Einar and I have both had colds this past week that we managed to snag after we got home from our camping trip to San Simeon, but are now feeling better as long as the box of Kleenex isn't too far away. Last Thursday we left San Clemente for a camping trip at San Simeon State Park about 300 miles north of here on the coast. The Cobb family down the street were gracious enough to invite us along on their family's camping adventure. Kathleen and Justin have been taking their kids, Nathan and Hailey, on a camping trip every month this summer and are planning on a week long trip to Yosemite next month. It was really nice to travel with a family that was comfortable with car camping and knew all the secrets of doing it with little guys.
After the first day and a half, Einar got used to the whole camping thing. At first, he kept heading towards the car and trying to get in to go home. On Friday night, our first in the tent, he woke up crying in the middle of the night and when I turned on my headlamp to help him, he was crying and using his hand sign for "all done, help me get out of this situation." However, by the time lunch rolled around on Saturday, he was sitting at the picnic table to eat and even took a four hour nap on his Thomas the Tank bed in our tent!
While the kids were napping, Kathleen and I left them in the excellent care of Justin and went to see the Hearst Castle, which was 5 miles up the road. We took the tour that went through the mid-sized guest house and the main floor of the main house. It was all quite amazing and hard to believe that it was built on the campsite that the Hearst Family that they went to each summer.
Other than our camping adventures, we've been playing with lots of trains. Einar is enthralled with Thomas the Tank Engine! Every train is a "Choo Choo!" and there have been tough negotiations at night when we have to say good night to the trains. I'm a mean mom who won't let him take toys to bed with him.
