little black journal

Summer Camp Part 2 took place at Camano Island – I’ve booked a site at this campground for the past three years, but have cancelled in prior years due to weather or soccer or packing fatigue (camp trip prep loses is luster come end of August…).  But this was the year!  We loaded up our Forester the day after school got out and made the relatively quick drive up to the island.  Isaac and I got right to exploring the “amenities” while Shane and Juliette set up the tent.  Isaac always makes quick work of figuring out the fastest route to the nearest bathroom and water spigot.

We ate our tried-and-true first night tacos and then bee-lined down to the beach, as the mosquitos were thick at our site.

The beach, though!  Not a bug in sight.  Just rocks, surf, sun.

Prime PNW!

Isaac will enter any driftwood fort without a single thought to stability.  Juliette, though, likes to give the roofline a good look before she settles in.

All clear.

We lingered for awhile, none-too-eager to return to the bugs up the hill.

Eventually, though, s’mores were requested, so we headed back for dessert and fireside books.  The skeeters were still at it, so we zipped ourselves into our tent before nightfall.  I don’t mind an early turn-in!

We breakfasted at our site the next morning, but then we set up second camp at the beach, partly because of the bugs, but also because…beauty.

We tossed rocks and hunted for crabs and colored on shells.  We largely had the place to ourselves.

This is the kind of magic that happens when the iPads are left at home…

Eventually we packed it up and headed into town to look for a place to watch the US-Australia World Cup game.  The rule about no-screens-on-camp-trips has its exceptions…

We did a little more exploring on the island after the game and then went back to our tent for an afternoon siesta.

The concept of “quiet time” is still very hard for Isaac, but Juliette is usually up for playing along with his tent shenanigans.

Once it became clear that the walls of our tent could no longer contain this kid’s boundless energy…to the beach!

Again, we set up second camp near the water, and again felt like we had this piece of paradise to ourselves.

Beach bits tic-tac-toe…Juliette really upped the ante on resourcefulness!

We snapped a family pic to memorialize our perfect evening and as we loaded our cooler in the car to head back to the site, Shane asked, “What if…we just packed it all up and drove home tonight?”  I resisted at first, as I’m not in the business of camp trip single-nighters, but when we considered the fact that there was zero traffic on the route home at 9 pm and that we could enjoy our breakfast the morning sans moquitoes, the deal was sealed.

Let’s get outta here.

Clean sheets and a sleep-in, still with a collection of solid gold beachside memories?  Nailed it.

Summer!  Slipping through our fingers way too fast, like every year, but I’m facing the end of my favorite season with the comforting sense that we relished the heck out of these last couple of months.  We swam and we played and we camped.  Oh, we camped.  Summer Camp 2026 started with a June weekend at Deception Pass.  It was just me and Isaac again, as Juliette had a soccer tournament that overlapped with our Deception Pass reso (three years running) and I leaned into the sweetness of what’s become our annual mama-son weekend in the woods.

I picked up Isaac a little early from preschool and we rolled up to our site on a sunny Friday afternoon.  He scoped out the local fauna and worked on his Junior Ranger packet while I unloaded the car.

We made quick work of setting up camp…

And then, to the beach!

We knew the water would be cold, but still, we had to dip our toes in for an official confirmation.

We’ve figured out all the best places to scramble and climb at this little stretch where West Beach meets North Beach.

Take a load off, Buddy…

We scooted back to camp for tacos and s’mores.

Isaac needs less supervision year by year, but I still stayed real close while he “helped” chop wood.

He loves a good mallow…

But can’t stand the sticky fingers.

We finished eating and cleanup just in time to catch the sunset.  To the beach!

We zipped ourselves into our tent, wiggled into our sleeping bags, read a couple of books, and then it was lights OUT.

Saturday started with a game of hopscotch on the way to the bathroom…

Roadside salmon berries…

And muffins with hot chocolate.

Then, you know it…TO THE BEACH.

We took the long, slow route back to camp because this trail along North Beach is magic during the morning golden hour.

Back on the sand, we scouted the crabs and anemones and mussels.  Isaac was enamoured with each little creature, exclaiming “Mama!  We’re finding such cool stuffs!”  We sure were, Buddy.

This kid, grinning back at me over his shoulder with one foot on his scooter, challenging me to a race.  Freeze framing in my mind forever.

Back at camp, Isaac got cute while I made our second breakfast.

Full belly, big smiles.  I wish I could remember what was so funny…

We eventually traded our pajamas for real clothes and drove over to Bowman Bay for a hike.  Isaac was sidetracked by the playground and so I took a seat on a sunny bench and let him play.  He was determined to make it from one end of this climbing structure to the other without touching the ground, but slipped off this last log time and time again.

On the tenth try, though, he nailed it.

Unfettered pride.

Playground conquered, we set out on our hike.

The Lighthouse Point Trail is a perfect mix of beach, woods, and overlooks.  Isaac trekked the 2.5 miles like a little mountain goat.

Quick goldfish break…

And then the final dash back to the car.  We made great time, because…

ICE CREAM.  This boy earned his scoop from Lopez Island Creamery.

Little rascal ate most of his ice cream and then decided he really wanted to trade his huckleberry cone for my guava one.  I’m a sucker.

Isaac fell asleep on the way back to camp and slumped onto my shoulder when I lifted him out of the car.  We settled in for an epic afternoon tent nap.

And then happy hour at the beach, because there’s no better place to rub the sleep from your eyes.

Cheers, Zig Zag.

Juice box, cars, warm sand, sun…life is so, so good.

We popped by the amphitheatre on our way back to camp to say high to the Ranger and make a salmon hat.

We ate dinner and while I would have been thrilled to hit the hay, Isaac was still buzzing with the energy imbued from his long nap.  We headed out for one more scoot…  We hadn’t yet explored the trail near Cranberry Lake, but the long, paved stretch looked like prime scootering territory.

It delivered.

We decided on a beach detour for sunset (and an intricate game of pretend in which I was Bowser and Isaac was Mario).

Isaac (Mario) put me in jail several times over, wielding a stick sword when I threatened to escape.  I played along despite my desire to just sit quietly on a log and watch the sunset, because…how many more years do I have to play in his imaginary world?  Not enough.

One last scoot…

With a handful of stops along the way to watch the sky change colors.  Summer rocks.

I was pooped by nightfall, but Isaac most certainly was not (still riding that nap wave!), so I gave him the lantern and a coloring book, closed my eyes, and woke 30 minutes later to the sound of him putting his papers away, because finally he was ready for bed.  I thanked him profusely for letting me get a head start on my Z’s.

We were eager on Sunday morning to get back to Shane and Juliette, but that Cranberry Lake trail felt worthy of one last pass.

A little more driftwood jail time…

He really looks like he’s surveying his domain here.  King of West Beach.

And back to camp for a record speed pack-up.  Time to head home.  Mission: Kick-Off-Summer accomplished, with flying colors.