We had reservations to be at our beloved Thousand Trails park for the weekend, but decided instead to stay over here with our friends. The kids could not be having a better time; it really is amazing how well they all get along. And that Jason and Christy haven’t thrown us out on our ears? Nothing short of a miracle. Noah commented, “They say that they are enjoying us and want us to stay, but clearly they are lying because we are a LOT of work to have around!” lol
One of the reasons we wanted to stay was for the kids to try riding the actual BMX track. I don't have any pictures from that night, but I do have some of Matthew in their yard. He is such a daredevil!
Jason and Christy were interested in couponing, and I gave them some hints to get them started. It was hard for me, because I would have to essentially relearn everything to be back up to speed with unfamiliar stores, so I couldn't just take them and show them how to legally shoplift. As they are getting going, I’m missing having coupons. However, I don’t EVER want to have boxes coupons like I used to.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Friday, February 25, 2011
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
We stayed in bed really late today, and frankly, I’m embarrassed by it. Getting out of bed is never easy, but when you have a warm, snuggly, just turned one year old pressed up against you it’s doubly hard.
Whenever I sleep late I’m reminded of Randy Pausch who realized that he was dying and didn’t want to miss a second of time with his family. If I were dying, would I stay in bed late? I don’t think so. I would wake up early and rouse my kids out of bed, and we would play games and do crafts and cherish every moment. I think I would also eat a lot of pork ribs.
Traveling without a tow vehicle is really hard. The minute I can figure out a solution, we will get one. Today we have a need to do laundry, not a pressing need, but it would be nice. We also need some automotive supplies, so it would be nice to run to the store. If we go, it’s going to be an all day event as we need to unhook the camper, pack up the inside, pull up seatbelts, etc. It’s a lot of work, and takes a lot of time. When ever the motor home moves, we first need to pack up everything we own, as if we were moving. So if we go, our whole day will be consumed with traveling, and the things that we need to get done around here will need to wait for another day
.
The good news is that while here with our friends, they have been very generous in offering to take us to the store, so that’s been really great, but I don’t want to impose on them any more than we have to.
Whenever I sleep late I’m reminded of Randy Pausch who realized that he was dying and didn’t want to miss a second of time with his family. If I were dying, would I stay in bed late? I don’t think so. I would wake up early and rouse my kids out of bed, and we would play games and do crafts and cherish every moment. I think I would also eat a lot of pork ribs.
Traveling without a tow vehicle is really hard. The minute I can figure out a solution, we will get one. Today we have a need to do laundry, not a pressing need, but it would be nice. We also need some automotive supplies, so it would be nice to run to the store. If we go, it’s going to be an all day event as we need to unhook the camper, pack up the inside, pull up seatbelts, etc. It’s a lot of work, and takes a lot of time. When ever the motor home moves, we first need to pack up everything we own, as if we were moving. So if we go, our whole day will be consumed with traveling, and the things that we need to get done around here will need to wait for another day
.
The good news is that while here with our friends, they have been very generous in offering to take us to the store, so that’s been really great, but I don’t want to impose on them any more than we have to.
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Monday, February 14, 2011
We are still here in the Tampa area with our friends Christy and Jason, and the weather has been beautiful. Christy and Jason have been so incredibly generous with us, it just blows me over. We are so grateful to count them among our friends.
Today was Valentine’s Day so each kid got a little plastic cup filled with candy.
It was the smallest Valentine’s Day treat we’ve ever had, but this year I wasn’t trying to fight the winter blahs. February usually finds us going stir crazy, but this year we are fully occupied all day, outside. The kids are running and biking and tree climbing and rope swinging. Our friends have four children, and our six just adore them all. I have often found that when there is a group of kids there are a couple that just don’t get along, it’s only natural with so many different personalities. But this group of ten all seem to adore each other and I have yet to hear a disagreement between them.
Today was also Christopher’s first birthday.
I didn't have anything planned, and I hadn’t really been to any stores in awhile, so while making a grocery run today I picked him up a ball, and I would have completely neglected to do that if Christy hadn’t reminded me by purchasing a gift for him herself. Ooops. Sixth child syndrome! In contrast, we had a party with over 100 people for Joshua’s first birthday.
