Our Traveling Tribe

12 in a 5th wheel - how we make it all work...

2012-02-01T09:51:00.000-08:00

Hi Dana ~

My name is ___. I found your site via the FOTR site.

My family of 7 are planning on selling our stuff and moving onto traveling for a couple of years (and who knows if that ends up being longer). My children are ages 10-2. We want to begin by traveling around the United States. As of now we are planning on getting a motor home.

I was wondering if I could "pick your brain" about what I should happen in preparations for this new lifestyle? Absolutely - as long as you aren't in any big hurry for a reply! LOL!

Some of my thoughts/questions:

What kind of dishware do you use? plastic vs glass

In our house, we had a big set of Correlle. Loved and hated the stuff - practically indestructible, so while it was nice that it never broke, I also never had a reason to replace it (bummer if you want a new pattern...). Taking those on the road was not even considered. They are very heavy! And for us, it's not a place setting of 4 - it's at least 13, and we like to have a few extras for company or serving...
At first we just did with our lightweight plastic divided dishes that were in the trailer for camping. Then, when we got down south, I found some cute melamine plates and bowls at one of the grocery stores and replaced the plastic. I like them because they are more sturdy than the plastic, but not heavy like house dishes. For cups, we have a set of Tupperware cups that have lids with straw slots; we use them some, but we also drink a lot of water. We have found that it is worth it, even in our little tiny fridge, to make room for water bottles - the kids each have their own CamelBaks or SIGGs, and we store them in the door of the fridge. Bottled water gets expensive, plus it's a pain to save them for recycling (I'm not a recycling guru, but if you saw the amount of plastic disposable water bottles my fam can go through in a day, you'd think you were on the set of WALL-E. LOL! (yeah, I know there wasn't really a set... ;)
We do keep paper plates, cups, and bowls onhand. We usually only use them if we are parked without hookups and have to be frugal with our water usage, or if we are having something extra messy (no garbage disposal in the RV!).

Do you have the bare minimum for cooking? pans, bowls, ...

I do keep just the bare minimum - much less than in the house, and smaller sizes also now that I don't have room for leftovers. I have one small saucepan that I use for making cheese sauces or heating up small amounts of leftovers..., one large skillet, one large pot, and a stockpot. I keep 4 large plastic bowls for serving and popcorn, and also a cake pan, one bread pan, a cassarole dish, and 2 cookie sheets... the cookie sheets are one of the hardest for me - they are those little 1/4 cake pans that will only fit a measly 6 cookies - takes forever to bake cookies around here! LOL! I try not to keep more of anything than I would use at one time since it's much different than the house - in the house I'd wash dishes when I was good and done with cooking, or when the dishwasher was completely full - in the rv I have to wash them as I go, or I don't have any room to work! So, 2 cookie sheets is all I can use anyway - no sense in having more... and that goes for everything in the kitchen.
When we started out, this was only supposed to be a one winter vacation, so we just took what was already in our camping travel trailer, and went with it. When we got home that spring, and knew we wanted to keep traveling, I went through my kitchen stuff in storage and pulled out the nice stuff that I would have been using in the house. After all, this was now my home. I wanted my nice serving spoons and hand mixer... some things still didn't come tho, like my KithenAid 6qt. mixer, or the dehydrator, or (at first) the VitaMix - the VitaMix was one thing that I had my hubby dig through storage and get tho once we moved into the 5th wheel since I had a bit more room!
I didn't start out with, but have made room for, my crockpot and for a rice cooker (works like a second crockpot). If you are camping with hookups, these are great for use in an RV since they don't use propane like the camper stove and oven do.
Sure, there are other things that I would love to have in my kitchen, but can't due to space and weight; and they aren't worth giving up traveling for ;)

What clothes are good to bring? How much?

Clothes are a hard call. Depends on if you will have a w/d on board, and/or if you let your kids wear their clothes more than one day :)
For us, the boys have (at most) 4 pairs of pants (and 2 pr of shorts - my boys aren't big shorts wearers), 2 weeks worth of undergarments and socks (just in case mom's tardy getting to the laundrymat), and 7 t-shirts and 4 long sleeve Ts. The boys wear their pants for a couple of days (or a week if you forget to tell Joel he MUST change his jeans)... some will wear their shirts for multiple days, and if we are just riding in the van, I don't really mind, but usually they get filthy... 3 or 4 pr of pjs.
The littles have more clothes since they dirty them faster, plus theirs don't take up as much space...
For us, I aspire to get to the laundry mat about every 5 days otherwise the dirty clothes start to take over the back room. 5 days doesn't always happen. It's not always convenient to find a nice, big, clean, safe laundry mat when you are traveling. When we get to about 10 days, some of the kids start running out of clean socks, and I HAVE to go, like it or not!
Some families do with way less clothes for their kids - this is just how we roll...

We are hoping to avoid any extreme winter conditions. We are in Utah and will leave her in June making it to NY around August/September. Then head down to Florida and run along the bottom states to California during the winter months.
One mistake that we made that first year was to think that the south didn't get winter at all. Being from Montana, where we have extreme winter temps, we thought that visiting the south meant that we could put away our winter clothes (which you never bother to do back home...). I packed light jackets for the kids and all light clothing, such as we would wear in the summer at home. Sure, we used those summer clothes more than the winter clothes, but I was surprised at how many times we needed warmer clothes (like when we awoke to snow on Christmas in Texas). We now have a box of hats and light gloves, and bring medium jackets. We don't pack parkas (tho a few somehow have made it along the last 2 years...). We have learned to layer, and make do with what we have along, but we also pack for cooler temps even tho we hope we are hitting all nice weather :)
The kids each have 2 jackets, one pair of gloves and one hat (quite a change from a mud room full of baskets of outerwear!). It's funny how if I have 5 pairs of gloves I don't keep very good track of them because I assume that I will always be able to find at least some of them... if I only have one pair, I keep tabs on them, putting them away every time so that I know where they will be should I need them... It's been a challenge training the kids to keep tabs on their stuff better (being meticulous about putting their stuff, every piece of it, in it's right place), and it's something we are always working on since we have littles, but i think that it's a great practice in self-control.

Living in an RV, with it's limitations on space and weight, has been a real eye opener.
We are acutely aware of how blessed we are with what we do have, and how little we could get by on if we needed to. (which is much less than what we have with us!)
It's been very freeing to shed so many material possessions, and live with less - and we STILL have so much more than we need. We spend so much less time maintaining all the stuff - we do not have to spend time to constantly organize the garage or rotate all the toothpaste or clean out 3 chest freezers. Sure there are trade-offs - I can no longer buy a year's worth of butter or diapers when I find them on a great sale... but overall, living and traveling in our rv has been an incredible experience for us, one that we hope we are able to continue!

~And, since this is already pretty long, I'll continue to answer the rest of the questions in another post.
Hope that this is giving you some small glimpse of how we make this lifestyle work for us :)

Water! -in Arizona???

2012-01-31T13:33:00.000-08:00

We love to come and visit our family in Arizona! We enjoy getting to know them better, and we love to help them out with projects that they may not be able to do on their own - or sometimes it's just much easier for us to do them...
Many hands make light work.

This year we have new family down here. Another of Vaughn's cousins just moved to AZ, and they moved in just a few houses down from the cousins that we are parked at. The boys have been doing a little light yard work for them and Vaughn fixed their sprinkler system. (Uncle Larry gives Molly a lift to the other cousins house...)
the kids call them all 'aunt' and 'uncle' - sounds more respectful to us. Tho they are all just like extra sets of grandparents, spoiling the littles :) And while we love them just because they are our family, we sure do appreciate the fact that they let us cool off in their snazzy pool!!! It's been in the upper 70s here!

And while the kids' new friends from church complain that it's 'cold!', we are roasting!

It's been such a treat to cool off in their pool! Water has been rather elusive to us in Arizona!

Since it's a diving pool, it's deep for most of the way, but at one end there is a platform with a table that is perfect for the little kids too! (not that Daniel is a little - he's at the deep end ;)...

We are enjoying getting together with them all!

And we are loving being back in Larry and Carol's driveway :) Aunt Carol makes great sweet tea, and she is teaching me to cook a little Mexican (which we love now that we've had the real thing! didn't care much for it before we started traveling ;) The kids have been getting a lot of schoolwork done. And right now the boys are in the middle of a big Axis and Allies miniatures game, and Beth and I just finished cutting up a bunch of red and green peppers to freeze. The little girls are out digging in the dirt, and baby Caleb is napping. Arizona sure has grown on us since that first year when we drove in and wondered just WHY anyone would choose to live here! We have grown to love the beauty of the desert, the friendly people, and the (winter) sunshine... not to mention our fam!

We will be here for another 2 weeks while we wait for the opening weekend of the Renaissance Festival (it's Beth's 'thing' that she requests each year). During that time, I suspect that we will be spending a bit more time transplanting century plants, moving rock, and possibly pouring concrete :) In the time between jobs, I imagine that the kids will be spending a bit more time in the water - Joel is working on perfecting his belly flop - he about has it down... LOL!

our time here...

2012-01-30T22:44:00.000-08:00

So, while we are still in our RV (ummm, it's our home...), we have been parked for a week and a half now. What have we been up to?

Well, we are in Arizona, so it's...

Family! of course...

Aunt Vera (who is Vaughn's aunt), reads Molly a book. Molly has gotten quite used to meeting new people thanks to our travels, and warmed right up this year! We go to Aunt Vera's house, or one of the other relatives here, and she feels right at home (sometimes a little too at home!!!)

We would have never been able to get to know this branch of the family tree nearly so well if we were not traveling! And, as this is our 3rd winter stopping by to see them (and our 2nd yr. camping in L & C's driveway), we are getting to know them quite well; even getting to meet relatives of Vaughn's that I had not met (nor had he seen) in over 20 years of marriage! I'm so glad that my kiddos have this opportunity to get to know their extended family!

We pay for our electrical usage at their house, by digging holes... (LOL!)

~ it's good for the kids to get some manual labor in their days...

so they have been planting Aunt Carol's new fruit trees for her; it's a short walk to work since we are parked in her driveway! ;)

(with help from Uncle Larry!)...

The kids planted trees here, and then transplanted quite a few century plants down half a block where Uncle Larry's sister (and her hubby) just bought a house...

So, we have this barter thing going on - we pay for our 'site' in Uncle Larry's driveway by digging in his dirt, while at his sisters, we exchange our manual labor of transplanting for...

OH MY, look at the time!!!

~guess I'll have to share those pics later ;) hehehe!

~suffice it to say that we are having a fab time, and not minding the heat a bit this year!!! :)

answering your letters...

2012-01-29T21:56:00.000-08:00

Occasionally I receive emails from people who contact me through the blog. They are usually wondering about various aspects of getting on and living on the road. I thought that I would answer some of the letters here on the blog in case anyone else is wondering the same things! :)

Hi,I found your blog on families on the road website. I have questions if you have time. We have 6 boys 9 and under. I also just found out we are expecting.

Congratulations! :)

We moved into our 35ft travel trailer in Dec of 2011. Right now we are parked in ___ where we live (not a great idea with the wind) we will be traveling hopefully in the spring. My husband is a ___ part time, so we get to travel occasionally for his work.

You are starting out much like we did. We sold our house, and we stayed in our travel trailer in our hometown for 3 months before heading out. It is a great way to get used to living in your rv since everything around you is familiar - friends for a 'run in a big house' day, familiar stores for parts and propane runs, and, if you are like us, access to the storage unit! We were in and out of our storage unit a ton those first months; putting in items that we thought we 'had' to have, and pulling out things that we thought we wouldn't use but ended up wanting.

What are some things you suggest for a newbie?

Actually, my biggest suggestion is exactly what you are doing - trying out living in your RV!

And then talking to others who are doing it... I would spend time figuring out realistic cost projections, and keeping open communication with your kids to see how they are adjusting to the changes...

How did you do doctor appointments on the road?

Actually, we don't. We try to take care of any needs before we leave (we are rather unique in that we travel during the winter months and then go back to our hometown to work in the summers to support our travel fetish). We did have one child that needed a cavity filled on the road. And, boy did that dentist see us coming - what would have cost $80 back home dinged us $440 in Casa Grande, AZ. Our kids don't get immunes, and I don't do 'well-child checkups'. That's not to say that we don't use or need Drs, just that we only go if there is a problem. Generally, you will be able to find a Dr. in the area you are visiting that will be able to work you in; there are also local public health clinics that can see you even if you aren't a resident.

I read you are home in the summer. How does that work for you?

It is both great and a pain at the same time. We love it because it gives us a chance to reconnect with friends and family, have access to our stuff that is in storage, and catch up on any Dr, dental, or eye checks that need to be done. On the other hand, if we did not have to come back home during the summer, we probably wouldn't -or at least not for the whole summer. Having the freedom to travel during the summer would allow us to tour the northern states while it's summer up there. We would love to find a job that we could take on the road with us, but typical workamping jobs would barely cover our grocery bill alone...

Do you get lots of school done then?

We school year round. kinda. While it is true that we get more tangible schoolwork done during the summer because it is a slower pace of life for us, we also don't take scheduled breaks; more of a go with the flow mom/teacher. If we are somewhere super cool, I usually give the kids the day off from their bookwork, and if we decide to do something that day, last minute, we just have the kids put their work away and pick it up the next day. I guess it's kind of backwards from the 'usual', but it works for us!

We homeschool and I have a hard time keeping up. We like to be out doing things. I have a 4th grader, 1st grader, and kindergartner. We like to be out doing stuff also! And for us, in the younger grades, we do a certain amount of bookwork, but a lot is caught when we do extra activities like visiting museums, national parks, zoos...even just walking around the campground checking out the new insects, animals, and plants (and looking them up in the field guides ;)

I was wondering when you had a smaller room in your 1st trailer, where did you put the baby to sleep?
In the 30' bunkhouse travel trailer that we had when we first started out, we put the baby to sleep in the same place that we put our babies to bed in this rv - with us :) We had modified the tt's queen bed into a king, but here it's still just a queen.

Sorry for all the questions. Most people think we're crazy for having 7+ kids. Living in a travel trailer makes us even crazier. I know you understand. Thank you for your time.
I totally understand :) and I think it's great - I love to share our unusual, wonderful life with others! I know that lots of people think we are a little crazy also - and I'm OK with that. But as we travel and meet people, we find that there are a lot more folks than we would have imagined that are curious about, or interested in, fulltiming as a family. I hope that sharing our travels and experiences encourages others to realize that families can travel successfully too... :)

Dear Gramma...

2012-01-27T13:38:00.000-08:00

I'm sorry that I have been neglecting my job...

I will try to reform my postings to include more pictures of your grandchildren. I hope that I will, in the future, post an adequate number of photos of your babies so that I will not require further reprimand. (hehehe! :)

Many XXXOOO, your repentant daughter-in-love <3

PS - you COULD see them and kiss them in person - just let us know what day to pick you up at the the airport... ;) ;) ;)

the people...

2012-01-24T21:12:00.000-08:00

One of the things that we love the most about our gypsie lifestyle, is the people that it allows us to meet, or sometimes just reconnect with! Our stay at Cottonwood was full of just such wonderful meetings.

Nearly every summer while I was growing up, my family would hop in the car and take a road trip back to see both sides of my family, who were mostly in Illinois. We made traveling traditions during those trips, nearly always stopping in Rapid City to spend a day at the outdoor waterslide park (which is why I really want to take my kids there again - when it's warm enough to be open ;). We did one-time things like the Reptile Gardens (which is why we HAD to take our family there on our way back to our hometown that first year). We would always borrow certain sets of books from my gramma to read in the car on the drive back home (which is why I own SEVERAL sets of both The Borrowers and the All Of A Kind Family series- for sentimental sake). I love traditions. I love passing experiences down. I love reconnecting with family that I haven't seen since taking that last car trip back at the age of 14...

And, believe it or not, there in little Cottonwood, AZ, I got to reconnect with some of my family! When I was growing up, my dad's brother owned a dairy farm back east. Whenever we would go back for one of our summer visits to family, we would spend at least one day at Uncle Rick's house; sometimes I would get to stay longer. I enjoyed the new experience of the farm, but the biggest reason that I went was because his daughter and I were 6 months apart in age, and as close as cousins living 1100 miles apart could be (gotta love low maintenance cousins!)...
Anyway, I know that you wanted all that information to get to the point that - my Aunt Linda and Uncle Rick now live in Prescott (that is in Arizona, and very near where we were staying in Cottonwood!). And when they heard that we were in Cottonwood, THEY decided to come see us! (I hadn't called them yet - we travel with 10 of our kids; it's not generally considered polite to invite yourself anywhere with 10 kids! LOL!)
One morning we received a call from the entrance gate - my aunt and uncle had driven up unannounced to surprise us! And we were so very glad that they did! It was such a lovely visit catching up with them! Next time we are going to announce our presence even before we get there to make sure that we get to spend more time with them! :) Getting to visit them was like icing on our stay at Cottonwood! Besides our getting to meet up with some of my family in AZ (Vaughn has LOTS of family in AZ!), we got to meet some new fulltiming friends too!
One of our main reasons for coming this far north, and braving the freezing nights (really - we had to unhook our water every night or it would freeze up), was because there were some other fulltime families here.

The first 2 years that we were on the road, we met ONE, count 'em...ONE other fulltime family. We knew that there were others out there, but we never seemed to cross paths. This year, we have had the opportunity to meet 3 other families during our couple of days in Quartzsite, and then, at the TT park in Cottonwood, we got to meet 4 more fulltime families!!!

And we had a ball.
We met the Lundys (who the guys went hiking with), Kimberly and her family who own/run the Fulltime Families website, and 2 other wonderful families also (I think that you can eventually meet us all via tour and call-in radio show on Kimberly's new "The Real Housewives of FtF"! LOL!)!!! And we had such a fantastic time!!!
We were parked a ways away from the others (but still walking distance), and we were able to get together several times.
One night Kimberly organized a pizza party/game night. One of the games included one team member wrapping a roll of toilet paper around another - Bethy is wrapping one of Kimberly's sons. It's not as easy as it sounds; each family had to bring a roll of toilet paper (considering the size of our family, we took 4 - we had no idea what they were for! ;), and since RVers usually use single ply, there was lots of breakage, which meant lots of laughter!
*on a side note, they should have used OUR t.p. - Charmin all the way. buying t.p. is a 'pink' job at our house, dumping tanks (and figuring out blockages caused by 2-ply purchased by 'pinks'), is a 'blue' job!!! ;)
Beth and Thomas finished their 'Kleenex pulling' at practically the same time.
there were lots of games...like sucking Sprees up with a straw and transfering them from a bowl at one end of the table to the bowl at the other end of the table. supposed to be table, not floor...

stacking dice on the end of a popcicle stick...

even Molly had fun watching the silliness...(tho snitching sprees might have a little to do with the grin)

Kimberly should get a medal for all the work she put into organizing this crazy-fun night!

everyone stuck around past the games, and hung out talking and gabbing.

We had such a fun time at Cottonwood!!! We loved connecting with family and new friends!

We did eventually have to hit the road again, and while it was a bummer to leave our new friends, we were excited to park with our 'Arizona family'! Last Wednesday we pulled into Vaughn's cousin's driveway, where we will be for a few weeks while we (hopefully) get to help them with some projects. Beth wants to stick around until the second weekend of Feb so we can spend a day at the Arizona Reneissance Festival on it's opening weekend; we will see if we have enough stuff going to keep young bodies busy for that long...

*on a different note, we have always received a certain number of 'advice' or 'how do you do it' emails. I LOVE to get them; I love to meet new people, I love to share our story, and I love to (hopefully) help families realize that YES, you can make it work if it's something you really want to do. However, it has gotten to the point that I am having a hard time keeping up with individual, detailed replies (I do have 12 kids! LOL!)! I told V last night that I'm going to hire a secretary :) ... so, starting tomorrow (those of you that know me know that this means next week, right???), I'm thinking that I will publish a couple of the notes that I've received in the last week, and answer the inquiries on the blog (removing any sender-identifying info). Hopefully putting those details of our lives out there will help others out with their questions or curiosities also!

I would still love to hear from those of you that are wondering how we do certain things, or keep sane with 12 in <400 sq ft,or just want to say HI!, or slam us for raising our kids 'without roots', or whatever... meeting new friends (and mixing in an occassional critic for reinforcement - I'm a bit of a rebel I guess) has been one of the highlights of our traveling, and it's part of the reason that I have kept blogging past that initial "super-cool, everything's-exciting, we-can't-believe-we-are-really-doing-this" first leg of the journey ;)

(well, that and, if I didn't keep blogging, Gramma wouldn't ever get to 'see' what we are up to! :)

We hope to continue to meet more new friends as God places them in our path!

Montezuma Castle & Well...

2012-01-23T20:53:00.000-08:00

Near Cottonwood, AZ is another National Monument that we visited in addition to Tuzigoot. I was glad that we went to Tuzigoot first, because while it was interesting in it's own way, Montezuma Castle and Well are much more grand, and TNM would have been quite a let down had we done it the day after instead of before. Tuzigoot was neat in that you could go right up to, and in some cases into the ruins, while Montezuma was more of a spectator visit.

