We were really looking forward to our annual Thanksgiving trip to Avila Beach this year.

Picnic Table Canopy

As soon as we could, we consulted the holiday weather report to make sure we’d have good weather for our Thanksgiving dinner on the beach. Claire went out and purchased a new canopy tent with screen walls so that we could enjoy a view of the ocean from every direction during our dinner and not be harassed by the seagulls while we ate.

And because the temperature looked to be considerably colder this year we splurged on a propane ceramic heater that we could place underneath the picnic table if we needed to. But it turned out we didn’t.

Claire and her pumpkin cups. Yum!

Thanksgiving day was cold but beautifully clear. Claire spent about an hour and a half preparing our dinner. She made the pumpkin cups recipe which is featured in her newly finished book, The Mobile Kitchen (more on that in future blog posts).They looked great and they tasted great too! For our dinner this year we had ham, mashed potatoes with gravy, crescent rolls, cranberry sauce, fresh green beans, corn bread stuffing and topped off with the pumpkin cups!

A little after 1:00 p.m. we were enjoying Thanksgiving Dinner on the beach again. It was wonderful, there was a very light breeze and it felt great even though it was about 58 degrees.

Just off shore there was a bevy of activity with a large pod of seals and sea lions that were feeding, with birds diving into the water also to catch the fish. It was spectacular to see such activity. Not only were we feasting on Thanksgiving, so were they.

After dinner, the kids played in the sand and even though the temperature was cooler this year our kids managed to get into the surf and play in the waves. We had brought extra clothes so we did allow them to get wet.

We had our pumpkin cups with whipped cream and enjoyed the rest of the day till about 4:30 p.m. when the sun went over the hill and it got noticeably cooler. So time to pack-up and call it a very fun Thanksgiving day.

Roasting marshmallows by the fire

We stayed at the Oceano Campground again this year. There were many more families with kids this year that made it all that much more fun for the kids! The kids were well spaced in age and played well in the small sandbox playground. That was a welcome addition to our holiday camping. On Friday, after a full day back at Avila Beach we hosted a marshmallow roasting for the kids in the campground and tried out chocolate and vanilla swirl marshmallows with all the kids in the campground! Yum!

We had a great Thanksgiving! Before we left, we put in our reservations again for next year. Moving one more spot over in the internal circle of the campground so that we have a good view of the playground!