Third Stop: Beverly Beach State Park

After driving another 8 minutes or so... we reached the State Park where we were going to be camping overnight. We decided we would set up our tents and get everything settled before going to dinner.

The boys were very happy to see their tent set up outside...

(I'll skip forward a little to tell you about that night... don't worry I'll finish the rest of our trip after- but I wanted to write about it while you were looking at these pictures) See that nice cozy looking bed on a queen size air mattress? This was supposed to be where TYLER and I slept.

See this cozy looking little tent with sleeping bags and little beds made up?? THIS is where the boys were supposed to be sleeping. Let me tell you how it actually went down that night. We put the boys down for bed around 9:00PM. They were good and tired after a days worth of playing. Braxton protested sleep for about a whole minute before he passed out. Quincy went right to sleep as well. We thought (Key Word THOUGHT) we were in the clear for our first time sleeping in a tent. Tyler and I went to sleep about 11:00PM. Let me tell you... it was cold that night. In fact, while I was packing our things I said to Tyler 'Are you sure this comforter and sheet will be enough?' Oh yes! was his reply. NO. I was FREEZING that night!!

After trying to get warm snuggled up with Tyler I started to doze off and then I had that sudden urge to pee. Ugh! There is nothing worse than having to pee in the middle of the night, especially when it's SO cold. Although this state park had restrooms, I didn't want to walk that far and settled for squatting in a bush close by. (So much fun!) I made my potty trip quick because my teeth were chattering. When I got back in our bed I heard Braxton cry.

Drat! We thought that he would sleep through the night. Well, we couldn't be 'those' camping neighbors who let their kid "cry it out" ... so of course we brought him in our tent. Bad idea. At least for our sakes. Braxton once in our tent settled down, but proceeded to root around our bed and all over us. As a result he was not sleeping, I was not sleeping... no one was sleeping... except for Quincy.

At this point we have no concept of time, since Tyler's phone is off and we're in a dark wooded campsite. I'm guessing at 3 or 4:00AM I finally conceded that I needed to bring Braxton's mummy sleeping bag in our tent so I could at least be warm! Tyler had B on his side and the two of them had pushed me up against the side of the tent and on the VERY edge of the air mattress. I'm pretty sure I only slept with 1/4 of my pillow too. Tyler later told me that at one point he thought B was finally asleep on his chest when suddenly B let out a huge fart. He then lifted his head, looked at Tyler, smiled, and laughed. I think I got about 4 hours of sleep... maybe. Poor Tyler. He got even less!

Who would have thought that a face so innocent could cause so much trouble!

Oh, a side note about the kids camping chairs... We have one kid camping chair, but needed one for B. Kids' camping chairs are a minimum price of $10.00 at Walmart. I didn't want to pay that much and was determined to find a chair for Braxton at a thrift store for less. The monday before we left for the beach we went to DI and found that chair. It was only $6.00! And in great condition. Although the chairs are connected, we didn't mind. I felt it was a great deal.

After setting up our campsite... we headed south 10 minutes to Newport. There we had dinner at a place called The Fish Peddlers Market. It's right off the docks and they bring fresh fish and shrimp in from the boats. You can even watch them clean the shrimp from the inside dining area, but I didn't take part in observing that. We ordered Rockfish and Chips... of course it was delicious and fresh! :)

I don't know how those employees can stand all that fishy smell... it's pretty pungent! I suppose you get used to it after a while? Yuck.

When we finished dinner we walked along the docks... the boys loved looking at boats. Tyler and I even saw a sea lion, but the boys missed it.

Soaking in the sea life.... aren't they cute?

The cutest couple. :)

Our happy camper doesn't want to smile...

We all had a wonderful time eating and walking the docks... but eventually it was time to go back to our 'home away from home'.