I have piles of laundry to wash and a camper to clean out and a van to vacuum and groceries to buy but I have two sick babies who need me to sit with them on the couch so that's what I shall do right now.
We arrived home last night around 10pm after traveling through 5 states over 10 nights, putting 3,290 miles on the van with 7 kids under the age of 10 in one camper. You do the math.
Our original plan was to leave around 8 or 9am on a Friday morning. I thought that after a restful night, we would leisurely get up out of bed, eat a good breakfast, finish last minute tasks and load up the van. At 4:15am, Willow started to fuss. She wasn't feeling the whole restful night vibe and decided to be awake for the day at that hour. Her crying woke up Henry and Ruby and we decided then and there to pack up and head out.
We were on the road by 6:30am and not even three miles from home, the kids started fighting. About 30 miles from home, Milo started complaining of a stomach ache and urged us to make a potty stop ASAP. We took the next exit, which brought us five miles out of the way to a Menards where I made all the kids go to the bathroom, whether it was needed or not.
We hopped back on the interstate and about two miles down the road, the van's check engine light started flashing. After stopping for a diagnosis at the nearest O'Reilly, we made the determination that we could keep going. It was only an oxygen censor and ain't nobody got time to fix that right now.
Finally, after five stops in two hours, we were back in business.
Our destination for that night was Theodore Roosevelt National Park. We had reservations at the campground in the park and it would be our first night in our newly purchased pop-up camper.
The drive through North Dakota went relatively smoothly. The only concern was that Ruby couldn't see anything I was pointing out.
"Kids, look at the big Buffalo!"
Ruby: "I can't see it!"
"Kids, look at the big cow!"
Ruby: "I can't see it!"
"Kids, look at, never mind. No one look at anything. Just read your books."
We pulled into the park around 5pm and with our 4th grade pass, we got in for free. If you have a 4th grader, you get into any national park for free. Just fill out the form online, print out the coupon and present it at a national park. They will give you a card. It's a pretty slick set-up. Between all the parks we visited, we saved us a good $100. Or Avery did. She gets to take all the credit. Because she didn't fail 3rd grade and got to go to 4th grade.
If you haven't been to Theodore Roosevelt, it's worth the stop. We have driven by it every time we go west and I never realized what was there. The winding roads take you up and down the hills and bluffs of the park and I quickly remembered that I do not like heights. Looking back, it's laughable at how nervous I was, having experienced much more death-defying drives later on in the trip. (Ooo, spoiler alert.)
A random buffalo here and there blocked the road but they were absolutely polite, moving out of the way, giving a little nod and wishing us a good day.
We settled into our campsite and set up the camper in 8 minutes, something the kids and I practiced many times before the trip. Once it's level, it's a simple crank, crank, crank, pull, lift, hook bars, pull, lift, hook bars, stretch, loops, door, done. Bada-bing, bada-boom.
Across the road from us was a most enviable campsite, which had a trail leading down to the river below. Next time we will stay there.
Since it's a free country, we zipped through the site and hiked down the trail. The kids could have stayed down here all week. The water has a light scent of buffalo chips but the rocks available to throw? Amazing.
Henry was exhausted by this point and Daddy Pig, the term Ruby so affectionately uses, offered to stay back with him while the kids and I went on the scenic drive and hike through the park.
We stopped at the prairie dog community first and watched them pop their heads up out of their holes. Willow was obsessed with them, screeching right along with them. I think she found her true family.
We loaded up into the van again and drove slowly away, keeping watch on them still. Three prairie dog had gathered by the roadside, and as I inched forward, I told them, "Stay where you are!" Two listened to me but one decided to make a break for it and ran right out into the road. He darted to and fro but I couldn't stop in time and I heard a light thud under my van. I looked in my side mirror and saw one prairie dog on it's back, arms and legs straight up in the air. He was gone. There was nothing anyone could do. He will be remembered as being frantic and indecisive in his final moments.
There's a fun little hike about 10 miles in to the park. It gave us incredible views so close to sunset.
The kids ran around camp until it got dark before settling in for the night. I wasn't worried about any of the kids getting to sleep besides Willow. I had been training her to sleep in non-ideal settings for a few months now but she is such a light sleeper that I still had my doubts. She is used to having her own room, black out curtains and a sound machine, habits I instilled early on to get her to sleep when she was a colicky newborn. It's hard to get any 14 month out of habits but I had worked on this all summer. She slept in a pack n play in the weeks leading up to this and I put her in with the toddlers so she would be used to sleeping with other people.
I may as well not have even bothered. I think we got about five or six hours of sleep that night. Stubborn baby fell asleep sitting up. I offered her the world and she wouldn't take it. She wouldn't even sleep with me. I never let my babies sleep with me and here I was giving her the chance of a lifetime but nope, she didn't want that either. She is so incredibly adorable, though, and she is absolutely worth it.
We woke up to a thunderstorm and had to pack up and eat breakfast in the rain. We had two stops to make that day; Little Bighorn Battlefield and Lewis and Clark Caverns State Park.
