If all goes well, we’re heading out on our last big adventure of the summer. We thought this was a good time to share some postcards from this summer’s trip to Saxis and Chincoteague. If you’d like to learn more about this awesome area of the Eastern Shore that we love dearly, check out this round-up off our previous Saxis posts.
We’re spending this month in our favorite little Chesapeake town, Saxis, VA. These are a few photos from last year’s trip.
There’s one main road that runs the length of town. It’s quiet enough that you can walk down the street to the museum. Last year sweet little Luc took his time walking to the museum (with his little flowered wallet!).
Last weekend, I camped at Green Point Campground near Tofino, BC. Beyond surfing, skim boarding, biking, and hiking, there are plenty of beaches to comb and coastal tide pools to explore. I really enjoyed climbing around on the rocks between North Chesterman and South Chesterman beach. This area is also known as Frank Island, but you are able to access it by land, no need to cross water to reach it. Continue reading
We just bought the tickets for our big annual trip to the East Coast. We’re so lucky to be able to take this big chunk of time and spend it visiting family both in PA and VA. In addition to that quality time, what I really love is being able to expose the boys to activities and ideas that they may not have at home in Colorado. Isn’t that what traveling’s all about?
Many of our days are spent at the beach, but that’s just a snippet of how the boys spend their time on the island.
Whenever Poppop’s in town, they spend many quality hours on the boat. There are one to two trips a day to check the crab pots in the bay. Sometimes they stay out longer doing a bit of fishing or line-crabbing, but our primary prey is the blue crab. Their scientific name is Callinectes sapidus, and it has the most perfect meaning : calli = beautiful, nectes = swimmer, and sapidus = savory!
For the past few summers, the boys and I have spent a big chunk of August, crabbing in the Chesapeake Bay, jumping waves at Assateague Island National Seashore, and visiting with our east coast family. If you’re interested, here are photos from our 2014 (one & two) and 2015 trips.
It’s so amazing and special to me to be able to share the beaches that I grew up going to with Alex and Luc. I love expanding their horizons and teaching them about the sea, marsh, and island life that’s so different from the mountains of Colorado. And, most importantly, I’m so happy that we’re able to give my family such a long stretch of time to visit with the boys. We like to stay until we’ve worn out our welcome and Baba’s ready for us to “get the heck out of here”. But don’t worry, while we may have worn out our welcome this year, we’ll be back next summer to do it all over again!
Today I wanted to share a few photos from our trip so that you can get a feel for the area. I’m hoping to follow up this post with a more detailed list of places to visit and things to do in the area.
Taking an outdoor shower is hands down my favorite way to bathe. A couple years ago, our father installed one at the beach and since then the whole crew has paraded in and out trying to wash the sand from our tootsies. Because I would rather take all my showers outside under the moonlight, I thought it would be helpful to share our five favorite earth friendly products for the outdoor shower. These products are all biodegradable and earth friendly, but what does that mean really?
Happy Monday! Last week, I shared a Seasoned View of Bali because exactly four years ago that’s where my little feet landed. What a magical week! Before going to Bali, I balked at the idea. I had thought of Bali as one huge resort. That’s just the vibe I got from the few times I heard about it. Well, I was hella wrong. Yes, there’s a couple overcrowded and commercialized areas on the southern tip of Bali, but other than that the island is my definition of paradise. I only had a week to explore Bali, so I headed straight for the heart of it, Ubud, and what I experienced captivated me. I haven’t stopped thinking about Bali since. I can’t wait to go back and explore the entire island (especially the northern parts) by motorbike. One day, one day, these are what my daydreams are made of…
IT’S FEBRUARY! WTF. This month is about working harder than last month. Planning on starting riiiiight meow. January had its perks though. I had the chance to visit the Everglades and Key West, Florida. Download some of these images. They’ll warm you up 🙂
Sunny Isles Beach
Florida Everglades
Great Egret
Atlantic Ocean
Everglades
Mangroves
We already love Saxis for so many reasons, but like most things in life, when you experience them again through a child’s eye you appreciate them that much more. We wanted to highlight some of the shenanigans going on in and around Saxis this summer with a few photos. Hopefully you also have a favorite summer stomping ground where you can act like a kid again. If not, let these photos be inspiration to get out there, mess around, and maybe find a spot that you’ll return to each summer.
Playing in the surf never gets old. If you have little ones like Alex, we recommend having one adult for every child because you never know when they might sprint right into the waves (Katie here : with these crazy boys I’m starting to think that we need two adults for every kid!). Alex is one brave boy. He’s constantly shocking us with the challenges he takes on like diving head first into holes in the sand. Yep, he treats sand dunes and big holes like a slide at the playground and going feet first would be too safe and tame for that tyke. If you’re the cautious type or you just need a break, you could seek out the nearest bay to play in. Chances are the water is calm and shallow and you may even find some bayside critters swimming in the water.
Of course, it’s not all about the kids. Our family has always enjoyed a good game, often it’s a card or board game at night, but we’re also a big fan of lawn/beach games. This year our mom discovered Kubb, and our pop made a set for the beach. Everyone in our group had a great time playing, and recommend this for anyone who loves horseshoes, corn hole, or any similar toss game.
While we love a good beach day, we also love our water toys. Each year it seems our family is adding something to the fleet. This year we acquired two stand up paddle boards. Stand Up Paddle boards are a fantastic way to hop right onto the water without much set up and hassle. SUPs can be carried by one person where as kayaks are much easier to transport with two people. SUPs are also a nice way to give young kids a little taste of the bay without taking them too far out in case they’re a bit apprehensive about water.
As much as we love SUPs, kayaks and classic boogie boards, nothing beats a motorboat. We keep it pretty simple in our family with a small fishing boat, but it feels luxurious to us since we grew up paddling a canoe. A motorboat allows you the freedom to bring along all the fishing and crabbing you could want and don’t you dare forget that cooler full of drinks!
While we’re running down docks, pulling up crabs and diving into sand holes, we’re learning about the world around us. Every moment is a chance to see and experience something new on the island. We get equally excited about feeding horseshoe crabs at the Assateague Visitors Center as we do about looking at dead dragonflies through a bug magnifying box. Last year Alex’s first word was “burd”, which he said while watching the seagulls fly by the house. This year we started to teach him the names of different birds as we saw them, from egrets in the trees to osprey watching over their nests. We’re hoping these summers on Saxis instill the same love and appreciation for nature in little Alex and Luc that we have now as adults.
Just like last August, we’re fighting the melancholy feeling we get knowing that summer is more than half over. Although, we’ve planned accordingly this year and are ending summer with a bang. Sarah’s getting ready for a photo exhibit, followed immediately by the annual Schufest that she and our other siblings put on at the farm in PA. All of that comes after she flies out to Colorado for a quick visit and to help me wrangle these two boys on our trip east where we’ll spend a month at the beach (hoping to avoid Mary Lee!). It’s going to be a fun month!
In anticipation of our beach trip, this post is filled with photos from past visits. If these photos having you craving more, you can check out the posts from last summer. There are some photos from life on the island. Many of the men on the island work in the seafood industry, either hauling in oysters or hatching softshell crabs. The island itself is surrounded by miles (and miles!) of tidal saltwater marsh, we love it so much that we put together a little profile of our favorite ecosystem. This year we’re so excited to see the island, the beaches, and the water through the eyes of two-year-old Alex!
