Camping Fun

No, I haven't completely forgotten about my blog. Things have been crazy this past couple of weeks. Now this week, I have to recover from the weekend. There's lots of extra laundry and some unpacking left to do after our first camping trip of the season. This was also our first camping trip in our new camper. We went to Burr Oak State Park and Rod wasn't overly thrilled with my pick because of the whinding, hilly roads we had to use to get there, but it was Memorial Day weekend and the pickings were slim for those of us who didn't plan way in advance. We made it to the camp ground safely and the truck did the job.

The camp ground was nice, but it was a very hot and humid weekend and we didn't have many shade trees by the camper. Luckily our air conditioning worked great. The camper was perfect after we got everything set up. Everything worked like it was supposed too and the kids loved their room. We went camping with my brother, SIL and the cousins so things got a little crazy in the camper a couple of times when we got all 6 kids in the back room. Overall the trip was lots of fun. We did get some rain in the morning before we left. It was a huge down pour, but it didn't ruin any fun since all that was left was packing up. We did have a big mud puddle outside the door, but we managed to keep most of it outside.

Here are some pictures from the trip. (I didn't take as many pictures as I would have liked, but I kept forgetting.)

Getting Ready for Swimming

Swimming and Playing at the Lake

My brother, Adam and SIL, Stephanie, just bought a couple of Seadoos. We had to drive to the river to ride them. All the kids tried them out. I had to drive at first to get Caleb and Leah to go on. (We didn't get pictures of me driving because I am generally the only one that thinks of pictures.) After riding with me, the kids were comfortable enough to go out again. Alissa even went out with Aunt Steph. Leah had a blast and ending up going a second day with while we stayed back at the campground.

Mommy, Alissa, and Caleb watching from the dock.

Caleb had some crazy hair after his second ride with Aunt Steph. I guess he didn't appreciate how fast Aunt Steph was going and said he wanted his mommy again.

While Leah was out on the river ride Seadoos, the rest of us went fishing. Rod found us a good spot and it didn't take long for Caleb to catch a couple of fish. Alissa is more interested in picking flowers and throwing rocks in the water. I forgot my camera, but took these on my cell phone.

Leah's Birthday Party

It's hard for me to believe that my first was born six years ago tomorrow! Time flies and I know it's only going faster and faster with each year. Leah's birthday party was Saturday and it really did go pretty well. It was a ton of work, but it was worth it to see her having such a great time. The whole party I was hopping from on thing to the next and the couple hours flew by. It was a perfect weather day. It was sunny and warm. We did everything outside. For those of you that weren't able to come. Here are some pictures from the party.,

The cake

The Pinata

Cutting and Eating Cake

Opening Presents

Old Camper, New Camper

Three years ago, we bought our first RV. We have learned alot about RVs since then and we've also learned that the kids and I (and most of the time Rod) love camping. The first time we went camping I just knew that there would be old people all around us in RVs, but I was so wrong. So many young families camp and everytime that we go camping the kids end up making friends and playing with our 'neighbors'. Our first RV was a class C '91 Tiago Arrow. We thought that it was exactly what we wanted. It did fit our needs and we had many good camping experiences in it. We had our share of issues with it too. There was some seious water damage we didn't know about, but Rod had to fix. We originally thought it would be best to have an RV we could drive. That way, the kids had room and could sit at the table, eat, color, etc. This accept was very nice, but the problem was that once we arrived at the campground we could not go anywhere that wasn't biking distance. We got a pull behind trailer for Rod's bike increase the distance (beyond what a 2 year old could go on a bkie), but soon we added a third child and the trailer only fits 2.


This past winter we visited a RV show and walked through lots of different RVs and Rod and I really got to thinking about our current situation. We thought that it would be nice to have a pull behind trailer, but he wasn't sure how big of a trailer that our current truck could haul (we could not afford a new truck). When we looked into it we learned that we could get a nice size trailer. We were greatly disappointed when we looked into trading our old RV, but decided to try and sell it ourselves. A month ago we sold our old camper. It was bitter sweet. Even Rod who never did like the camper much (since he felt like he was always working on it) felt a bit sad when he watched it drive away.



Our Old Camper: (I hope that the people that bought you are happy.)








Everyone that came out to see the camper was impressed at the inside and how clean it was for a '91.





We had picked out a 2010 trailer that we were very excited about. The weekend after we sold the camper we had decided to go and buy it. However, the dealer sold that camper the weekend that we sold ours. It wasn't the camper that we were supposed to have. We started looking at other new campers, but we were having trouble finding something we loved in our price range. I started to look at used campers and found the one that we ended up buying. We bought it off an individual who live in Marysville, OH. It's a 2006 and it's 31 1/2 feet long. It's light enough for Rod to pull with his truck and has bunks for the kids. It has two slide outs, one in the bunk area and the couch. It was also nice because the guy was selling all of the towing equipment that Rod needed with it too.





We are very excited to go on our first camping trip on Memorial Day weekend.

This is the kids room. It's the biggest slide out and the couch makes out into a bed. There is a dresser in here and a TV (which was the selling point for the kids). Even after the couch is pulled out there is still floor space for the kids to play. There is also a curtain which I'm sure they will want closed!

The couch is the other slide out. Leah wanted to model! There is also a huge cabinet beside the couch. There is a ton of cabinets for storage in this camper. I couldn't even fill them all!

Here's the dinnette and you can see the kids room in the background. The bathroom is off the kids room.

Here's our room. It's in the front of the camper.

The kitchen has a lot more counter space than I'm used to.

Caleb's Graduation

Caleb graduated from preschool on Tuesday. It was cute. They had a little singing performance right before they called each of the kids to come forward and get their 'diploma'. I was a little disappointed that Caleb was in the middle row and the kids in front hats made it very hard to see him. Even behind the hat, I could see some attempts at making the motions to the songs and to singing. The favorite part of the evening for the kids were the cookies after.


Caleb went to a preschool this year that was only one day a week. This preschool was a a church and was at no cost at all. They even provided the kids with a snack. I have been very impressed with this preschool program. They gave each of the kids the cutest book at the end with pictures of things they did throughout the year. The kids also each got a child's Bible at graduation. It has been great, but Caleb needs more than one day so next year he will be going to pre-k and it will be 3 hours 3 days a week. It will be a huge adjustment for him.


Here are some pictures from the graduation.

This week was also right-to-read week at Leah's school. We've been reading lots of books and they've had some fun things planned at school. On Wednesday, it was dress like an alien day. I really struggled with what to have Leah wear. I decided to make her costume out of a paper bag. I cover it with aluminum foil and duct tape. I had Leah glue what she called buttons on it. I thought it turned out well, but Leah didn't really want to wear it after all my hard work. However, the deal was that she had to wear it until her teacher saw it. I figured that she would end up leaving it on when she saw the other kids. She did hold up her end of the bargain, but she did not leave it on. She told me that Mrs. O'Brien said it was awesome and the other kids that saw it loved it too. I guess one of her friends tried to tell her to put it back on, but she didn't want too. She took it off so quick that she could name 5 or 6 kids who actually saw it.

The good news is that Caleb thinks it's a pretty cool dress up outfit!