More RV Renovations! Kerville Triathilon! And Attack of the RV Ants!

Jonah and I sanding stairs.  I now have little splatters of primer all over my ergo carrier.  Oh well, last baby!

So our goal was to finish the flooring and stairs in the RV before Joe's triathlon in Kerville, TX on Sept 27th so we could take the rig with us.  We did meet that deadline!  Well, sort of...

 The PROCESS (Taking about 2 weeks)




 



Done!

We were able to get the living room complete, except for the slide part of the flooring, under the couch and dinning table.  We even finished them to the point of laying the quarter round down!  The stairs went in on Wednesday and look awesome! Jonah had a blast climbing up them and smiling real big all weekend!  We would then set him back at the bottom and he'd do it all over again.....and again.

So we feel pretty proud of ourselves for meeting our deadline!  However, there were some things we did not get done in time for the trip!  Like the flooring in our bedroom.  So that was just splintery flooring that was unfinished and Joe found a screw popping up through it with his foot too!  Good thing we don't do much walking around in there.  Pretty much just room for the bed!  We also did not get the bathroom flooring done, since it requires us to pull the toilet to do it, and we didn't have time for that!  In related bathroom news, our shower looks like this...

Something to do with a leaky skylight, taking off the old-super-weird-plastic-sliding-door-like shower curtain thing and still needing to replace that with our awesome new more homey shower curtain thingie.  Good thing RV parks have public showers to use!  Cause that's what we ended up using this weekend. 

Everything went smoothly with the RV renos this weekend, except..... we did get a big scratch right in the middle of our new floor!  It happened while driving, we think by a screw that was hanging down out of the slide.  It was the movement of driving that caused it to scratch the floor and wasn't something we could have predicted.  Being that I was imagining the new floor all crumpling in on itself the second we took the slide in, one little scratch didn't seem so bad.  Really it just looks like another seem in the floor, if you aren't looking for it. 

We pulled into http://www.guadaluperiverrvresort.com  at about 3pm, to a well spaced spot and lots of amenities, like 2 pools, spa, river front, trails, playgrounds, etc!  We hardly end up using any of these, but were able to get a spot, backing to the river for $49 a night.  That's a pretty good price for a "resort" park.  And even if they did charge me extra once I got there for wifi and cable (Boo!), they did not throw extra kid or pet fees at me, which I appreciate. 

So we set up, and quickly left to go get Joe registered for the race and pick up his packet, set out his bike, and drive the course.  This took HOURS!!!  I manned the kids and Joe focused.  He was a nervous wreck with this being his first race!  We finally head back to the RV and the rain starts coming DOWN!  I make dinner and we all are laying vertically before 10pm.  Terrible nights sleep though with the storm and coughing and forgotten sound machine.  I had forgotten how loud RV's are!  If someone in your family breaths heavily, you hear it and wake up!  Hence the need for the sound machine!  Not only this, RV's are not known for their high insulation ratings!  You can hear everything that goes on outside too!  So to the man in the RV parked across the road from us, SHUT UP!

Triathlon

Just before the Start

We all wake up at 5am.  Ugh!!!!  Get to the race at 6am.  Race starts at 7:30am.  We were doing the race with some friends of ours, who are not newbies to this like us.  Guys go in the water for their 500M swim and they're off!

Joe getting out after the swim portion

It was a rainy, misty morning and we were all soaked by the end of it!  The kids were total troopers!  Especially Bean, who HATES to get wet!

I don't know Joe's exact times.  Maybe I should find out?  Okay, let me go find out....  K, I found out.

500 Meter Swim  15:04
15 Mile Bike  49.:25
5K Run  29:38

Total Time with Transitions = 1:40:59

He came in 13th in his division.  I was so freaking proud of him when I saw him come around the corner towards the finish line!!!  I was so excited for him, that I might have been so loudly screaming and jumping up and down, that the announcer may have made some comments about it, 3 times.  I mean, ME?, LOUD?!  Anyways, YAY JOE! 

The rest of our day was spent refueling our guys with food and hanging out at the RV.  Baby slept and everyone had a buddy, even Darby.  Happiness. 