To be continued...
We arrived home last night around 10pm after traveling through 5 states over 10 nights, putting 3,290 miles on the van with 7 kids under the age of 10 in one camper. You do the math.
Our original plan was to leave around 8 or 9am on a Friday morning. I thought that after a restful night, we would leisurely get up out of bed, eat a good breakfast, finish last minute tasks and load up the van. At 4:15am, Willow started to fuss. She wasn't feeling the whole restful night vibe and decided to be awake for the day at that hour. Her crying woke up Henry and Ruby and we decided then and there to pack up and head out.
We were on the road by 6:30am and not even three miles from home, the kids started fighting. About 30 miles from home, Milo started complaining of a stomach ache and urged us to make a potty stop ASAP. We took the next exit, which brought us five miles out of the way to a Menards where I made all the kids go to the bathroom, whether it was needed or not.
We hopped back on the interstate and about two miles down the road, the van's check engine light started flashing. After stopping for a diagnosis at the nearest O'Reilly, we made the determination that we could keep going. It was only an oxygen censor and ain't nobody got time to fix that right now.
Finally, after five stops in two hours, we were back in business.
Our destination for that night was Theodore Roosevelt National Park. We had reservations at the campground in the park and it would be our first night in our newly purchased pop-up camper.
The drive through North Dakota went relatively smoothly. The only concern was that Ruby couldn't see anything I was pointing out.
"Kids, look at the big Buffalo!"
Ruby: "I can't see it!"
"Kids, look at the big cow!"
Ruby: "I can't see it!"
"Kids, look at, never mind. No one look at anything. Just read your books."
We pulled into the park around 5pm and with our 4th grade pass, we got in for free. If you have a 4th grader, you get into any national park for free. Just fill out the form online, print out the coupon and present it at a national park. They will give you a card. It's a pretty slick set-up. Between all the parks we visited, we saved us a good $100. Or Avery did. She gets to take all the credit. Because she didn't fail 3rd grade and got to go to 4th grade.
If you haven't been to Theodore Roosevelt, it's worth the stop. We have driven by it every time we go west and I never realized what was there. The winding roads take you up and down the hills and bluffs of the park and I quickly remembered that I do not like heights. Looking back, it's laughable at how nervous I was, having experienced much more death-defying drives later on in the trip. (Ooo, spoiler alert.)
A random buffalo here and there blocked the road but they were absolutely polite, moving out of the way, giving a little nod and wishing us a good day.
We settled into our campsite and set up the camper in 8 minutes, something the kids and I practiced many times before the trip. Once it's level, it's a simple crank, crank, crank, pull, lift, hook bars, pull, lift, hook bars, stretch, loops, door, done. Bada-bing, bada-boom.
Across the road from us was a most enviable campsite, which had a trail leading down to the river below. Next time we will stay there.
Since it's a free country, we zipped through the site and hiked down the trail. The kids could have stayed down here all week. The water has a light scent of buffalo chips but the rocks available to throw? Amazing.
Henry was exhausted by this point and Daddy Pig, the term Ruby so affectionately uses, offered to stay back with him while the kids and I went on the scenic drive and hike through the park.
We stopped at the prairie dog community first and watched them pop their heads up out of their holes. Willow was obsessed with them, screeching right along with them. I think she found her true family.
We loaded up into the van again and drove slowly away, keeping watch on them still. Three prairie dog had gathered by the roadside, and as I inched forward, I told them, "Stay where you are!" Two listened to me but one decided to make a break for it and ran right out into the road. He darted to and fro but I couldn't stop in time and I heard a light thud under my van. I looked in my side mirror and saw one prairie dog on it's back, arms and legs straight up in the air. He was gone. There was nothing anyone could do. He will be remembered as being frantic and indecisive in his final moments.
There's a fun little hike about 10 miles in to the park. It gave us incredible views so close to sunset.
The kids ran around camp until it got dark before settling in for the night. I wasn't worried about any of the kids getting to sleep besides Willow. I had been training her to sleep in non-ideal settings for a few months now but she is such a light sleeper that I still had my doubts. She is used to having her own room, black out curtains and a sound machine, habits I instilled early on to get her to sleep when she was a colicky newborn. It's hard to get any 14 month out of habits but I had worked on this all summer. She slept in a pack n play in the weeks leading up to this and I put her in with the toddlers so she would be used to sleeping with other people.
I may as well not have even bothered. I think we got about five or six hours of sleep that night. Stubborn baby fell asleep sitting up. I offered her the world and she wouldn't take it. She wouldn't even sleep with me. I never let my babies sleep with me and here I was giving her the chance of a lifetime but nope, she didn't want that either. She is so incredibly adorable, though, and she is absolutely worth it.
We woke up to a thunderstorm and had to pack up and eat breakfast in the rain. We had two stops to make that day; Little Bighorn Battlefield and Lewis and Clark Caverns State Park.
To be continued...
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