On the road again…

How many times will I use that title in my multiple travel blogs??

We hit the road as soon as the kids got up in the morning.  Said goodbye to Grant and Bobbie, pulled up the jacks and were on our way.  It is way easier to get going in the morning when you can do breakfast on the road, don’t have to worry about stopping for potty breaks, and the kids still have a chance to move around a little.  The drive back was pretty uneventful but it was WARM.  The generator seems to be having some issues running the air conditioner so we were hanging around the upper 80s, low 90s for the drive.  Once Max (and then Sophie too) fell asleep, the rest of the drive was a piece of cake.  ;)

All in all it was a great first trip.  We were able to figure out what we did and didn’t need (mostly overpacked on clothes (thought it was going to get cold at night) and food (better safe than hungry).  Now we just need to figure out the generator for the air in the future and try to see what we need to do to get hot water working with the propane. 

Next trip is to Bay City State Park.  Stay tuned!

Reflections of coolness.  Passed a skunk.  Max getting his sea legs.

The bridge to home.

Sleeping through the heat on the way home.

Beach Bumming

Round Two of heading to the beach was much more uneventful.  Grant took me and the kids and then came back to camp to pick up Tom.  After dropping Tom off he headed to get an estimate on his car (around $4500…ughhh).  The wind was definitely brisk at the beach but the water was still warm.  Sophie practiced using her goggles.  I was so proud of her but she wanted them off after a few minutes.  Later when I asked her about them I figured out that she didn’t open her eyes.  Oh Sophie…
Max got more brave in the water.  Even when a wave knocked him down and tried to drown him he kept wanting to go deeper in the water.  It was nice to see him use his floaties a little and start to get used to them.  I can tell you in the week since we’ve been back he can now balance in a pool or float on his tummy in shallow water.
Max fell asleep again on the way home but Sophie did not.  Bobbie and I headed off to the casino for a little bit of gambling and Sophie hung out with her Dad and Grandpa.  I was not a big winner, but really milked my $30 and had some fun.  It was nice to get out and do something for a bit.  Max got up just before we got back so the timing worked out good.  Plus, we didn’t hit any deer with the loaner car, so that was extra nice.
It was another night of campfire and s’mores and we even decided to bust out the sparklers for Sophie.  She did pretty good except that Max wanted to keep running through the shower of sparks.  I thought the sparks coming toward her hand might bother her but she got into twirling her little stick. 
The kids really did a great job camping…I really think the motorhome made this trip so much easier than tent (or even pop-up) camping would have been.  At night we could turn on the air and really cool it down to get the kids to sleep and then plug in the monitor and go to Grant & Bobbie’s for some Bid 500.  Max took some time to fall asleep a couple of nights, but at least there was no crying.  We spent the evening packing most things up so that we could get up and go in the morning.
It was not this calm for very long; the umbrella had to come down after about 30 minutes.

Swimming Sophie
 
Sophie was a very big fan of her “dolphin friend” and Max loved floating in his raft surfing the waves.  He leaned so far back that I thought he was going to flip over sometimes.
 
Sophie Lynn.


Campfire Goodies!!!

 
Even by avoiding most of the s’more, Sophie found out that they are plenty messy.  Notice the concentration to get that chocolate free from its marshmallow grip.
 

























Sparkling Sophie and Max demonstrating why maybe he’s just not quite ready for Sparklers just yet.

Last Day Pictures

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Golf and Golf Cart Rides

The nice thing about sleeping in the camper is that the kids can just wake up and head back to our bed (usually Max first).  Of course, the not so nice thing for Sophie is that he usually then goes up and wakes her up.  They got up between 6 and 7 every day and we usually just hung out in the camper for an hour or two until we were really ready to get out and start the day.  Grant and Bobbie usually sleep in a little later so there was no rush to get out and do something.
Today was the day that Tom was planning on golfing with Grant and Bobbie.  They decided to head up the road to the Highlands to try hitting something other than deer.  Having the motorhome definitely made hanging out alone at a campsite with the kids a lot easier.  When I needed to contain them (like to make lunch) I can just bring them inside and close the door.  Voila!  Contained kiddos.  We took a little stroll around the campground while Tom was getting ready for golf, letting Sophie throw some rocks in the green water.  “Why don’t the fish like it there?”  “If the frogs live there then I can swim with them.”  Ummmm, no.
Both kids went on the merry-go-round for a little bit and then we headed back to the camper.  Max got some practice on the big boy swing (after Sophie knocked him over while he was walking.  He does seem more cautious around swings now…).  He only fell off a few times and seemed somewhat graceful about it.  They played on the swings and slide for awhile and then we decided to play in the little pools for a bit.  After lunch and some more outdoor play (mostly soccer…Max struggles with the whole “kick” concept but Sophie has added a scoring dance to her performance repertoire) we headed inside the camper for nap for Max and a cartoon for Sophie.
The kids, especially Sophie, loved golf cart rides with Harold.  When Sophie would hear him coming she would say “Harold is coming to give me a ride”.  Well, Harold was going to do some work but he would stop and give her a ride.  Max took a few rides but I think he was mostly mad that hey didn’t get to drive by himself so he boycotted rides after awhile, choosing to jump on the empty cart to “drive” whenever he got the chance.
Sophie had lots of practice trying to score and Grandpa was the goalie.  She snuck a few by him, in no time at all she’ll be giving him a real run for his money.  She also had fun playing goalie (with Grandpa as a back-up) trying to stop my shots.
My little grumpy man at break time.  Sophie was so proud that she could hang on the slide with her feet off the ground.

Campsite
 
My soccer-playing kiddos.  Max has such a patient, kind, and sharing big sister.  Hopefully they are still so kind in 10 years.

Golf Cart Rides

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It’s picture time with Maxton & Sophie

‘Round & ‘Round they go…

Sophie getting ready to throw her rocks on the bridge and a look back and Max with Daddy across the channel near the camper.
  
These guys are always trying to drink the pool water.

Big Boy Swing (and an appropriate shirt)

Fun Times

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Sunday…part 2

Well, it was great that I was on time with the first part of Sunday’s post…because the rest of the trip is being chronicled about a week later…  Better late than never!

So I blogged while the kids were cashed out in the camper.  By the time they got up, it was time for dinner and campfire – the latter Sophie was pretty excited about.  She was definitely looking forward to making s’mores (which she doesn’t really like to eat), roasting marshmallows (which she doesn’t really like to eat and doesn’t get close enough to roast them), and just sitting around the campfire (after the roasting was done, she was ready for bed).  The main thing is that she had fun.  :)

Max didn’t really enjoy the campfire too much, we had to spend a lot of time making sure he wasn’t running into the fire so he was getting cranky at being confined to his camp chair.  Since he has a hard time getting out of it, putting him in it means that he loses his freedom to run around until someone gets him out.

Dinner was sloppy joes and chips and Grant and Bobbie’s camper and after we ate, Sophie helped me gather twigs to make a teepee for our fire.  If the s’mores look especially huge it’s because they are.  Those monster marshmallows really give full coverage!

If this blog seems, disjointed, it’s because it is.  I’m trying to piece together the evening based on pictures and the memories they jog. 

My Cashed-Out Camper & Deer Hunting (a lot of the fur fell off on the drive home from the beach)

Campsite, Campfire, Campers in Chairs

My cautious little camper roasting her giant marshmallow.  That’s Grant and Bobbie’s camper and car in the background.

Mmmm…s’more.  I believe she ended up taking it apart to just eat the chocolate.

Before the anger…you can see it brewing. 

Camp Life

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