We have been camping at this location before with CC, Papa, and cousins, but this was the first trip for our camper. The past trip as well as this one has been nice as I've been able to head out early to get camp setup before all the rest of the family showed up. It's great, but also a challenge. I will admit that after struggling with a few attempts trying to manage the curve in the road and backup, two other campers generously helped me get the big trailer back where it needed to go.
Spot 58 was fantastic in that there was a huge tree just to the west of us, providing plenty of shade by 7 PM. It was hot and muggy this weekend, so the shade really helped. After dinner I was able to finish my small project of getting the new lights strung up with some cable to add some evening light to the camper.
Another great thing about camping "in the city" is that I was able to grab a Costco pizza for dinner on Friday night right before Molly and the kids arrived! Luke was begging us to let him go swimming, but as this spot was not right on the water like our last one, we had to keep telling him no and wait for the next day. I did bring their bikes though this time, so they were able to get some riding in before it got too dark. They rode over to the park where Reese enjoyed the swing while the boys went zip lining. Really! Zip-lining in a playground. They also showed off their climbing skills, making Molly always a little nervous. After the playground, we came back to show off the camper to Steve and Frances who came out with CC and Papa. We enjoyed showing them all the reasons we chose this camper.
Saturday started with a quick cereal breakfast. The boys were eager to get down to the lake. We rented a kayak for a few hours and they thought it was the greatest. They ended up having more fun jumping off it into the cove, but both gave a shot at trying to paddle. It was a good idea to only take one paddle for the double kayak rental to say the least about the efforts they showed. Luke did end up with a paddle to the eye from his brother, but as he's such a tough kid, it only left a little red mark for a few days and not a black eye.
CC and Papa came out to enjoy the day with us as well. We stayed at the beach all day, all getting a little more sun than we planned. Reese took a nap, the boys dug a trench to China, and we hung out with some old friends from Bryce's first soccer team who by chance were there as well.
Luke was a very enthusiastic about running into the water. He kept backing up, because as we all know, the further back you get the further into the water you can go! We also found out some secrets about the water that Luke learned from Uncle Joe this summer.
Spending an entire day out at the lake can be draining. We ended up dragging the kids out afterward to do some shopping though. We needed to get a skillet for the camper for breakfast the next morning and some larger life jackets. We ended up only with the skillet, but the kids were troopers. We had planned to grill out on Saturday night, but we were so exhausted we all voted for tacos from Taco Casa instead. We came back to the camper, ate and chilled out the rest of the night.
We truly enjoyed our visit to The Vineyards, and I have no doubt we'll be back. It's like a convenient resort within fifteen minutes of our house and as I've shared above, it's very easy to run and grab something you might need or forgot. Though it was hot and humid, which it tends to be in August, this location made for a very enjoyable trip.