Ants

We discovered the white noise phone app Saturday night.  Hallelujah!  Much better nights sleep!  But, we were starting to notice a lot of ants in the RV right before bedtime.  So many in fact, that we had to have the girls sleep on the couch, as their beds were covered with them!  As was the floor and bathroom, and by Sunday morning, even the walls!  It was total ant take over!!!  The only sort of safe zones were our bed (thank goodness), and the couch.  Everything else was covered!  Joe went out to Lowe's to get ant killer of all kinds with the girls first thing that morning.  When he got back and started the massacre, he realized how many there actually were!  They practically covered one entire wall on the outside of the RV!  Looks like they were getting in mostly through the electric cord we had plugged in.  We got non-toxic spray, bait boxes, and poison.  Joe also filed down the nail under the slide before we wrapped up and pulled out (half an hour later then check out, but we had ants to deal with!).  In all of our travels, we have NEVER experienced an ant problem!  Nor had we had any kind of pest problem!  As a matter of fact, we were those RVers who would giggle at the travelers that would spray a ring of poison on the ground around their RV or sprinkle chemicals around every part of their RV that touched the ground.  "Look at those silly, scardy cats who are poisoning our Earth with their toxic chemicals, so they can avoid the rare chance of an insect getting into their RV!"  Well, call me a silly, scardy cat, but laying down bug poison is now part of our set up routine.  Never again will I almost be chased out of my RV by ants that can take over in 1 day!  It can happen so fast people!  SO fast!

Kids sleeping on couch since beds were covered in ants.

And that was our weekend!  Fun!  Stressful!  Exciting!  New Experiences!  Friends!  Great!

Exercise Plan for the Road

So, although we are not ON the road at this point, Joe and I have started exercising nearly every day, and have been doing so long enough (4 months), that I think it just might stick and have therefore worked up the nerve to write about it. 

What does this have to do with our RV trip?  Well, we both really love the way we feel.  It's not crazy- different from how we felt before, but we do breath easier, play a little harder, and feel stronger.  Oh, and did I mention I can do a headstand now!?  That's really added to my party tricks repertoire. 

And now back to what this has to do with our trip!  Well, as we learned from the last time we were out on an extended RV trip (5 months in 2012), working out while on the road can be challenging, especially if you have kids!  Why?!  Well for lots and lots of reasons!  Moving destinations every week or two means you don't have a gym membership.  You might be able to pop into a gym or sportsplex or studio for a one time class, but you won't get the childcare, and studios (yoga) can be expensive for a one time class!  And being the kind that really love small towns (I mean really small towns), there often isn't any such place to go!  So.....  That mainly leaves home exercise and outdoor activities while RVing. 

1. Home Exercise

Can be great!  But there's not much space in an RV to workout in.  Add to that 3 kids and a dog, or a baby sleeping and you are quickly pushed outdoors.  So I needed to find a exercise that was NOT too embarrassing, since I plan on doing it outside most of the time.  So far I've got 3 ideas!  1. Yoga.  I love yoga!  It'll make you STRONG!  ....and teach you to do cool things like headstands.  Plus you don't have to bounce around too much, so it's low on the embarrassment factor when having to be performed outside, at say somewhere like a busy campsite.  For instance, Zumba, would not be a great workout for me to perform outdoors in places like this.  And I mean, perform.  Eek!  Plus, I think I can just about make up my own yoga routine and won't need a video to watch.  Not every time, at least.  2. Hula Hoop.  I'm still working on this one.  As in, I can't do it yet.  I'm trying though.  I try about every other day.  I could do it as a kid.  I know I can do it again!  Just hasn't happened yet.  But I've got a great teacher!!!  Loralai.  She's a pro at it!  I'm getting close.  I can feel it!  Hula hooping is also a great exercise with lightweight equipment, and cheap to replace and can be done while watching 3 kids....if I could just keep the darn hoop up!  .....getting there.  Plus, not too embarrassing to do in public.  And, can also lead to new party tricks!  Bonus!  3. I'm also thinking I could do jump roping.  But so far in my life, I have really hated doing this.  But I have deemed this the year of learning new things, so who knows?

It's so EASY Mom!

2. Outdoor Activities

So last trip, I thought....we'll hike and walk, or bike everyday!  And we did those things a lot!  But....our kids are little, and Loralai does not like to walk or hike, so she whines....ALOT!  This can create an aversion to walking and hiking after awhile.  And when we do walk or hike, we are often times moving at a snails pace; or a whiny 4 year olds pace.  Doesn't really get the old heart a pumping, if you know what I mean.  Plus, sometimes we stay in places that are not conducive to family walks.  Like right off the freeway.  One thing that would have helped last trip was if we had had a good stroller, instead of the POS umbrella stroller we used.  I'm still mad at us for not upgrading on that trip!  So this trip will be a 1000 times better just because, we will have THE BOB!  It's a jogging stroller AND a double!  We can even fit all 3 in there if we have to!  So not only will walks around town go better, but we can also RUN with it!  That's right, we are running family now.  Never thought I would say that!  I've said that I hated to run all my life!  But desperate times, call for desperate measures.  And 3 kids, no time for myself, and at least 30 pounds to loose, are desperate times!  I needed something that burned mega calories, while also building muscle, could be done with zero equipment, anywhere, done in 30 minutes, and with or without kids in varying moods.  That's running.  So for the past 4 months, we have been running.  It only takes 30 minutes to run 2-3 miles and make yourself feel like you're gonna die.  Now that's a good workout!  And it's so short that Joe and I can take turns going if we can't (or don't want to) take the kids.  Darby is even a running dog!  She hauls butt for about the first mile.  Runs along side you like a well trained dog for the second mile.  And tries to lay down in the shade every chance she gets on the third mile.  But hey, she's a stubby little chug and we all have our limits.  Besides, it's rare that I run 3 miles or more (although I have!).  I usually run just 2 at a time. So she's the perfect partner for me!

