Every year, my husband’s family spends a week at family camp in the Santa Cruz redwoods. And when I say, every year, I mean his family has been going to Mount Hermon Family Camp since before Brady was born!

Our Week at Family Camp

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Think of Dirty Dancing without the lift or sneaking around to hang out with a dance teacher. At family camp, we stay in a cabin or lodge room, eat all together in the dining room, there are activities like archery, ropes courses, row boats (and much more), and then we stay up late eating sugary treats. It could be one of the easiest vacations you take.

We love it and I have to say, this was my favorite camp now that Rowan is almost two.  We played hard, slept hard, and ate all day long. At the end of the week, I asked Rowan if he wanted to come back to Mount Hermon and within seconds his smile extended through his eyes and a loud yes left his mouth!

I wish I took more photos of Mount Hermon itself. The camp is really a beautiful place. Maybe next year, there’s always next year. Now on to our recap…

Sunday

Now that we live in Fresno, it only takes us about 2 1/2 -3 hours to get to Santa Cruz.  We usually get there around 3 to get ice cream in the Fountain (Mount Hermon’s snack shop) before checking in and the Sunday night welcome BBQ outside on the meadow.

Rowan’s outfit: Old Navy Tank top (Similar) || Old Navy Shorts  || Reef Flip Flops || Herschel Backpack

Where We Slept at Mount Hermon Family Camp

No, we did not camp in tents. I put in my time tent camping as an adult when I started dating Brady. Now, I’m all about the cabin life or maybe an awesome vintage looking air stream.

This year we stayed in a cabin that was an upstairs unit. We loved the layout because it had a separate bedroom with two twin beds for Rowan to sleep in while Brady and I partied, and by party I mean eating popcorn and watching downloaded Netflix shows.

We brought the pack and play, but we since Rowan is getting bigger, we decided to let him sleep in a twin. He is still in a crib at home, so being the good parents we are, I created barriers with chairs, pillows, and a wall. I laid down with him every night and I loved the quiet time we spent together talking and laughing.

 

I took a bad video for Instagram Stories when we first got our keys – watch it if you want. Sorry for the quality .

 

 

Rowan was so tired by the time he was done eating dinner, we missed the evening activities at the BBQ. But sleep wins over everything right?

Monday

Brady went on a garage tour with his dad and brother-in-law in the morning. Rowan went to his class – Mount Hermon has some amazing children’s programs. And me, I listened to the morning speaker for the week, Luis Palau, while sitting under trees and sipping on iced coffee.

I have limited cell service at Mount Hermon and the Wifi is pretty limited as well, but it was good to have time to sort of disconnect. And don’t let that stop you from experiencing the beauty of Mount Hermon,  if I let go of mindlessly scrolling Instagram for a week, you can too.

Rowan fell asleep at lunch in the dining room, so I carried him back to our cabin. He slept for three hours and woke up to Brady coming in the door. Since we had an hour before dinner, we decided to walk down to the park. Rowan ran for an hour straight. I almost had to hold him down to take photos.

Outfit details – Top || Jeans

We ventured out to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk for Retro Nights, where rides are only $1.50. Rowan was  a party pooper and didn’t want to go on anything his size. He did however, want to ride the big roller coasters. This kid. (Eye roll)

 

Tuesday

Rowan ended up dressing like Tech CEO.

After the morning session and lunch, we took family photos with Brady’s family and treated ourselves to ice cream at the Fountain. And when I say treated, I mean we didn’t monitor Rowan’s ice cream intake. What happens at camp, stays at camp.

 

I think we were pretty boring on Tuesday and went to bed early. Or rather, Rowan went to bed early and I tried to catch up on work.

But it was all okay, because on Wednesdays at Mount Hermon we wear pink  we take the train through the redwoods to the Santa Cruz Boardwalk aka the Beach Train!

Stayed tuned for Part 2 of our week at Family Camp!