OF COURSE we had to do the Jr. Ranger program...

and we actually got our J.R. booklets from the same super nice ranger lady that had given them to us the day before at Tuzigoot! The rangers here rotate between the 3 sites (the castle and the well are at separate locations).

After doing a few of the activities in their books, it was time to walk out to the 'castle'...

Molly sometimes rides in the backpack, sometimes walks - usually changes every 30 seconds depending on how accommodating her dad is :)

She loves to get out and run, and since the 'castle' was out of reach, we let her...

We took a breather in front of the cliff dwellings so the kids could work on the parts of their ranger program that had to be done there.

Eli still enjoys doing the programs, Beth doesn't, and Jake has decided that he is too old to do them - so Jake and I have a deal; he doesn't have to do them, but he has to read, in full, Every Single plaque in the park(s). That can be a tall order, but here there weren't very many so he was off the hook. (tho we was the official photographer here too)

The scenery was beautiful...

Montezuma Castle is quite spectacular...

and I can see how the park system couldn't allow visitors to go up to the dwellings, but it would have been so neat to see the inside of this cliff dwelling!

The park was full of these neat trees - Arizona Sycamore...

...much more colorful in person, the trunk is white with splotches of peach, grey, and moss.

I enjoy my big kids so much. They all get along great (which is really nice since Eli and Jake used to be my 2 that would bicker) - and they have a lot of fun together.

There is a cut-out diagram of the castle that is accompanied by a narrative about the structure.

After our visit to Montezuma Castle, we took our still not completed Jr. Ranger booklets and drove down the road (about 10 miles), to Montezuma Well...

There are steps leading down to the bottom of the 'valley'; they are rock without railing, but not scary.

This natural basin, formed by the collapse of limestone long ago, acts as a huge well shaft to collect the over 1 million gallons of warm water that rise to the surface over the course of a single day.

Of course, since we are in the desert, this was a highly used water source for the Sinagua people who lived in the area.The water flows from the basin out a short underground shaft to a small river a short walk away.

Such a beautiful area, while one may be tempted to skip the staircase that leads downward to the river, thinking that the outlet of the underground cavern really isn't worth seeing, it is actually the 'best seat in the house' -that's what the rangers call it. Apparently a lot of people skip it, but I would skip the well before I would skip visiting the outlet next time we visit.

It was a chilly day, but we enjoyed our walk around the park very much.

This was such a beautiful area - it reminded us so much of a creek back home...(nice picture Peanut!) Molly didn't make it into the picture because she was too busy fussing and hanging on my jacket thanks to no nap - I should have taken a picture (sorry Elise!) :)

We loved the rangers at both of the parks - Ranger Rex, at the well, took quite an interest in the kids, and I think that he was disappointed that not all the kids had their booklets done by the end of the walk so he could swear them in and hand out their badges. He chased us down on our way out of the parking lot, and gave the kids some neat little park pins anyway(which the kids thought neater that the badges!?!?). The kids finished their books the next day, but I drove right past the park on our way south later in the week (oops!) - here's to hoping that we can mail them back and the NPS will mail them their badges...

We had such a lovely visit, and would enjoy going back again on a little bit warmer day.

~(all this traveling has me a bit spoiled - we are currently further south, and when I went to the grocery store tonight (with a 9 sq ft fridge I do that a lot) - forgot a jacket and the thermometer on the van said it was 60 degrees out. I was freezing. :(

Tuzigoot, Jerome AZ, and mini golf...

2012-01-21T22:47:00.000-08:00

While we were staying in Cottonwood, AZ, we took the opportunity to visit the 2 local National Monuments; Tuzigoot and Montezuma Castle and Well. I THINK these are the only 2 National Parks in AZ (that offer the Jr. Ranger program) that we had not been to yet.

One day we took a lunch and struck out for Tuzigoot N.M.

It was only a couple of miles up the road! We toured the little museum, met the very friendly rangers, and picked up Jr. Ranger booklets...

The program was easy; Peanut even did it pretty much by herself...

(Peanut requests that her hair be done this way every day - personally, I think it fits her! LOL!)

The kids did most of their booklets sprawled out on the floor of the visitor's center, and then we took the (very) short walk up to the ruins...

Where we read about the people that used to call this area home.

The remains of this community used to be completely covered by rocks and dirt, but have been excavated and somewhat restored.

There are over 40 such similar dwellings in this area, and Tuzigoot is the only one that has been excavated.

Once the walls and artifacts are exposed, then the elements start to take their toll. We have found the current common thought throughout many of the parks is to not uncover any more (of whatever that park is about) than what has already been excavated; to leave it all covered/unrestored.

At this park, there were mano (stone that corn/seeds/beans were placed in/on to be ground) and metates (grinding stones - such as Joel is holding) that the kids could try to grind with...

and Peanut is all about 'Hands On'!!!

After we had finished exploring Tuzigoot, we drove across the road and up into the hills to check out a little old mining town called Jerome. Jerome used to be a copper mining town, and once the mine closed, it became a ghost town.

Then, years ago, 'the artists' came in and revived the town. It now seems to be a thriving little community full of touristy shops, and brimming with little hole-in-the-wall eateries. Vaughn had driven through during a weekday on his way to Prescott to pick up some bolts for the rv; he said that it was still quite a quiet town.

But when we drove through on a Saturday, it was hopping. There were oodles of people out from the city walking through the eclectic shops and leisurely stopping for a bite to eat while visiting with friends.

We drove through. The crowds aren't really our thing - we like to get out and away from them actually.

Vaughn took us up the mountain - it is a stunningly beautiful drive! But don't be in a hurry...

The road is well maintained, but full of switchbacks.

The view is unbelievable - I seriously need to take a photography class on capturing the vivid colors of desert views :(

After our day out and about visiting Tuzigoot and Jerome, it was back to the campground. Mom had a few loads of laundry to catch up, so we all hung out at the family center: mom was back and forth to the laundry building while the others...

checked out the mini golf course.

Peanut dressed herself this morning... she will be herself no matter what anyone else thinks.

As the sun set, the temperatures cooled and the guys gave that as a reason to join Beth, who was in making a list of pictures to get printed; how convenient that the guys could check out how the football game was progressing.

By this time the little girls had tired of mini golf and were wearing out the slide at the playground while Dad and Daniel played ping pong...

It was a wonderful day spent together! Just the way they should be :)

Cathedral Rock, Sedona, AZ...

2012-01-19T22:45:00.000-08:00

While we were staying at the Thousand Trails park in Cottonwood, AZ, Vaughn and the boys spent an afternoon hiking with our new fulltime friends the Lundys. They had hiked Cathedral Rock before, and thought that Vaughn and some of the kids would enjoy it too.

Vaughn took the boys (Beth wanted to stay home that day), and they packed a lunch and water bottles and drove over near Sedona.

It is beautiful country...

The climb is not a long one, but it is a 600 foot vertical gain.

The view from just a little ways up was worth the trip!

The guys had a great time hiking with our new(in person)/old(web) friends!

The area is so beautiful!

Vaughn said I wouldn't have liked it. He was right...

~I don't do cliffs well. I am much better about it now that we have traveled so much, but when we first started traveling and we were driving down the Oregon coast, where the road sometimes is right along sea cliffs or even is supported out over the ocean itself, Emma would, from her carseat back a few rows,"Don't Look Down Mom!!! Don't Look Down!!!" - and it's kind of a family joke now; whenever we are driving along a steep embankment, someone will always say,"don't look down mom, don't look down'

They would have been saying it non-stop had I gone on this hike!

YIKES! I am OK with, even love, the pictures, but in person, not.so.much...

Allen gave the guys a crash course in Geo-caching. Now of course we have to dive into that (thanks a lot Allen!) - thank goodness we already have the GPSs.

They also found some honeycombs on the ground then got to looking around better and found rows of honeycombs in the crevices of the rocks. The boys all chewed some of the honeycomb, but the bees had cleaned out all the honey so it just tasted like plain wax.

There were others on the mountain too.

Only they were climbing these spires (HAD climbed - they were at the top!)!

They did a big loop going up one path and coming down by way of another.

Wow! The views from the top are stunning....

The guys really enjoyed their time hiking with the Lundy family. It's nice to connect with others that enjoy some of the same activities that we do - they really like to hike and kayak too!

Sedona is one place that we would love to come back to and explore some more.

We didn't get to see as much of it as we would have liked to, but we were simply having too much fun with the 4 other families that were also in the park! We loved the Sedona area, and are sure to be back tho!!!

Bethy's Birthday...

2012-01-18T22:01:00.000-08:00

Last week, while we were in Cottonwood, AZ, enjoying the company of 4 other fulltime families, we...

CELEBRATED BETHANY'S 16th BIRTHDAY!!!

(yeah, I can't believe it either!)

There really wasn't anything that she wanted to do to celebrate her birthday, so I drug her out of the house and we went shopping.

Cottonwood is just a blip of a town, but we had a ball together! Just us. and Caleb. but he doesn't count yet because he still pretty much just eats and sleeps, so he didn't mind us dragging him all over town.

We went to Goodwill where Bethy found a pair of (new) shoes, and I found 2 outfits for a quickly-growing Caleb. Then we hit Dairy Queen for a Pecan Mud Slide for Beth and a vanilla malt for mom.

Next was the Dollar Tree - Beth has this fettish for dollar stores (which I loathe!), so she shopped at the DT while I popped in next-door to a used kids clothing store (which she loathes! ;).

After that, we ran across the street to her favorite store, Cato. The first year we traveled, the big girls found them while we were down south - we would overnight in Walmart parking lots sometimes, and often there would be a Cato in a little mall bordering the parking lot. Hannah and Beth would go shopping together there, often finding pretty denim skirts. We were surprised to see a Cato this far north, so we had to stop in and browse for a bit. Bethy was on the phone with her BFFs from MT who had called to wish her a happy birthday, so she didn't notice when I had the girl working there sneak selling me a gift card (thanks for keeping her occupied girls ;) ...

...Beth LOVES gift cards.

and cheesecake. and hair stuff. (and she got a few other little gifts too...).

We both enjoyed spending the afternoon together laughing and joking and shopping. She loved the bag of 'treasures' that she found at the dollar store, and I loved the 99 cent baby clothes at Goodwill, and we both loved the time that we spent together.

She is an incredible young lady.daughter.sister.friend.

Happy 16th birthday to our wonderful daughter! (I love you girl!)

Cottonwood, AZ...

2012-01-16T17:31:00.000-08:00

A week ago, we pulled into Cottonwood, AZ. It's about an hour north of Phoenix, and situated between Sedona and Prescott. It's NOT on the way to Uncle Larry's, which is supposed to be our destination.
The reason that we would make such big a detour was to meet MORE fulltime families!!
In our first 2 years of being on the road, we met ONE other family traveling fulltime in their RV. Now we are overdosing - 7 families in one week!!!! And it has been such fun!

The park we are at is pretty nice. No candy bar bingo, but they do have an OK playground...

which the kids have been to several times. When it's warm enough. Some days it's awfully chilly here ;) - mid 50s to mid 60s you know... at home in the spring I would have been saying,'it's beautiful out - go outside and play!' Guess I've acclimated to the warmth because I catch myself saying,'are you sure you want to go outside and play? it's pretty cold!' LOL!

The little girls are loving the playground...

especially Molly who is big enough to really enjoy playground equipment this year...

The other fulltime kids filled mine in on a fun activity at this park. It involves water...

waiting your turn...

and rope...

Even the timid at heart had to attempt it once...

after which timid decided...

that maybe it wasn't so scary after all...

After swinging alone, the guys had to attempt double rope-swinging...

well, then the little boys (who aren't so very little anymore) had to show that they could do it too...

we fully expected them to get soaked, but they didn't! Hard to believe that they hung on while laughing so hard they couldn't breathe...

Peanut, our petite daredevil, got some pointers from daddy...

and was ready to go even though she was just a little bit nervous. She would never admit that tho...

The little girls were probably the ones that liked it the most!

The kids were swinging for hours! all without incident.

But those boys!...wouldn't you know it...

PRIDE... (hey mom, watch this...)

GOETH BEFORE...

A FALL...

That was one fun day (like every day that we have been here), and the kids slept like a baby... :)

our visit to Quartzsite...

2012-01-13T21:05:00.000-08:00

After leaving Lake Havasu AZ State Park, we drove south to....Quartzsite!!!

I keep saying that Q isn't really our thing, yet we have found ourselves here for a few days each year!

We pulled into our usual spot - out on Plomosa Road, a few miles north of the little town of Q. This would be our new 'spot' - dry camping for the next 4 days or so... no services out here in the desert; no electricity, no water other than the 110 gallons that we filled up with at Lake Havasu, no sewer hookup...

It is said that the little town of Q boasts a population of 2,100 during the scorching summers, and that number grows, primarily due to the influx of RVers and the vendors they draw, to over 3/4 of a million during the peak of the season, which is in January. The draws of Q are many and varied - during Jan, a couple of the biggest draws are the Rock and Mineral Show and also the big RV show (21-29th this year).

Our view...

Q (to us) is just a big, open, level valley full of catus, shrubs, and sharp rocks. (last year we had to change a tire here) One of the draws for us is the RV parts store. We spent parts of several days checking out different areas of vendors. The boys bought some great wood swords and I found a couple of books. We went back to pick up some more swords the next day for gifts, and found that their price had doubled. You never know what you will find in Q - you can often bargain with a vendor to get a better deal, but also, they may find their wares selling well and decide that they can still sell them at a higher price. Maybe he didn't know that (probably) all those swords that he had sold the previous day had been to 1 family! LOL! (and we didn't buy anymore at the jacked up price...)

This year, we would not have gone down to Q except that there were at least 4 other full-time families there. yeah!

Since we have been on the road, 2 and a half years, we have only met ONE other fulltime family.

This year, we spent 4 days at Q, meeting 3 other fulltime families. We were surprised to find that Quartzsite has a very nice playground! And we had a lovely afternoon playing there with the other families' kids last Saturday. The little girls played on the equipment; Bethy was very sweet to watch them so I could visit with the other moms. The guys spent their time on the basketball court, joined by a 20 y.o. young man from the community.

On Sunday, we went to First Baptist Church there in Q, running into a shop keeper that we had met in the vendors. And the kid that the boys had been playing b-ball with was there also :)

We had a great visit to Quartzsite - and are so thankful that the other families took the time to meet with us. We hope that we will get to meet up with them down the road yet again.

We knew that a few other families were in Arizona also - at a Thousand Trails park near Prescott.

So, we pulled up our jacks, and took our nearly full tanks and hit the road hoping to catch them before they moved on.

Funny how we find ourselves making new on the road traditions whether we realize it or not - like Quartzsite - we have been here each year for 3 or 4 days. Another tradition seems to be the Outlets at Anthem (just north of Phx.) - we came over to Pheonix and then hit the interstate heading north towards Flagstaff. The outlet mall seems to be another of our unintended traditions - we have stopped here each year also. This time, we hadn't thought ahead to the fact that we would be driving right by them. And just at lunch time too! So, we pulled in, made lunch (love toting my kitchen along!), and then stopped in at a couple of our fav stores. We found Jake and Eli new shoes on a major clearance (love!), and then Vaughn and Jake hit the road in the 5er to make sure that they would get to the campground before dark.

The littles staked out the playground equipment with Eli supervising, and Beth and I (with Caleb), went to a few stores. Caleb, coming after 3 girls in a row, and growing as fast as he has been, doesn't have enough clothes to last between laundromat visits. We like to have a week's worth of clothing for each person as I like to do laundry every 5 days, but sometimes it's a week before I get to it. We went to my favorite store for the little girls, Naartjie, and found some clothes for Caleb - already marked down 3 or 4 times, and then another 40% off -got him 5 outfits for about $5 each! ~and had a lot of fun shopping with my Bethy ;)

Then we were off too - trying to catch up with the 5er...which actually reached the campground before we even left the outlets! oops! LOL!

This is our 5th Thousand Trails park, and this is our current view...

Where we are having a lovely time meeting and getting to know the other families that are here!

We are enjoying being back in familiar territory! It's funny how Arizona has become one of our favorite places; much different than that first year when we initially came to the dry desert and couldn't fathom why anyone would choose to live here!

We are enjoying sunny 65 degree days, but we have to unhook the water and drain the hose at night as it has been getting down to the low 20s.

We will be spending our weekend visiting the nearby National Parks, both of which we have not been to before! Jr. Ranger badges, here we come :)

TOS Review - Maestro Classics, Swan Lake...

2012-01-13T20:26:00.000-08:00

Spending so much time traveling, we listen to a lot of cds in the van. The Story of Swan Lake by Tchaikovsky by Maestro Classics would be a welcome change from 'the usual' story cds that we listen to when we are putting on the miles. Besides, my kids could use a bit of culture! :)

To be honest, there was a bit of ribbing by my 17 and 14 y.o. boys about listening to 'ballet music' - it's the kind of music mom loves, but the big boys, eh, not so much. But, while they probably wouldn't admit it, you could have heard a pin drop while we were listening to the cd (and not just for the first time!) - minus the road noise... The story of Swan Lake is told over/during the musical performance of Swan Lake by the London Philharmonic Orchestra. An hour in length, it was the perfect length for a short drive.

One of the things that I found most interesting, was the cute little activity book that came with the cd! The activities were linked to the story/music, and would interest varying ages. Included in the activity booklet were a biography on Tchaikovsky, an explanation of major and minor keys, and things like crossword puzzles. The cds themselves are geared towards 6 to 12 year olds, but I feel that they would interest a much broader age range - even the littlest girls listened to the story with interest (2 and 4).
Maestro Classics offers their award winning collection of musical stories on either cd ($16.95) or as an MP3 download ($9.95 - the download version includes the activities as a PDF).

***JANUARY SPECIAL: Order a Swan Lake CD or MP3 download, and Maestro Classics will automatically send you an additional free MP3 Swan Lake orchestral version!***
If you would like to read other homeschooler's reviews of Maestro Classics Swan Lake, you can find links here.

disclaimer: I received a cd of Swan Lake in exchange for my honest review of the product. No other compensation was received.

Lake Havasu, AZ...

2012-01-12T21:58:00.000-08:00

After leaving Las Vegas on the 4th, we drove south and found ourselves at Lake Havasu, an Arizona state park. We spent a few days here last winter, and it is a lovely park (we are biased though, when it comes to Arizona's state parks - they always let us camp there, no matter how many kids we have ;)

The kids all have jobs when it comes to setting up camp... Oftentimes they help one another with their jobs -
sometimes they get a little more help than they really need....(or want)

We got the best site in the park; right next to the lake and near a sandy beach. The little girls got out the box of sand toys, and spent their afternoon digging in the sand. Molly was taking her share of sand home with her - I had to take her dress off and turn it upside down to shake the cups and cups of sand out of her pockets.

She can shake the sand out of her sandals by herself...

We all pitch in when it comes to taking care of the house.

When we work, we all work...

So that when it's time to play, we can all play.

We enjoyed our time at Lake Havasue, and would have liked to spend more than one night there.

But we have places to go and people to meet.

And when it comes to meeting other families that are on the road, you take the opportunity to meet them when it arises - you never know long that chance will be available with everyone so, ummm, mobile!

The next morning, Beth and I (and Caleb), drove up the street a block and got the laundry caught up before meeting up with the 5er and heading to that RV mecca (LOL!), Quartzsite - boondocking heaven...

We were sad to leave the beautiful weather, perfect for a dip in the lake.

But, if YOU happen to be near Lake Havasu, Arizona, be sure to stop by the state park there, preferably in the evening - the sunsets are beautiful!!!

P.S. Just a reminder that this weekend is free entrance into the National Parks that usually charge! On Jan 14, 15, and 16, you can visit these parks for free! A list of the parks that usually have an entrance/usage fee are found here. We will be taking advantage of this free weekend ourselves since our National Parks Pass expired Dec. 31; our tribe will be getting in free at Tuzigoot National Monument and Montezuma's Castle N.M. here in AZ! ~maybe we'll see you there! :)

Valley of Fire Nevada State Park...

2012-01-11T11:43:00.000-08:00

Last Tuesday, Greg's 2 week Christmas break from basic training came to an end. After he flew out bright and early, we knew that we needed an activity to fill our day or else it would be filled by moping kids (and maybe a parent or two) saying,'if Greg were here...' We needed something to fill our minds with something other than missing our favorite oldest son/brother!

We first noticed the signs for Valley of Fire State Park, just north of Las Vegas, when we were driving through last year, but we really hadn't given it much attention - we hadn't heard anything about it, and figured from the surrounding landscape that it couldn't be very interesting.
We were wrong.

Once everyone was up (Greg, Vaughn, Eli, and Joel left for the airport at 3:30 - the rest of us went back to bed!), we packed a lunch and hit the road for the short drive that led to the park. After turning off I-15, I wondered who would be the first to get car sick - the road was up and down and all-over-curvy... totally eratic. Then all of the sudden, we dropped down into a shallow canyon at the end of which was the entrance to the Valley of Fire State Park. Since it is a state park instead of a national park, we had to pay a $10 entrance fee. They gave us a window sticker and a map of the park (which was very helpful for deciding where to go in the park).

