Campland on the Bay

For our latest adventure with the camper trailer, we hit the beach in San Diego. Once again, it was a top notch experience. Campland was on Mission Bay, and we got a bay front spot for our trailer. We've really hit the jackpot with our summer travels this year. Every trip has just been so much fun, and I couldn't be more thankful for the sweet memories we've created.

This guy turned into a beach bum as soon as we arrived.

G2 was happy to get out of his car seat by the end of the trip!

Dylan folded this bed into a couch (I didn't previously know we could do that), and we had such a great time overlooking the bay.

Our set-up. Graham loved sitting in the grass. It was really perfect.

We did two mornings at Sea World. It was just a five minute drive from Campland, and because it was mid-week, it wasn't crowded at all. With all the controversy surrounding Sea World after the release of the Blackfish documentary, the animal activist in my died a little bit when we purchased our tickets. But...the boys loved it (even Graham!), and I had a great time, too. We took the fold-up wagon and stuck Graham in a Bumbo-thing, and it ended up being the best set-up! Sea World is doing away with the Orca show, and as it stands now, it's basically just a plug for how much they are doing to protect the animals in our oceans. It was kind of a disappointing show because of this, but I'm glad they are working to do right by the animals. The dolphin show, however, was AWESOME. We hit just about every exhibit over two days. I even snuck away from the fam to take a solo ride on Manta, the rollercoaster, because....why not? I didn't think much about the ride before jumping aboard, and I was NOT ready for what happened next. I hadn't been on a rollercoaster in at least a decade, and I forgot how incredibly fun and thrilling it is! I reunited with the guys afterward and then sent Dylan on his way to do the same because it was just that fun. The overall family favorite, though, was the silly chairlift thing over the bay. We went around twice because Gavin loved it that much!

Still adjusting to life with a bike-loving family.

Cutest little beach baby!

Another favorite activity, besides Sea World, the beach, and the pool, was definitely riding bikes. We took two long rides around the bay and did a bunch of cruising around the campsite. And we didn't forget to get the dogs in on the action...they had a few epic sessions at the bay front dog park!

We were proud to say that the only food we purchased for the whole trip was ice cream. Otherwise, we cooked and ate the stuff we brought...and we ate well!

Waiting in the truck with the dogs while D and G picked up food in Yuma.

Gavin showcasing all the outfits he peed through when we couldn't pull over in time on the drive to SD.

If you don't have this wagon, you should get one. It's super duper handy.

Our Sea World set-up

Gavin's first flying lesson from Dylan.

What a thrill!

Naps in the bike trailer!

It's been decided that Graham's favorite thing to do is eat.

Face plant.

Love this sweet face!

Sky Ride...Gavin's favorite!

We took a trip to Carlsbad to visit Bam (D's grandmother).

The typical 6 or 7-hour drive took us 9 hours each time because we were pulling like 5,000 pounds. And also...kids. It wasn't awesome, and we certainly encountered many a potty situation. You can't exactly pull off to the side of the road so easily when you're towing a trailer. But when we were able to pull off in the middle of the California or Arizona desert, I was happy that my little peeing human was a boy. It made things much easier and cleaner. As for the other times...well, let's just say I had a LOT of laundry to do when we got back home. Urine. Everywhere. Multiple times. Ugh. Next time, I think we'll spend a couple extra nights in San Diego to make this trip more worth our while.

It was so great to get one final escape from the heat around here. We only turned on the A/C for a couple hours on our last night in San Diego. Spending all that time outside in the fresh air made us all very happy. Too bad I couldn't bottle it up and bring it back to AZ with us while we ride out the rest of the summer. Our Summer of Adventure is wrapping up here shortly. Dylan's plane has been in maintenance since the middle of June, but it's just about to come back home, and he will be busier than ever for a few months. It was an epic ride, and I'm not sure we'll ever have freedom like this again, so I'm so grateful we were able to make the most of it!