Valentine's Day - Doran Regional Park

Yes, we are back at Doran Beach. It's Valentine's Day weekend. My husband and I haven't had much "alone' time since our first one was born 5 years ago (yikes!) and our little one is only 7 months so it will be awhile before we get some alone time. For now, any and every occasion involves all of us. I wouldn't change a thing. I love my little monkeys and love our family trips.


Surprisingly, the weather was so wonderful this weekend. It's the coast so there's expected fog but for the most part, it was sunny & lovely.


The kids had a lot of fun and I enjoyed watching them enjoy their childhood. I almost feel like a kid again through them...

New Brighton Beach State Park

This campground is near Santa Cruz... It's our first time here. We actually had a trip booked here last year in August. We canceled because I was getting really big and uncomfortable at around 8 months pregnant. It's a good thing we canceled since my oldest son got sick with a fever of unknown origin and I delivered 6 weeks early!

So here we are again giving it another shot. Our baby boy is now 5.5 months old.

Driving through San Jose took longer than I'd like because of some traffic. Going home was a lot faster!

The park is nice. It's right off the ocean and has beach access (although it's a little hike down).

We found out there were a few sites with hook ups (water and electric). That's pretty awesome since the sites are not set up like parking lots (the only reason why we've avoided hook ups). It still has a little bit of privacy.

We usually bring the red wagon for walks but daddy forgot it but I thought that was a good thing because this way, the boys were "forced" to walk which gives them a exercise and a chance to explore.

This kid was walking around hiding from the uncle...

Do you see the kid?

The weather was sooooo nice. It was raining a little when we left home and very muggy, foggy and just depressing. Over at the campgrounds, it was nice and warm. The sun was out which actually made it hot (especially for January). Hubby put on shorts and a T-Shirt. Why didn't I pack shorts for the boys and myself? I completely forgot and was thinking it would be cold all weekend.

The next day we headed out to the Boardwalk in Santa Cruz. Logan and Connor got to eat cotton candy and rode on the Merry-go-round. I thought Connor would be scared but he really enjoyed it. It was $1 per ticket and 4 tickets for the ride so I thought $12 for the 3 of us was a bit much. The wrist bands are the way to go when the boys are older. I should have let daddy ride with them because I got sick. I should have known my motion sickness issue wouldn't handle it well.

This kid cracks me up with his silly faces!

 

Overall, I loved the location. My biggest issue is wind and I don't know if we just got lucky but it wasn't once windy. As much as I love Doran Beach & Wright's Beach in Bodega Bay, it can be really windy and I end up just sitting in the trailer with the baby.

So happy we just arrived!

Nursing baby in ergo carrier...

Doran Regional Park

Oh we LOVE Doran Beach. In fact, as much as we love Wrights Beach, we ALWAYS come to Doran Beach during our stay at Wrights Beach... Simply because the beach is nice & not to mention, much safer than Wrights Beach (which you're not even supposed to go near the ocean there).

We've camped here before but this time, it was my youngest son's first camp trip. He turned 4 months earlier this month. We haven't camped during the winter months before but ever since we upgraded to our fifth wheel, why not? :)

We stayed at site #43. It was the perfect size for us. It backs up to Bodega Bay. Since we're already close to other sites, we try to pick a site with the least amount  of sites nearby. 

There was a big storm the week prior to our trip so a lot of people canceled. There were puddles of water in a lot of sites so it was a quiet weekend. Since it was our first time camping with all 3 boys, we didn't get there until 5pm (packing and getting ready is challenging). We had a mini detour along the way due to flooding in the highway. 

It rained pretty good that night so we stayed in and watched movies. It's a good thing we bought a TV before this trip (we knew we might end up indoors). Saturday was clear. Although it was chilly (it is winter after all) we bundled up and walked around. Hubby even went crabbing with our oldest at the Bodega Pier while I stayed with the two little nappers. We were able to make a fire and hang out outside for a little while.

Out on Doran Beach

Behind our site looking out at Bodega Bay

Behind our site looking out at Bodega Bay

Clam shells everywhere!

I look forward to coming back next year when the weather is better and sitting at the beach watching the boys play with sand....

Speaking of sand, this was the first time my oldest was able to make sand castles with his toys without it falling apart. He was so excited! I almost felt like a kid myself feeling so excited for him!

Setting up the tripod, I finally have photos of us enjoying the fire.

Hanging around the tree at our site

I gave Connor the buckets and he took off. 

I was wondering where he was going. 

He was pointing to the beach! haha silly guy!

Only caught 2 crabs