The colorful, interesting rock formations started just inside the boundary to the park...

As soon as we approached the first islands of rock jutting out of the ground, we knew that we had to get out and explore...

Eroded by the weather, these rocks were perfect for the littles to climb!

The little girls loved the freedom that they had on these rocks - they were sloped and pretty smooth - no jagged points. The rocks often had holes and cavities where some sandstone had worn away faster than the surrounding rock leaving caves and impressions that were calling to be explored...

The little girls climbed up to the above room and back down by themselves.

It was a beautiful day out - sunny without a hint of wind - warm enough to go without jackets, but not too hot... (I'm so NOT missing Montana winters!)

The hills were all calling to be explored! So many rocks, so little time!

Near Atlatl Rock, there is a parking area for those climbing the 3 or 4 story staircase up to the viewing platform that overlooks a rock wall with a series of petroglyphs etched on it. There is also a picnic area here that consists of a dozen covered tables, bathrooms (nasty - take the Clorox wipes! we did!), and water spigots that deliver wonderful tasting well water!

Here is the part of the park that the little girls liked the most -

the ground squirrels...

The little beggars would come and run under your table while you were sitting there eating hoping that you dropped some food. Peanut wasn't even holding still (if you know Peanut, you know she pretty much can not hold still...)

Also in this area of the park are Valley of Fire's 2 campgrounds.

I didn't count how many sites there were, but there were quite a few. And they were very nice. Clean, with covered level sites, tent areas, and covered picnic tables. Even resident ground squirrels to keep you company, maybe even entertained.

In the larger of the 2 campgrounds were even wonderful, level, huge, RV sites! The regular sites, without electricity run $20/night, the electrical sites are reserved for RVs only, and cost $30/night. Both campgrounds are snuggly placed among the rocks. Very fun! - we would love to bring the RV back and camp here in the park!!!

After checking out the campgrounds, we drove through the park, stopping at the visitor's center to look at the tarantula, scorpions, and various lizards that they have on display. Then we took the dead-end road up to White Dome. (which is not in the picture...) On the way we stopped at Fire Canyon...(none of the pictures do the park justice!)

and past/through Rainbow Vista...

After turning around at White Dome, we headed back down to Mouse's Tank. Mouse's Tank was named after a renegade Indian who hid out in the area while harassing locals in the late 1800s. The 'Tank' part is because the trail here leads to a natural basin which collects rainwater, sometimes retaining it for months at a time. The hike is only a half mile round trip. The terrain of the walk is in a canyon bottom and it is fairly flat, but it is also through sand - makes the walk seem longer... especially when you have to stop periodically to empty out your shoes.

This walk is an excellent chance to view petroglyphs - we were surprised at how many there were lining the canyon! Because the walk is through the bottom of a canyon, and we did it late afternoon, it was a little chilly out. But beautiful still. After our walk to Mouse's Tank, we drove through the rest of the park, exiting out the western side. We drove back to Vegas via the Northshore Drive (NV 167), which takes you through part of the Lake Mead National Recreation Area. (if we had it to do again, or nex time... we would turn around and go back out the western entrance and down I-15)

NV167 was not a very pretty drive, but we did think that this valley was nice - maybe it was the red hue that bathed the entire valley as the sun went down...

Valley of Fire is one of our new favorite places! We loved how inviting it was, and the park is open for exploring - we saw only one sign asking visitor's to stay off of a certain part of a rock formation to preserve the arch. It was such a beautiful area, bright with color, varying in terrain, and the park service has made it easy to access.

It's just right for kiddos living in less than 400 sq ft that need to burn off a bit of energy (and need a little help getting over sad goodbyes)!

We had a fabulous day exploring the Valley of Fire state park. (well, apparently everyone except Peanut! LOL!)

It was the perfect distraction for us ;)

TOS Review - Zeezok...

2012-01-11T00:25:00.001-08:00

This year I have had a lot of fun reviewing homeschool materials through The Old Schoolhouse Magazine's Review Crew. It has been quite an experience since I had never done reviews before that - so far I have had to review a couple of things that I didn't much care for - they were great products but weren't really 'us' - and then there were a few products that I would have never purchased on my own, but ended up being Wonderful! This is one of them! :)

I usually shrink away from reviewing materials that require a download - I prefer hard copy schoolwork, and since we travel fulltime in our RV, we access the internet with an aircard, so I am limited on my data usage each month. Downloads simply eat it up too fast. But, when I was offered the opportunity to review this download from Zeezok, and checked them out, I was intrigued.

Z-Guides are study guides highlighting a specific time in history using MOVIES (and what student doesn't like movies?!? ;). Each guide is movie specific, and most of the movies are available from NetFlix or can be checked out my your local library, so you don't have to own the movie to do the study. One of the things that I love about the ease of Zeezok's website is that the list of guides are broken down into time periods, making it easy to find the movies that are applicable to the time period that your students are studying.

Movie guides are available for elementary and/or high school, are offered in either CD or download form, and retail for $12.99.

Reviewers were able to choose which movie they would like to receive the guide for, and which level. Since it can be hard to find movies on the road, I needed to choose a review for a movie that we already owned. I had a really hard time deciding which movie to receive the guide for, and ended up narrowing it down to: The Great Escape, Sergeant York, or Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. It was hard to choose!!! I finally decided on the high school level of Sergeant York.

This Z-Guide is 34 pages long, including a short overview. Z-Guides are meant to be done over the course of a week, doing approx. 2 activities each day. There are questions that cover history, geography, and worldviews. This guide also included some fun activities like a crossword puzzle (not your typical find 'war', instead you're looking for words/phrases like 'conscientious objector' and 'sharpshooter'), or, my boys' favorite activity, deciding which weapon they felt was most responsible for the Allies winning the war then drawing it and explaining why they chose what they did. The guide also included on online address to a library of over 400 WWI posters; the student(s) are to look through them and then design their own poster.

Z-Guides are written for the homeschool student, not a classroom, but they can easily be used as a group project, part of a 'unit study', or just an activity for multiple ages (mine worked on it together). I love how the questions are written to inspire the student to think through everything from the worldview promoted in the film to filmaker's licence use, and even offered family discussion questions. The guides also prompt the student to delve deeper into the topic to find the inaccuracies in the film. (don't worry though, it is super teacher-friendly; the answers are all included in the final pages of the guides ;).

I can say, with great enthusiasm, that I LOVED this product!!!
Z-Guides are available in download or CD forms, and are inexpensive to print out since the only color is on the cover page. I loved how I could print off additional sheets of certain pages (I printed off the word search and weapon pages for ALL the boys). There are so many great titles available, I cannot wait to get a few more for our use - The Great Escape is next on our list :)

Zeezok also offers other great products, including the Joseph Altsheler Civil War Series in ebook form! (love!), the Great Musician series, and a Presidential Penmanship downloadable series where your students learn and practice penmanship copying great presidential quotes! I can't wait to get a few more Z-Guides - the kids are having fun and learning at the same time!

*Disclaimer: I was given a free Z-Guide download in exchange for my honest review of the product. No other compensation was received.

hiking Ice Box Canyon...

2012-01-10T18:18:00.000-08:00

We enjoyed our visit to Red Rock Canyon so much that the guys went back the next day to hike Ice Box Canyon...

It was chilly enough that they needed jackets - especially in the cool shade of the canyon.

The 2.6 mile hike is rated moderate for it's 'tricky rock scrambling' and 300 foot gain. The hike is supposed to take 2 hours, but the guys did it in 1.5, and that included some exploring.

I hear ;) it was a stunningly beautiful hike, and we would like to do some further exploring another trip.

They enjoyed getting the chance to 'get out' with Greg while he was home for a couple of weeks.

more CCSR...

2012-01-08T16:05:00.000-08:00

This year we are getting a little spoiled. The last 2 years, we have found ourselves staying at a lot of Walmarts and state parks because so many campgrounds won't let us rent a site because there are so many of us. This year we bought a Thousand Trails campground membership, and we have stayed in their parks almost exclusively, and have become quite used to having full hookups every night. It was no different when we were at the Clark County Shooting Range, but after leaving the shooting range, we headed south and stopped off in Quartzsite, AZ for a few nights to hopefully meet up with a few other families that fulltime RV.

This is our 3rd stop off in Q - we have spent a few days here each year, each year for different reasons. The first year we came not knowing what to expect, but everyone said that we "had to check out Quartzsite - there is nothing like it", and they were right, there is nothing like it. We came the first year during Dec, when it wasn't very busy, parked out in the boonies, and went through some of the vendor areas. We used it as a base to take a day trip into CA to visit the General Patton Museum and the Joshua Tree National Park. But, we had places to go and people to see, and found that while Quartzsite offered a free place to park for a few days, there wasn't much attraction in it for our family.

Last year, we stopped off later in the season, thinking that maybe it would be of more interest when there were more RVers here, but found that it was still not for us. We did appreciate the shops tho, especially the RV parts stores, and we picked up a couch for the garage of the toy hauler (which we used for 8 months or so - a dozen in an RV means continual revamping to find what works best).

This year we find ourselves back in Quartzsite yet again. This time we came with a mission, to meet some other families that fulltime RV. And we had a great day at the park meeting 4 of those families yesterday. We moms sat and gabbed while the girls all played on the playground and the guys were on the basketball court.
Anyway, all that to say that we are in Quartzsite, and we find ourselves dry camping again. No hookups whatever. We filled up with 110 gallons of water before we left the shooting range, made sure our waste tanks were empty, and stopped at Costco on our way out of LV to make sure that we wouldn't have to buy groceries in Q where they would be more expensive...

And while camping in Q has been fine, and definitely worth 'roughing it' to meet new friends, I find myself having to remember to charge the laptops and cell phones through the inverter in the van (or should I say finding myself FORGETTING to charge...)
And every time I go to catch up the blog, I don't get very far... (partially charged batteries...)
So, pictures are way back from the shooting range, a whopping week ago :(

The kids worked on their form and accuracy...

Greg shot quite a few rounds through his pistol and Dad and Eli's ARs. He is anxious to get to the 'shooting' part of Basic.

Bethy got new pink shooting glasses and earplugs in her stocking. She got to break them in while Eli supervised :)

We will be pulling out of Q bright and early tomorrow (that means about 10 for us! ;) and heading to meet a few other families. Our next stop will be full hookups again (oh joy!), so I'll work on catching this thing up! If I get more than a day or two behind, I have to look at the calendar to remember when we did what! LOL!

Clark County Shooting Range...

2012-01-06T22:36:00.000-08:00

Last year we were able to stay at the Clark County Shooting Range in Las Vegas. Not really IN L.V., but on the outskirts of town at the base of the foothills. It is not necessarily pretty country, but we enjoy the wide open spaces, and the nearby neighborhoods seem to be pretty nice (no graffiti, garbage, junk cars...). AND, it's very near a Costco and Target, which earns brownie points in my book (we have a 9 sq. ft. fridge - like it or not, grocery shopping is a very common errand in our house! ;). The range has an 80 site campground - $20/night for full hookups - they are HUGE sites, but it is just a big, level, gravel parking lot. It is a requirement that if you are staying there that you are shooting at the range some (doesn't have to be every day). We moved there last Friday and stayed through Wednesday.

The guys went to do a night shoot on Friday night, but it ended up being too late to get in on the last shoot. For safety reasons, there are only certain times that you can go in to start shooting.

The range charges $7 per person per day to use the rifle/handgun range; it's the only one we use, but they also have shotgun and archery ranges also. BUT, one of the things that endears us to this range is that kids under 18 shoot FREE! That was a pleasant surprise to us last year, and we had forgotten that, so it was a pleasant surprise again this year! :) And, as an added bonus, when we had been out Christmas shopping, we picked up a few coupons for CCSR at Walmart - there was a pile of them on the ammo counter (they keep their ammo behind bars here!?!), so the range fees were only $5 for Vaughn and Greg :)

Saturday Vaughn and the boys went up to the range...
They had a good time...

But I think that they have about as much fun taking their guns apart and cleaning them - they were outside in the beautiful Nevada sunshine talking and laughing for hours...

I guess that especially warmed my heart to see all my big guys together once again. :)

Hoover Dam...

2012-01-05T20:19:00.000-08:00

We did do a few 'touristy' things while Greg was 'home' for 2 weeks. One of the places that we went to was the...
Now that the new bridge is open, you can drive over the dam to visit, but it is not a through road anymore.

It took us quite awhile to get to the dam since traffic was backed up from the security checkpoint halfway back to the highway. Since we drive a big ole 15 pass van, we got pulled over at the security checkpoint. They wanted to see inside, so Vaughn opened the back doors so they could check behind the seats. I opened up the sliding door where the kids were all taking off their seatbelts to get out so the officers could check the van - they took one look and said,' that's OK - you can go...'. I told them that they just didn't want to have to dig through all our junk. He just laughed and walked to the next car.

They really didn't want to. LOL!

I don't blame them.

I don't want to either. 10 (make that 11 since Greg was home) kids with all their 'stuff' that they need for car trips, add in diaper bags, snacks, water bottles, power cords for laptops, cameras, phones... It's about time to pay a couple of the kids to clean it out!!! :)

Anyway, we got to see Hoover Dam - Vaughn and various kids had been over it 3 times over the past 2 years between taking our old camper back to MT for it's new owners, and with ortho trips (SO glad we aren't doing that anymore!) But, the rest of us hadn't ever seen it.

Now we can say that we have and move on...

We probably would have liked it better had we NOT gone during Christmas break!

All the parking lots were full, even the pay ones, the dam was very crowded, and the police and security officers had their hands full with people parking were they weren't supposed to, jaywalkers, people putting their kids up on the wall for pictures...

We were going to stop and check it out, but we ended up driving over and up to the top of the hill on the other side, were we noticed this little hideout on the top of the hill overlooking the dam...

Now we are all wondering what they need a 'pill box' there for???

Checked it out, used the very nasty porta-potties in the parking lot (I have learned to always take Clorox wipes with me when the kids have to use the bathrooms - can't stand the thought of them touching even the door handles let alone... - get some weird looks, but I'm good with that...), and then we drove back to Las Vegas and found and In n' Out Burgers (which we don't have at home).

Now we can say that we went to Hoover Dam - which is not a real National Park, and does NOT have a Jr. Ranger program. :(

Greg flew back to Basic on Tues, and we have moved on - we pulled into Quartzsite this afternoon, and hope to meet up with some other Families on the Road. And Beth wants to see if the Amazon recruiters are here yet - she would like to try working for Amazon (which means that Eli and Vaughn probably would also) after they do potatoes next fall... We'll see - the big kids want to check out work-kamping a bit more, and we're game if they are :)

TOS Review - REAL Homeschool Spanish...

2012-01-05T17:57:00.000-08:00

One of the things that we have been wanting to do since that first year on the road, is to learn Spanish. That first winter was, to be honest, full of culture shock for us. We really had not traveled at all before that, and for us to come south (we are currently in AZ), was quite a new experience. There were times when we desperately wished that we knew Spanish, and to be honest, it is mostly so we can find out what people are saying about us! LOL!

We have been in some situations where we did not feel safe, and it would have been very handy to have known what the people around us were saying (about us!). Plus, we would love to be able to travel to Central America (Costa Rica specifically), and it would be nice to know some of their language instead of expecting or even hoping that they understand English; just as I would expect that someone choosing to live in the US would learn English.

So, when I was offered the chance to review REAL Homeschool Spanish for the TOS crew, I said Si! And we received the digital version of R.H.S. a month or so ago, which included the book, activity book, answer book, and audio files (retail $49.95 - there is also a hard print edition for $89.95).

Created specifically for the homeschooler, and geared for ages 5 to 13 (but applicable for us old people too! ;), R.H.S. is a great hands-on Spanish curriculum. It is unique in that it is an immersion project that offers things from audio downloads to ideas to incorporate Spanish speaking into your school day for quicker learning. There are also tons of fun ideas to increase your students interest; games like hangman, bingo, and creating your own albums.

If I had my choice, I would choose the hard copy over the digital. If you like working on your computer, you may like the digital more, but considering the manual is around 180 pages, it is a little ink and paper spendy to print (and bind also!). But, I also like having it on the computer and can just look things up (but not very handy when we are dry camping and don't have electricity! LOL!) The RHS site also has a list of free 'culture links' that are helpful when learning Spanish, and can be incorporated into the curriculum (and some of these would be very helpful when studying about Central America even if you are not learning Spanish!). There are even links to have Bible verses sent daily to your email in Spanish, which would be great for both learning and reviewing.

REAL Homeschool Spanish is a great idea (REAL stands for Relax, Enjoy, Aspire, Learn Spanish)! I loved that it was geared for the homeschooler and the homeschool environment instead of a classroom. It is easy to use with multiple kids, and is affordable. It is a great, laid-back way to learn Spanish!

*Disclaimer: I received a digital copy of REAL Homeschool Spanish, at no charge, to try out with my family in exchange for my review of the product. All opinions are my own.

Such a nice visit...

2012-01-04T22:43:00.000-08:00

For the past 2 weeks, we have had our oldest son with us. Greg is 22 and is currently doing time at basic training :)

A few days before Christmas he flew out to meet us in Las Vegas, and stayed with us over the holidays.

We had such a nice visit! We really didn't do anything exciting, just spent time together. He's been plenty busy at basic, so we gave him some down time. We were probably (definitely) a bad influence on him - we let him sleep in too late (didn't wake him up at 4:30 like at basic), we fed him dessert every night with a few other sweets in there too (he hasn't had dessert once since he went to basic - not even on Thanksgiving!), and we didn't make him shave, or run, or do pushups while he was with us (very UNlike basic! LOL!).

He helped Dad do some maintenance on the rv - because RVs take maintaining just as a house does (maybe a bit more!).
We pretty much just 'did life' as we would have had he not been home for a visit.

A little spring cleaning - because it feels like spring here (well, it certainly doesn't feel like winter anyway!)!!! ;) We have to wash windows, clean cupboards, and move and vacuum under our couches just like everyone else. -probably MORE OFTEN than everyone else...
We were staying at the Thousand Trails park in Las Vegas, and the kids utilized the pool nearly every day. Because the park was expecting a big group of RVers from Canada (we counted 17), they kept the heated outdoor pool open even tho it usually closes Dec. 1.
We were super glad they did!!!

While everyone else was wearing jackets out to walk their dogs (and an occasional cat), we were swimming. Never did see anyone else use the pool, and very few even took advantage of the steamy hot tub!?!?!?

~and I especially was very appreciative of the CAN group - the park wi-fi was pretty much non-existant until they showed up, and suddenly the campground hosts were installing signal boosters in several areas of the park. The wi-fi worked great after that! (and I'm really curious if the boosters stayed up or if they disappeared when the group did)

But, the day it got Really Nice outside, you know, where everyone was out walking their dogs in t-shirts, or sitting outside in lawn chairs to read, and it's perfect for swimming, was the day we had to move - the park was completely booked for the New Year's weekend. But we really didn't mind.

We were heading to one of last year's favorite stops - one that would be new to Greg since he didn't travel with us last year. But one that Greg was sure to LOVE...

The Clark County Shooting Range!!!

We all, including Greg, hoped that he would be able to spend Christmas with us, and we also hope to be able to pick him up after graduation, and give him a 'ride' home. He came prepared just in case we happened to hit some fun spot like this.

And the range offered something for each one of us...

Several of the campgrounds that we have been at have had tennis courts in them, so Beth asked for, and received, tennis rackets and balls for Christmas. The kids played around with them on the asphalt at the range. Then, last Sat, Dad took them to a very nice public park in the area that had courts, and Dad and Beth played tennis for quite awhile while the other kids played on the playground equipment (Daddy slept really good that night! LOL! ;).

For all the boys it offered an extensive, expensive, exciting time (hours and hours) of target practice with their handguns and ARs. (pictures to come)

For the little girls it was free range. The campground/parking lot is Huge, and since it is also not busy (and completely closed on Mondays and Tuesdays), they got to run to their heart's content.

For me it meant clean stores in a nice neighborhood to shop at - especially the Costco right down the street. And even some down time - when Vaughn took the kids to the park, they all went - everyone except Caleb Andrew. It was a little weird and way too quite tho, and I was glad when they came back! :)

Greg spent quite a bit of time catching up with Caleb. Telling him how naughty he was to be so big already and how he better not grow too much in the next 4 months before Greg sees him again! LOL!

Greg used to be known (in our fam anyway) for his knack at putting babies to sleep. He's still got the touch...

New Year's Eve we kept him up way too late -

playing card games on the floor. We played a wild game(s) of runts (like a big game of Dutch Blitz), ended up staying up till midnight, which we did not intend on doing, so we got to watch the half-million dollar firework show lit from the top of the casinos on the strip. Even tho it was pretty far away, it was quite a show, and we had great seats from the pitch black of the foothills.

The little girls spent their time at the shooting park playing outside. They played jump rope, harassed/chased the cat, spent hours with their water colors, and Molly even decorated the outside of the camper with a pencil - when she wasn't calling her friends back home (for pretends thank goodness!).

