After driving almost 1,000 miles and listening to Roark fuss for about 750 of them, we finally arrived at one of the biggest waterfalls on earth.  That’s right, Niagara Falls.  We actually stayed in northern New York because we didn’t want to drive the motorhome over the border.  Oh I’m sure real RVer’s do it all the time, but for this trip, that was not on the agenda.  After all, putting on a Maid of the Mist poncho in that wind was enough of a feat for one day without inviting customs in to tour our motel on wheels.

In rained most of the morning, so we were RV bound for a good part of the day, but eventually the sun came out.  And so did we.  Since we towed a car, we were able to drive into Canada in the afternoon and spent the evening in one of the biggest tourist traps known to man.  To read more about our day at the falls, go here.  To watch a video of our day…well, you know what to do.  Enjoy!

There have only been two times in our marriage when Ken and I couldn’t come to an agreement over an issue.  And before you start thinking I must just live in a blissful marriage where it’s sunshine and roses all the time, I’m not talking about deciding between Burger King or Wendy’s for dinner.  I mean, the BIG decisions, as in life changing, and in these times, after hours of discussion, each of us dug in our heels and wouldn’t budge.

So as a result, there have only been two times in our marriage, I’ve had to come before God and ask him to change mine or my husband’s heart.  Roark is proof that God eventually won Ken over on one of the issues, and the fact that I am currently teaching Edie to read is proof that He changed my heart on the other.

From the beginning, Ken has been an advocate for home-schooling.  At first, I was completely against it.   We would have many discussions where I listened to him defend this method of teaching, but in the end, I still had the thought, “It will be a cold day in hell before I home-school our kids.”  Don’t worry though.  I don’t remember actually ever saying that to him because that would have definitely taken the argument to the next level.  I am able to show some restraint in a heated discussion, but between you and me, I definitely remember thinking it a time or two.

I was secretly hoping that eventually he would just come around and see things my way because that’s what marriage is…him compromising for me, right?  But we would never reach a decision, and the issue just hung out there, floating in space with no resolution.

One of the hurdles I had a hard time getting over at the time was that we were talking about children that hadn’t even been born yet.    We were arguing over their schooling, and I didn’t even know their names.  So it was hard for me to even picture what the life of a home-schooling family would look like.  We weren’t even a family ourselves yet.

Well, fast forward about three years when Edie entered our lives, and now home-schooling had a face I could put with the idea.  I slowly felt God beginning to melt my heart.  As I held that sweet baby in my arms, I would cry when I thought about her growing up.  She was only a couple of months old, and she was changing so fast.  I wanted to hold onto that time of our lives forever.  I desperately wanted time to freeze  right there because the thought of her one day being grown and gone was too much to bear.

God’s timing is perfect because it was at this time, a friend recommended a book, So You Are Thinking About Home-Schooling? by Lisa Whelchel.  In this book, fifteen different families discuss their home-schooling experience.  Every chapter is written by a different mother talking about what their home-schooling day looks like and why they chose this for their kids.  Their reasons varied as much as their methods, but there was one mother in particular that really spoke to me.

I don’t remember her name, but I do remember something she said.  I can’t quote it word for word, but the gist of it was “I only get eighteen years to live with these children before they are grown, and I want every minute of it.  If they went to school, they would be gone thirty-five hours a week!  I would be jealous that their teachers get all that time with them and that I would be missing out on those moments.”  That made so much sense to me.

As I read that chapter, I thought, “She’s right!  I want that time with MY child too!  I don’t want to give it to someone else.”  That was the moment God answered my prayer and changed my position on home-schooling.

Over the last four years, I’ve gone from being just okay with the idea of home-schooling to becoming an advocate for it.  To all the teachers out there, in no way do I want to diminish what you do.  I hope and pray that you have a calling to teach young minds and that you do it with a passion.  However, I like the idea that my kids only have to share their teacher’s attention with siblings and not twenty-nine other school children.  I have to believe that a home-schooling education would be better based on that fact alone.  I think any kid would benefit from more one-on-one time with their teacher, and let’s face it, over-crowed schools are a problem in most areas.

Plus, I love the idea that we can teach our kids anyway we want.   Ken and I both see the RV camping becoming a big part of their education and have started to save for one of our own.  If we are learning about George Washington, let’s all go to Mt. Vernon.  If we’ve just studied the Civil War, let’s drive to the different battle sites and stand where those soldiers died.  That’s a lot better than just memorizing some dates, don’t you think?

