Newport Dunes

Back in April right after we got back from Napa Mr. Hass and I took the girls camping at Newport Dunes.  I was so busy trying to get my Napa posts up that I never shared too much about that camping trip.

Well, guess what,
picmonkey is up and running with their collages (hooray!)
and life is finally letting up a little so we can breathe,
my cold is finally gone,
so I figured I would share some of the pics because we had so much fun that weekend and can't wait to do it again.

For those who might not know, Newport Dunes is only about a 40 minute drive from our house.  It is an rv resort in Newport Beach at the entrance to the Back Bay Nature Preserve and Boat Marina. 

This was my first time camping here with my husband and kids, but was certainly not my first time there.  I feel like I grew up at this campground.  My family has been going there for years.  Some summers my Grandma and Papa would rent out a beach front spot for a whole month and the family would just all take turns coming down to hang out.  We have taken many a family pictures there.  I spent many summer nights cruising around the bike paths with my cousins, pedaling from our Papa's fishing boat in the marina, to the motorhome, to the rv pool, to the boat pool, to the convenience store to spend the money Papa gave us on ice creams and other treats.  And there were lots of times that my cousin Don took me out for a dinghey (dinghy? dingy? sp?) ride in the harbor only to get us lost, or make me think we were lost, or run out of gas and had to paddle back to the Back Bay Cafe for help.  Yup, I have had a lot of fun and lots of great memories at Newport Dunes.  I was so excited to be going there with my own family and making new memories for them to have.

We really lucked out when we went and had great weather.  Right after setting up our camp Friday night we grilled some sausages and sweet potatoe fries, and I fixed up some other snacks.  It was fun to really get to use the kitchen in the motorhome for the first time too.  Last year Bass Lake was our first offical motorhome trip, but you all remember how that went... Ha!

I like to think of camping at Newport Dunes more like "glamping."
Glamorous camping is definitely more my style. 

There are so many amenities and fun things for the kids at Newport Dunes.  The girls had a BLAST our first night there running around from the water to the playground to the whale and back again.  (that whale usually spends the summer months in the water for the kids to climb up on top of.  And yes back in the day I swam out to the whale and climbed aboard.  Oh yes I did.)

I'm not sure what the girls thought was more fun, going to the beach or just hanging out inside the motorhome.  They love their cozy bed setup and get so excited to sleep up top together.  And of course they were passed out the second their little heads hit the pillow after their sun and fun filled days.

We really lucked out getting to spend time with Kaylen and Don two weekends in a row.  The weekend prior to Newport Dunes we saw them in Napa, and this weekend they were back in town for a wedding and our Grandma's birthday so we got to see them again!

Don is training for his second marathon (GO DON!) so he went for a morning run around the Back Bay while Kaylen hung out with us.

We spent some time on the beach hanging out, then my Aunt Glenda and cousin Chad dropped by to say hello.  Glenda asked us to "babysit" Chad while she ran off to shop at Fashion Island. 

She brought back a box of Sprinkles cupcakes and we said Wow Glen, we will babysit Chad anytime for Sprinkles cupcakes!!! ;)

Kaylen, their pup Gracie, Claire, Don, Mr. Hass, Hannah, and Chad...  making our way to the pool for a dip.

Guests camping at The Dunes do have access to the RV resort pool.  This is not that pool.  We might have access to the pool at the marina and might not have a boat in the marina anymore, but shhhhhhhhh, I didn't just tell you that.

Kaylen took this shot of Claire on Chad's shoulders and I just LOVE it.

She took this one of Don too.  He looks happy doesn't he?  He loves having his picture taken.  Just like his mother. ;)
The boat pool does not allow pets aka dogs either.  But don't tell anyone Don brought his dog in ok? We are a rule breaking bunch.

And for old time's sake, here's a throwback pic circa 1990 something...

Family get together at The Dunes.  I think I was about 16 or 17? And Glenda you are rockin' that turquoise and purple jacket! Let's bring that style back huh? :) 
See, told ya we've been going there for years. 

We learned that the non summer months are much more affordable per night, and with the great weather that CA gets all year long, we plan on spending many weekends at The Dunes in the future!

Life is good.

From Napa to Newport...

