Guest Blogger Dad and the Week of Camping

It's me, Dad. As co-progenitor of the above-pictured toddler, I felt compelled to sit in as guest blogger and the need for such an intrusion became apparent as time progressed and there was no new posting. So to fill that gap, I'll fill in the details of the past week or so, and give mama a break. Sunday was the Belmont Shore Car Show, and since the annual event last year was the first time we took Ivy out in public, we really wanted to return even though we were very busy planning the week's camping trip. The car show was great although Ivy slept through most of it, just like last year. A tradition is born! Monday at noon we were all packed for the camping excursion, or so we thought! We set out just at nap time and Ivy was right on schedule. We arrived at El Capitan State Beach and set up camp, went for a walk and then enjoyed a delicious meal of grilled halibut with beurre blanc sauce. Our test-night of camping the week before seemed to pay off as Ivy was a trooper and slept well, not flinching when a train went by in the middle of the night and jarred both mom and dad wide awake. As I alluded to earlier, we thought we were all packed, but we forgot a few items, including the two new lanterns purchased just for this outing. We also forgot the griddle and spatula for pancakes, so on the last morning we tried to improvise with a coated pan, a spatula made from a Pacifico beer carton wrapped in foil, and syrup bought at the camp store. The abject failure of this endeavor signaled it was time to leave and so we did. We got hold of our friends in Santa Barbara we hadn't seen in years and visited them and their two adorable kids. All in all we had a great time and now it’s back to work, sad face the end.