Along with running 3+ times a week, we will also still aim to hike and bike as much as we can!  Loralai is working on mastering the bike riding and we have two seats on the backs of our bikes for the littles.  Add to that a hiking backpack and ergo and we are ready to hike too!  Probably have to bring some cupcakes too to bribe Loralai with.  Kind of like dangling a carrot on a stick for a horse.  I seriously might try that!!! 

Also, Joe is participating in his first Triathlon in one week!  If all goes well, and he likes it, we could look for other triathlons or 5ks or 10ks happening in cities around the country to participate in!  Something to aim for!

Plus, we could look for running groups on meetup.com in different cities that we could go on runs with!  Could be a neat way to meet locals while on the road and keep in shape!  I read this once full-time RV blog where the wife was really into running and she did this type of thing.  Of course, she was like a lifer, long distance runner (totally NOT me!  but never say never.).  Anyways, it's good to have goals.

Here's another picture of me doing a headstand, cause me after a run is not as pretty!

So there you have it!  Our exercise plan for our RV trip!  In the meantime, we'll be getting stronger, trying to memorize yoga moves to do on our own, learning to hula, running further and faster, and working on getting Loralai to be an ace on two wheels!

2013- The Year of Jonah!

2013

What a SWEET and SURPRISING year!!!  I'm 8.5 months late writing this summary of our 2013 year and considered just skipping writing anything about it at all.  But then I started thinking, "What did happen in 2013?" and after a tiny bit of thought, realized that it was too important of a year to miss.  So albeit brief, mostly due to my memories fading over the past 8.5 months, here was our VERY IMPORTANT 2013 year as a family!

Jonah.  Joe and I started out the year with a parents-only-cruise for one full week around the Caribbean.  We had a fabulous time with my sister and her husband and met lots of new friends!  It was such a nice get away for us!  That was the trip that also weaned Juliet from nursing.  My baby!  Well I should have known better, but that trip was also partly responsible for the conception of our Little Jonah Boy!  Jonah makes our 2nd Valentines week conceived baby.  2nd!  From this year forward, Joe or I will leave town for the entire week of Valentines Day.  Seriously!  So I spent 2013 pregnant.  It was a great pregnancy, filled with 40lbs of weight gain, water aerobics, waddling, feeling baby kicks, and in the end, high blood pressure that resulted in an induction, 6 days before my due date in a hospital.  His birth was unmedicated, although I had enough tubes and monitors hooked up to me to make you think otherwise.  He was my easiest birth yet!  And PERFECT!  Absolutely PERFECT!  And a BOY!  Sweet from the very beginning and totally in love with his family!  So this year began with Jonah, and ended with us all cooing over his little newborn sweetness!

In other news....  This is the year that Juliet took dance!  And loved it!  She went to Dragonfly with her friend Gram and spent lots of time at Nana's, including her first sleepovers at Nana's house!

Loralai took Gymnastics and learned to hula-hoop!  And started 1st grade with Mr. Stuemke!  Her reading and writing really took off this year!

We also gained another family member, Ms. Darby Penny Shaw, born April 15th, 2013.  Our sweet little Chug puppy!  So as you might guess, lots of this year was also spent cleaning up messes and throwing out chewed shoes and toys and going to training classes.  We love her SO!!!  And she loves us right back!  All of us!  Loralai smothers her with cuddles, Bean hates for her to get anywhere near her play things, and Jonah thinks she's a riot and loves to grab her ears!  She is my constant companion and lap dog, and she doesn't listen to anyone as well as she does Joe! 

Somehow, amongst all this, I managed to break new records with my Real estate business and sold over 5 million in properties!  My best year yet!!! 

We joined the mini-van club, and love it!  Total luxury and ROOM!  Although, I am aware that our cool points have gone down.  But we can afford to spend some cool points to have a sunroof and heated seats!

We had my little brother, Cody stay with us for the summer and took a family vacation to The Smokey Mountains for 2 weeks (see prior blog posts).  And had a mini Prosser reunion and spent lots of time with family!

We took lots of mini trips with friends to Enchanted Rock and Fredricksburg, TX, and New Orleans!  We spent many evenings at our neighborhood lake, or over at friends or family's houses.  The kids played and grew and swam and cried and laughed.

And those are the highlights of our 2013.  It was an amazing, family defining year!!!

RV Renovations, Full Speed Ahead!

She's coming along nicely! 