Hi there.
We are home from our fun weeked of "glamping" at Newport Dunes.
You know, glamorous camping.
Full hook-ups, a convenience store steps away with everything we might need (like the ketchup I forgot to bring), family and cousins close by that came to join us for the day, Sprinkles cupcakes that Aunt Glenda brought to us, Crab Cooker for dinner to celebrate Grandma and Deanna's birthday...
Yeah, I'd call that glamping.
But you know what, glamping or not, when it is with a 5 and 3 year old, there is not one minute of downtime and I am exhausted!

So for now, here's a flashback picture of the Hass family from May 4, 2009 at The Dunes...

And here we are now, April 28,2012

We had a great time.
I'll share more pics from our glamping weekend one of these days.
But for now I have to catch up with my editing from Napa.
And laundry.
And grocery shop.
And clean my filthy house.
And take my car to the dealership to see why my check engine light is back on.
And sleep.

You aren't sick of hearing about Napa yet are you????

Cause I'm not done talking bout it!

Be back soon.
xo

So Long Summer & Pics from Bass Lake

Today Hannah started back up at school.  This will be her last year of pre school before she's off to the big leagues. 

I am glad that she got to end her summer with a bang.

She experienced so many firsts at Bass Lake.

It was her first time camping,

her first time on a speed boat,

her first time tubing,

(which she really enjoyed),

first time roasting marshmallows and making smores,

first time sleeping in the motorhome,

and she learned to yell "hit it" and all about the thumbs up and thumbs down signals to tell the boat driver to go faster or slower while on the tube.

She requested a french braid for her first day of school hair do.

Hope it's a fabulously fun school year for you my girl!

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So here I am.  Day 1.  6am, preparing to leave from my parents house for Bass Lake. 

This will be the only picture of me from the trip with clean hair and a fresh face.  So consider yourselves warned. 

The drive took 9 1/2 hours.
We now know to leave earlier.  We were on the road at 7am, but next time we need to leave by 5.
There were several unexpected stops along the way...

How fly does Mr. H look in his burlap TOMS and his "driving" hat hmmm?  Oh and Dad you look super fly too.

And so we were off, like a herd of turtles.  ;)

The first stop was intended for a potty break, but as luck would have it, the rope or crank or thingamajigger that was attaching the patio boat to my parents motorhome broke.
SO the second stop, was the closest Wally's Camping World to get that fixed.
While we rolled into Wally's World, Mr. H picked something up on one of our motorhome tires and he heard a thug thug thug thug sound, and thought he had a flat tire.
Turns out, it was a huge slab of concrete rock that took three of the guys and a crow bar to get out of the tire.
Lucky.
After the men took care of all that fun stuff, we were back in the rigs and rides, moving along,
like a herd of turtles.

Finally, after one short 40 minute nap (little did I know the only sleep I would get for the next three days) and 9 hours later, we caught our first glimpse of beautiful Bass Lake.

Boy does this place make me smile.
So many memories here.  My Mom said they figured it out and that our families have been going to Bass Lake since 1971. 
I plan on digging out some old pictures from previous trips and scanning a bunch to share with ya'll soon. 
I got my first bee sting at Bass Lake when I was just one year old.  Stepped on the bugger, or so I'm told. 

Pulling through Miller's Landing Resort.  This is the marina where we kept the boats and the campgrounds we stayed in was just a wee hike up through those trees.

Here is a view of Miller's from the dock.  (Next time I think we will look into renting a house here at Miller's.) 
Or maybe we'll just stay in this house...

Yeah, that would work.

We got into town too late to put the boats into the water (major sad face) so we headed into Wishon Campground to greet the dirt set up camp.

The first day is always the worst.
It was HOT.
We were all tired, hungry, sweaty, and ready to just relax.

This was Brian's tent.  Brian is a friend of my brother's.  They played basketball together when they were just itty bitty boys, and Brian has become a friend of the whole family ever since. 

My sister looks happy right?  I think she was contemplating whether or not we could book rooms at the closest Hilton.  Ha.
Claire and Hannah were wearing matching outfits, but at somepoint during that 9 1/2 hour drive, Claire peed through hers.  It happens.

Brian parked his rig in front of our home on wheels.

This was Mom & Dad's camp space.  And that's Erika and Noah's spacious blue tent in the background.