But one of our favorite memories of our 2 weeks with Greg was the night we all hung out

and made him read to us...

No-one can read Patrick McManus books like Greg.

You know, the old, funny ones. like from your house Gramma... :)

I had one on my e-reader, so Greg picked out a few stories, and read them aloud to us. Greg is an excellent reader - he reads far enough ahead of his voice that he can do all the different voices even if he hasn't read the story before. And he does a killer Rancid Crabtree!!!! Gosh Dang, he's our favorite - the kids made sure to verify ahead of time that the stories that he picked had Rancid in them :) (and Sneed too!)

(reminiscing here) That first year on the road, Greg would use that very helpful ;) talent make up his own GPS voice :P -somedays we would be rolling with laughter as, after being directed down the road by that brash, bossy British voice that is preprogrammed, we'd be immediately bossed again by Greg's disguised voice - our favorite of his characters was the southern-drawling redneck. He makes a way better GPS voice!

We had the MOST FABULOUS visit with our favorite oldest son.

Tears were shed when he had to fly out on Tues. morning. Most of the kids said their goodbyes the night before since he had to be at the airport at 4am (he was a little late - you know us!). But, the boys all got up with him anyway, and Joel and Eli left for the airport at 3 with Vaughn and Greg. Greg was a little torn - he didn't really want to say goodbye, but he is excited for this next phase of basic. They will be spending time every day on the range; he's looking forward to finally firing the M4 that he's been toting everywhere for the last 4 weeks.

As for the rest of us, we've tried to keep our minds busy by exploring new places while we are in the area, but mostly, we are just missing our favorite soldier.

Red Rock Canyon NCA...

2011-12-31T11:05:00.000-08:00

We have been having a wonderful time with both Christmas and having Greg visit us for a couple of weeks. But, Las Vegas just isn't somewhere that I feel super comfortable, and we probably won't be in a big hurry to get back here (especially since the TT campground here does NOT have candy bar bingo! LOL! ;), so while we are here we wanted to be sure to check out the surrounding points of interest (at least interesting for us) since we aren't sure how long it might be before we return.

On the 27th we drove out to...
While the Red Rock Canyon NCA covers a large area, nearly 200 thousand acres, there is a very pleasant 13 mile drive that winds through a easily accessible and scenic area of the park. Since the RRC is maintaned by BLM, we were able to use our National Parks National Access Pass to get in for free.

First stop, the visitor's center of course!

We had Jr. Ranger booklets to pick up (with a few minor protests from a few of the boys reminding me that we were on Christmas break - too bad! -insert evil laugh... :)and the visitor's center to check out. It seemed to be a fairly new building, and it had a few hands on activities like big microscopes where you could check out things such as pollen and insect wings. The littles also did some petroglyph rubbings, and they all liked the chuckwalla...
We found out that the park will eventually have a Jr. Ranger program, but it's not completely written yet, so the littles had to settle for a scavenger hunt, and were appeased because even tho they didn't get to earn badges, they did get to keep the cute little RRC pencils (which are currently all scattered under seats in the van...)

Out back of the visitor's center is a little courtyard that has all sorts of educational displays, and the kids' scavenger hunt was here.

The littles had to find all sorts of animals that were scattered through this area; pictures on displays and also statues.

The whole area was very nicely done.

After a picnic lunch in the parking lot, we did the drive through the Calico Hills. The rock formations are beautiful! Some are a solid, vivid red, others are white or grey, some are verigated pinks and reds in randomess and in repetitive streaks.

After driving through most of the park, we decided to stop and explore Lost Creek Canyon. We got out at Willow Springs picnic area, and went to check it out...

Molly was a little freaked out that Eli was up so high, so she yelled at him to come down, "EI, DET DOWN HEAH".

And offered to catch him...

It was fun to run around in the rocks.

After dragging Greg around a bit more, and just being 'together' for one more week, he might just be ready to head back to basic for a little bit of R&R! LOL!!!

We ended up at the 3rd parking lot up Lost Creek. We parked right in front of the picnic tables and sidewalk.

And I'm telling you this because right straight back fron all the picnic table is a rock wall of sorts.

And on this rock wall is where the kids spent nearly all their time here. Because...they found this killer cave. and wouldn't leave.

SO, if you head to Red Rock Canyon, you have to stop at the 3rd parking lot up Lost Creek, walk back behind the picnic tables, and 'scale' this little bit of rock at the bottom to climb up where Thomas is in the picture (green jacket)...

Emma climbed it herself and Peanut certainly would have if her legs were a wee bit longer - as it was, she found her own way up because she's determined like that. Molly, um, No. She just stayed below...

Then, just behind Thomas, and to the left (looking on), is the entrance to a cave. If you crawl into it, cuz my kids do that stuff, it opens up into a room.

And, coolest, the kids found a 'secret passageway', another entrance into the cave from above. They weren't the first to find it of course - some kind earlier spelunker had left a rope tied from above to aid climbers coming after. After you climb the rope, you are on a little ledge or something, and there is a "chain" (didn't ask and don't want to know ;) to help you climb the rest of the way...

So, since we have boys, and boys will be boys, and said boys had to conquer every inch of the cave, we spent about 2 hours here.

Good thing those guys go everywhere prepared with all sorts of gadgets - they had flashlights (take a flashlight if you want to explore the cave...). Tho it wouldn't have been 2 hours cool without the flashlights...

Peanut of course was right in the middle of it all, tho we didn't let her climb inside the cave. She was bummed.LOL!

Red Rock was a very pretty stop. And while Las Vegas isn't what I would call a family friendly place, I think that we will be back to visit Red Rock again - once they get their Jr. Ranger program in place of course :)

Death Valley NP...

2011-12-29T16:46:00.000-08:00

Last week we spent a day driving through Death Valley National Park.

We left the 5th wheel and truck parked at the Walmart in Pahrump, NV, and took the van through the park. It's a big park.

We drove in through Death Valley Junction from Pahrump. We left with enough fuel to last the day, and that is one tip that I would highly recommend for anyone driving the park - it's a big park (like I said...), and while there is fuel at Stovepipe Wells, it is about $1.50 more per gallon than if you just fill up before leaving wherever it is you're leaving from...
There are actually quite a few accomodations if you would like to stay overnight in the park. And, there are also 12 campgrounds (some seasonal), from inexpensive NPS campgrounds without hookups (free to $12-18/night) to more pricey (up to $30-32/night) consessionare campgrounds that have 50 amp full hookups.

Our first stop was at Furnace Creek. There is a visitor's center there, and we stopped to pick up Jr. Ranger booklets. This is the view from the visitor's center, looking towards the campground...

In retrospect, I wish that we would have camped in the park - There are a lot of fun ranger-led programs that Death Valley offers - and while it didn't work out that we got to attend any of them, the ones that I most wanted to go to were campfire talks offered on Sun. and Thurs. nights in the campground (not sure if which nights they are located in the campground changes...) - there is a talk offered every night at 7, but I thought it would be most fun to walk from the rv right to the fire ring. We would have loved to have been able to attend some of the programs, most especially the ones on Tarantulas, Incredible Animals of the Desert, 1848 and Beyond, What Howls in the Night, or maybe Flintknapping or Stone Tool Making...

As we drove through the park from Furnace Creek to Stovepipe Wells, Death Valley looked much like I expected it to... We stopped at the little General Store in Stovepipe Wells, and found a great bumper sticker for the back of the toy hauler! :)

We decided that one of the main attractions of Death Valley, Scotty's Castle, was too far of a drive (besides, who wants to pay for a tour of a house, at least for 12 people, no matter how cool it is), so we drove back down the road a mile or two to stop at the... sand dunes. There is a parking lot there for visitors, and you just wander out in the valley to the dunes - it's just a little bitty walk.
We found all sorts of animal tracks in the sand, from kangaroo rats to lizards and birds. The kids took their shoes off and ran.

Even Caleb got sand between his little toes... compliments of Molly... My girls... (well, a couple of them ;) Peanut was the one that most wanted to play in the sand... and enjoyed it the most... She really gets into stuff like this... :) (and takes plenty of it home with her...)

Even tho we got there in the afternoon, most of the sand was still untouched... (except for by the residents)

And while we weren't done in the park, we did turn in our Jr. Ranger booklets on our way south in case we weren't back through Furnace Creek before the visitor's center closed.

And then it was time for a drive south on Badwater Road to The Devil's Golf Course... this strange area of the valley where the ground was incredibly uneven, and there were holes everywhere!

The mountains across from the 'golf course'... Then on to Badwater Basin. These are the salt crystals that cover acres of ground... It was windy and chilly while we were there, so I stayed in the van with Caleb while Vaughn and the kids walked out into the basin. You walk out as far as you would like, until you come to an area where it seems that no-one else has touched (walked on) the salt crystals, and you can break off pieces to try them. The kids thought that was pretty neat that they could eat the salt - so much so that I wondered if any of them would get salt poisoning.

Molly thought that eating the salt was so cool that after they all loaded back up in the van, I turned to ask her about it and found her licking the bottom of her shoe!!! LOL! and.Yuck!!! I thought that Death Valley would be a bummer of a place to visit, but it ended up being pretty neat, the kids earned another badge for their vests, and we picked up a very cool bumper sticker for the back of the toy hauler.

And while our first visit (this trip) to Nevada started on a good note, I still have a hard time getting used to the fact that EVERY store here has gaming machines in their entrances. I stopped at CVS to pick up some candy for the kids' stockings, and they had a foyer full of gambling machines. Wierd. ~tho those machines will save us some money while we stay here - I can't stand them, (and have a great urge to tell those lounging at them to go out and get a life!) and I am certainly less likely to shop at those stores. Since they are in nearly every shop, guess I'm not shopping much!

(- which must be holding true since we are having hot dogs tonight and we can't even have a campfire in the park...they were all that was in the freezer, and I still don't have any desire to head to the store. LOL! ;)

Christmas in an RV!!!

2011-12-27T15:08:00.000-08:00

This was our 3rd Christmas on the road. Our first was spent in the Lake Whitney COE park in Texas, last year we were in Phoenix but drove home for a quick week with Greg who had stayed back in MT to work, and this year we are in NV!

We pulled into the Thousand Trails park in Las Vegas last Monday, and spent the evening decorating a bit for Christmas. Eli and Beth put garland and bulbs on the slide trim in the livingroom...

while Caleb supervised... :)

Eli also set up the tree so the kids could decorate it...

The first year we bought a little artificial tree - the first fake tree we had ever had...

and when Christmas was over, we donated the tree and decorations to Goodwill.

Last year we bought another fake 3 foot tree, and being the frugal person that I am (or would like to think I am), we found a spot for it under our master bed (the whole underneath is storage :). A fake tree still seems a bit un-Christmassy, but it can be hard (and expensive) to find real, small, evergreens down south. Plus we are usually busy doing other things and don't want to take the time to hunt for a tree.

Molly was old enough this year to really enjoy all the holiday festivities.

I worried that we would have a fight on our hands keeping her out of the little candy canes that they put on the tree, but once they were on, she didn't bother them a bit...

We did have a problem keeping Caspian (! - the cat!) off the table and to keep him from licking the candy canes.

Once the tree was decorated, the little girls thought it should be Christmas right away.

Thank goodness Greg was due in in 2 days; he was flying in from basic training and would/will be spending 2 weeks with us!!! We're so excited!!!

We spent the days before Christmas enjoying our time with Greg, drilling him about life at basic, and catching up on the last 5 weeks.

On Christmas Eve, for as long as I can remember (which isn't necessarily very long...) we have given the kids 2 gifts - new jammies and a new book. The kids aren't surprised by the gifts, they know what they will be, but they love the tradition. The past 2 years we have done pjs, but not books, but this year we resurrected the book tradition.

So the night before Christmas, after a dinner of Oregon-caught crab (Thanks Boys!!!), the kids opened up their Christmas jammies...

and put them on before watching our traditional Christmas Eve movie, which happens to be the Muppet's Christmas Carol

and all sat down to enjoy watching it together, along with having a snack of Muddy Buddies thanks to Bethy...

and then the kids opened up their books, and read, in their beds, until how ever late they wanted to. The big S does not come to our house; we wrap all the gifts and put them under the tree, and do the kids' stockings after they go to bed - doesn't matter if their asleep or not, we're too old to stay awake until they are all asleep, and they know that the stockings are off limits until we are up in the morning.
Christmas morning at our house (RV) means reading the story of Christ's birth...

before opening stockings...

Eli bought a shirt when we were at Death Valley last weekend, and it was so 'us' that we picked one up to put in Greg's stocking...

"Bring a compass... It's awkward when you have to eat your friends" :)

Caleb wasn't really into the gifts this year...

but Molly stepped in the gap for him and volunteered to open his gifts for him.

No, we don't have a lot of room, but even though we now live in an rv, our Christmas' are just as wonderful as they were before we became houseless. We missed having the whole family together for Christmas since Hannah chose to stay in MT now, but I guess that as the kids get older, this will probably be the norm.

It's not the same as being all together, but I am still so blessed despite all this year's challenges.

Molly got a new dolly, and poor Greg couldn't get it out of the package quick enough - she was shaking with anticipation. Glad she loves her babies so much. Can't imagine where she gets it ;)

Daddy's big gift was a new blue-ray player. We have one, but haven't been able to find the remote for it since we 'moved' back in. And Greg received all sorts of fun tactical stuff, but he won't be taking any of it back to basic with him - says he'd like to still have it when he gets out... and that it will be just like Christmas again when he gets out and rediscovers it all over. :)

V received a bunch of 'yummy' (read gross) stocking stuffers like kipper snacks and oysters -and he shared some of them with the boys - they took them outside to eat them, and then gave in to my request that they brush their teeth the minute that they came back inside ;)

Now that we are in the rv, Christmas dinner isn't quite what it used to be, but Bethy and I managed to make a few yummy dishes in our little kitchen, and we topped it all off with pecan pie (tho I did cheat and buy pre-made pie crusts ;)

I love Christmas in the RV - we have been forced to simplify, and now have more time to just enjoy each other, and to reflect on the true reason why we celebrate Christmas. Kinda sad that the day is over, but we are still enjoying the gift of Greg being home for a few weeks, and, as Emma said, it's only 363 days until next Christmas!!!

Wishing You a Very Merry CHRISTmas...

2011-12-23T23:47:00.001-08:00

Blogging a bit over at Woodall's Family Camping Blog about Spending Christmas in an RV...

I hope that each and every one of you have a Very Merry CHRISTmas season: mindful of the real Reason for the Season, filled with the gifts of love, joy, and peace, and surrounded by family and friends. God Bless Us, Every One.

Ah, bliss...

2011-12-21T22:49:00.000-08:00

Today was a super fantabulous day!

First we spent the day with some friends from home, joking how one of our favorite things to do on the road is to meet and visit with new friends. And here we are, clear down in NV, meeting up and visiting with friends that we see at home! It was great! :) We are planning on meeting with them again while we are here.

Then, this afternoon, Greg, our oldest son, flew in for a 2 week Christmas break from boot camp! He didn't get home until about 7:30 because the airline sent his duffel on the wrong flight (but at least they found it!), and that was after he had his backpack stolen on the way to boot camp... - poor kid has bad luck with luggage!

We got a box from home today, and my sister (Thank You for being our mail lady, sis!!) sent us some great flags (cuz my boys love to fly them), including this very timely one...

which the boys immediately took outside and hung on the front of the toy hauler with duct tape; it's still there since Greg got home in the dark (hoping that the duct tape peels off cleanly without taking that new paint job on the nose cone off with it...). The younger boys set up a military scene on the hood with their army guys. :)

We are so very excited to have our biggest boy back for a few days. We knew that he would do fine at boot camp, and he sounds great when we get to talk with him on the phone, but there is just something about this mom seeing that her boy is doing well... ;) The boys drilled him on 'boot camp' life for a few hours, but since he had been up for over 44 hours, we finally let him go to sleep, and he is snoring down on the hide-a-bed. Music to my ears :) I told the family that I don't want anything else for Christmas - I just got my ultimate gift a little early and plan on enjoying it every minute of the next 2 weeks!

underage gambling...

2011-12-20T23:45:00.000-08:00

backtracking...
Last week we spent 3 nights out in the middle of nowhere south of San Francisco. The RV park, San Benito, was a quiet (very quiet) park with all sorts of amenities, but since it was pretty cold while we were there, we didn't take advantage of them.
We are loving that so much is so handy at these parks - Bethy and I got the laundry caught up, we were able to buy propane without leaving the park, and the kids played a few games of mini golf. But, the thing that the kids were most interested in at this park was something that, thanks to other FOTR (families on the road) blogs, we had noticed that other kids were enjoying in these Thousand Trails, and that was
CANDY BAR BINGO...

So when the kids were reading through the week's activity schedule for the park, they were pretty tickled to see candy bar bingo on the list. It was scheduled for Sunday, and we were going to still be there! WooHoo! There was a minimum of 6 kids required to play, but hey, we met that with just us...
I don't know if it's different for different parks, but the way that it is played here is as follows:
8 different games, the kids 'bought' their boards ($.25) at the beginning and kept them for the duration-they could work as many boards as they liked, if you got 'bingo' you got to choose 2 snack-size candy bars or a little baggie of candy.

The 3 other kids that came to play didn't stay for long (I think that they were residents, there all the time, so it wasn't as 'cool' for them as it was for my kiddos). Emma was the most excited upon winning a game...

But Bethy was the bingo queen - the kids ended up playing only 7 games, and of those, Bethy won 3...
everyone was coveting her boards :)

Poor Peanut, she tried so hard to be a good sport - she diligently slid her little red windows over her numbers as they were called (with a little help from mom finding the higher numbers), but would get a little more concerned with each 'bingo' called out. By the next to the last game, after she had finished clearing her board in anticipation of the next game, tears were spilling over and she was trying really hard to smile and keep her emotions in check. I asked her what was wrong, and she whispered, trying not to cry, "I just want to WIN!!!". She was trying really hard to have a good attitude, but she so wanted to win - bingo kind of stinks because it doesn't matter how hard you work at it, how much you want it, if you don't have the numbers, you can't win- doesn't matter if you put more effort into it than everyone else... I felt so bad for her! But, it was a good lesson on being happy for those that do win, and for being patient and keeping at it. And since the last game was 'blackout', the prize was double the candy. Bethy won (of course), and let Peanut pick one of her prizes. Peanut did finally chose one, and appreciated it, but you could tell that she knew she didn't earn it, and while she was thankful, it wasn't the same as winning it herself. She is my spunky one, and will be all the more determined to win a game next time.
Molly didn't care if she won or not, she was just glad that Bethy let her pick one of the prizes too...
We've been on the road again nearly a month now, and we are learning lots during our travels -
I mean, not everyone gets to learn their colors compliments of the Jelly Belly factory, and Peanut, who turned 4 in August, is learning her letters; so far she knows B, I, N, G, and O... :) (and is quite determined to win her own candy bars in the future, thankyouverymuch ;)

TOS Review - World's Greatest Stories...

2011-12-20T23:37:00.000-08:00

One of the things that we do a ton of, since we spend so much time driving, is to listen to cds in the van.
As part of The Old Schoolhouse magazine's review crew, I was able to review a very different set of 'dramatized Bible stories'. These Bible 'stories' are different from any that we have previously heard because they come, word for word, from the Bible (and are offered in both KJV and NIV versions).

The World's Greatest Stories are a set of 23 Bible stories taken directly from the Bible, and are told by dramatic storyteller George W. Sarris with the addition of music and sound effects. Told on 7 cds, each approximately 1 hour long, they are a unique way to help your children become familiar with the true biblical account of each story. Too often kids are familiar with a 'version' of a biblical account that is not quite accurate thanks to the influence of movies; these accounts are a retelling of the text, using the exact words from the Bible but with dramatized voices.

We were sent Volume 1 of the KJV version to review, and I must say that we enjoyed it very much! It took us a little bit to get the hang of how the stories are told. Mr. Sarris uses different voices for each person or group of persons, and he uses the person's voice not only for the words that they speak aloud in scripture, but also for their actions - it made it very easy to follow the storyline and to follow changes in actions between persons also. The first time that we listened to the cd, I initially put it in because we were on a long haul (for us), and the kids had been in the van for a couple of hours and things were getting a little rowdy. At first the kids didn't pay much attention, but I got into the storyline ;), and before I knew it, the van was silent as the kids were interested in the stories also. The van stayed quiet for the entire hour of the cd. That first cd, The Prophets, includes The Blazing Furnace (Daniel 3), The Handwriting on the Wall (Daniel 5), Daniel in the Lions' Den (Daniel 6), Elijah and the Prophets of Baal (I Kings 17-18), and The Prophecy of Jonah (the complete book of Jonah). Appropriate for all ages, each hour long cd costs $7.95 plus s&h, but if you purchase the set of 6 cds, shipping is free. You can hear samples of the stories on The World's Greatest Stories website, and find out about ordering the cds.

We really enjoyed getting to review the first volume of this great set; it will be listened to over and over again during our travels!

*We were sent a sample cd and a vol.1 cd free of charge in exchange for our honest review of the product. No further compensation was received.

today...