Christy kept everyone entertained with Valentine’s Day crafts and party decorating. You can see why no one wants to ever leave here!
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Sweet Molly. The other day Molly grabbed Noah’s big toe and told him in an impish voice, “Noah, I’ve got your pig!” She was of course confusing “this little piggy” and “I’ve got your nose”.
Shortly after I pulled into a gas station to turn around and immediately she asked, “Mommy, can I go in with you?” I told her that no one was going in this time and she replied, “Oh, we’re just sleeping?” We all laughed out loud that our three year old assumes that we are sleeping in the parking lot at the gas station. Life on the road!
Shortly after I pulled into a gas station to turn around and immediately she asked, “Mommy, can I go in with you?” I told her that no one was going in this time and she replied, “Oh, we’re just sleeping?” We all laughed out loud that our three year old assumes that we are sleeping in the parking lot at the gas station. Life on the road!
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Friday, February 11, 2011
We have left our beloved Thousand Trails and have arrived in the Tampa area to stay in the back yard of some new friends. Tonight we joined them at the BMX track to watch their boys race. It was really fascinating to me as I’ve never seen anything like that in real life before. I imagine that it’s exhausting to ride a bicycle up and down all those hills and around all those turns!
Our friend’s son won the race!
I picked up a real feeling of community from the group. It made me miss that a little bit, but then I really had a sense of being able to sample the best of everything on the road; we can be here, partake of the friendship and community, enjoy everything they have to offer, but we don’t need to be tied to this or any one place. We can be a part of something no matter where we are as long as we are open to the opportunities.
Tomorrow we are doing a deep clean to rid ourselves of any lingering “cooties”. We’ve been wanting to rent a steam cleaner to do the rugs, so it seems like a good time to run it over anything porous.
Our friend’s son won the race!
I picked up a real feeling of community from the group. It made me miss that a little bit, but then I really had a sense of being able to sample the best of everything on the road; we can be here, partake of the friendship and community, enjoy everything they have to offer, but we don’t need to be tied to this or any one place. We can be a part of something no matter where we are as long as we are open to the opportunities.
Tomorrow we are doing a deep clean to rid ourselves of any lingering “cooties”. We’ve been wanting to rent a steam cleaner to do the rugs, so it seems like a good time to run it over anything porous.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
We are still at the Thousand Trails Orlando. Still loving it. We have met the neatest people. Honestly, I think that is my favorite part of traveling is al the interesting people we get to socialize with.
The flu hit us hard this week. First it was just the three little ones and I expended every ounce of energy I had caring for them. I was really worried when the three older ones started in, but it wasn’t long before I found myself completely out of commission too. It was absolutely miserable. We have such limited everything that if a blanket for instance became “contaminated” there was no easy fix. I do not have a linen closet to pick out another, and I do not have a washer or a dryer. The campground does have a laundry room (and thank heavens we were in a campground when this hit!) but they are not open all night.
Anyway, I think the worst of it is over. I’m pretty confident calling “the end” on that particular “experience”.
We have been talking about not going west this year. I’m not actually disappointed about that decision because we are all loving on the Florida weather. I hear that it’s not so nice everywhere else. We have reservations off and on through April, at which point it should be safe to travel back north. We are all looking forward to getting our van and either hitching it up to take with us or trading it for something we can.
The flu hit us hard this week. First it was just the three little ones and I expended every ounce of energy I had caring for them. I was really worried when the three older ones started in, but it wasn’t long before I found myself completely out of commission too. It was absolutely miserable. We have such limited everything that if a blanket for instance became “contaminated” there was no easy fix. I do not have a linen closet to pick out another, and I do not have a washer or a dryer. The campground does have a laundry room (and thank heavens we were in a campground when this hit!) but they are not open all night.
Anyway, I think the worst of it is over. I’m pretty confident calling “the end” on that particular “experience”.