Side Note- You know, we've never named our RV.  Doing all this work on her makes me think it's about time she had a name.  She deserves one now!  So, we are taking name suggestions. 

We put our 3 day, Labor Day weekend to good use and made some major progress on the RV!  Joe's been working on her for a couple of months now, here and there.  But when it finally came time to paint, that's where I entered!  Once I was in there though, working side-by-side, I realized there were a lot of reno projects I could help with!  Thank goodness for cloudy days, which kept the temps in the 80's-low 90's (not bad for August in TX), since we needed to leave the doors and windows open while painting for ventilation.  Mom watched the kids for a few hours each day and our weekend went just like this...

Here's how she looked before we started this weekend.

Saturday

Did nothing.  We're bums.

Sunday

Sanded and primed and painted all of the  new shelves Joe has built in place of the TV center that used to be in the RV.  This was my job!  Don't think it was a simple one either, just cause it's painting!  It was about a 5 step processes to first sand, ,then wipe everything off, then prime, and paint and paint again.  Whoo!

Step 1- Sand

While I did this, Joe built the new steps to the master bedroom, installed the new wall frame that goes behind the desk, and okay, okay, he helped me paint a little too.

Monday

We only had about 2 hours to work on the RV this day.  I did some touch up painting and second coats, rehung a cabinet door we had taken off to paint, and caulked a few holes for future painting, as well as did the chalk board paint.  WE LOVE CHALK BOARD PAINT!  I made a small chalk board for me that I can use to write our plans for the week, or our menu, or use as a board to help when teaching the girls school lessons.  There's another chalk board that will be under the desk, that the girls can use to draw on whenever they like. 

It don't look like much, but to us, this is some major progress!

Joe put up the wall that faces the bedroom.  Cut the wall that will face the living room (which means something new for me to paint), and insulated the wall as well.  He also finished the hinged stair toppers. (Now that the stairs are built, I have those to paint as well.)

Good thing I like painting!  We'll see how long that keeps up.  I will say that  now that we have started painting, it makes me want to paint the whole RV, or at least all the wood cabinets.  I love how the colors came out!  Gives it an accidental cottage look.  And I LOVE the cottage look! 


Here are a few tips for anyone renovating an RV, or anything really, that I picked up this weekend...

1. You will get paint on everything you are wearing.  In other words, don't do what I did, and "just know" you will not get paint on you cause you're so careful.  YOU WILL!  RV spaces are even smaller and bumping into wet paint or dripping on your pants is inevitable.  So wear something  you don't mind getting paint on.  However, do not wear PJ pants.  See following tip to see why...

2. You will take way more trips to Home Depot than you plan to.  We took our first trip and once in the parking lot discovered that we did not bring the samples to compare to flooring and paint.  At least we got lunch, and Jonah was sleeping.  So we head back home, grab samples and head back for our 2nd round.  Inevitably, we get the wrong sized board for the steps and Joe had to return Monday for that.  So 3 trips in 2 days.  Really not too bad, but definitely a reason to not wear PJ pants while painting. 

3. Do as much work as you can OUTSIDE!  It's small, and cramped, and hot in an RV!  If there's a wall or cabinet you can paint outside before installing back in the RV, do that! 

4. You'd think we'd know this by now, but USE LATEX paint and primer!  It is such a pain to clean brushes with mineral spirits that you used to paint on oil based paints.  So we end up throwing a lot away.  Latex paints do not create this problem.  They also do not require you to rub paint thinner all over your skin to get it off 

So after this weekend, we are feeling pretty proud of ourselves!  There was a moment in the RV that we were both working together and listening to good music, and it just felt awesome!  We are getting there! 

And get this!  While on one of our 3 trips to Home Depot, we discovered sticker backsplashes! This is so HUGE!  You can't do traditional backsplashes in RV's cause they move too much and they are heavy!  So we were looking at painting or doing metal, or just leaving it in it's current ugly state.  Then we stumbled upon sticker backsplashes!  As happy as we are to have found these, you'd think they would be cheap right?  I mean they are stickers!  If you bought this for a house, it'd be like buying something that looks like a backsplash, but really isn't.  Like an inflatable that looked like a stone statue or something.  Well fake, it may be, but they are NOT cheap!  One little single sqft is $8.  I said $8!!!!  Who, besides anyone renovating an RV would buy these?!  But, of course we will, cause the area we need to cover is tiny and this will make it look so good!  Excited!!!

Stay tuned!  Lots more renovations to come!  About 4 more months until our planned departure date of January 4th-ish.  Our current deadline is to finish the desk area, bedroom wall, and flooring in time to take the RV to Joe's triathlon race in Kerville, TX the weekend of Sept 27th. 

Full Speed Ahead!

What's Been Happening Shaw's!?

Well, here it is, July 2014.  Time flies!

We've had some big changes at the Shaw House!  The biggest being the addition of our newest little baby, Jonah William Shaw!!!  We have a BOY!?!!  I didn't think we made those kind! He was born November 8th, 2013.  You can read his birth story here.  https://www.facebook.com/notes/aubrey-shaw/jonahs-birth-story/10151757994846629  He's 8 months old now and such a sweet, active little guy!  All smiles and just happy to be with his peeps. 

Since Jonah's birth, we have pretty much been in Baby Jail though.  You know the place if your a parent.  That period after a baby is born where you can't do a damn thing or complete a single task to save your life!  0-6 months is the worst of it, at least for an exclusively breast feeding mother who can't pump more than 3 ounces at a time.  Meaning it takes me 2-3 days to make one single bottle.  I'm not complaining though.  At least he will take a bottle.  Loralai as a baby, not so!  Once they hit around 6 months, something earth shattering happens; they can eat food!!!  This equates to Mama being able to LEAVE for longer stretches of time without getting the death ray glare so bad when I get home.  Somehow though, there is still NO WAY for me to get anything done at the house with a baby (and two other kids)!  The house is ALWAYS a mess!  There is ALWAYS laundry piling up on the beds that needs folding!  There is constantly a sink full of dishes that need washing!  The cycle goes something like this day after day.....  I can't clean the livingroom, cause the kids are playing in there and they just mess it back up as quickly as I pick it up.  Quicker even!  So I think, I'll go put all that laundry away that's piling up.  But how do you carry loads of laundry all over the house when you have a baby?  So then I think, I'll go organize my bedroom/baby room.  But the only time I have my hands free to do that is when he's napping.  And guess where he naps?  My room!  Then there's the kitchen.  I swear if my kids just see me in the kitchen, they suddenly realize how hungry they are!  And that means I have to make them food, which messes up the kitchen and stops any cleaning efforts!  I'm screwed.  I'm in baby jail! 

But we've been here before.  We'll get through it.  Sometimes I yell.  Yell at the kids.  Yell at Joe.  Yell at the dog.  Sometimes I just start drinking at 4pm (or maybe a wee bit earlier).  I mean what's the point, and it calms my get it done drive.  Sometimes I still try.  I'm always defeated, but sometimes I do still try.  Sometimes I hang out with other moms who are equally as beat down as I am, and just know we will get through this one day.  And probably miss it a little too. 

It's this kind of captivity though that can drive you crazy!  And just because you can't actually accomplish ANYTHING doesn't mean you can stop dreaming about how you want your life to be and your goals.  SO.....  It's probably this crazy life situation that has led us to want to leave on another RV trip!  Something about being on the road just makes you focus!  Focus on what's important.  Family.  Experiences.  Living life.  I don't want cleaning the house to be my main focus every day!  And when you live in 300sqft, it's not.  You have very little stuff and can clean it all up in 20 mins flat.  You and the kids aren't focused on "who can we hang out with today".  It's just us.  So it becomes "what can we do as a family today"?  We all get so excited about the new places and experiences.  Every place is a new adventure.  You rarely get bored.  I'm also able to just focus on being a mom.  Work takes a back seat and I spend my energy planning activities and going on walks with the kids.  Joe has no yard to mow.  No house maintenance to worry about.  No trees to trim.  Sounds great right?!  Especially to parents of 2 kids and a baby under 2 years old! 

So because the cure for baby jail for us seems to be leaving on an RV trip......here we go.....again.

This time is a little different though.  We will have 3 kids.  We will be taking our little Chug dog, Darby.  We will be leaving for at least a full year!  We will officially be home schooling Loralai through half of 2nd and 3rd grade.  Ekkk!  I was a teacher for 4 years for 2nd-4th grade, but Ekkk!  This is Loralai we are taking about!  Prayers are appreciated! 

So we are now 5 months out from our goal departure date of January 4th.  We were thinking about buying a newer, bigger RV for this trip, but then decided that we LOVE our RV and it does have 3 kids bunks (perfect for us!), and RV shopping is time consuming and hot and SUCKS.  So, we have decided to keep our beloved, bumper sticker covered RV and to do some major renovations to her instead! 

Stay tuned to see our reno's, via Joe.  Which include...

1. Changing TV entertainment center into a desk.  Joe works EVERYDAY from our RV when we are on the road and last time we were out he had no desk.  So he'd work laying on our bed, or at the dinningroom table.  This time he'll have a REAL desk!  And I'll have a one too when his work day's over!

2. New wood-like flooring.  Our RV is 13 years old and still has the original, crusty, who knows what has spilled on this carpet in it.  Yay!!!

3. Slide out pantry.  I'm happy we have a pantry.  Many RV's don't.  But our current one is like a dark, deep cave that you have to mine to find a can of green beans!

4. Bathroom Reno.  Bigger "toothbrush" drawer.  Shower curtain redo.  Etc.

5. Pull out cabinet trash can.  Priceless.  Dog, kids, and we area constantly knocking it over as it's forever in the way!

6. Propane Generator.  So we can boondock!  Boondock = FREE camping in gorgeous places!  ...and Walmart.

7.  Small kitchen renos such as, counter extender that folds down, knife rack, spice holder, rearrange cabinet shelving so they can hold more, etc!

8. Turn dining bench under storage into Darby's kennel!

9. Rebuild stairs to master bedroom so they create more storage for putting rain boots and hiking shoes, etc.  More Storage in an RV = GOOD!!!

10. Screen door reinforcement.  Joe's gonna make it so if a baby leans on the screen door, it no longer flies open!  Yay!  He's also putting a bar on the outside so little kids have something to hang onto when climbing up the stairs.  Nana is very happy about these renos!

11.  We will also be doing some painting and other small changes like USB plugs installed, shelving, bunk curtains and gates, replace all RV curtains, reinforce dinning table (just make it more sturdy and better), and some other things too. 

Check the blog for reno updates as they happen and other trip plans!  Here we go again....

2012

I decided this year to write a synopsis of our year, each year, as a way to look back at our time together, travels, and growth.

This was a year of great travel for us!  We took a leap and did something outside of our box.  We saw so many great places and spent time with so many wonderful people! 

For Lu, it was a year of growing older, a year of dresses and dressing herself, of putting up with her little sister being in EVERYTHING she wanted to do (prior to this year, Bean was more just a baby and not such a bother).  A year of learning new skills, like how to ride a bike, whistle, blow bubbles, and roller skate.  This was the year she started school, and began reading!  This was the year she watched Matilda for the first time (mistake) and loved to dance and dress-up, and do crafts.  And when she'd get mad she grew from throwing monster fits, to writing notes that would read, "NO MOM!  NO Dad!  NO BEAN!  NO NANA!" and taping them to her bedroom door so we'd be sure to know just how mad she really was.  This was a year of swim lessons, making new friends at school, sleep-overs at Nana's house and first sleep-overs at friend's houses.  Favorite Dinner- cheese burger hamburger helper.  Best Friends- Mabel, Naomie, Tobin, Maddison.  Favorite Movie- Anything with fairies.  Bedtime- 8pm.  What she wants to be when she grows up- a Mom.....and a doctor.

For Bean, this was the year she grew from a baby to a little kid!  She learned to walk and talk!  ...and talk  ...and TALK!  This was a year of hitting/pinching her sister when she didn't get what she wanted, or sometimes just cause she was bored.  It was a year of diaper changes, ridding in hiking packs, lost shoes, paci's, and belly laughs.  It was a year of getting sticky dirty while trying to keep up with Loralai.  It was the year she learned to give kisses and now won't let anyone leave the house without a kiss and a hug!  There were ALOT of smiles this year!  This was the year she started sleeping in her own bed (kind of), and loved to sing along to silly songs in the car.  It was a year of crawling into laps (even during dinner time), and sleeping on Daddy's shoulder when she got tired.  We played ALOT of "babies" this year and "night-night time", and did a lot of scribbles with crayons, and chalk, and paint.  It was a year of Mommy and Me Gymnastics and first sleep-overs with Nana and Elmo birthday parties.  Favorite Dinner- Ham.  Best Friends- Gram, Leo, Quay, Effie, Maddison.  Favorite Movie- Barney!  Bedtime- 8pm.

For Joe and I, we are more in love then ever!  It was a year of personal growth for us both.  Of making ourselves uncomfortable in an effort to change and see ourselves more clearly.  We laughed a lot and amazed ourselves at the risks in travel that we took.   We learned to lean on eachother more and communicate better.  We had birthdays in the RV and rare date nights and bought a new mattress for the first time as a couple.  This was the year we sold that raggedy ass investment property, YAHOO!!!!  And I got bangs for the first time since I was 9 years old.  The year Joe grew his first FULL beard.  A year of  friend making and potlucks and dinners. 

It was a good damn year!

To Gatlinburg We Go...

I could also call this post, "How to Jack Knife Your RV and Live to Tell About It", but more on that to come.

Camper Joe

With our 2013 Vacation decided on, and our planned destination to The Smokey Mountain National Park in place, we set out early Saturday morning on our 3 day, 16+ hour drive to Gatlinburg, TN.  In tow we have my 16 year old brother Cody from Montana with us, since he is staying with us for summer.  We pack up the kids and our new puppy for the ride as well.  All goes well as we start out.  I've cleaned the local library out, renting about every kid movie they have for the two weeks we'll be on the road.  In order to be able to do this, my 5 and 2 year old now have their own library cards, along with Joe and I.  Just 4 hours on the road and we pull into a (dreaded) McDonald's in Dallas to meet my sisters and nephew for "lunch" and to let the kids play together.  Besides it taking me over 30 minutes to get the 3 ice cream cones I ordered at the SLOWEST McDonalds EVER, the stop went pretty well.  We head back out on the road after our visit with our destination being another 3.5 hours away at Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas.  Looks like a great little park where the kids can search for gems and there's a small and affordable water park!  However, the closer we get to the park, the more obvious it is to me how far off route it is from the Interstate and how we'll be arriving too late to enjoy the water park that closes at 6pm.  So we decide to go another 20 mins down the Hwy to Lake Catherine State Park instead near Hot Springs, AK.  We arrive without problems and head to the lake for a quick swim.  Loralai is just learning to swim this summer and likes nothing more than to practice her dogie paddle and back float, so it was a hit!  Then it's back to the RV for a dinner of made-the-night-before-cause-mom-is-a-genius-soup, which is done as soon as it's heated and we all head to bed.  Right before going to bed, I tell Joe about my plan to visit Hot Springs National Park that's just 20 mins from where we're staying the next morning.  He likes the park we're at and is in good spirits, so he goes for it!  Yay!

Lake Catherine State Park Beach

 

 

 

We wake up early (but not as early as we'd planned) and take just the truck to Hot Springs.  Pretty drive and into the town, our first stop is a look out tower on Hot Springs Mountain on a friends suggestion.  $7 per adult to go up the tower, and since there are 3 of us adults, I lie and say Loralai is 4 so I don't have to pay another $4 for her.  Don't judge.  The views are amazing and the girls really like the elevator ride to the top which had a glass window you can see out of while you go up.  Just below the open observation deck, there's a floor with a mini-museum with lots of info on the town, their famous hot springs/bath houses and President Bill Clinton, who was born and raised there.  We learn as much as the kids will allow us to before demanding to leave.  I had promised Loralai that we could get a Jr. Ranger booklet and badge here, and that girl is as hooked as I am and wanted to go get her book!  I love that girl!

Great Views!

So we head back down the mountain to the heart of the town, Bath Row, to the National Park headquarters.  Now this National Park is not anything like what we were used to.  It's in the middle of a town and the "park" mainly consists of a street called Bath Row, that has about 8 public bath houses where people can still take baths in the hot springs mineral waters. 

Hot Springs National Park

We head into Lamar Bath house to get Lu's book.  The ranger at the counter sees us coming from outside the building with Loralai's Jr Ranger hat on covered in all of her park badges.  She gets her usual amazed comments from the ranger and store workers which really makes her puff out her chest and we set out to complete her book.  We tour the museum, watch as much of the park film that Bean will allow (hardly any), and walk Bath Row.  Some of the historic bath houses are still operating as bath houses, some are now restaurants, and some were closed for renovations (including the most popular one that the national park offices are usually housed in, and most of the Jr Ranger booklet questions are on, and starts with an F, but I'm too lazy to look up the full name for this blog writing purpose).  I tell you this, only because this made it a little difficult to complete 7 activities in the booklet.  We were also short on time, being that we still needed to drive another 5 hours to get to our next destination that day.  So we got some ice cream at one of the bath houses that is now a pub and decided to fill out the rest of the booklet at the RV and mail it back for our badge.....I mean L's badge. 

Ranger Juliet

Ranger Loralai

We hook up the RV back at Lake Catherine and are back on the road with the swiftness of two professional RVer's with the added bonus of a teenage slave.  It's a long day, blissfully uneventful driving to get to Yuma, TN which is a no-name town halfway between Memphis and Nashville.  It was a good half way point for us and at an RV park with good ratings and cheap prices.  We make one stop in Forest City, TN on our way to get the most painfully slow gas ever and let the kids play at this terribly run down playground I found on Google Maps.  Joe and I scower the trash riddled floor of the playground for hypodermic needles amongst the bags of Cheetos and sweet wrappers, and old towels, while the kids play for 15 mins.  When I see a beat up car pull up, I've had it and yell at the kids to get back into the truck NOW and we finish our drive to Yuma, TN.  We check in around 7pm, meet some full timers, let our puppy play with their puppy for a few minutes, and I make dinner and it's off to bed with visions of sleeping in a little.  Ha!


The kids liked the park, but it was so run down!!!

Have fun!  Just don't touch anything Baby!