2011-12-19T21:06:00.000-08:00

Today was a rather eclectic day! For us northerners, Christmas time usually means parkas and sleds and hot cocoa in front of a fire.
This afternoon it didn't feel as tho Christmas is a mere 6 days away!
Today we checked into our 4th Thousand Trails park, this one we are scheduled to be in for the next 11 days (trying to extend it to 14, waiting for someone else to cancel...). Once the kids figured out that it had a heated pool that is still open (as they are getting a big group in over Christmas), and not caring that even tho it is heated it is still an outdoor pool, the Rubbermaid totes of swimsuits and beach towels were unearthed and distributed. The parks in CA had outdoor pools also, but they were all closed for the winter.
Nevermind that it was 4pm and the temp was already dropping, within minutes we were on our way to the pool - we did get some raised eyebrows from some of the snowbirds; those that were outside were wearing jackets! LOL!

For the record, Caleb and I were the only ones that didn't get in the pool. But everyone else had a great time and stayed in for well over an hour.

Bethy loves it when I take her picture ;)

We did already get in trouble :( for letting the little girls in the hot tub even tho their daddy was with them and there wasn't anyone else using, or wanting to use the hot tub...

Our neighbors on one side are really nice, and we have yet to meet the others, but hope that they are nice (and not already mad at us because the parked van overlaps into their site about a foot). We know that our numbers can be intimidating, and we know that some of the other campers just cringe when our tribe all pours out of the van when we arrive at a new spot - we want to be, try to be, the kind of neighbors that when we leave, they will think, at the worst, 'well, that wasn't so bad' - or hopefully, even come over and say, "you can camp next to us anytime" (like the folks we met at Russian River TT park).

Between getting booted from the hot tub, having to park in our neighbors site, and an unusually high percentage of grumpy faces here, we would still love to make a good impression, but right now we are just going for not getting kicked out of the park.

I visited with a few ladies in the 'community center' while the kids swam, and also got the laundry caught up.

After dinner, we put in a Bing Crosby Christmas cd, Eli set up the tree, and...

the kids decorated. Eli and Beth put garland up around the slides, and the other kids decorated the tree.

Even baby Caleb got in on the act...

The kids unwrapped mini candy canes and put them on the tree also, but we may have to take them down - Caspian (the cat) won't stay off the table now as he climbs up to lick them.

The kids had a good time decorating the tree...

Tho Molly was a little out of sorts that the tree got all the little candy canes and she didn't get any (yet)...

After decorating the tree, we sat around eating warm from our little oven Triple Chunk brownies and watched Holiday Inn. (we are saving the best Christmas movies until Greg gets here)

Thank goodness that we have Wednesday to look forward to - Greg flies in then, and we are all so excited(!!!)

otherwise, those 6 days until Christmas might seem like a very, very long time...

One Very Sweet Stop...

2011-12-17T20:41:00.000-08:00

When we stayed at our first Thousand Trails park, Russian River near Cloverdale, one of the papers that they gave us highlighted local attractions. I loved that they had already rounded them up for us!

Right away we noticed that the Jelly Belly factory was on the list!
Now, we hadn't particularly been looking for the JB factory to tour, but since we had been enjoying their beans during long drives ever since we left home, a tour of the factory sounded like a timely field trip! Besides, it was free. When you usually have to pay for 12 admissions everywhere you go, you get pretty fond of free. :)

Because it was about an hour and a half from the park, we decided to make our stop on the way out - so last Saturday we stopped at the JB factory for an afternoon tour.
The factory has quite the tourist thing going - free tours to get you in the door, but just like the Tillamook Cheese Factory in Oregon, they suck you into the gift shop and it ends up being a rather expensive tour after all! LOL!
The factory has a diner, an ice cream bar, a fun gift shop, and even a bargain shop.

And, this must have been Eli's day because wonder of wonders, they even had a penny squisher (actually, they had 2!)....

And, more fun for Eli, they had hats in the gift shop! Eli LOVES hats! He REALLY, REALLY wanted to buy this one...

Um, yeah, I talked him out of it.

But, I had to share this great picture with you anyway. I told him that I was going to put it on the blog (kidding), but he just said he didn't care, so I really am!!!

I love that my kids all have such a great sense of humor!!! We have a lot of fun together! :)

Anyway, while we were waiting in line for the tour, (and the ladies in front of us were giving us the 'eye', really trying to figure out the dynamics of our group because they surely cannot all be our kids), we were checking out the bean art - the pictures in the foyer (and more in the production areas) are made up of jelly beans! There are between 10 and 14 THOUSAND jelly beans in each picture!

My fav jelly bean art was a picture dedicated to Jimmy Doolittle's Raiders, but it was hanging in the production area, and you are not allowed to take pictures in there for the privacy of the workers. There weren't any workers making jelly beans while we were there because we went on the weekend; jelly beans (and lots of other candy) are produced Mon - Fri 24 hours a day, but the machines and employees are given a break on the weekends (but pics are still not allowed). So, if you go for a tour, it's a better (but much louder) tour on during the week as you can see the machinery in use, not just on the video monitors (but you gets lots of samples either time ;).

It was a fun stop, and we picked up a few bags of JB Belly Flops - belly flops are the misshapen jelly beans that are purged from the perfect beans - they are not up to par for the Jelly Belly logo stamp, but we thought they were a lot of fun, and have more personality than the perfect Jelly Bellys :)

And thanks to all those Jelly Bellys, Molly has her colors down pretty well. She insists on telling Bethy, who sits next to her in the van, the color of each one she has before she eats it. At first, most of her colors were wrong, so Beth would correct her - now she is pretty good at naming the right color. Her favorite are the blue Berry Blue ones. :)

Fun stop!

Caleb slept through the 40 minute tour. He is already a month old! He is a great little traveler, and of course we all adore him!

He is such a good baby, and is already getting too big too fast!

I've been too busy enjoying my babies to blog much lately. Hoping to get better about staying caught up (especially for you Gramma! ;).

salt water...

2011-12-15T09:06:00.000-08:00

On our way down the California coast, we stopped alongside the road (there was a little state park with a parking lot that would fit, although barely, our 5th wheel).

We had hoped to go tide pooling, but had not found a great spot that coincided with our traveling schedule, so we decided that we would stop and play in the water even tho we would not be there during low tide, nor were there rocks in the area that would help create the tide pools... I thought it was pretty chilly, but the kids didn't care and took off their shoes, rolled up their pants, and got their feet wet...

It was a beautiful beach...

and we enjoyed walking along it looking for shells and leaving footprints on the beach on the previously unmarked sand that had been groomed by the rolling waves...

but, you know how WE roll...the 'just get our feet wet' soon turned into...

and...

yeah, I wasn't surprised either.
The boys spent an hour or so doing what they like to do on the beach, playing football...

After the kids got cold (and hungry), it was time to head back to the parking lot to rinse off sandy feet (we happened to park right next to a fresh water spigot :), change little girls out of soggy dresses, and make lunch.

It was a nice little stop even if we didn't get to go tide pooling! We are heading a little inland and we don't know if we will get back out to the Pacific...

After spending a few hours at the beach, it was time to finish our 3 hour drive to our first Thousand Trails park!

We spent 3 nights at the Russian River RV Park near Cloverdale, CA. We are not used to being able to stay in such nice parks - they either won't let us in because there are 'too many of you for one rv (or site)', or they charge so much in extra person fees that we can't afford to stay in them! We bought a Thousand Trails membership last month (well, to camp in 2 zones of the US anyway - we picked the southwest and southeast zones), and this was our first chance to use it!

We really enjoyed our stay; everyone was so nice, there was laundry onsite, and it was beautiful and peaceful. We really didn't do much during our stay there - the kids played basketball, built a catapult and trebuchet on the picnic table, and Beth and I went into the nearby little town and found a fun little mom&pop toy shop and got a bit of Christmas shopping done while on our way to the grocery store.We also ran down to Santa Rosa and found a Costco one day - tho I must say that their milk tastes funny down here (and after seeing the dairy lots, it's nearly enough to make us swear off milk while we are here!). We stopped at Target, and I'm going to have to get used to shopping in densely populated areas again - several of the items that I wanted were out of stock - empty shelves never happen at home! We were at San Benito for 3 nights, and then it was time to pull out and move to our next Thousand Trails park - it's been fun to check out the new parks, and to be able to camp where they have all sorts of fun activities, many of them Christmas oriented.

This year, with Caleb's birth, and all the upheaval with the RV repair, I didn't get as much of my Christmas shopping done before we left as I would have liked, or usually have done. I waited to do much of my Christmas shopping on the road; rethinking that one now - now that it's too late. Even tho we don't do many gifts for Christmas, filling stockings with 4 or 5 little gifts, and one other gift under the tree (plus Christmas Eve books and PJs), for 13 people, still equals a lot of presents! Hannah stayed back in MT and won't be with us for Christmas, but Greg is flying out to spend his 2 week Christmas break from boot camp with us, so there will be 13 of us for Christmas. :) We are counting down the days until we get to pick Greg up from the airport, and can talk with him whenever and for however long we want (and don't have to all yell, "Bye Greg!!! We Love You!!!" as fast as we can because his drill sergeant just walked into the room and is screaming at everyone to hang up...)

We are excited for our 3rd Christmas in our rv, on the road. It always makes for memorable times!!! :)

Redwoods National Park...

2011-12-14T06:21:00.000-08:00

We've been on the road for only 3 weeks and I'm already behind in my posts, and to be honest, I'm not totally sure what day this was, nor am I ever quite sure what day it currently is... (I think that this was last Tuesday...LOL!)

We had spent Monday night in the Walmart parking lot in Crescent City. If we are thinking of Wallydocking, we always call the store ahead of time to OK our overnighting there; this store said that we could park there, but if the police came and asked us to leave that we would have to. When we pulled in that evening, there were signs all over saying that overnight parking was prohibited. It must be a city ordinance, but since Walmart didn't care that we stayed, we decided to risk it - they had said that people aren't usually asked to leave, so I think that it was just posted so that if someone decided to camp there long-term that it was easier to evict them...

Tuesday morning, we pulled out (not very early!) and drove south through the Redwoods National Park. After driving through Crescent City and seeing a visitor's center for the park, I realized that if there was a v.c. in this town, maybe there wasn't one in the park... so after calling the park service and finding out that it was indeed the only one for the northern part of the park, the kids and I backtracked and picked up Jr. Ranger books (and, among a few other things, our first bumper sticker of the trip! :). Vaughn and Jake had driven on ahead with the 5th wheel, and we followed. Well, we kind of followed, they took 101 while we took the scenic parkway and we met up at the south entrance, which has a large parking lot, and a nice visitor's center (with rangers that were very kid friendly :).

We visited with the rangers and the kids worked on their booklets a bit (yep, even Eli does them (by choice) - he's torn as to which he likes better - he likes it when they have a 'senior' program as they are more challenging, but he also likes it when they don't and he can get it done quickly and easily...I like it that he doesn't care what people think :)The southern entrance's v.c. is located right on the ocean, so we walked out and checked out the shoreline here. Treasure of treasures ;) the kids found a dead crab...
which we all had to check out (except baby Caleb who was sleeping!).
We made and ate lunch in the 5th wheel, and then hopped in the van to drive the park a bit more (and so Dad and Jake could see it - it's hard to check out your surroundings when you are being pushed down a mountain pass by 10 tons and your brakes are smoking!!! - you can read about driving recommendations for the park on the blog I wrote for Woodalls on the Redwood N.P. ).

We drove through Elk Meadows, where there were 8 bull elk bedded down in the clearing - you could only see the tips of their antlers over the tall brush, which acted as great camouflage. A friend who grew up in this area was telling us about a place in the park where you can stand on a bridge under which the elk frequently pass - every year at least one person is gored from trying to 'pet' the elk as they pass under.

Because we had spent so much time on the beach, we had to make our driving tour a rather quick one and only stopped at The Big Tree, where we got out and went for the short walk to The Big Tree itself...we spent some time just walking around checking out the fascinating scenery. We love all the green - it seems like someplace right out of a medieval fairy tale...

so, of course the boys got their swords out of the van (because everyone travels with multiple 4 foot swords, don't they???) and went back in the trees for a mock battle.

They insisted on a photo shoot with their swords, and we all had a good laugh when a couple came down the path walking their dogs - they took one look at the boys brandishing their swords and didn't waste any time heading back the way they had come. I'm not sure that it was the swords - it may have been 'just us' - we seem to have that effect on some people. LOL! You can imagine how our tribe of 12 offends some of the 'Z.P.Ger (zero population growth), tree hugging, super yuppie' people just by our existence (and I'm OK with that...like REALLY OK with that! ;)

We found all sorts of interesting things, like mushrooms growing out of stumps, moss covered everything, and lots and lots of slugs. We don't much care for the dampness tho - being from Montana, where it is very dry, we have a hard time getting used to the humidity and the way the dampness makes it feel so much colder than the same temperature would feel at home. We are in California - isn't that supposed to equal warm???

After playing in the woods for awhile, we headed back to the visitor's center so the kids could turn in their Jr. Ranger booklets, and earn their first badges of the year.

We had hoped to travel a few hours south yet that day, but of course we stayed at the park too long. It gets dark so early, and since we hate pulling into a new place in the dark (even tho we end up doing it ALL THE TIME!), we found a little RV park just off the road that looked nice (from the road) - lots of grass, and easy to get to. That ended up being a little scary - we had to weigh driving in the dark without a determined destination (and no Walmarts in sight), or camping next to a bunch of pot-heads, in a park where they warned us the water might be turned off at any time. The water didn't really matter to us since we carry over 100 gallons, and wouldn't have hooked up to theirs not knowing how safe it was anyway. We mostly just wanted to plug in to recharge our batteries since we had boondocked (camping without hookups) the night before and ran the furnace a lot; since it was cold out at night, we wanted to be sure we didn't drain our batteries and then not be able to run the heater. We have an onboard generator, with an electric start from inside the coach, but we won't run it when we are sleeping as a safety measure.

That was actually quite an interesting stop - when I pulled in, ahead of Vaughn who was backtracking, the young lady told me about the water and how it might be turned off and how they wouldn't charge us if we wanted to stay... I told her that we didn't need to use the water, that we mostly just wanted an electrical plug-in. She then said that if we wanted to plug in that she would have to charge us like an RV. Took me a minute to realize that she had thought that we (ALL!) were going to sleep in our van!!! I had a good laugh, but was glad when Vaughn pulled in with our rv! Our night was uneventful, and we stayed toasty warm in our trailer with the furnace running all night without worry since we were plugged into electricity.

The next morning we packed up and continued our trek south. The California coast is beautiful, and despite the fact that we are still in long sleeves and coats, we are enjoying our travels!

TOS Review - Pitsco Medieval Machines...

2011-12-08T21:53:00.000-08:00

When I saw the website for this review, I really hoped that we'd get picked to try these out!
My boys LOVE medieval machines (ie. catapults!), and to find a ready to assemble kit to make one (or in this case, 2!)... well, I knew that this would be a hit in our house

Made in the USA :) , by Pitsco, we received a prepackaged kit containing a Siege Machines booklet, a catapult kit, a trebuchet kit, and a box of clay (for 'ammo')! With a retail price of $21.95, I think that the kit is a deal considering all the hands-on fun that the kiddos got out of assembling, and then using the working models...

The Siege Machines booklet is a great addition to the individual kits! This 32 page book contains a great informational introduction to the world of siege machines, and is full of ways to turn your models into hands-on math and science applications, from doing simple science experiments using your catapult and rubber bands, to utilizing math to calculate averages of the results of those experiments. It has different educational applications for grades 5-8 and 9-12. "Math physics, engineering, problem solving, and history are all topics that can be enhanced by building, and using siege machines. Even building small versions can open up huge doorways to learning."~from the Siege booklet

2 siege machine kits - each contains the necessary materials to build one model (there are a few additional supplies needed for assembly, but they are household items like glue, ruler, pliers...as noted on website). These models, made of basswood, are ready to punch out, glue together, and attack with!!!
The Trebuchet Kit - this kit is more of a challenge to build than the catapult kit - that being said, the biggest boys enjoyed it all the more for that fact!
The Catapult Kit - this kit is easy to put together, and (IMHO), appropriate for ages 10 and up to build on their owm, but even the 4y.o. sister likes to play (oh, sorry, I mean experiment) with it!!!

and we also received a box of clay which is used to make the projectiles (or, as we prefer to call it, 'ammo' or ammunition ;)

Pitsco also carries a more expensive package ($29.95) that includes all of the above, as well as two in depth teachers/curriculum guides that provide another 20+ hours of teaching material for each kit.

My guys spent about an hour making both (it was a joint effort), and the rest of the day, and days to come, experimenting (and playing) with them! (and I have pics to post, but my internet connection here won't let me - I'll come back later and insert... :) The kids loved building both of the kits, and they have really enjoyed playing with the catapult. We are having to work a bit with the trebuchet to try to get it to release it's projectiles, but that just means that the kids are having to experiment with the mass weights in order to see if the outcome can be altered by such adjustments - sounds like a science experiment to this homeschool mom - and they don't even realize that it's 'school'... :)

I will openly admit that this has been my favorite review to date, and is going to be hard to top!!! I love how non-techy these products are, how much they appeal to my boys (tho the girls are having a ball with them too!), and that it's hands-on instead of just reading about it. I love how lightweight the kits are (perfect for us roadschoolers watching our GVWs!) yet the finished models are quite durable. And I really, really love that the kits are made in the USA (Kansas to be exact)!

The kids are pretty enraptured with Pitsco also, and I'm already getting the 'what else do they have...' We loved their Siege Machine kit! So, now that we have been able to check out the siege machine products they have, if I were a homeschooler looking into my students being able to do this for the first time, I would buy the siege kit that we reviewed, but I would also buy an individual catapult kit for EACH of my kids that I knew would be interested (for me that's ALL the boys...) - because the kits are that cool!!! :)
(like cool enough to be stocking stuffers... just sayin' ;)

*Disclaimer - I received one siege machines kit in exchange for my honest review of the product. No other compensation was received.

Crabbing...

2011-12-06T21:25:00.000-08:00

One of the reasons that we spent an entire month on the Oregon coast the first year that we hit the road was because we loved all the activities out here. Besides being enraptured with the coast simply for the ocean's sake (only Vaughn and Greg had been to the ocean before 2 years ago...), we loved all the activities that the shoreline offered. One of those activities the guys fully embraced...
was crabbing (and clamming, but we haven't gotten to that yet this year). So much so that after that initial day of renting crab pots to try out crabbing, my DH took back the rentals and bought his own.

And we have toted them all over the US with us, including back here this year! Besides the 3 crab rings that the guys bought that first year, we also have some box traps that a good friend gave the kids (there isn't a lot of demand/use for crab traps in MT).

Vaughn took the boys crabbing both Friday and Saturday, and God blessed. Probably sounds corny, but really, they caught way more than anyone around them including people right next to them using the same bait even...

and they guys are starting to feel like they have the hang of it - they knew what to buy for bait, and that if you leave your pots to soak too long, the crab check them out and move on - leaving them in too long is worse than not leaving them in long enough!

Friday they caught 25 'keepers' (they have to be males of a certain width or you have to throw them back), and Saturday they caught 12 more before giving their spot to another family. We put 4 gallon bags of cleaned crab halves in the freezer for when Greg comes to spend his Christmas break with us (the other half is full of venison snack sticks for the same purpose), we ate the rest :)

The guys spent most of their time checking the pots; pulling in the traps to check for crabs, sizing the ones in the pots - saving the keepers and throwing back the females and little ones, and rebaiting the bait bags (a mesh bag that they put turkey legs in that is attached to the middle of the pot. The boys were able to sneek a bit of time here and there to check out the local wildlife, including collecting a few hermit crabs to take home to show the little girls...

They came home each night tired but laughing, and we enjoyed the bounty of their labor :)

Those crab pots have paid for themselves time and again (have you ever bought real crab for 12 people???), but even moreso, they have provided days and days worth of fun and togetherness for my guys (none of us girls got into it much - I think it was the smell of the bait! LOL!)

Sunday afternoon found us in Florence doing laundry, then we pulled out of the Honeyman OR state park on Monday. We made it as far as Crescent City, CA where we stayed in a Walmart last night; our first WallyDocking for the year. The kids always love it when we park in a Walmart - it almost always means donuts for breakfast... and this morning it did :)

We are loving being back on the road!

On the road. finally.

2011-12-03T10:54:00.000-08:00

It has been 3 months since we last saw our 5th wheel. Those 3 months were full of a lot of stress, but they were also brimming with a lot of wonderful memories made possible because of the generosity of my sister opening up their posh cabin to us for 6 weeks, and also due to our kindred-spirit-family opening up their extra house to us and letting us totally mesh with their fun, wonderful family for the other 6 weeks!

Our trailer was finished being repaired the Thursday before Thanksgiving, but we had made some commitments that kept us home a bit longer, and then we both wanted to celebrate Thanksgiving with our friends, and didn't want to be on the road over the Thanksgiving weekend.

