Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Elliott and Caiden Visit Carpinteria || 2013


Carpinteria, 2013. We've been vacationing there every summer since 2004.  This year Caiden and Elliott were 5 and 8, respectively.  Its fun to see how they change each year and Carpinteria is a good measuring stick to see those changes.  Each year they get a little bit braver, a little more independent, a little better at riding bikes and staying up late...





Although Carpinteria is known as "the world's safest beach," Dave had his first run in with a sting ray while we were there this summer.  He was pretty miserable for about 5 hours and all I could do was keep refilling his bucket with hot water to try to get the toxins to release out of the cut from the sting ray's tail.  That was the very first day of vacation, so Dave was hobbling around the rest of the week on the beach.  No more water time for him...

But that didn't keep the rest of us out of the water...



The best part of Carpinteria is spending time with family.  Grandma and Grandpa put this whole thing together every year and all we really do is show up!



No Carpinteria trip would be complete without lots of beautiful sunsets, campfires, and s'mores.










Its always hard to say goodbye and drive the 6 hour drive home.  But then we just start looking forward to next year...

Do you have vacation spot (or memories of one) that is meaningful to you or your family? I would love to know about it in the comments!

Check out some of our previous trips to Carp here: 2008, 2009, 2009 again, 2010