Campin' and crabin'

This sun star was caught in our crab net.
We enjoyed it for a while and then sent
it home.

The kids have been wanting to go camping for a long time, so last week Chuck suggested that we just go to a local campground for one night. July has been so busy, and there is no end in sight. There's just no way we have time to take off for a few days and go anywhere right now.
So after a full day of both of us working and running errands, I ran off to the chiropractor appointment and he slung some stuff in the back of each car. As soon as I was back we took off. It was a rush job. He found we still needed some chocolate bars for S'mores, so he went to the store while we went to scout for a good camping spot. Later we realized we were short one sleeping bag, which created quite the sleeping experience for us. But that's another story for another day. Let's just say my toes were so cold they were almost numb most of the night.

He remembered almost everything, which is amazing since he packed it all within about 30 minutes.

We found some sweet spots and started to set up camp. Kids' tent and parents' tent.

They've become experts in setting up that tent.
For weeks they had it set up in the gazebo. 

Ours was new, but not difficult to figure out. 

Once we got our tents staked down we headed off to the beach.

He brought the crab pot along.

I know this looks gross, but we did catch some crabs.

This one escaped from the net and knew the way home.

Lilly and Sean had so much fun examining each crab.

Once they were out of the water for a while the crabs weren't
as feisty. We let a lot of them go back home. 

We caught some things we didn't intend, including
a few eels. They also were turned loose.

This sea star eluded capture. We didn't really want to keep
him, but he was so huge and was on our net a few
times. He would flop off just as we raised the net out
of the water. We were hoping to at least touch him.

This pic is a little out of focus, I believe.
Chuck remembered the cooking pot, and he did
the cooking. I've never done it, and I don't
like the idea of putting a live creature in
boiling water. 

yep.