Carpinteria

Love. Family. 36 - Grandparents. Aunts. Uncles. Cousins. Brothers. Sisters. Moms. Dads.

A couple months ago the topic of smores came up. Gisele was puzzled. "Smores? What are smores?" Oh my goodness...I was so excited that I got to be the one to teach her about smores. To this day they are one of my favorite treats. Beach camping smores, bonfire smores, at home smores, pit fire smores on my parents property...no matter where you make them...they are delish!! Gisele listened to my smores description, immediately told Papa about them and obviously asked if she can have one. I wanted her first smore experience to be an exciting event so we said she would have to wait until our  big camping trip in Carpinteria. At first she was only excited about the ooey gooey smores but then she started asking about the camping. After talking about camping Gisele was fixated on the fact that the three of us would all be sleeping together in the tent "all night!" So cute!

When the time finally came...Gisele was beyond excited to hit the road (Juan and I were too). I didn't make it up to Carpinteria last summer for our family's annual camping trip. I was definitely excited to see everyone and my family was excited to finally meet Gisele. They all met Juan last summer at my Grandparent's 50th Anniversary trip but they hadn't met the infamous Gisele :) Boy oh boy was Gisele a hit. Raquel and Juan who? 

Grubbin'

When we first got there we made our introductions and then we hit the beach. After playing hard we got back to the campsite just in time to enjoy some Rowland Spaghetti aka Horton Spaghetti (from my Grandma Shirley's family). There were three huge batches of sauce. One from my Aunt Kendra (more Rowland like), one from my Great Aunt Mary (Grandma's Sister) and one from her daughter Renee. I managed to sample all three, all of which were delicious!!

I love bread. So kissable.

After spaghetti, Gisele really had to practice patience waiting for the camp fire smore session to begin. I think she asked my grandma and aunts numerous times if it was smore time yet. So cute! Finally the time came, little G got her smore and she LOVED it. Sharing big bites with Papa and I...we let her have two smores. She was in ooey  gooey mashmallow, melted chocolate and graham cracker heaven.

Smore time!!

Carpinteria Skies.

After loading up with sugar (not the best pre-bedtime snack). We brushed our teeth and snuggled up in our tent. To our surprise / excitement Gisele did a great job. We read a couple stories, kissed her goodnight and to dreamland she went. She slept the entire night! She even managed to take a nap in the tent the following day! The next morning I took Juan and G to my favorite breakfast spot, Reynaldo's Bakery for breakfast burritos and coffee.

Lil G loves her Chocolate Milk. So full just looking at this.

On our way back to the campsite we stopped at a new park and spent the better part of the morning playing three little pigs, the big bad wolf and making new friends.

Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin!

Hiding from the Big Bad Wolf!

Only Papa can make her smile like that!

Campfire Lounging.

More Grubbin'. Walking around the Campsite.

Arts & Crafts.

Impromptu Photo Shoot.

Surprise Bday Cake for My Love. Thank you Grandma and Grandpa Rowland for yet another awesome weekend in Carpinteria.

Overall we had an awesome weekend. I really enjoyed our little day trip to Ventura (see trip inside our trip) and visiting with Rejina. As always, I loved seeing my family and catching up. I think they enjoyed meeting my little family (judging by their "we love your family" "we love you guys" comments) and I loved surprising Juan with some weekend birthday celebrations. 

We had a hard time saying goodbye...little G even burst into tears saying goodbye to everyone :( but we will come again! Next year.