We have been talking about not going west this year. I’m not actually disappointed about that decision because we are all loving on the Florida weather. I hear that it’s not so nice everywhere else. We have reservations off and on through April, at which point it should be safe to travel back north. We are all looking forward to getting our van and either hitching it up to take with us or trading it for something we can.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Wednesday, February 2, 2011 (2am)
It’s fruitless.
I decided that I was going to be proactive and get all ready for my day tomorrow. My plan was to wake up at the buttcrackofdawn and have coffee brewing, breakfast baked, lunches packed, even dinner ready to go. We could leave here early and enjoy our day. I’m just now climbing into bed, at 2 am. I had no idea it was so late. My jumpstart on Wednesday just went out the window because there is no way I’m getting up with the sun! Gah!
Update: I woke up at the buttcrackofdawn to Molly telling me that she had eaten all the cake and there was cake everywhere in her bed. She was telling the truth. Double Gah!
I decided that I was going to be proactive and get all ready for my day tomorrow. My plan was to wake up at the buttcrackofdawn and have coffee brewing, breakfast baked, lunches packed, even dinner ready to go. We could leave here early and enjoy our day. I’m just now climbing into bed, at 2 am. I had no idea it was so late. My jumpstart on Wednesday just went out the window because there is no way I’m getting up with the sun! Gah!
Update: I woke up at the buttcrackofdawn to Molly telling me that she had eaten all the cake and there was cake everywhere in her bed. She was telling the truth. Double Gah!
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
We spent a few days boon docking around near Disney before coming back to the Thousand Trails Campground. We absolutely love it here. I don’t think it could be more perfect. The sites are huge, the people are friendly, they have homemade fudge!
We thought that we were going to leave Florida this week to go see more of the country, but we love this campground so much that we really don’t want to leave. We love it so much that we are talking about getting a seasonal site here! What a difference a day makes, huh?
We have all been having a ball over at Hollywood Studios. They have street performers and honestly, we all agree that it’s our favorite thing to do there, just sit and watch (and sometimes participate!).
The other day when we arrived a sheriff at the front gate put a sticker on Matthew’s back. He found it and ran to put a sticker on the sheriff’s back. It was hilarious watching this huge sheriff chase Matthew around. Then he casually walked by and said loudly, “I’m just going on my lunch break” right before he broke into a run and slapped a sticker on Matthew.
The warm weather has been so great. I can’t even imagine all the snow that people are complaining about. How did I ever live in Maine? We have been enjoying the pool, hot tub, and playground on a daily basis. The only thing we are missing is a car. Does anyone have any ideas for how we can get our van down here? Please share!
We thought that we were going to leave Florida this week to go see more of the country, but we love this campground so much that we really don’t want to leave. We love it so much that we are talking about getting a seasonal site here! What a difference a day makes, huh?
We have all been having a ball over at Hollywood Studios. They have street performers and honestly, we all agree that it’s our favorite thing to do there, just sit and watch (and sometimes participate!).
The other day when we arrived a sheriff at the front gate put a sticker on Matthew’s back. He found it and ran to put a sticker on the sheriff’s back. It was hilarious watching this huge sheriff chase Matthew around. Then he casually walked by and said loudly, “I’m just going on my lunch break” right before he broke into a run and slapped a sticker on Matthew.
The warm weather has been so great. I can’t even imagine all the snow that people are complaining about. How did I ever live in Maine? We have been enjoying the pool, hot tub, and playground on a daily basis. The only thing we are missing is a car. Does anyone have any ideas for how we can get our van down here? Please share!
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Thursday, January 20, 2011
We are having to leave our beloved Lazy Days Campground because they have 160 coaches incoming and no space for us.
I think that we will head back over to Orlando and try to do a few more days at Disney. Then we really must get out of Florida. It’s getting pathetic how we seem to only be traveling between Disney and Lazy Days. Surely there is more that we want to see?
I think that we will head back over to Orlando and try to do a few more days at Disney. Then we really must get out of Florida. It’s getting pathetic how we seem to only be traveling between Disney and Lazy Days. Surely there is more that we want to see?
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