport.  I can't quite figure out how to write his word for aeroplane but let's just say he repeated his word and pointed to sky many many maaany times.

We ventured out of the campsite on one of the days and walked on over to Balboa Island just for a change of scenery.  Isabel enjoyed an icecream and her mummy and daddy enjoyed a nice adult beverage overlooking the harbour.  Life is good.  So so good! 

 This was Summer camping trip #2 for 2013.  We have planned four this summer so two more to go.
I love making these fun memories.
Until next time Newport Dunes!

Trailer Adventures. Happy Friday

Back in the 2011 my husband convinced me to get a 21" Keystone Cabana Trailer.  Sure why not.  I think it got used once that year.  The place we camped at was cold and well I wasn't so excited to get back to nature after that trip.  I was pregnant too!
Let's just say I am a city girl and camping wasn't something I did frequently.  Quite a shame really considering Australia (where I grew up) has some a.m.a.z.i.n.g spots!   My husband on the opposite end had many a family outing in the great outdoors!  

Fast forward two year and two kids later and I will admit purchasing the trailer has been one of the best decisions (Yes husband I did just write that).   Yes I have some short lasting complaints here and there but watching my kids make the most of their simple surroundings is so so satisfying and makes it all worth it!  You definitely have to be more on top of it with a younger child (don't touch the heater, don't open the door, don't get too close to those steps, don't pull on that rod......) but again totally worth it seeing those big smiles.

Last week we went to a location that was fairly close to home.  No more than a 25 minute drive close!  But I am so so happy we went.   We were meant to go in January but it poured down rain on our planned days (we are not that adventurous just yet) so we postponed it a month and last week mother nature was very kind giving us amazing winter weather!

And so I have been convinced we need to do this more often!

Happy Friday!
Any fun outings planned?  It's going to be a beautiful 80 Degrees here in Southern California.
Maybe some beach time should be in my plans ... hmmmmmm.

Trailer Adventures: San Diego

This past weekend we took our little trailer out for another adventure.
This time we set out on a two hour drive down to San Diego.  We have  annual passes to both the San Diego Zoo and Seaworld and thought why not  'camp' and play tourist at the same time?  To be completely honest I had a few moments where I was not feeling the whole 'camping' thing this trip ... my patience was reeally stretched thin while we entertained our two kiddies and overcame the whole 'she needs a nap but won't nap' or 'he needs a nap but it's too noisy so can't nap' deal.  I am kind of a nap nazi .. I just know when it's needed because the rest of the day will go smoother.  My awesome husband?  He is the complete opposite and just goes with the flow.  Good thing I have him I tell you! I need to work on that!  
But in the end I came around and realised we were making some fun memories and that's all that matttered - things of course worked out just fine.

 We spent a good portion of our Saturday exploring the zoo.  With Isabel as our navigator we saw some pretty amazing animals.  She was in heaven being in control of the map and directing what we were seeing and where we were going to next.  Her curiosity and asking some of the most adult like questions about the animals astounds me sometimes. Asking us to read the description to each exhibit.  Wanting to know what kind of food they ate.  Getting excited as we witnessed the huuuge hippopotamus getting in and out of the water and her facial expressions.  These are the kind of moments I want to remember and this is what make it all worth it!   

Our planned visit to Sea World on Sunday was scratched as Isabel came down with an out of the blue high fever. So that day we chilled and just relaxed hoping it would pass.  And it did.  Thank God! Still not sure where or what brought on the mini illness but grateful it passed quickly and she was back to her happy self by Monday morning.    Just in time to pack it all up and since she couldn't stop asking 'Are we going to Seaworld'? we had to make it happen for her.  So the four of us and the trailer behind us spent a good couple of hours watching some penguins and Orcas and made our way back home. 
And BAM! We arrive to Thanksgiving week ... where did that come from? 

To spice life up just a little bit our initial plans to spend Thanksgiving week out of town with my in laws has now been scratched and that means a very small feast with just our little family of four this year!  That means I have to cook?  Eeek! Wish me luck! I'm going to need it! :)

Trailer Adventures : Bolsa Chica State Beach

We made more fun memories with our little camping trailer over the last few days. 
Yep we went camping during the week and seriously makes me so grateful that 1. My husband has the the job that he has that allows us to do such fun things during the week and 2. The weather is still amazing!  This little local trip had been planned since the first few weeks of July when we were planning our 'summer' trips and so many places we fully booked we thought why not for this time.  Isabel got a little break from school .. and had the most amazing time playing in the sand, riding in the wagon and turning into a sandy dirty mess every day! And Owen?  Our little almost walking toddler just had the best time crawling everywhere, finding trouble and turning into a little dirty mess himself! I loved waking up to the sweet sounds of my baby boy, strapping him in the stroller and going for a walk/jog with him along the beach the three mornings we were there. What about those beach sunsets?  So blessed I tell you! So blessed!
Fun times!
Now here's to a relaxing weekend full of birthday party planning!

Weekend Wonders/Trailer Adventures

One of things on top of my must do list this summer was to go camping and use our trailer more than once and proud to say we just came back from our 3rd trip ... woohoo!  This weekend was all sorts of fun.  I must admit though it started just a little rocky.  Our trailer is on the small side (which is perfect for what we need) except when it comes to a baby boy who is a very light sleeper and a three year old girl who loves to drag bedtime for as loooong as she can (no matter how exhausted she is)!  Our first night saw my sleep deprived, impatient side come out.   There was a lot of baby crying going on that night!  Our second night was a little better (even though both kids caught an awesome cold).  By our third and final night we contemplated staying a little longer (but didn't) because it everyone slept ALL night. Yahoo!  It felt so good!

I find myself talking about this sleep thing a lot lately.  I definitely wish there was more hours in the day!  Ha!

But sleep deprivation aside this trailer adventure had us visiting one of our favourite local spots : Newport Dunes at Newport Beach.  I.seriously.love.this.place.
I love it's location. I love all the amenities. I love that it has a great restaurant if we decide we don't want to cook. I love all the activities it offers. I love that if I want to escape the camping scene I go shopping down the street on Pacific Coast Highway.  Anthropologie anyone??
Seriously so much fun!

I hope everyone had a great weekend also!
Here some happy pics along with some I posted on instagram (follow me at : jennymiralambert)

 

Trailer Adventures : Crystal Cove

Last Summer we purchased a camping trailer.  It's on the small side but perfect for where our little family is right now.  I'm not much of a rugged, sleep on the floor inside a tent kind of a camper.  Give me a little more comfort and I'm in!  That's where the trailer came in ... we still get to see the great outdoors just more comfortably!  Well last summer I think we used the trailer maybe two times?!

So this summer we told ourselves we need to use it as much as we possibly can.  It's so much fun so why not?!  Well who knew you have to book the camp sites months ahead for a middle of summer visit?  Just kidding!  But we did get lucky and secured last Monday and Tuesday nights at Crystal Cove, Laguna Beach.  We booked it the Friday prior.  Spontaneity at its best!  

Crystal Cove is honestly a beautiful location!  There is the beach.  There are camping trails surrounding the beach.  Breathtaking views I tell you!
Unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate for us and it remained very overcast and on the cool side for our entire stay.  We ventured away from the campsite one of the days to check out downtown Laguna and the annual Sawdust Art Festival that is happening right now.

Fun times indeed!
We will be back Crystal Cove!  We hope you give us a little more sun next time!