I’m not fooling myself. There are a handful of people that periodically come to this blog, maybe even read some of the entries from time to time, but I know what you are really looking to find. You put up with my ramblings about my kiddos, maybe even enjoy the pictures a little bit, but what you’re really hoping to see is that Ken has posted a new video.
The truth doesn’t hurt my feelings. I love the videos too, and I have enjoyed watching him over the past several months as he has been editing away on our vacation footage. If you have been a guest in our house during this time, I’ve probably even forced you to watch them. And if you haven’t, well, now it’s your turn.
For those of you who are new to the blog, or like my sweet husband, just can’t remember what you ate for breakfast, here’s a little reminder:
Last summer we borrowed my parents’ motor-home, loaded up the kids, and spent two weeks on a road trip across this beautiful country. We started in our great state of Alabama and headed north through Tennessee until we hit our first stop: Elizabethtown, KY, to see the birthplace of Abraham Lincoln.
From Abe’s house, we moved on through Kentucky, and finally pulled into the lovely town of Floyds Knobs, Indiana where we visited with some old friends for the night. For my travel log and more info on our first stop, click here.
As for the vacation videos, to watch the video in it’s entirety is somewhat of a time commitment, so we have decide to post segments of the video every Monday over the next several weeks. Here is the first installment. Enjoy!
Well, we’re back! And man, does it feel good to be home. This morning I fixed breakfast for my family, and I didn’t have to pack up Edie’s bed and convert it into a table so we could eat. It was glorious. Then while I was getting dressed for work, not once did I have to step over Roark or even tell Edie to get out of my space. Heaven, pure heaven.
RV life is really a lot of fun, and I totally can’t wait for the next trip. But I’ve learned that you have to go with people that you like because at some point in the trip, you’re not going to like them very much. So you need to like them enough beforehand to see you through those times.
Surprisingly enough, Roark is who I am referring to, and not Edie. I totally saw that going the other way. To begin with, he is not at his best while in the car seat. I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt because let’s face it, he had been in that seat for a long time. But he wore out the grace I’d been extending him around the second day. Wow, can that kid scream!
I fully plan to hold it over his head too. I already have my argument for when he’s a teenager and knows it all. He’ll be mad at us because we won’t let him go meet some cuties on the beach and inevitably tell us that we are ruining his vacation.
And I will be all, “Ruining your vacation? Well mister, when you were a baby, your father and I took you on a two-week road trip to see this beautiful country, and do you know what youdid? You cried the ENTIRE time we were on the road! You screeched from one end of this country to the other! Do you know what a crying baby does to a person’s blood pressure who has been cooped up in an RV? It makes them go crazy. So crazy there were times that I wished my head would actually explode. I’m serious-EXPLODE into a thousand tiny pieces because then at least that would get my mind off of the screaming baby in the backseat!” Then for good measure, I’ll mention something about carrying him for nine months and how my lower back still aches…and then maybe something about Ken pushing the RV in the snow…bare footed…up a hill and somehow make that Roark’s fault as well.
When he wasn’t screaming at us, he was rolling around and getting into everything. By it’s very nature the RV is just not a baby-proofed space, even though we’d tried to pick everything up as much as possible.
There was one point in the trip that while laying down for a nap, Roark actually got his head wedged in between the mattress and the RV wall. When I went back to check on him because he was taking so long to settle down, I saw his little legs flopping about and quickly put two and two together. I instantly went into panic mode and started screaming for Ken in that special voice I save for real emergencies.
Once we dislodged him, I scooped him up and started apologizing because he obviously drew the short stick when it came to handing out mothers. He was completely unscathed and more than anything just a little shaken up. But that didn’t stop me from going through all the “what if” scenarios in my head. So I made a little vow that I would not judge him for his behavior on the trip if he would give me the same leeway as well. We were doing without several of the comforts we were used to at home and that was keeping us from both being at our best.
Edie on the other hand was a complete joy to bring along, and as Ken keeps saying, “she was made for this kind of travel.” While driving, she quietly sat in her seat for hours on end and played or colored or watched DVDs. About once an hour, we would hear from the back, “When are we going to be there?” But we would just tell her a time frame that she didn’t understand anyway, and she would go back to whatever she was doing.
This is the first time we haven’t left Edie at home with my folks while on vacation, and to my surprise, she made the trip so much more fun for us. By her very nature, she just loves life and new experiences. So waking up in a new place every day was right up her alley. As we would eat breakfast in the mornings she would ask, “When are we going to the fun place today?” To her, everywhere we went was just another “fun place,” and if we told her that we were just driving that day, she was fine with that too.
I am so looking forward to the years ahead and more opportunities to show our children this great country (and even some other parts of the world as well). Maybe by the time I get everything unpacked and all of the clothes washed, it will be time to go again.