And this my friends was the public shower house.  One big room where everyone had to shower together.
Ha! No.  I'm kidding!  Did I get you for a second there????
Individual stalls, so don't worry.  This was right behind Miller's Landing and you had to buy tokens for the shower.  I think it was $3 got you five minutes.
Yeah, fun.  My first time in I thought I could make it with one.
No.
No I could not.
I came out wrapped in just my towel and yelled, "Jaaaaaakkkkeeee".
Mr. H heard me yell and I said, "I have shampoo in my hair and one leg shaved, GIVE ME YOUR TOKEN."
And so he did.
And I bought two tokens for each shower from then on out.
Oh, and have you ever tried to shave your legs in a tiny shower stall without leaning so far over that your butt touches the (public) shower wall? 
What?  Oh, yeah, well me neither.

We ate dinner that first night at 8:30pm, made it to the showers by 9:30pm, and then back to camp to drink a bottle of wine and pretend I was at a five star resort with room service to sing cumbaya around the campfire and off to bed.

You're not sick of hearing about Bass Lake yet are you?

Cause there's more where this came from.

Peace out friends.

And don't take your free home showers for granted. 

;)

Out of the Woods.

I made it.

Out of the woods.

Barely.

Don't get me wrong,

I love our beautiful Bass Lake as much as the rest of my family does.

But...

the camping part?

without hook ups?

in the dirt?

LOTS and LOTS of dirt?

with TWO busy small children?

in the heat?

and this lovely little spigot as our main water source???

for a week???

Yeah, NOT SO MUCH.

I'll fill ya in on more of the camping details later.
I have to run and get ready for my date tonight.
The Mr. and I are going to see The Change Up.

For now I will tell you this...

I left early.
Uh huh. 
That's right.
I rode home with my sister and nephew before the rest of my family came home.
Yes I did.
I've never been happier to get out of the woods and see so much concrete.

I got home at 8pm and ran straight upstairs to my bedroom.
I started a load of laundry,
threw some haircolor on my head (I'm back to being dark now, I was so over those highlights),
slapped on a cucumber mask,
sat in my glorious large bathtub filled with all the hot water I wanted while my hair processed and I scrubbed the dirt off of me.
Then I rinsed my color off in the shower, again using all the hot water my heart could possibly desire.
Then I shaved and exfoliated,
blowdried,
hairsprayed, coiffed and teased my hair,
plucked what needed plucking (which was everything) and moisturzed.
Then I had a bowl of cereal while I watched The Bachelor Pad.
All by myself.
It was lovely.

Want to know what else?
When I woke up in our house all alone after sleeping in (8am- I had to get my 15 loads of laundry I brought home with me started) it was heavenly.
It was the first time in almost five years that I had an entire day completely to myself.

I drank my coffee while relaxing on the couch and finishing up Bachelor Pad.
Laundry laundry and more laundry.
Then I had a 10am mani/pedi at my favorite place.
The gal asked what happened to my nails, and I said I cut them.
She gave me that look that I give my clients when they tell me they cut their own bangs.
I told her I was camping and they were broken, jagged, and had dirt under every single nail!
Then she patted my hand, told me it was gonna be alright, and said, "It's okay.  I fix you."

 Ahhhh.
I was beginning to feel like myself again.
My first time getting the gel nails in a french manicure.
After my mani pedi I ran to Target.
Got a few essentials. (Like more exfoliant to make sure I got all that dirt off of me).
Then I went to Trader Joe's.
Found something worth sharing.

 Oh yeah.  They are like nutter butters, but a million times better.

Back at home, I did more laundry.
Cleaned out the fridge.
Washed my bedroom valances,
scrubbed the bathroom walls (it is AMAZING how much you can get done when you don't have kids to tend to)
ate a healthy lunch (greek salad and a wrap) while watching Bill & Guiliana,
and then I frolicked off to another happy place...

 Glen Ivy.
I had a 3pm massage to rub all that camping stress away.
;)

Then I did a little school clothes shopping for Hannah, and of course for Claire too. 

So, even though I did come home early...

there was still a bit of fun that was had.

 I've never seen the girls enjoy themselves so much.

I might need a couple more days to make sure I've gotten the dirt out of all the places it might still be lurking,
then maybe I will get around to editing and sharing a few more pics.

It's good to be home.

and out of my Uggs and into some wedges.