The boys and I enjoyed our camping trip two summers ago at Deception Pass so much that we decided to go back again this summer.

We set up camp two spaces down from our last site in space 186. It was a nice, level spot, close to the bathrooms and water. (You can see our lovely rental Jeep Commander.)

Andrew (13) decided to bring a little American Gothic vibe to the site, but he couldn't get Michael (10) to join in the photo.

Of course, the big draw (besides cooking stuff on a fire and playing with driftwood) is the beautiful scenery at Deception Pass.

The next morning was a bit foggy (although fortunately it didn't rain on us like last time.)

The boys decided to hang out in the tent in the morning for a while playing card games. As you can guess from their clothes, it was bit chilly. Fortunately, we learned from our last trip and brought a lot more firewood so we could have more and bigger fires. This was a big improvement and important for our general comfort.

Eventually, the fog started burning off, and it became a lovely day with more playing the beach, hiking, and climbing the rocks. I also showed Andrew how to make snares and deadfalls as part of his camping education. It was kind of lucky that they worked since I hadn't ever made them either, having just read about them in books... (Of course, we didn't leave the traps out nor did we try to catch any animals in them.)

It was a fun trip. I really enjoyed getting the spend time with the family outside in such a beautiful place. They boys didn't have their electronics nor did they seem to miss them. The camping system is pretty well set up in Washington so it's easy to find and reserve a spot online (especially if you do it well in advance like I did). I really don't have many excuses to not take them camping more often, especially once we move back to Seattle from China.