As I watch the news and hear the different political agendas that are being pushed upon unsuspecting children, I cringe for them.  Just last week four boys were sent home for wearing American flag T-shirts.  My gosh!?!  Kids can’t even wear the flag to school anymore without it being an act of hate?  I don’t understand what’s going on in our school system these days, but I have a peace in knowing that we will not bringing that frustration into our lives or our home.

Now I know what you are thinking, “Your kids won’t get the socialization that they need!”  To which I respond, “Says who?”  My kids will be involved in extracurricular activities, home-school groups, church functions, and in our local community.  We actually will have more time for those types of things because time won’t be wasted in study halls and in-between classes, busy work or waiting on other students to catch up.

I know this is the right decision for our family.  I have seen God working over the past eight years to bring us to this place.  I know I have hinted about it in posts before, but I guess you could say I am officially coming out of the home-schooling closet.  I hate to admit that that’s how I feel sometimes.  When other mothers start asking about where Edie will be attending five-year-old kindergarten, I sheepishly say that she actually won’t be going to kindergarten after next year.  Sometimes, they get a little defensive and start giving reasons why it’s not right for them.  I understand.  I really do.  In fact, I used to be on the same side of that argument when discussing it with my husband, and I don’t judge them for the decision they’ve made.  I just wish that they’d give me the same respect.  Sometimes I want to say to them, “I won’t automatically assume your kids are going to be hoodlums, if you won’t assume mine are going to be social outcasts.  Deal?”  Of course, I don’t really say that, but you’ve got to admit, that would be a great line if I got backed into a corner.

So a couple of weeks ago, Ken comes into my office hatching a plan to take the kids in the RV to Mississippi while he finishes up some work on a church in the area.  It sounded like a pretty good idea at the time, but we were under the impression that he would only be working 3 to 4 hours a day.  Then the rest of the time would be spent hiking and fishing with the kids.  Well…we were wrong.

Ken ended up working more like 12 hours a day which was unavoidable and not his fault.  On a side note, that’s one of the benefits of working with your spouse, especially for him.  When work calls, I don’t get bitter.  In fact, I’m normally shoving him out the door to go finish the job or make the sale because that means we can collect on a check from the client and then I’ll be able to make payroll for the month. Pretty important when employees’ kids want to eat and all.

So his long hours on the job site meant long hours for me on a camp site.  The kids were really well-behaved, and I think they had a pretty good time.  Edie literally rode the pedals off her new bike, and Roarkie followed alongside in his little push car. 

As we were packing the motor home to leave, Roark’s push car almost didn’t make it because it was so big and bulky, but thank goodness Ken managed to find room.  Can we say, “LIFESAVER”?  I don’t know what we would have done without Roarkie’s riding toy.  We were already doing without Daddy and hot water…Oh wait, I forgot to mention that part, didn’t I?

It all started the first night as we were setting up camp.  Ken and I have a routine for setting up.  He handles all the stuff on the outside, and I unpack all our things on the inside.  As we pulled in, we both quickly went to our set-up stations.  It was pretty late at this point, and the kids were way past their bed time. 

As I unpacked our things inside the motor-home, and I began to hear water pouring out of somewhere.  I quickly checked all the places.  Since I was in an RV, this took about two seconds of moving my eyes around to realize that the water was not coming out of a faucet anywhere.  I then looked down on the floor just in time to see thick, black water slowly making it’s way across the carpet.

I quickly stuck my head out the door and yelled for Ken, “Whatever you did with the water, TURN IT OFF!!!  TURN IT OFF NOW!!!”  It turns out that since this was an unusually cold winter for Alabama, my dad’s normal winterizing of the RV didn’t cut it, and some of the pipes had frozen…including the water filter under the sink which explained the thick, black oozing water on the floor.

So Ken was able to fix things enough that we did have water, but due to some other issues, we didn’t have hot water, which basically boiled down to bath house showers for everyone. 

Edie thought showering in the bath house was a blast and one of the highlights of the trip.  Ken saw it more as an inconvenience, and me?  Well, I felt I was personally being tested by God to see how much patience and love I would pour out on my children in stressful conditions.  I’m not sure I passed.  I yelled at Edie for playing in the grungy shower curtain and threatened to spank her bottom if she touched anything else in that filthy place.  And I might have said a couple of cuss words when I almost dropped a soaped-up Roark since I had to hold him the entire time because he didn’t have a pair of shower shoes.  Ah…memories.

