And You Thought It Couldn't Be Done...

Well, okay, maybe you didn't even know it was going to happen. But, I did it nonetheless. Yes, I took the 3 girls camping without Trent for 4 days to Santa Cruz. Some say I'm brave. I say there is a fine line between bravery and stupidity.

Honestly, I was nervous. Really nervous. Like had to take a few big breaths on the drive there and have serious talks with the girls about behavior I expect from them and camping rules and the importance of obedience and that if they obey they can have all the marshmallows they want kind of a talk. Well, they listened (shocker I know). They were wonderful. I not once lost my cool, or had a tantrum(me or the girls), and we enjoyed our time on the beach and at the campsite immensely. The only sad moment we had was with Mikayla because I apparently didn't pack a pretty enough dress for church on Sunday. Sorry child, mom does laundry, mom decides what gets worn around a dirty campground before church. But honestly, if that's the worst disagreement or problem we're going to have while on our trip, I'll count my blessings.

Every year for Memorial Day weekend, almost 50 families from our stake head down to Santa Cruz. It's nice to let the kids have a little freedom to roam from campsite to campsite visiting friends and to see so many friends on the beach too. We all head down for some camping, some beach play, and s'mores. Okay, well, that's why I go anyway.
And to take a ridiculous amount of pictures of kids doing ridiculously cute things like this.
Mikayla and Erik chased the waves for hours.

Here's the kids digging for treasure buried by *ahem* pirates. Pirates that buried ring pops, bubbles, necklaces, and candy! Later on, Megan saw a sailboat on the ocean and said, "Look, it's the pirate ship! The pirates are leaving now!"

My little mermaid.

It's no wonder I'm still cleaning sand out of every nook and cranny of these children.

The girls loved everything about the sand.

I love this picture!

Kendra kept dive-bombing my face and sucking on my chin or lips or nose. It was quite hilarious!

Beach babe chasing waves.
And another one eating the waves. lol
How do you resist a cute bum shot?!

Yes, yes Kendra and I went to the beach too.

Kendra loved the feel of the sand.

So much so, that she had to taste it.

And hated it.

But for some reason, just couldn't stop herself! haha

I strapped Kendra on my back and carried Megan down to the beach and back up again, up that nice little not-so-steep hill behind me(cough, cough). Blech. I won't camp by myself again for the sheer logistics of getting 3 kids from one place to another!

We did a little tree-walking.

Kendra and Brock got their breathing treatments.

Ahhh, I made it.

Trent was originally coming with us, but 2 days before our trip, his professor scheduled all-day Saturday school for i.v. training. Well, you can't be too mad at things that are out of your control, so I decided I'd just pack 'em up and go myself. We had a blast! We had fun camping with our really good friends, the Christensen's, and Mikayla loved riding her bike all over the campground with her friends.

Sure I was thoroughly exhausted, but it was worth it. Tucking Megan in at night in the tent she said, "Mom, you are the best mom ever! I love camping." And Kendra loved me so much she woke up every hour one night to sing er, scream, and see my face and get some kisses. Ahh, such sweet children.