RV Life: My Worst Fear

So, before we set out on our journey I talked with my friend, Jessica, and my mom about my biggest fear about this journey...

Would it be the lack of hot water for a REALLY long hot shower? NO, definitely not.

Would it be not having a neighborhood or community to be in where everyone knows the neighbors? No, not that either.

Would it be the severe weather that often hits the midwest in the spring and summer? No, that doesn't hit the top of the list.

Would it be the fear that I would have to venture out to to the grocery store often with four children since I would not be able to stockpile groceries? No, not even that!

My biggest fear, I believed would hit our family next winter. I was not wanting to face the fear of ... the stomach bug in our new living situation.

I have never been real good with kids and vomit. Babies and spit up? No problem. Babies and poops? No problem. Big blow-out poops with babies? No problem. Sick babies and kids? Yea, I will pat their head and smooth their hair as Pops deals with the aftermath, lest he have to clean up after me!! So, I had plotted and planned that I would have three or four buckets available - old ice cream buckets I figured would be good. One for each child. This would help if they couldn't make it to the toilet in time, and if they had the stomach bug that caused ... hmmm, how to delicately describe ... issues of expulsion from a discreet area as one sits on a throne while retching ensues... a bucket would be of great assistance, eh? I have all those buckets ready to go, in a home shipment that we should receive at the end of the month.

I needed the bucket today. Yes, apparently God has a sense of humor and has decided that it is high time that I get over this whole dealing with vomit issue. Bump has a nasty case of the stomach bug and a bit of a runny nose. Any time he coughed, he seemed to gag and that caused ... sheesh, I just can't even believe I am sharing this. But, I am a mom after all, and that is what is happening in this mom's life... in the first week of life on the road! Anyway, I'll just cut to the chase and say that I didn't have a bucket, but I had a cupped hand. Yes, yuck. Ick, double, tripple ick yuck gross. And just when I was caught unprepared with no cloth, towel, cup or anything else, we would get a repeat performance.

Tomorrow I am sending Pops out to Wally World for a few home organizing things. I expect him to bring home some Lysol disinfectant spray, too.

And it's begun...

Well, it has been a while since I dropped in to the web to see what is going on and letting anyone know what is going on with us!

So, a quick run down...

Pick 'em up truck was picked up a couple weeks ago and was dropped in Ohio where we flew in to pick up our new home on wheels. We got all acquainted with our travel trailer and headed out to Illinois to stop at my parent's home where we had shipped several boxes of things to outfit our trailer. We stayed there for a day or two and got the trailer mostly to go. Headed out towards Kansas and stopped at a campground in Missouri before dark to get all situated. It was a COLD night, but our heaters worked GREAT and it was toasty hot in our home... the kids' room was super warm... no need for extra blankets in there! Then on Sunday afternoon we arrived in Paxico, KS where we stayed for 2 nights and had great entertainment of watching the kids run to the windows every time the a rumbling noise started. The campground was a hundred yards or so from a railroad track. So, watching trains was a fun pass time! The whistle blew as the train got to the crossing... just down the way, about two blocks away! So, yes, all night long the trains run!! Chuckling, now, we are in a new park in Lincoln, Nebraska!!! We'll be here until Friday morning just getting things in order. Then we'll head out to Pops' folks farm for a couple days and then... we'll be on our way to Wichita, KS then somewhere in Oklahoma (I have research to do to find a good park)!!

So, That is what is happening - I will find my camera and get some pictures taken soon! But, first - I need to get things organized and make my shopping list - Ketchup WILL make it in my cart this time. It HAS to! I have hot dogs in the fridge and we would eat them if we had some ketchup!!

I'll be back soon! Anyone have any words of wisdom to share?!?!!!

Frolic With Friends

Fun times out on the coast with our friends... Jessica and her family joined us for a bit of our stay on the coast. We drove out with their girls, our girls and baby Bump. They drove out to the coast with their boys, our Bud and their baby girl... The "in motion" photos from her van are VERY different from the "in motion" photos from our van!! We'll share those when they get home and she has some time to download and share pictures!! :)

We enjoyed lots of rain/drizzle out on the coast, but exploring and playing around was still high priority!! Some kids are more elusive to catch with a camera than others... and then my battery died. RATS! Fun fun fun time on the coast with friends! The treekids are sooooo going to miss their friends when we leave Oregon later this week...

The dads had all but one of the TEN children amongst us out on the beach... Do you know the funny looks we received as we moved about en masse?? Some thought that we were having a "party" with all these children! Ten children between the two families... 6 with theirs, 4 in ours!

Ages: Boy 10, Boy 9.5, Boy 9, Girl 7.5, Girl 7, Girl 6, Girl 5.5, Boy 3.5, Boy 16 mo., Girl 15 mo.

"Captain" pleaded with mom to let him go and touch the water... PLEASE!!!

SOOO much fun... and then they had to head home. We'll be having a bit longer out here waiting to head out on a jet plane.

Down By The River

THAT is where we are going!! Well... maybe. It might be a lake.

When we are "lucky," anyway!

And, NO, most definitely NOT in a van.

In, a, uhmmm, well, something like THIS:

photos: Forest River, Inc.

(I will get nice big pics of our ACTUAL "new home" soon, but this is as good as it gets for now!!)

Yes, the "Treehouse" is hitting the road and we're taking our family to live a rambler's life.

(This is for a currently undetermined length of time... but, I promise - it will NOT be forever!)

We hope it will be a fun adventure for us... so, if we are in YOUR area, don't be surprised if we set up house nearby and ask ya to stop by for ANOTHER house warming party as our 'home' will be constantly changing!!!

Let the Excitement begin! Here is the floor plan of our new home sweet home on wheels!!

We take off soon and will be at our "first stop," after picking up and loading, (tentatively scheduled to be the Des Moines, Iowa area) the week of March 21st!This is a crazy time ... I will try to check in regularly as we settle into our new life. For sure, I will want to share all the fun and bumps we hit along the road!

Home -Sweet- Home

We have thoroughly enjoyed living in this beautiful home in southwest Oregon. We have loved springing off from this home base to explore many of the wonderful sights that Oregon (and other areas of the Pacific Northwest) has to offer. So, before it is all packed up and shipped off... here (for me to remember as my old lady brain will likely forget!) is a last look at the inside of my home!

Standing at the front door looking toward the back door:

Standing at the backdoor looking toward the front door:

Standing at the sliding glass door looking toward the Master Bedroom door:

Standing in the living room area looking at the kitchen:

Standing in the loft looking down on the kitchen:

Standing in the Master Bedroom looking back toward its entrance:

Standing at the top of the stairs looking toward the loft:

Standing in the loft looking out at the Mountain View:

Standing in the loft looking at the top of the stairs and down the hall toward the kids' rooms:

Goodbye, lovely home! You have been a MOST wonderful respite for our family...

The Ball is Rolling

I am running and racing about trying to not get bowled over by the racing ball of time, but... I think that we got knocked down! We have been trying to send a nasty upper-respiratory virus packing so that we can get our own selves packed up! We all sound a little stuffy, while I sound like a FROG! Pops should come home and kiss me back to princess status! OH, well... Bump is recovering from a double ear infection (again), Branch is not blowing her nose every 10 seconds any longer, Blossom is doing pretty great, and Bud is of hearty stock and only had a bit of the runny nose and cough. So, we are on the mend and Pops will be back this afternoon from a week-long round of work in Oklahoma and Kansas.

And, Pops needs to hurry home, as this "ball" that is rolling our way?? Yea, it hits the front door on Monday. Yes, this coming Monday - the 14th of March! We will open the door Monday morning to a crew of workers who will begin to pack all of our home goods to be moved! The moving company estimates that it will take one and a half days to pack and one and a half days to load the truck. So, that puts us out of our home and flying to the middle of the country next Friday... in just over a week! Would you please offer up a prayer that all of this goes smoothly and that the weather is beautiful and sunshiny, especially on "load" days (I say this as the rain starts to pour outside my window!)?!?

Now that the "when" is decided, more later on what, where and how!! Gotta go get breakfast together!!

Pop Bang Kapowee!

I am not certain if those "sound effects" are appropriate for the following pictures - for anyone who is in the know, anyway. What I do know for certain... Bud thinks that this gift from Christmas is SUPER COOL.

This was his first day giving it a try. He has had several more tries at it since then and I don't think that he shoots sitting in a chair anymore.

I appreciated him sitting in a chair for the picture... otherwise, I am not sure I could have gotten this down the barrel shot! Bud is getting far too big. He has grown so much taller this year and has grown past my shoulders and wears the same size shoes as I do. Yes, my "baby" wears a men's size 7 shoe. How do these things happen?

Growing to be a fine young man - even in the midst of all of our current craziness! (More on that soon!! I PROMISE! We are getting really close to REAL answers about the who, what, when, where, etc of this whole relocation process!!)