Oh, the entire trip wasn’t horrible.  There were just bits of horrible mixed in with the fun…like at the park, for example.  We were playing chase and hide & go seek, and in all honesty, having a good time.   Edie and I had collected pine cones and sticks to make a pretend soup as Roarkie did a little exploring of his own.  He’d walked a good distance, but still completely within my view.  It was a grassy field.  There really wasn’t anywhere for him to go.

But then I noticed him fussing a bit.  Not crying really, just kind of irritated with something.  I got up to get him, and as I got closer, I began to run.  He was standing in ant bed and covered in about a cazillion ants.  I immediately began ripping clothing off of him until he was down to his diaper.  I was almost in tears, asking myself how I could be so stupid to let him wander away like that.  That’s Motherhood 101.  Plus he’d never had an ant bite before, let alone thirty, so I had no idea how he was going to react.  Now I know, he only gets mildly irritated by them, but at the time, it was really scary.

The highlight of the trip was definitely the four or five hours Ken was able to join us for a camp fire.  Edie had asked me at least twenty times each day when we were going to build a fire, but with the way the weekend had been going, I saw that ending with a trip to the emergency room.  So I kept putting her off and told her “fire is more of a Daddy thing.” 

So the one day Ken was able to come back before dark, we took full advantage of it.  We gathered sticks and firewood, took a walk near the lake, and then cooked supper on the fire.  We spent the rest of the evening sitting around the campfire and talking about the trip.  We made sure to mention all the high points and low points as we laughed and ate s’mores. 

Looking back, I kind of felt like I was in a National Lampoon’s movie minus Christie Brinkley and a Ferrari.  And similar to Chevy Chase, I like to think I pulled it all together in the end, and that we even went out on a high note.

Well, the McKibbens are hitting the road again, at least for the weekend.  We are headed up to Nocallula Falls to go camping with some of our church family.  According to James Span, the rain is over for the next several days, and the temperature should be perfect.   If you want to join us, we still have sites available with our group, or just come for the day tomorrow.  I bought enough hamburgers to feed a small army and some hot dogs and marshmallows to roast on the fire!  Should be good times as long as no one comes home with any second degree burns!

This past weekend we took my folk’s RV for another trial run.  Once again, Ken passed the next test: driving while towing a vehicle.  So now there is nothing standing in the way of the McKibben Cross-country Vacation planned for next month.

We went up to Huntsville again for more campaigning over the holiday.  I told Ken the next guy we support needs to be located in Birmingham.  While it does get me out of the house and change up the routine, packing for two kids every week is a hassle.

We spent most of the weekend just lounging around the campground, playing tag, and swinging.  We are very quickly becoming sucked into the whole RVing lifestyle.  On the ride home, there was even a discussion about how cool it would be to pack up for three months and take off.

Here are the pictures Ken took from the weekend:

Swan Creek Campground Tanner, AL

Pictured: Me with no make up and Edie who’s head hasn’t seen a hairbrush the entire trip.  That’s roughin’ it!

Our campsite was across the street from the playground.  Something experience has taught us to request.  If you look past the slide and trees, you can spot the RV in the background.  It’s a monster.  I think there is actually more square footage in the RV than there was in mine and Ken’s first house.

This barn was a couple of miles down the road from the campground.  It was located in a beautiful area surrounded by farm land.  In fact, on the other side of the playground there were corn fields as far as the eye could see.

Campgrounds are an ideal place to do some great people watching.   I mean really, where else can you find Prevost owning millionaires squished in next to a family of eight living out of their van?  That was the observation that we made this past weekend while “roughing it” at Noccalula Falls.

We sat comfortably in our air-conditioned motor home as we watched the melting pot of people pass by.  We laughed at our weekend neighbors making out at the picnic table next door.  And we made a new friend and learned a new life story every time we walked outside.

Recently, there’s been a lot of discussion in our house of becoming campers ourselves.  So we thought we would take my parents’ RV on a test run.  We’ve been seriously considering a big trip in the RV to Niagara Falls later in the summer.   As it turns out, Ken can drive the thing, and everyone made it home alive.  So we’ve passed the first test.

Here are a couple of pics Ken took from the weekend: