Goodbye Vegas! One last thing we did in Vegas was ice skate by Taite’s request. This time Parker skated, too. All of them did much better on their skates. And Parker looked sooo cute!
My favorite part of Vegas was all the places we could get to - Red Rocks, Zion, Hoover Dam, Grand Canyon, Lake Meade...the list goes on. However, when it was time to leave, I was ready to go.
Hello California! As we crossed over the California border I saw some of my new favorite trees...Joshua Trees. One of my favorite yoga workout videos is recorded in beautiful Joshua Tree National Park. I had no idea where that was or what that meant until now. It’s scientific name being Yucca Brevifolia, the tree is in the Agave family. We saw Joshua Trees in the Mojave Desert. They live to be over 100 years old - some resources say 1000 years old! They remind me of something you might see in a Dr. Seuss book.
As we crossed the California border we also were stopped at an inspection site. These are something fairly new to us. We’ve never experienced these before this adventure. I suppose it’s because we are so close to the Mexican border now? We drove through them in New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, and California.
I feel like we are now starting some serious life-on-the-road. No longer are we just vacationing or traveling. We are back to school today - back into the swing of things. Convincing my children to open their school books wasn’t has hard as I thought it would be. Probably because I gave them fair warning and because we are driving...we’d have books open anyway. It’s interesting doing school while we are driving through the desert and the mountains. Our ears keep getting plugged. This is the first time I’ve had to try to teach my children how to unplug their ears. Everyone has their own way of doing it. I’m giving them options. Calla chose to blow her nose. I swallow. Taite does...this?
We started school and, because we started a new month, we started a new behavior chart. A few months ago we implemented a behavior reward chart. We focused on one behavior for the month. October was obedience (to me, Travis, and God). November was manners - please, thank you, opening doors, etc. December was kindness. Each day I would put tally marks on our dry erase board and whoever got the most tally marks for the day would get their initial on the calendar for that day. Ties were acceptable and multiple initials could be put on the board for the day. Whoever had the their initial on the board most often at the end of the month earned a lunch date with Dad. The concept started because I was sick of asking multiple times for my children to do as I asked. “In a little bit.” “I will later.” “Just a minute, Mom.” “Awww, Mom. Do I have to?!” I couldn’t stand it anymore. This became a reward system that proved effective within the first two weeks! January starts ‘Picking Up After Yourself.’ It’s a necessity in our small space. So far Parker is running away with the prize. I hope the lessons are learned and will continue once we get home. ;-)
I find life on the road exaggerates each of our unique qualities. Lincoln’s quirks are the best - they crack me up. He is still playing his “Repreakfast.” That’s his go-to activity. Addiction? Maybe. It certainly keeps him busy and out of trouble. Besides the Perplexus, Lincoln either eats, is hungry, or is singing. He sings Christmas songs, One Direction “That’s What Makes You Beautiful” (he sings this because it tortures Taite), Veggie Tales, or Christian songs...he’s got a selection of about seven songs that he sings over, and over, and over, and over again - having only half of the words correct. Now I know if I can’t stand it, just give him the Perplexus or food. ;-)
Getting exercise has been interesting on the road. At home I like to set my alarm for 6:25am, drink my RVL shake, and head down to the basement to do my P90X workout or yoga videos to have the workout done by 7:40. As you can imagine, with the holidays and all the sight seeing we’ve done, if my alarm goes off at 6:25am it’s because we need to be on a tour bus or to get somewhere. I have no idea how to use the PS2 to play my videos. The exercise area is the sleeping area for my kids. I’ve got to figure out a new plan. We’ve done some walking, hiking, mountain climbing, and ice skating, but my jeans are telling me it isn’t enough.
Having a kitchen has made it easy to eat healthy along the road. We’ve had pretty normal eating habits and have found Whole Foods and Wal-Marts along the way to shop. Our pots and pans have not been big enough to feed 8-10 people so we’ve been eating in shifts. So far we’ve had no complaints though. We've eaten at more restaurants than normal. I'm sure that's a big part of my pants not fitting. If I come home 10 pounds heavier, don't tell me about it. I plan to have it come off fast. ;-)
“Where are you all sleeping?” has been asked a number of times. Well, Jim and Linda never slept in the RV. They just traveled with us. Wise on their part. The VanSumeren’s were up for the adventure. Tim and Stacey slept on the queen bed in the back for the week. Connor and Tyler started by sleeping on the floor in the back. We had two kids on the futon-like couch folded out. We had a full-sized blow-up mattress we put on the floor. The floor didn’t have full-sized space, however. We shoved it between the couch and the recliner and it ended up more like a twin mattress. Two kids slept there. Travis and I slept on the eating area that folds down into a full-size bed. Throughout the week we shifted around and ultimately ended up with Tyler, Connor, and Taite sharing the couch/futon. Travis and Calla slept on the mattress. Parker, Lincoln and I shared the eating area - Parker’s head by mine and Lincoln’s head by my feet. Now that the VanSumeren’s have gone home the boys sleep on one bed, the girls another, and Travis and I are using the queen bed in the back...which has a hump in it. It’s an air mattress. How does it have a hump? Oh well, it rolls me closer to Travis at night - keeps us warm. :-) (I'll try to remember to get a pic of sleeping arrangements sometime.)
Speaking of Connor and Tyler, the kids were very sad to see the VanSumeren’s go. If you’ve kept up with this blog you know that our kids and the VanSumeren’s were not close friends beforehand. Things change fast when you are confined in an RV together for 7 days. Tears were shed by Taite and Calla as they drove away. Parker saw Taite crying. “Wincoln! Taite’s cwying! Taite, It wiw be awright! They’w be wight back in one second,” said Parker in her most caring 3-year-old voice. Very encouraging. No matter what the response, we were all sad to see our now dear friends go. Maybe our next RV trip will be to the southeast and we’ll make a stop in Tifton, Georgia.
Today’s destination is Oceanside, California. Doesn’t that sound just lovely? It is! The RV park is walking distance to the ocean. Today our children experienced the ocean for the first time. They took off their shoes to let their toes sink into the sand. They decided to dip their toes into the ocean water. COLD! Of course both Calla and Lincoln got too close to the water then got knocked over by a wave. They did not like walking back to the RV shivering.
It wasn’t until we returned home from the ocean that Travis read the Ocean Safety Tips to the kids. One of the tips says, “Know what a rip current is...Don’t fight the current...”
Calla: What’s a current?
Lincoln: One of those big waves that knocked me over.
Taite: If you fall over or get knocked in, don’t panic.
Lincoln: Why?
Taite: Because if you panic, you’ll use all your energy screaming and that won’t help.
Isn’t Taite just so logical? And Lincoln is always so helpful.
Tonight was college football’s BCS championship bowl game. Travis found a sports bar for us to watch the game. PCH Sports Bar & Grill was the name. Of course I had to ask what PCH stood for. “Pacific Coast Highway. This road out here is Highway 101 also known as the Pacific Coast Highway. You aren’t from around here?” responded our waitress, Sarah. Just stamp “Tourist” on my forehead. We’ll be here in Oceanside for nine days. I’ll get the lingo down eventually.
I’m looking forward to seeing what southern California has for us to experience.
No comments:
Post a Comment