Packing and moving never quite work out as I plan (I'd like to think that I'm an optimist. either way, things never quite stick to the schedule I have worked out), and while we had planned on leaving Monday morning, that didn't happen. The little U-haul trailer was packed, but there were just so many odd & ends to be wrapped up that we didn't get on the road. Also, there was the fact that I still hadn't filed for Caleb's birth certificate (I'm an optimistic procrastinator!), and that must be done in person. Vaughn ended up leaving Monday night so that he could get to Tacoma during business hours on Tuesday, and he and Jake unloaded the trailer and started to put things away for us. That was one nice thing about this move - everything already had a designated spot, so it was just a matter of putting things where they belonged as opposed to finding a place for each item.

Tuesday the other kids and I packed up the rest of our 'stuff' in the van, said our 'see you in a few months' (HATE good-byes), and went into town to do the paperwork for Caleb's birth cert. ~Thanks to a dear Dr. friend, who offered to write a proof of pregnancy and live birth for us (which I saved for Caleb's scrapbook :), Caleb's birth certificate came (to our mail lady) the very next day!!! That was such a blessing and relief!!! (and should there be a next time, I'll plan for the need for those documents! LOL!)

We left town about 12:30pm on Tuesday. Eli drove some which was nice, but between Caleb needing to eat 3 times, adding in a few potty breaks, and a 35mph speed limit over Snoqualmie pass (WA) due to snow, and it was about midnight before we pulled into Wescraft RV Repair in Fife, WA (just outside of Tacoma)...Our trailer had been here for about a month and a half, and the guys had rebuilt the front of the frame for us. The thing that really impressed me about this place was their customer service - they called us several times to fill us in on how the 5er was coming along, and seemed truly invested in the fix and very conscientious of the quality of work that they were performing. They pride themselves on fixing things as if each rig were their own - and I believe that they do.

Because they knew that we were full timers, and that we had stripped the trailer before it came to WA because we weren't completely sure we would be getting it back, they let us stay the night in their lot, and even plugged us in while we moved back into our home!!! They ordered some parts for us for the generator so we wouldn't have to go searching for them in Tacoma, and even insisted on washing Vaughn's truck before we left so that it would match our clean 5th wheel! LOL! I would definitely trust my 'home' to them if I needed another repair in the future!!!

After putting things to rights in the camper, it was time to hit the road. Heading south on I-5 from Tacoma to Portland, it was fun to see familiar sites from our first winter of travel!

And we are even camping in a familiar campground! That first winter, after visiting some friends in WA, and then slowly working our way down the coast, we stopped at the Jessie Honeyman state park near Florence, OR. We spent several days, celebrated Greg's 20th birthday, and the kids discovered sandboarding while we were here... In the town of Florence, there is a little shop called the Sand Master Park. It has 40 acres of sculpted sand dunes just for sandboarding and the shop rents sandboards. The kids found the wall full of gatorade bottles full of sand from all over the world interesting; it is sand collected from all places that the owners have been sand boarding. Four of the kids rented sand boards ($16 ea./24 hrs). Sandboarding is much like snowboarding - the wooden sandboard has foot straps on it that resemble those on a snowboard, but they are not quite so bulky - they are big velcro straps that keep each foot secure to the sandboard. Some sandboarders go barefoot, but my crew likes to wear their socks since they are not used to the sand chaffing their feet. Just like snowboarding, you condition your board with wax and cork according to the conditions of the sand - cold or hot, wet or dry... and according to the boys, the amount of enjoyment derived from sandboarding is equal to the height of the jumps you build. Yesterday the sandboard crew consisted of Eli, Beth, Jake, and Joel. Today it's just Eli and Jake while the rest of the boys went with dad to do the 'other thing' that we just had to stop in OR for (which is another post :). The boys sandboarded until dark last night - and their sweaty, sandy bodies went straight to the very nice park shower house as soon as they showed up...I don't think that we will be in OR long - it's cold and wet here - the humidity is something that I'm not sure that I would ever get used to! When we pulled into the park, and were looking for a site, Eli grabbed a copy of a campground map, and remarked that the map 'felt like someone dropped it in the toilet' - not sure where that remark came from, but I don't much care for the soggy feeling of everything either...or all the condensation on the windows...tho I do think that the moss growing on everything is fairly pretty-as long as it doesn't start growing on my trailer (and we don't start growing mold in the camper like we did the first year when we stayed a whole month along the coast...).

It feels so good to be 'home' - I missed my own bed, my little kitchen that takes 5 minutes to clean, and I missed being able to find things without having to dig through a stack of boxes. But I also miss our friends and family.

We have a few things that we still haven't found after moving in (or can't remember where we stashed them) - the hair clippers, Eli's cowboy boots, a big ziploc bag of candy bars (I have my suspicions on that one!)... a few more things that I can't remember (which means that we won't miss them either!). It's good to be home, but it's also an adjustment after having been out of the On The Road mentality for 3 months! I think that we will adjust just fine tho! :)

Last Days...

2011-12-02T19:34:00.000-08:00

The past few weeks have found us pretty busy...

Jake was the 3rd of the boys to get his deer...

and shot this little buck just up from 'the house'. Vaughn took the boys' deer meat in and had it made into summer sausage and snack sticks.

One of the things that the kids enjoy doing while we are home for the summer is to join in with our homeschool dance group. They miss it all winter, so were extra glad that they were able to attend the annual 'regalia' - this year's dress was Civil War circa...

- it happened to fall on the night of Caleb's birth, and my dear friend (and neighbor!) did Bethy's hair beautifully. I was so thankful! And Bethy thought that was fun to have her hair done with her girlfriends!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving day with our friends. Way too much food (even for the 22 of us! LOL!) - for instance, the girls made 11 pies :) I won't publicly admit to how many pieces of pecan pie I ate! ;) and we had a wonderful time of visiting and ping pong. We are going to miss that (them!) so much!!!

These last days have been pretty busy. I haven't updated the blog because we were so busy with packing, saying sad goodbyes, and then...

Yep, for real!

We are back on the road!!! :) fill you in soon!

TOS Review - The Reading Game...

2011-11-26T09:38:00.000-08:00

Since Emma is learning how to read, I thought that 'the reading game' would be a very appropriate product to review! Unlike her older sisters, she isn't really interested in reading, so any motivation is helpful!

'the reading game' is a game that consists of 6 graduating readers, and a set of 60 cards to correspond with each book. The cards are used in a memory game that the student and tutor play multiple times before reading each book (the 'tutor' can be anyone that is able to read the simple words used in the stories). There are 2 cards for each of the 30 words, and the game is played the same as a traditional memory game, with the addition of the matcher saying 'reading' the word on the cards each time a match is completed. Once the student has mastered the 30 sight words, they can easily read the matching book. The 6 books are: Skunk, Snake, Bear, Penguins, Unicorn, and Zebra.

'the reading game' would be a great tool for anyone that is teaching beginning reading by sight words, or by a mixture of sight words and phonetics. If you are teaching by sounds only, then this game would be used only after the student has mastered simple words. It would also be great for reinforcing sight words, and for reviewing sounds for a basic reader who may be struggling.

'the reading game' retails for $24.95; it is geared towards ages 4 and up, and is meant for 2 players, but could easily be adapted for another student or 2. It is a fun way to get in reading practice without the typical boring rote routine! If you would like to read other reviews from The Old Schoolhouse Review Crew members, you can find the links here. :)

*Disclaimer - I was given a 'the reading game' free of charge in exchange for my honest opinion of the product.

The countdown is on...

2011-11-20T19:44:00.000-08:00

In one week, we will finally be on the road!!
We are so excited, and have been trying to prepare to head out to WA to pick up the 5th wheel after being in the shop for a month (and us out of it for nearly 3 months!). We are organizing, throwing away, and hauling to Goodwill. We are planning out the rest of our last week in MT, and will be spending Thanksgiving with our next-door-neighbor-friends (us moms are going to go through withdrawal when we do actually leave!), and the big kids will be spending Friday at the ski hill from 9am to 9pm.

Caleb has a middle name - at a week old, the kids finally got around to fully naming him - he's now Caleb Andrew...

...and even though we have had him for a whopping whole week, Molly isn't sharing any better than when he was brand-new...

Last night we took Hannah and her boyfriend out to dinner. We had a nice time, and when the fortune cookies came out, Vaughn's read:

Traveling to the east will bring you great rewards.

funny.

Maybe the 'great reward' will be touring the sunny south(-east), maybe it'll be swimming in the warm Atlantic, for sure it will be seeing Greg again :) ... any way, that's a mean, tease of a fortune!!!

We are trying...we are trying...

TOS Review - One Minute Reader...

2011-11-20T18:32:00.000-08:00

I loved this product!!!
One Minute Reader is a great tool for motivating early readers!!!

By Read Naturally, the One Minute Reader program is a great system that motivates your young reader to improve their speed and comprehension, and, once the child gets the hang of the process, the program is pretty student directed.

We were given, to review:

*A Starter Pack - Available in 6 levels (we received level 1), each starter pack contains everything to get you started in the One Minute Reader program: a book with audio CD, timer, graphing pencil, and an instructional dvd (all in a plastic case, which had room for one other book/cd combo)

*Level 3 book and audio cd titled Disasters.

There are 6 level of readers (and 8 books available for each level); each book containing 5 non-fiction stories (love that it's not twaddle!), and a cd that includes each of the 5 stories read at 3 different speeds. Ideally, you would purchase one starter set ($24.95) and the other books for each level in book/cd sets ($12.95). You can purchase each complete level (starter set and additional 7 book/cds) for $99.

The Process - One Minute Reader Steps:
Get Ready to Read
Time Yourself Reading (with the 'One Minute' timer included in the starter set)
Mark Your Cold Score in Blue (with the graphing pencil also incl. in the starter set - one side is blue, the other red)
Read Along With the included CD
Read Alone, and Raise Your Score
Take the Quick Quiz
Read for an Adult
Mark Your Hot Score in Red

Due to repetition, and graphing their improvements, readers are motivated to improve their speed, while quizzes and puzzles encourage them in comprehension also instead of reading only for speed.

My littles loved this - they enjoyed the interesting stories, loved the change in how we 'did reading', and appreciated the shorter stories instead of the usual longer book where they would read me a chapter a day.

The program is meant to be consumable. I have 12 kids - at least 4 who will still go through this program, and I do not intend to buy it 4 more times, so we are modifying how we use it a little bit. Instead of the kids marking in the books, an older child or I will follow along and mark the missed words on a separate piece of paper and the reader can still figure out their scores (amount of words read right). I like the program so much though, that I may just go through the books and cover the pages with contact paper so the kids can mark on the pages themselves (the kids underline any words that they miss as they are reading the one page stories), and then mark their scores at the bottom of the pages.

I loved this program, especially the fact that the books are all non-fiction - Level 1's starter pack stories were: Salmon, Ann Bancroft, Fan Palms, Big Ben, and the Nile River. We also received one level 3 book/cd to review, which was our fav as it included stories based on Disasters: Titanic's Forgotten Sister (I learned something new from this story!), An Unquenchable Fire, Deadly Dust, Caught Unprepared, and Mystery at Rupkund Lake. I loved how the cds have their own envelope inside the corresponding book, and how all quizzes, glossary, and even motivational stickers are all included in the book instead of having multiple pieces to keep track of. I also appreciated that all the supplies are cleanly stored in the plastic case that fits so neatly in a bookcase...
In my opinion, the only thing that could have improved this program would be if the plastic starter kit case could house more book/cd combos (I have a thing about keeping stuff together...)

One Minute Reader has definitely been one of our favorite reviews so far - this program will be going on the road with us - and that says something if I am willing to delegate it a spot in the 5th wheel!!! I am hoping to get more of the other book/cd sets, and I'll let you know if they are just as great! In the meantime, you can check out other homeschool mom reviews of the One Minute Reader program, or it's siter online program, Read Live.

*Disclaimer: I was given one starter set and one book/cd for no charge in exchange for my honest opinion of the product. No other compensation was received. :)

Time Flies...

2011-11-17T21:59:00.000-08:00

I can't believe that little Caleb is already 5 days old!
And I am already slacking on pics. To be honest, I haven't taken nearly enough (need to fix that or I won't have anything to scrap!)

Sunday, the day after he was born, Vaughn's mom came and spent the day with us.
We loved having her over, and she loved getting her baby fix. The kids and I plan to go spend another afternoon with her in the next few days - guess I need to fit his carseat to him - he hasn't been out of the house, thus far, any farther than the neighbors - you know, the ones across the driveway...
Speaking of neighbors (or landlords, or benefactors, or whatever you call incredibly generous friends that let you come camp out on their property for what seems to be an indefinite amount of time...), my sweet friend loves to knit. She makes some of the most beautiful creations, and she whipped out this exquisite afghan and beanie for little Caleb between the morning that he was born and the next evening when he first left the house to go 'to the neighbors' to be weighed and measured...

Don't know that Caleb really enjoyed our girls' little photo shoot, but we had fun ;)

and he weighed in at 7#12oz, so I figure that at birth he weighed 7-14 (my babies always lost 2 oz. before they left the hospital, so I'm figuring the same for home...) and he is 20 inches long...

and nope, he still doesn't have a middle name. The kids are slacking in the name department because they have been too busy playing with 'the neighbors'.

He is a very content baby, and we have been enjoying his addition to our family every minute of the day. (and night - especially at night for me - it's the only time I don't have to share him!)

We got a call last evening that our 5th wheel would be finished TODAY!!! Yeah!

But, we had thought that it wouldn't be done till next weekend and Vaughn committed to a couple of little jobs, so we will still be sticking around until next weekend anyway. And that will work out well - we are not so rushed to suddenly move, Bethy will get in her snowboarding, and wee baby Caleb will be a little bit older before he gets strapped into his carseat for any amount of time.

I must be excited to get my home back, we spent the entire day today going through boxes and getting organized, ready to pick up and load a little u-haul trailer and haul everything out to Tacoma and our rolling abode. I'm anxious to get moved back in, and to introduce Caleb to his 'home'. I think that he's going to make a superb little gypsie!

TOS Review - Math Mammoth

2011-11-17T21:54:00.000-08:00

As a member of The Old Schoolhouse's Homeschool Review Team, called the Crew, I was offered the chance to review a math curriculum. I jumped at the chance since I have 2 boys that are in the same year of math - one is a little advanced, and the other really struggles. Because a certain one of those boys is very competitive, I try to keep the boys in different books so it's not a competition (believe me, if that would be advantageous, I would certainly take advantage of it...). I decided that this would be a great chance to try a new curriculum out for one of the boys to see if it would work better than what we have been using.

Now, I will admit that I am having a very hard time reviewing the curriculum that I was sent, and the reason is that it was a download - meaning that you have to print out the pages yourself. This could be great for those of us that school on the road, but it makes it very hard for me to review. If I had noticed on the website that this was a download instead of a hard copy workbook, I would have passed. The Math Mammoth curriculums are all available in your choice of CD or digital downloads, so you can decide which works best for your family.

Downloaded curriculum can be a great tool for those of us on the road. You have access to all the pages of the book without the bulk and weight of a hardcopy, and you can just print out the pages that you will need for the day or week, but it makes it hard to look through it to see the progression of knowledge for review. For me personally, I find it too time consuming to try to keep up on downloaded curriculum and stay ahead of the kids on printing out the pages before needed.

I printed out the first chapter and a few random pages from throughout the book for review, and had my son work through them. The instructions were clear and well laid out, and the pages uncluttered.
One of the best things about Math Mammoth is that they offer free placement tests on their website so that you can be sure that you are purchasing the right series/grade for your student(s). MM offers full math curriculums for grades 1-8, and supplemental materials through high school levels. The curriculum and supplements are very affordable, and download start at only a few dollars. Also, the author of the curriculum is available to answer questions regarding the curriculum or placement tests to ensure a perfect fit for your student!

With multiple series and various information layouts, Math Mammoth has so many different options available that one of their many different math series is sure to fit your family!

*I received a digital download of one workbook for review, free of charge, in exchange for my honest opinion of the product.

Our Soldier...

2011-11-16T16:26:00.000-08:00

Greg is our oldest son. He turned 22 last month. Last Saturday he got a call from his old boss - during his last couple of weeks at work, he had purchased some raffle tickets to benefit Toys for Tots, and he won...

He was pretty excited - if you know us, guns are kind of my guys thing, so he was stoked. Something about being able to do some 3-gun shoots since he has the other 2 already.?.

He has been pretty busy, and didn't get to shoot it before he shipped out yesterday for boot camp.

He did get to meet his new little brother tho...

Which I was really glad for! And so was Greg, you could just tell.

We will really miss him, and are counting down the weeks until we (hopefully) get to see him on his Christmas break! We are so proud of him and can't wait till they let him call home and we can find out how it's going!

Campground excitement...

2011-11-15T11:43:00.000-08:00

this is not about campground excitement that we are experiencing (we don't have our rv back yet, remember), but campground excitement that we are anticipating!

One of the challenges that we face on the road is finding campgrounds that will let us park due to the size of our family! We certainly did not anticipate this when we started out on our 'On the Road' adventures, but we soon came to grips with the fact that this would be an ongoing challenge for us - you see, most campgrounds have a maximum persons per site limit - usually 6 or 8, and we travel with 12 or 13 depending on which (or either) of the older kids is with us. I will not lie about how many people are in our 'group' when making reservations, and this has caused us to not be able to rent a site in multiple parks. More often that not we are turned away with remarks about how that is too many people for one site (or even saying that that is too many people for one rv), how we will overburden the campgrounds utilities (read septic system), and I have even been hung up on...
It didn't take us long to decide to just stick with state parks (tho some states, like TX, make us rent 2 sites - what we are supposed to do with the second site I've not yet figured out...), and we also tend to boondock at WallyWorld if we are putting on the miles or can't find another alternative. Course some times we just stay at WW because I'm burnt out on being rejected by campgrounds and refuse to call anymore... :(

We LOVE to stay at campgrounds - we love to meet other RVers, we love to use the pool or the basketball courts or the pool tables, we love the electrical hook-ups which mean we don't have to put hours on our generator or shut it off for quiet hours, we love the security of being in a nice campground when we want to day-trip out...

And while we haven't been able to stay at many campgrounds, we are hoping that his about to change!!! We found Thousand Trails! We will be hitting the road next weekend (not sure we can wrap things up by this weekend even tho the 5er will be done Fri.), and we are so excited - we THINK that we will be able to stay in some very nice campgrounds - ones with pools and hot tubs (one in PA even has a water park!), mini golf, onsite laundry, and Candy Bar Bingo!!! :) We have never played candy bar bingo, but it sounds right up our alley!!!

Thousand Trails is a campground membership with 80 campgrounds throughout the states (mostly in coastal states); each campground has between 80 and >800 sites, and while you don't have to be a member to stay in the parks, membership does have it's benes! Like, when I called around before buying the membership and asked if each particular park (I didn't call all 80!) would allow our slightly over-the-10-person-per-site-limit family to camp in their park, I got several that said that if we were members they would let us camp there, but if we just pulled in without being members that they would have to turn us away or we would have to rent 2 sites... and I only got one 'no', but that was from someone that said that we would have to take it up with the manager (who wasn't there for the season yet) - but she was still nice about it. The rest were super friendly and said that we were very welcome! That is so exciting to us!!!

I was going to wait to write about TT until we had actually had some experience with several of their parks, but if I wait, you might not find out about the incredible special they are having right now (which is what sucked us in! LOL!):
The most frugal way to 'try' TT is to buy into their annual zone passes. The US is split into 4 zones (NW, SW, SE, SW). An annual zone membership includes 30 days of free camping at any campgrounds in the zone that you buy into. And after the initial 30 days of camping, each additional day is only $3! And it is a one year commitment - you do not have to keep paying the renewal fees, keep the same zone(s), or be locked into a contract. There are some rules, like you can only reserve 60 days out, it is 2 weeks in then 1 week out (or if you stay 4 or less nights, you can go from campground to campground). (you can read all about it over at the Thousand Trails website, including checking out the zones map).

ANYWAY, through this Friday, they are having a special where you purchase one zone and you get a second FREE! We picked the 2 southern zones since that is where we will be spending our winter :) and I am so excited to get to stay in real (nice) RV Parks!!!
I just wanted to let everyone know about the deal in case you might be interested too!!! (if you do decide to get a zone pass, I would love for you to tell them that we sent you - If we get 2 referrals, we would receive a 3rd zone FREE!, which would be very handy through OR when we pick up the 5er next weekend! :)
If you have any questions on the passes, I would be happy to try to answer them! You can email me at: blessdx11@yahoo.com (gotta do something about changing that address now that Caleb has emerged ;)

We are so excited to hit the road next weekend...
Maybe we will get to meet more of you on the road now that we get to camp in real, actual, RV parks - we'll be the ones living in the pool! :) ROFL!

TOS Homeschool Review - College SAT Prep Course...