It pours all night!  I stay up late doing annoying work things and finally go to bed around 1am.  I'm awoken at 6am to Bean crying (not abnormal).  I go to comfort her (stick her paci back in her mouth and head back to bed) and discover that she's peed all over herself and the bed.  I take Bean out of bed, strip her down, grab a wash cloth to wipe her off, and pray that all the commotion doesn't wake Loralai sleeping in the bunk above.  All the commotion DOES wake Darby (the puppy) who was sleeping with Cody on the couch.  Oh shit, it's only a matter of seconds before Darby pees on the floor somewhere too!  All of this pee action is making me unavoidably aware that I have to pee with the force of a 6 month pregnant woman who downed a big glup sized cup of water before bed a few hours ago in an effort to change her pee color from red to light yellow.  Of course that will have to wait, as I'm dealing with the issues at hand.  I manage to get a new shirt on Bean, but can't find a pair of freaking underwear in the dark.  It doesn't appear that Darby has peed yet, but I know the seconds are ticking down.  I find Bean's paci, shove it in her crying mouth, walk her to Joe and hit him awake with an angry whisper of, "Help ME!" and throw her on the bed for him to deal with.  She's screaming, "I want panties" when I walk out the door with Darby in tow.  No time to grab her leash or my shoes and it's sprinkling.  She's a good dog though, so I put her down, trusting she will stay right by me and do her business with a quickness so I can go back inside and relieve myself.  No.  Instead she chooses to run out into the street just as a truck drives up.  I bounce out on the rocky, wet road with no shoes or bra to scoop her up.  At this point I can't stand it anymore and race into the RV to GO!  I put Darby in the bath tub as I go as a precaution.  Ah, sweet relief!  Bean's still yelling, "I want panties", so I take a minute to grab her a pair before putting shoes on, leashing Darby and trying this whole, get the dog to go thing again.  Darby takes me on a walk and I try to look on the bright side when I see a bunny in a field.  THERE was the reason for all this.....I got to see that bunny.  Even more rewarding than the bunny, Darby does both her businesses and we go back to the RV.  I crawl into bed with Joe and Juliet who immediately stuffs her hand down my wet shirt for comfort.  I take just one more waking moment to also pull the wet dog up,  who will not stop whining at the foot of the bed.  Good Freaking Night/Morning!!! 

I reawaken at 9am.  We find the high water pressure at the RV park we are staying has caused a leak under our kitchen sink.  All the rain all night has also made it apparent that we have a small roof leak.  Joe assures me it's all fixable and we head to a diner for breakfast.  It's about as good as Waffle House and it's here that Joe also discovers that our RV battery has burned out.  We drive. It's raining. The dog pees in the truck while we drive.  Twice.  At least the kids are being good (the movies are working).  We get through Nashville (which is Huge, but easier to navigate through then Memphis was) and head through Knoxville. ALMOST THERE!!! 

Kids play homemade road bingo while we drive.

Thanks for helping Uncle Cody!

I start looking for a Walmart which we need desperately before we get to Gatlinburg, only 45 more mins away.  I find one and we head south from Knoxville on some smaller Hwy's.  It's on one of these jug handle Hwy exits, in the rain, that the trailer wheels start skidding and the trailer pushes the truck.  It's all happening in slow motion as the trailer and truck skid off the road.  I prepare myself for the truck to roll.  It doesn't.  We come to a stop when the trailer slides into the side of the bed of the truck on my side.  We are half on the road and half in the grass.  Thank God there wasn't a cliff on the other side of the pavement like there has been on past portions of trips and thank God we were going so slow!  Joe and I both just sit there for a moment.  Then look back at the kids.  The excitement has woken Bean from her nap, but now she's watching Nemo with Loralai on the DVD player and both are unaware anything has happened.  Cody is just holding Darby and silent.  At that point, Joe and I are just like, "What do we do, call 911?".  I call insurance while he gets out and looks at the truck and trailer in the rain.  The truck is pretty dented, but he thinks he can unjackknife it.   He backs up the truck and is able to get us unstuck and off the exit ramp.  My hero!  We pull into a Kroger parking lot further down the Hwy, both of us shaking.  We walk the truck and trailer, walk the dog, and get the girls out for bathroom breaks.  It's while walking back to the truck that Loralai even notices the dented truck and asked what happened.  Oh Baby...

After much deliberation and google map searching, we determine we need to drive to the closest RV park, which is 15 miles down the road in Sevierville.  We were concerned the hitch had been compromised in the accident, so we drive 35 miles per hour down a two lane hwy to River Park RV without incident.  Thank Goodness!

Get our spot,  get a healthy dinner of tuna helper and fried okra cook'in cause it's EASY, kids play, and Joe looks things over more and googles RV "Jack Kifing".  After dismantling the hitch and looking at every bolt, Joe determines we are "Okay" and everything is still drivable. There was hardly any damage to the RV (respect), but our truck now looks like this...



The only damage to the RV was it bent the awning bar a little, but still works fine.

Ouch!  Can you say, "Insurance Deductable"?

The next morning we hook back up without issues, visit Walmart and finally pull into our reserved spot for the next nine days at Twin Creek RV.  We take the day to pretty much just chill.  After one major set back and a nonrefundable day late, we are HERE!

As you can see, we are all doing just fine.