I have some other things I should probably share first, but camping was so much fun that I can’t gloss over it. It’s worthy of picture-sharing I think. So here are my sisters and me in front of our circus tent. We packed so much more than we needed–more food, more gear, more crap than anyone needs to camp at a roadside campground.

Abundance is fun though, right? We set everything up before the rest of the family got there because we figured the kids would need a place to run around in their boredom. And what better place than a tent the size of a house? I have to say though, at least we weren’t staying in something like the RV that was parked next to us.

Of course I failed to get a decent picture of it, but you can get a glimpse of its front third in this picture. It was obscenely large, and I wondered why those millionaires didn’t just buy a summer home in Venice. Oh, that’s my brother, his fiance Brandy, and my to-die-for nephew Kyron by the way.

Anyway, we hit the beach for awhile and made some campfire dinner, but it didn’t take long for everyone to get restless. Except me. I was content reading my book for hours, but everyone else wanted to go on a dune ride. So we did. I’ve done it a few times before and was never really thrilled, so 15 bucks seemed like a lot to ride around in the sand. But seeing the thrill in my niece and nephew’s eyes was worth 15 million!

Later that night, while we all slept peacefully in our nylon barn, it started to drizzle. By the time we woke up in a panic to move everything to shelter, it was full out raining. And when we finally decided to skip the cold poptarts and go out to breakfast, it started to pour.

We wanted to wait it out because we had paid for two nights, so we drove around the lakeshore, eventually stopping at a lighthouse. I hate being partially wet (either fully submerge me or keep me dry), so I read in the car while everyone else ran around the wet sand.

Eventually we thought we’d tour the lighthouse, so I went to wait with the crowd. In the rain. I must have bitched too much about getting wet because karma bit me in the ass when the doors opened and the tourguides announced it cost $2.

Not a single person in our group had money. I got wet for nothing. Except I did get to watch Josh and Kyron strip down to their drawers and test out the water in frigid conditions. Don’t you just want to dip that little boy in barbeque sauce and eat him!

So after our rejection at the lighthouse, we drove back to camp and made a snap decision to pack it up and head home. As much as we liked camping, I’ve learned that it’s much more fun to take a three hour community nap on big fluffy couches than it is to sit around a campfire in the rain.

Here’s the rest of the set, including a beautiful shot of my niece who you’ll want to dip in honey and gobble up!