2011-11-15T11:40:00.000-08:00

One of the products that I wanted to review for The Old Schoolhouse Review Crew this winter was the College Prep Genius, a course that teaches kids what to expect on, and how to take the SAT.
Surely one of these kids will want to go to college someday, and one of the tools that they will need in order to qualify for scholarships is the knowledge of how to take the SAT in order to better their scores. Designed for high school students, I thought this would be a great resource to have in the home to prepare my big kids for taking the test.

The CPG bundle that I had the opportunity to review consisted of a DVD, textbook, and workbook (all 2nd edition):
CPG DVD - broken into 2 sections, the DVD contains a thorough review of the 3 sections of the SAT and the PSAT and is an overview into the textbook/workbook. The second part of the DVD breaks down the curriculum into 12 easy lessons.

CPG Textbook - The all inclusive textbook includes over 350 tips, shortcuts, and test taking strategies. It also review all aspects of the test and includes 300 must know math terms and 75 little known scholarship websites.

CPG Workbook - Designed to correlate with the DVD, the workbook contains practice SAT and PSAT tests, and covers the 3 areas on the test - math, critical reading, and writing. Each student needs their own workbook.

The CPG course is excellent in that it teaches the kids HOW to take the test - sometimes homeschoolers aren't well-versed in test taking (like mine), and going into an important test without prior test taking skills can be very intimidating (which can effect their test scores). The course emphasises how to answer the questions logically even if you don't know the information.

I loved that the course is very self-directed, but it was more time consuming than I expected it to be (which is not a bad thing, we just haven't covered the whole thing yet...). This is not a last-minute prep, but one for kids that are serious about preparing for the SAT in order to raise their scores (and therefor qualify for more scholarships. The College Prep Genius course can be purchase in a bundle ($99), or items can be purchased individually.

*I received the College Prep Genius course free of charge in exchange for my honest review of the program. :)

our newest traveling buddy...

2011-11-12T17:32:00.000-08:00

Just taking a second to introduce the newest member of Our Traveling Tribe :)

Caleb joined our family this morning at 9:28. Nope, he doesn't have a middle name yet, and nope, I don't have any idea how much he weighs yet (we are guessing around 8#).

~and nope, I don't have any better pics - you'd think that a family that travels as much as we do would have learned by now to keep at least one camera's batteries charged... :(

(sister Emma, 6, is enraptured with him and keeps letting us know how absolutely adorable her baby brother is :)

I'll blog you some of the details later, but as a spoiler, we'll just say that this boy has a mind of his own and our 'birth plan' was useless; he was not waiting for anything (or anyone) and this birth was strictly between me and God... ;)

No matter, we are sure glad that he is here... :)

Checking on the 5er...

2011-11-08T09:19:00.000-08:00

Being on the road has given us the opportunity to meet some unique and fascinating people. It has also given us the opportunity to visit lots of new places and experience new adventures.

Along those lines, last week Vaughn and Thomas took a little road trip.
They drove to Tacoma on Monday and spent Tuesday and Wednesday at the shop where our 5th wheel is being repaired...

Wescraft RV Repair is rebuilding the frame on our trailer, and Vaughn and Thomas were able to meet and visit with the techs and see the work being done.

Vaughn was very impressed with the shop. They are super busy, but took the time to give the guys a tour, then explain and discuss the work they were doing on the trailer. They showed Vaughn around to the work they were doing on other rvs, and he was very impressed with the quality. They can rebuild and repair stuff that one would think would have to be totalled out (you know, like our trailer ;). Next to ours they were fabricating a new fiberglass grill for a Class A that hit an elk and it looked exactly like the destroyed front.

Wescraft repairs 80 units through their large shop every month, and will have up to 100 other rvs on the lot waiting for their turn.

The guys had a great time. They did a little site seeing, shopping, meeting new people, and trying new restaurants, and then they made the beautiful trip home on Thursday...

Then we all went up to my sister's cabin on Friday and Saturday. It was beautiful. It snowed most of the time, and I didn't take my internet booster, so we didn't have phones or internet. With a roaring fire and a beautiful view of the mountains it was a nice little get away.

Now we're back at 'home' where the kids have their noses in their schoolbooks this morning. They are going to be really bummed when they see the size of the box of (more) schoolbooks that will be arriving this week! LOL! (it was easier to order new copies than to find ours in storage)

I'm off to play teacher (or maybe it's principal) : Emma needs help with her reading, Joel has already earned an extra lesson of math for sneaking off and playing with Peanut, and at the moment, instead of math, Daniel is playing hockey with the girls' pet shops and his ruler.

Oh, to be on the road... ;)

crazy boys...

2011-11-06T12:59:00.000-08:00

While I grew up in Montana, have been hunting before, am a pro-gun advocate, and enjoying being out and about in God's creation, I can tell you that I was one happy camper when Greg turned 12 and he could go hunting with his Dad (and I didn't have to anymore! LOL!). I am a wimp. It's not the hunting, it's the hanging out in one spot (or even walking around for that matter) in the cold, waiting to see game that may never come by. I did it some (just a little some) to be with Vaughn, but was glad to hand over the gun when Greg 'came of age'.

And JOY (for me;) - now Vaughn has 4 of his boys old enough to hunt with him! And they aren't wimps like their mother...

Last weekend Vaughn, Greg, Eli, and Jake took a friend's boat down the lake to an area that they had hunted before - it's an area that you have to either boat or hike in to. It's just the kind of outing the boys had been hankering for!

Personally, I thought they were crazy - it was freezing out. No, really. It was freezing out.

They were a bit chilly Thursday night, but stuck it out anyway and stayed for Fri. too.

Eli harvested his deer...

The boys brought it back home to our friends' barn where they hung it and boned it out, adding the meat to what is already in the freezer waiting to be turned into sausage.

So, 2 down, 2 or 3 to go. Next on the adgenda is getting Greg something before he ships out to boot camp on the 15th. He finished his last day at work this past Thurs., so we will have a few days to enjoy him before he leaves.

Between getting the hunting bug taken care of, and the ski hill opening early this year so that Bethy can get in a day or 2 of snowboarding, we are right on track to have all those little 'Montana' experiences out of the way just in time for the RV to be finished being rebuilt right around Thanksgiving. (and SURELY we will have a new baby by then, right?!?!?)

We are talking about possibly doing CA for Dec. (never had the desire before, but it's fairly close to the rv, and I don't think I can take another move like heading to AZ and waiting for the trailer). We are toying with the idea of doing the west coast (jetting south till we hit warm weather and then slowing down to check it out) for Dec, spending a bit of time at Q (Quartzsite, AZ), and then visiting our AZ fam. Off to TX after, and then...??? (that's too much planning as it is!LOL!).

We love to plan. Just don't expect us to stick to it :)

In the meantime, we are getting ready for one more move in the next few days, the baby is due in a week and a half (it'll be before, I'm pretty sure), and we are getting a good start on our school bookwork. It's a little crazy around here.

I'll be so glad to get the RV back and for things to get 'back to normal'. :) Until then, I guess we are just along for the ride...

Woodall's blog...

2011-10-31T20:40:00.000-07:00

Especially if you are a full-timer, PLEASE be sure your RV insurance coverage is right for you...
Is your rv insurance adequate?
...because it's no fun finding out the hard way if it's not!

2011-10-27T19:10:00.000-07:00

blogging for Woodall's Family Camping Directory on our RV's structural damage, and how it's all going...

And the Frame Failure Fiasco Continues...

catching up...

2011-10-26T13:57:00.000-07:00

I haven't blogged in awhile both because things have been really busy, and really NOT busy. at the same time...

The shop in WA finally got the OK to fix our RV - took over a week after our ins. co. got the estimate for our insurance to approve the repair (and we have been working on this since Sept. 7th!). It just went on the shop floor on Monday, and it sounds like it may be fixed by Thanksgiving. While we have been so blessed by the generosity of friends and family who have let us use their 'extra houses', I will be so thankful to get my own Home-Sweet-5er back! It has been a little stressful to be homeless for 2 months now - especially being 37 weeks pregnant - have you ever tried 'nesting' while living out of boxes??? Let me tell you, after being in limbo the last 2 months, it can't be done! Not sure what God is trying to teach me through all of the upheaval of the summer and fall, but I sure wish that I would 'get it' and could move on! LOL!

We moved in with some friends (who, amazingly still seem to be our friends!); we got here nearly 2 weeks ago, and it has be much more fabulous that I hoped it would be. Our friends also are expecting their 12th, and have 2 out of the house! We are staying in a nice single-wide trailer that they have on their property - actually, just across the driveway, and the boys have been sleeping in their travel trailer. Gives whole new meaning to the saying 'next-door neighbors' - at least to both of us since both families are used to living in the country!
We have a bit of a schedule worked out; at least as much as I schedule: the kids do their schoolwork in the mornings, and they filter outside around lunchtime after which point if either of us moms want to see them, we have to go look for them. Except the little girls - they tend to hang out in the mudroom in the house where they have a dollhouse set up. Some days I hang out in the trailer, and some I hang out in the house and we moms gab. :)

Since we arrived at our current squatting location, we have celebrated Jake's 14th birthday, Greg's 22nd, and one of their daughter's 15th! Our combined 18 kids have been left home a couple of times alone, and the house is thankfully still in one piece. And we haven't needed the onsite Dr.'s services a single time since we have been here! ;) We have done our usual pizza/popcorn/movie Friday night (because our friends are incredibly thoughtful like that), and we parents went out this past Sat. to Chinese, the symphony, and ice cream. I must say that I enjoyed the symphony much more that I thought that I would!

I think that we moms will both miss the 'neighbor--hood' when we leave.

And speaking of leaving, we aren't. At least we aren't moving from here this week like we thought. We had planned to move to a rental sometime this week, but the landlord, who is also a friend of ours (strange landlords don't rent to people with 9 or 10 kids!), called Vaughn and said that the renter who is in there now is not able to move into his new place until Nov. 5th. So, we are parking it here an extra week. We are loving it here, but would like to get our own place so we still DO HAVE FRIENDS by the time this rv/insurance mess is all over with...

The boys especially are really glad that we are still hanging out in Montana (after waking to a snow-covered porch this morning, I don't share their feelings) - this year is Thomas' first year to hunt, and even though Jake got to hunt last year, he didn't shoot anything, so he is glad to get another chance this fall.

In MT, kids up to 15 get to begin hunting 2 days before the regular season begins. Thomas harvested this guy last Friday...He harvested it with his Grampa Ticknor's 30.06. Since Grampa passed away just a couple of weeks ago, that was pretty touching, especially for Vaughn and Greg.

The guys brought the deer back to our friends' house, where they hung it in the barn and then boned it out. Since we don't care much for the gamey taste of muleys, they cubed the meat and put it in the freezer where they hope to add another deer to it and then we will take it to a processor where we will have it turned into summer sausage. We would get a maximum 2 40# batches done since we don't have much room for it in the rv - in the house we would have done a minimum of 4 batches (course, in the house we often did the whole process ourselves...).

This morning Vaughn, Greg, Eli, and Jake were planning their next hunt, with a friend. It will be Eli's first time out this season since he and Beth just finished up their potato sorting job this past Sat. (they enjoyed it, but I think that they are glad to have some free time too - and I'm glad to have the van back, tho they owe me a very thorough van cleaning! LOL!)

Jake really wants to get his first deer also. He worked for his dad this summer, saved up his money, and he bought a new hunting rifle, scope, case, shells...a few weeks ago. He has spent time at the range getting to know, and sighting in, his new gun, and he's is pretty excited to get in the field (or mountains) and get a chance to harvest an animal with it. This morning tho, he asked his dad if it would be OK if he didn't use his new gun, but used grampa's instead. I think that they can probably work that out... ;)

spud sorters...

2011-10-14T12:12:00.000-07:00

Eli and Beth have been working for a sweet couple from church for the last couple of weeks.
They work long hours (tho they get plenty of breaks due to equipment breakdowns and jams), don't get overtime, and come home filthy every night. they.love.it.

Every half hour or so, a truck load of potatoes shows up and dumps thousands of pounds of potatoes needing to be sorted.
The kids stand along this belt all day picking out the 'extras' that come from the field mixed in with the potatoes. Their job is to pull out any potato vines or rocks that had not been previously sorted out.

It is dusty, dirty work, so they generally wear sunglasses or safety glasses, and bandannas over their faces to keep some of the dust out of their mouths and noses.

The maize of belts sorts the different sizes of potatoes, the kids just have to pick out the other stuff. They process one variety of potatoes at a time, then move onto another. The potatoes are run down several belts until they reach the big storage barn in the background.

At the barn, in which the floor is dug down near as deep again as it is tall on the outside, the potatoes are run up a conveyor belt where a man with a remote runs the belt up and down, and back and forth, and piles those potatoes floor to (almost) ceiling.

The tubes across the floor will be covered with potatoes - the tubes have holes in them through which air will be pumped through the winter (until the potatoes are all shipped out). The air will keep the potatoes from freezing, and ensure that they stay at the right humidity so that the potatoes do not rot.

Since there are several varieties being stored in the barn, when it is time to change kinds being sorted and stored, a wall of straw is constructed, and they then start filling the new 'room' with the next batch.

It sounds like the kids will be done with their 'farm job' sometime next week. That is a good thing since we are now located quite some ways farther, and the drive for them is longer. They have enjoyed the job, and surprisingly, are still eating potatoes! This may just have to become one of our 'yearly' things! Jake hopes so as he will be old enough to join his brother and sister at the belts next year...

There she goes... and moving. again.

2011-10-11T12:01:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday, Karl, from K & D RV Transport out of Tacoma, drove out to tow our toy hauler to the repair shop in Washington. I had talked to Karl several times on the phone, and felt very comfortable handing our 'home' over to him.

Karl had to reinforce the frame before he could move our 5er. He jacked up the sidewalls until they were even with the flexing steel frame, wrapped the corners with heavy duty angle iron, and ran screws through the angle iron, sidewalls, and original frame.
I asked Vaughn to take some pictures of what Karl was doing to the camper so that he could move it, and Vaughn came home with pictures of Karl's sweet tow vehicle instead... it's a guy thing I guess.

Karl called us later in the weekend to let us know that the trip went well and that he dropped our rig off at the repair shop Saturday night. He is the owner's right hand man (or something - not sure of his title) at the repair shop, and he is the ultimate in customer service: he even called us last night to let us know that they would be opening up the exterior of the rv today to accurately assess the damage to the frame so that they could complete the estimate for the insurance company. We are waiting to hear what the estimate came out at so that we will know if they will be fixing or totaling our 5th wheel, but pretty sure that they will be fixing it - Karl said they have seen (and moved, and fixed) worse... :)

After the insurance company inspects the trailer with the repair shop and OKs the estimate, the shop will need our rv for at least 6 more weeks to fix it.

In the meantime, we have been staying at my sister's cabin. It was a life saver when we didn't know where we would go. We found out on Sunday that some company from Texas is coming up to stay in the cabin, and that we need to be out Thursday. I was a little freaked out at first - it's not like a family of 11 can sleep in their van when they can't find anywhere else to go...

But, we actually have options this time!!! There is a home that we can rent based on a friend's recommendation to the owners, there is a trailer that is owned by friends that will come open at the end of the month that we can rent, we have been invited to stay with family in Arizona, and we have some dear friends with a vacant trailer that was on their property when they bought their home. Wow! We are blessed!

Arizona is so tempting - the weather is beautiful, our family is fabulous, and we wouldn't have to 'set up house' for a month. Staying here has it's draws - Greg is here, and we want to see him as much as we can before he ships out for boot camp. He leaves right around when the baby is born, and we would also be here for Vaughn's mom, and then she would get to see the new baby...

We have decided to not make any long term plans until we get a for-sure answer on the 5er, so in the meantime, we will be moving into the trailer on our friends' property. For 2 whole weeks: while Eli and Beth finish up their farm job in Townsend, and we decide to either head for the sunny south without our rv, or take one of the rentals for the month of Nov.

Did I mention that they have the same size family that we do???

Picture it - 2 sets of parents, 18 kids + 2 on the way ( & that doesn't count the 4 that have already 'flown the coop') - why, Yes, as a matter of fact, we do vote. ;)

I think that it's going to be the most fun time!!! The boys will spend countless hours playing airsoft (we'll try not to shoot any of their kids' teeth out again), the big girls will gab and giggle, try on their Civil War dresses, and play games, and the littles will be all over everywhere dragging out every toy they own. A. and Vaughn will discuss and fix all of the US's problems (and come up with an alternative country to live in, just in case), and my kindred spirit T. and I might just actually make it out for lunch together like we have been talking about all summer (if we determine that their home will indeed survive through leaving all the kids there alone)!
well, I'm off to pack...

I'm so excited!!! :) :) :)

Project Appleseed...

2011-10-10T15:30:00.000-07:00

Nope, not Johnny, but at least as 'all American'...

A couple of weekends ago (I can't download pics at the cabin, so I'm a bit behind :), my biggest guys went to a Project Appleseed weekend. Project Appleseed is a patriotic rifle marksmanship program:

Project Appleseed is an activity of The Revolutionary War Veterans Association, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, dedicated to teaching every American our shared heritage and history as well as traditional rifle marksmanship skills. Our volunteer instructors travel across the country teaching those who attend about the difficult choices, the heroic actions, and the sacrifices that the Founders made on behalf of modern Americans, all of whom are their “progeny.”
Our heritage program vividly portrays the Battles of Lexington and Concord with the kind of care and immediacy that is absent from most formal schooling. Modern listeners are confronted with the danger, the fear, and the heartbreaking separations that arose out of the choices made on April 19th, 1775. They are also reminded of the marksmanship skills and masterful organization that ultimately helped set the colonists on the path to success. Those who attend gain a better understanding of the fundamental choices faced by our ancestors as they began to set the stage for the nation we now enjoy. (from their website)

The guys have been wanting to attend a 2 day course for quite some time, and it worked out that there was one just an hour from home.
Since it was their first program, they read up about it online, set up their ARs for the weekend (changing out 'uppers' to have open sights), and packed their range bags. According to the website info, they would run about 150 rounds through their guns while learning traditional American marksmanship skills and they would hear a couple of unique history lessons.
Being history buffs (especially Greg!), they really enjoyed the history lessons at lunch each day, and sprinkled through the shooting - it wasn't your traditional, dry history overview, the instructors each had a lesson that entailed just a very brief part of the Revolutionary War, but was very detailed. They found it quite interesting (I know because I got to hear each lesson from each of my guys after they were home! :) The guys learned some new and interesting shooting techniques, and Vaughn qualified for his 'Rifleman' patch by shooting a certain score.

Since there was a small crowd, the guys got to shoot a lot more than if they were attending a larger course. The other attendees brought .22s, mine took their regular AR15s, and instead of 150 shells, they each shot over 700... yeah, they could have bought new AR22s, with boxes and boxes of ammo, and it would have been cheaper than just the ammo that they went through that weekend (that's how Vaughn and Greg are justifying new AR22s before the next program - Eli already has one). The fact that they each had enough ammo to get through the weekend (just that one kind...), already on hand, gives you a little glimpse into how much they enjoy the sport. ;)
They made some new friends at Project Appleseed, and while this was probably the last Appleseed weekend around here this fall due to the weather (tho there is a special winter program, and the patch you can earn shows ice cycles hanging off the patch), the guys are planning on finding a few where ever we are during our travels this winter.

They can't wait!

2011-10-06T16:00:00.000-07:00

Today was a hard day. It was the day that we said Good-Bye to a very special person.

Vaughn's dad passed away today. His health had been failing for some time, but I think that we all thought that it would deteriorate until he was placed in the hospital and we would all get the chance to tell him how much we loved him before he passed on, how much we appreciated the fact that he was always there for each one in his family, how much we look forward to seeing him again in heaven.

Lloyd (and Jessie too! :)had 4 children, 20 grandchildren, and at least that many great-grands. And he managed to make each one feel like they were his favorite. He had an endless supply of Wilcoxsin's Fudge Bars for his grandbabies, and always took the time to sit down and enjoy them with us.

Yesterday at lunch, his heart stopped beating. He was taken to the hospital, where they managed to bring back a weak heartbeat, and he was placed on life support. Vaughn's mom, Vaughn, and a sister that also lives in town, were there, and the other 2 kids were called. They both arrived last evening, and were there for Lloyd when his life support was shut off. He passed on this morning.

We are so glad that we were still in town to be here when Grampa died. There will be a memorial service for him next weekend, giving the extended family a chance to come.
In the meantime, we have been spending our time with the kids; it is their first experience with losing a loved one. The older kids know that Grampa is in a much better place, and that if they also love the Lord, that they will get to see him again. The littles are taking it harder since they really can only think about just how much they are going to miss their Grampa. Savanna doesn't get that she will never again see Grampa, and Molly just goes around kissing everyone and rubbing away their tears.
We cannot, and would not, wish Lloyd back to this world; we are really just grieving for ourselves, thinking on how much we will miss him. We wouldn't want to wish him back to this world with all it's pain, prescriptions, exhaustion. He is in the presence of the Lord, with a perfect, healthy body, and is full of joy and peace. Yet, We will greatly miss him.

We <3 you Grampa...

Why bother to plan...

2011-10-04T14:11:00.000-07:00

I don't know why I try to plan.
I thought I'd be on top of things and have our new rv ordered so that we could get it in time to pick it up on our 2 week trip taking Greg down to boot camp. I had to call Gary on Sat. to finalize the changes to the rv that was supposed to go on the production floor today. We had spent hours and hours online first finding the floor plans that would work for our family, and then narrowing it down to the one that we wanted, and then finding the best deal...

On Friday afternoon, Vaughn received a call from our insurance adjuster - or an adjuster - or someone with our ins. co. - we have worked with at least 5 different people there over the last month. They called to tell us that, after nearly a month, they are not totalling out our rv - they will be picking it up and hauling it to a repair shop in Washington to be fixed.
At first I was a little freaked out - we have been told by so many people that it can't be fixed, and we know that our ins. co. doesn't really care what happens, they are just looking for the cheapest way to get rid of us... But after I talked with the repair shop, tried to dig up some dirt on them online (they have great reviews and BBB ratings, and have been in business for 36 yrs.), and after talking with some certified welders over at RV.NET, I feel pretty confident that they will do a great job and we will get an rv back with a frame much better than this one new from the factory and better than any of the frames that will come on any new coach we could afford. The shop will actually replace the failing parts (with better built sections), not patch them.

I really like the guy that I talked to at the repair shop. He said that, based on the pics I sent, they could fix it (under budget = 75% of replacement cost), but the other gentleman in the shop that is talking with the ins. co. said that they could fix it ($) if the damage doesn't go back farther than the knee wall - either way they won't know until they get it to their shop, peel off the nosecone and sidewalls, and expose the frame quite some ways back on the trailer. So, we still don't know if it's getting fixed or if we will have to start dealing again on a new one...

Then we started talking time frames. They will have to schedule coming out here to haul it - they will build an exterior frame around the front of the 5er to screw the existing frame to so that the failing frame cannot flex while being hauled. Then, when they get it to Tacoma, they will have to open up the rig to give the ins. co. an estimate. Then, after that, if the ins. co. accepts the estimate, the shop will need our rv for at least an additional 6 weeks. So, we are thinking a min. of 2 months.
2 more months.
Had our insurance decided on this route at the beginning, it may have worked out for us to get our rig back right around when we need to be out of the cabin, and when we wanted to leave to take Greg down to boot camp. And it actually would have been a rather lovely change. Now we are looking at the beginning of Dec before we see our rv sweet rv. In the meantime, the cabin is used for a 'hunting camp' for extended family and clients; hunting season opens on the 23rd of this month (I think).

Try calling around to local landlords and ask if they will rent you a house for one or two months, and by-the-way, you have 10 kids. Yeah. That's about how it's going here too.

We spent the weekend cleaning out the rv - stripping it really. Should the shop get it out there and the insurance company decide to total it out, it's highly unlikely that they will tow it back here, so we had to take out EVERYTHING that we wanted (just in case) - even things like unscrewing and removing our custom dining room table... it was a major pain.

But, it's still been wonderful being gypsies. We had our time at the lake this summer, we are loving the mountains now, and who knows what is next...
I'm not going to try to plan it...LOL! ;)

ramblings on everyday...birth...floor plans...

2011-09-29T10:08:00.000-07:00

I would love to share the latest developments in our frame failure disaster, but we are still just hanging too. We are waiting to hear from our insurance company, but don't know when that will be. Last week they asked for our registration, and then said that they were also waiting to receive estimates for fixing the toy hauler (not from us) - but how do you do an estimate to fix something that cannot really be fixed? If the cracks were on straight edges of the frame, then they could be repaired, but from all the research that we have done and advice from the pros over at RV.NET, corners cannot be fixed so that they will not re-crack. I emailed our adjuster this morning asking if there was any advancements in our claim, but haven't heard back yet.

Vaughn and Jake have been busy at work in town, and have at least a month's worth of work commitments. Eli and Beth are working a 60 hr/wk farm job, which I'll share later about after I get some pics. They have been driving the van back and forth since it would be silly to buy the kids another vehicle right before we leave and then have to store it all winter.

I've been online way too much looking for a new 5er, and we have pretty much come to the conclusion that we will be getting another toy hauler. Not sure how I feel about it, but there is just so much more floor space - even between a 40' reg. 5er and a 40' toy hauler - mostly because we can get most of the beds off the floor in the t.h. between the loft and custom building bunks again (tho I think that we will do it slightly different next time). I actually didn't do a single RV perusal the last 2 days - I really needed a break (and if you read my Woodall's post, you already could tell that, huh? LOL!).

I've been spending time doing what we do each fall - ordering a few Christmas presents while we can still get our mail. And, one thing that I love about heading south, is the deals I can get now. For most people, fall means buying snow boots and winter coats. For us, it means new sandals and t-shirts! :) Maybe it's that hearty Montana blood, but when most folks are strolling along the beach in their light jackets, my kiddos will be out in the waves swimming!
...just a tip if you have kiddos...Sierra Trading Post is my fav place to buy the kids shoes, and right about now they get in tons of new Keen styles - between buying out of season(now), and waiting for a coupon code, I get them for about 1/3 of the retail price... (if you haven't checked out STP, do. If you send me your email address, I can refer you, and you will get a $10 credit, and if you decide to purchase from them, I'll get a $10 credit too! ~hey, have you ever tried buying shoes for 9 kids??? LOL! :) we also buy nearly all the kids' jackets from them.

We are going through the kids' clothes to make sure that they have what they will need this winter - I enjoy shopping for fun on the road, but not for 'needs' - it's harder when I need something because I generally know what I want, but not where to get it (at the best deal) when we are someplace new.

Another (I suppose weird) thing that we do before we hit the road, is to collect some new movies to save for the road. We have always had a Friday Night Movie Night tradition. While it is a bit more lax while we are traveling, we generally watch a movie and have pizza and popcorn every Friday night. And while there are RedBox on the road, sometimes it's hard to find them if you are not familiar with the area, and then it's questionable whether they will carry anything worth watching.

I'm thinking that, with only 7 weeks left, that I should probably order a supplies kit for the baby's birth. I have been so busy with trying to figure out the rv mess that I really couldn't deal with worrying about where we are going to have this baby too! But, I recently read a post by another family on the road, about their OTR birth, that really inspired me to not stress about it. I'll just do what I can, and it'll all work out - tho a birth kit and knowing where the nearest Dr. and ER are located are musts for my peace of mind. :) and while we have had 11 uneventful births so far, I would like them fairly close!

I've been going through everything from the camper and doing some organizing and cleaning. Washing all bedding before packing it in big Ziploc bags, even washing things like chip clips :) It's all getting boxed up for the next rv, and stacked in the cabin's mud room out of the way. A little too much like moving.

We are still planning as if our insurance company will be totalling out our toy hauler like we were told last week, so we've been trying to find our next one. And while we have had to eliminate some of our favs because we just can't figure out the logistics of fitting a family of 12 wanderers and all their clothing in those designs, we have come up with 2 floor plans that we are currently considering:

The Heartland Cyclone 3800:
and the Jayco Recon 39C:

there are things that we like about each one. We like the greater seating capacity in the Cyclone (as you can imagine, that's a pretty big deal in our fam) and the fireplace :). We can get one long couch for the big slide in the Cyclone instead of the dinette and little couch. We like the kitchen in the Recon better, and we like the steps to the loft, but not that they take away from how big the slide could be. The thing that really draws us to the Recon is their 2 yr. warranty as opposed to the Cyclones 1 yr. However, there are not nearly as many Recons on lots, and it will cost more. I hate decisions like this - I really don't want another mess down the road because we bought another piece...

The toy hauler that we would REALLY like to purchase is a bit out of our price range - it's the Excel Wild Cargo toy hauler. It's a quality coach that is more of a full-timers rig - their 'arctic package' is good for down to -10 degrees, they have a better warranty, and are just built very nice. course, the MSRP is between $110k and $120k, and there are no used ones to be found. Guess I shouldn't even be looking at them ;)

Oh, and awhile back I posted about Beth and her raising money for Homes for our Troops by selling survival bracelets. A few of you wrote expressing an interest in buying some. I haven't forgotten, so if you are still interested, hang in there... with all that has been going on, I just haven't been able to add that to my plate too. Plus, it would be something that she can do on the road, and we can mail them from anywhere, so it may have to wait until Nov. or so... :) She would like to keep making them, and is hoping that we can make it to some builds this winter and she can sell them there too!

Since I cannot think of another thing to ramble on about, I guess I'll get down to emailing back salesmen. :( yuck!

Hope you all have much more pleasant agendas for today ;)

2011-09-27T12:09:00.000-07:00

I'm getting a wee bit frustrated...

RV Salesmen are akin to Lawyers!

off to find anything else to do besides shop for a new rig!!!

TOS Review - Aletheia Writing Magazine...

2011-09-27T11:22:00.000-07:00

When I was offered the opportunity to review a Christian Teen Writing magazine, I jumped at the chance since Bethy has been on a writing kick for quite some time, and I thought that she would enjoy it.

Alethia Writing Magazine is a quarterly publication published by a homeschool family; the 40 page magazine costs $26 for a yearly subscription (price includes shipping and handling).

The magazine offers christian teen writers. ages 13 to 19, a place to be published, both online and in hard copy. Many writing styles are represented, and the articles offer everything from short stories to poetry to book reviews, and each issue offers a writer's challenge to write a story based on a proverb, or a poem based on a picture. Teens can even submit nature photos.

Stories published in Alethia tend to be filled with fantasy, and while there is often good vs. bad conflicts, they are not overtly dark. The articles were certainly not inappropriate, but were filled with the challenges and struggles that teens face daily.

Bethany loves both Renaissance era fiction and fantasy, but she wasn't really interested in the magazine. I envisioned it being more guiding - giving a bit of writing instruction or tips in the magazine; and I think that Beth would have found it more intriguing if she were learning from some instruction using the teen submissions as examples. Alethia would be a great publication for those families with a teen writer who would love to see themselves in print, and who would enjoy reading articles penned by other Christian teens.

Alethia Writing Magazine for Christian Youth is available in both hard copy if your teen likes to receive mail, and in digital copy, which is great for those of us on the road! Their website also contains writer's tips, and they even have a Facebook page. If you are interested, you might want to check out other homeschool reviews of the magazine also.

*disclaimer: I was provided one hard copy of Alethia Writing Magazine (and access to another digital issue) to review. No further compensation was received in exchange for my honest review.

Woodalls blog...

2011-09-21T19:24:00.000-07:00

Just a link to my latest Woodall's blog post for those interested - it's just a recap of our frame troubles...

Frame Failure

Things are still the same - no response from Gulf Stream or Lippert... think I'd have a heart attack if they contacted us at this point.

And all I can say right now, is that I think that I love my insurance company! I'll fill you in on those details when it is all said and done...

In the meantime, we are slowly removing our possessions from the toy hauler - it's just like moving out of a house, only we don't have our own place to move the stuff too... we ran to town today to pick up milk and fruit, and also packed up a load of stuff from the trailer. We brought it all to the cabin so that I could go through it; we have since found homes for most of it or boxed it up until we find our next rv, but earlier Beth had looked around at our recently unloaded mess and remarked that she hoped Aunt Gayle didn't decide to come up for a visit!!! :) me too! I hate moving... LOL!!!

So, what is happening to our Adventure???

2011-09-20T18:15:00.000-07:00

Actually, nothing!

We sat down with the kids (the 9 at home anyway), and talked over our pending shelter decision. Do we want to continue our life on the road, or do we want to buy a piece of back-country Montana, build a garage to live in for the winter and then start a house in the spring???... and we had some great discussions. We mostly just asked the kids what they wanted to do, and they were expected to give us feedback :) We have one that wants a house, but said that he could easily be persuaded to happily go back on the road with the addition, to our new camper, of a Wii. Yeah, not happening. I know that a lot of rv fams are gamers (at least their kids are), but that's not us; our decision will probably stunt his natural gaming ability and give him a handicap for the rest of his life...ummm,yeah.ok.i'm good with that. For some of the kids, it was 'hit the road' without hesitation. For a few, they were undecided until they started to talk it through - then, in each case, as they talked through their feelings, they came away having decided they weren't quite ready to give up the traveling yet.

The past week in a 'house' has been nice - there have been a few things about being in a house again that have surprised me - like realizing that I didn't miss a dishwasher at all; having one just tempts me to let the dishes stack up, and loading and unloading it is not any less work than just doing them and getting them out of the way. And having 3500 sq.ft. of hardwood floors (or any kind of floors for that matter) to keep clean is highly over-rated. And that 3500 sq.ft. of house lets my kids get away with murder - in the camper, I always know where everyone is and what they are doing (like playing hooky from their schoolwork). Here, I usually do NOT know where everyone is, and that is even if they are all in the house... right now, they are supposed to be doing their schoolwork (but they know I'm on the laptop, which seems to be license to run wild...) - Thomas is sitting at the table doing his (he's like that :), but there is also a gunfight happening on the second story along with a pool game, the massage chair is running, and the little girls are up in the loft giggling hysterically - which means they are certainly NOT finishing their workbooks.

However, a house does have it's benes - I'm loving the 'onsite' laundry, the 'plug-ins' that mean that I don't have to start the generator and can be on the computer or watch a movie anytime, and we are all enjoying the unlimited water (including hot!) usage. I can go for a week without visiting a grocery store for milk, bread, and fruit, and we have 3 bathrooms - tho we tend to forget that and end up waiting in line for the main one anyway...

And I'm loving being up in the mountains. Occasionally, we hear a truck drive by on the road below, but for the most part we don't see a soul. Yesterday the FedEx man drove up. Jake told me the FedEx guy was here, and I just gave him the 'give me a break' look, and 15 seconds later the driver was knocking on the door. I made Jake answer it(after all, he was about the only one dressed!LOL!). The driver wanted to know the address since none of the houses/cabins up here are marked; not sure he believed me when we told him that we didn't know, we don't live here (permanently anyway). I did feel better about it when I called my sis and asked her the address, and she didn't know it either! LOL!

Anyway, what came of our family pow-wow?
For our family, it was the unanimous (Wii bribing doesn't count) decision to...

Find a new home. on wheels.

I have been spending the last few days perusing the internet looking at floorplans and scouring dealer websites for locations close to here that would have one of the 2floor plans that we are contemplating.
It's like starting all over even tho we just did this a year and a half ago.
We want to see each model in person before we make a decision, and both are no longer made, which means that we have to buy a used model (which we are not totally hip on). One is a toy hauler, and one is a 5th wheel with jack and jill bedrooms in the back. No matter what we decide on, we will have to make some modifications on it right away in order to sleep our family. But that is par for the course for us...

And while we have decided to keep traveling, we are making some changes for our family - changes that we hope will mean that we can travel year round. but that will have to wait for another post... :)

TOS Review - Before Five in a Row...

2011-09-20T08:46:00.000-07:00

I have had the privilege of reviewing a few products for The Old Schoolhouse magazine this year. One of the items that I received to review was the book Before Five in a Row. This book is geared towards preschoolers, ages 2-4, and is great for those little ones that would like to 'do school' but aren't really old enough to join in the academic work of their older siblings.

The premise for theseries of books is that parent and child read the same book for 5 days in book.

In BFIAR, there are 23 mini units outlined in the book each based around a popular children's picture book. Each mini unit tells a bit about the book, ideas for discussion, and ideas for learning activities for you to do with your little listener. There is even a bible verse to go with the theme of each book. There are so many activities listed that it will provide different ideas for you to choose from for each of the 5 days that you share the book together. Ideas on anything from sequencing to science to art and problem solving.

The second half of the book is labeled 'Parent's Treasury of Creative Ideas for Learning Readiness" and is full of if just that! It is a great resource for those of us that would like to come up with some creative learning activities without a lot of thought! It includes everything from hand games to developing large and small motor skills to activities for bath time to literary arts. It is a great resource for those who like to do all sorts of hands on activities with their littles.

There is a whole series of Five in a Row books, which are available exclusively from Rainbow Resources for $35 each.

*disclaimer: I received a copy of BFIAR to review free of charge from FIAR and TOS Crew in exchange for my honest opinion.

At a Crossroads...

2011-09-16T19:33:00.000-07:00

We are still staying at my sister's cabin; and just because it's not our house doesn't mean we aren't making ourselves at home!

We even get company!

Yesterday Vaughn's parents, his Uncle Steve and Aunt Deloros, Aunt Lavonne, and Cousin Bev came up for the day. We visit Uncle Steve when we are down in Phoenix during the winter (and last year enjoyed his oranges and grapefruit for weeks after!), and saw Bev and Lavonne when we stopped in Colorado on our way home last year.

Bev taught the kids to play '65' or something like that, so they could refresh Gramma's memory and play with her. And Bev also taught the kids a great card trick - they are practicing up so that they can pull it on Greg (who missed it because he was at work).

We had a lovely visit, and were so glad that we got to see them while they are here visiting this week! ~and can't wait to see them this winter.

Or will we?

It appears that our insurance company is stepping up to the plate and totalling our toy hauler out. Not sure how we feel about it. We are certainly thankful (tho not counting it done until it is completely over), but at the same time feel that Gulf Stream and Lippert are really the ones that should be taking care of this. I have repeatedly contacted both, but for both, the 'ignore button' seems to be company policy for handling issues. I even emailed 4 executives in Gulf Stream on Wednesday, and have not heard a sound from a single one - not even a 'we'll look into it' courtesy brush-off email. I had heard that their customer service is terrible to non-existent, but until we experienced it for ourselves, we never dreamed how bad it could be. There will never be a Gulf Stream rv, or a Lippert frame in our 'camping spot' (almost said driveway! LOL!) again. And you know the 'Friends don't let friends drive fords/chevys' saying, well, I will certainly will take to heart a new motto - Friends don't let friends buy Gulf Stream... not maliciously, but I will certainly warn others of our experiences. I would not want anyone to have to go through what we are having to deal with now!

On a side note, if it really does come to pass that our insurance company totals out our rv, it really opens up a whole new can of worms for us.

While we had not even considered stopping our traveling adventures before this, we also have to admit that this would be a clean cut for us. We could settle down without having to find a buyer for the rv (it is not our idea of a 'camping' camper) and just the thought of looking for a new rig to keep going in, is exhausting. After spending 3 months finding this one, you'd think that we would have a easier time this round; after all, I'm sure that we have seen every rig out there, but I think that it will actually be harder. Last time at least we had a travel trailer to take on the road to live in while we looked. Not sure how we will handle it this time; (online?) if we buy new that's not so scary, but I couldn't buy used sight unseen.

So, I think that next on the agenda is a family pow-wow with our future in the balance. Will we go back on the road, or build that off-the-grid house up in the mountains (we have lots of plans for our family on our bucket list!)? I have a few kids that do NOT want another house, a few that do NOT want to go back on the road (OK, off the top of my head I think it's mainly Emma, and she just wants to take the big toy kitchen thingy out of storage for good...), some that just want to spend one winter at 'home' so they can go skiing with their friends again or do a season of trapping, and a few that are undecided. (does that equal 9 traveling kids?)

I'll keep you posted on how it is all working out, but in the mean-time, we really covet your prayers! :)

end of the lake...

2011-09-14T11:06:00.000-07:00

while we are loving our time in the mountains right now, we are also missing the lake a wee little bit...

I never thought that we would be lake campers, but we got used to the water being right there, which is wonderful when you are dry camping (having to run the gene to power the air conditioners). The kids are missing playing in the water even though they are loving the wii (earning limited time thru extra schoolwork ;), playing pool, and getting out games that have to be left out for days so they are hard to do while 'camping'.

We put most of the kayaks in storage, but have a few left out in case we go visit Greg (he's still camped on the lake since it's such a drive to town from here).

We miss the wide open sunsets, but are enjoying the beautiful night evenings surrounded by tall fragrant pines.

Before we left the lake, we had our bestest friends out - they are expecting #12 also, but 2 of theirs are at college, and with Greg at work, there were only 18 kids over.

We had a fantastic day with dads and moms visiting, and the kids all playing in the water together. And Bethy especially was in heaven to have her friends over and the 3 were inseparable - course they always are. (that's them in the lower left...)

So now, we've been up at the cabin for 2 days, and we are kind of settling in. I will admit to liking having a full-size oven again - have you ever tried to cook for 12 in one of those little rv ovens? it really limits what you can make! We made a roast last night - an 'our sized' roast ;) that cooked all afternoon and didn't heat the whole house up. We made a coffee cake for breakfast, and volcano pancakes (German pancakes) for lunch; we didn't think of them until breakfast was already made... we LOVE volcano pancakes, and haven't had them since we sold the house - it takes 4 9x13 batches for our fam if the guys are all here, and that would take all morning in the rv! Bethy is planning on chocolate chip cookies this afternoon, and then we will see what else we come up with to make in the oven! :)

We should hear from our insurance company today on the toy hauler - they have been playing phone tag with the dealership here in town. I also finally had a chance to write the 'higher-ups' at Gulf Stream about our coach, so am waiting to hear some feedback from them also. Tho, I'm beginning to wonder if the 'ignore' response is company policy...

And, Lippert isn't getting ahold of us or responding either. It's a waiting game...maybe without end.