Epic Camping Trip: Road Trip to Colorado

On day 2 of our epic camping trip, we woke up around 5 and pulled out of Amarillo at 5:50. My brother told us we were leaving at 6, and by 5:45, DJ was rushing us out of the camper and in to the car because everyone (but us) was ready to go. 

The girl who swears she can't sleep in the car, fell asleep in the car ;)

We made it to New Mexico around 7:30, stopped for gas, and everyone in our caravan caught back up with each other. 

New Mexico scenery was gorgeous (and we were just getting started.) I pointed out the clouds on top of the mountain and Megan asked if we could hike up there and touch the clouds. She also suggested we take some cloud home with us. 

As the day went on, the scenery was still just as pretty. 

Eventually, we were all separated again. We lagged behind when we pulled over for a bathroom stop, but then called my brother and we were able to catch back up with the group. He pulled over at this roadside stand he had seen on a previous trip, and wanted to stop, but because it was a Sunday, the shop was closed.

More driving. More pretty scenery. 

We stopped for lunch in Cuba, New Mexico. It's a blip of a town, not even a mile long, but my brother had talked about this Mexican restaurant and since the beginning of planning this trip, he had told everyone we were stopping here to eat. Our drive was basically planned around this restaurant stop. We arrived a little after 11. 

I'm a sucker for details. 

and great food! 

After lunch, the girls all declared they were riding with Gee & Papaw. They buckled in to the sofa and table bench seats and they were ready to hit the road. 

As we drove further in to Colorado, the mountains grew bigger. Y'all, I have so many pictures of scenery from out the car window it's not even funny. 

But here's where it gets a little interesting. 

One of the families in our caravan didn't stop for lunch with us and kept on driving. Another family had difficulty pulling their camper through the mountains- it was just really heavy for their truck. We eventually met up at the top of the mountain before the town of Silverton, which was our destination. (My parents & the girls were also lagging behind because of the weight of their camper and towing their jeep.) 

We all pulled over and my brother & his friend, Kyle, drove into a lake area to try to find us a camping spot. In the mountains there are a ton of "boon docking" camp sites. You don't need reservations for these and they have no hook ups. It's totally first come first serve, and you'll often see people just pulled over off the road and camping. 

DJ and I have fretted for months that we wouldn't get a camp site. Camping has become really popular in the last year and campgrounds fill up months in advance. And here we are gambling that we'd find some sort of spot to camp. Also, the campground we had planned on boon docking, was closed due to a fire from last Fall...... As we waited, they drove off and came up empty handed. 

Let's just say, DJ and I were really doubting my brother and his plans. We started following them, passed the town of Silverton, and off a dirt road. We passed small camp ground after small camp ground, and saw a sign that the road was closed ahead. (It was closed at the camp ground that had the fire.) We pulled off in to one area and remember the family that didn't stop for lunch? They had found us a camp ground!!! 

We had worked out a plan to pack in all 6 campers in a small area, and then DJ and I spotted an open space over by a creek bed, and decided to set up our camp there. There was also room for my parents to squeeze in. 

And it was breathtaking. 

We had mountain views all around and the cutest stream right behind us. Can you spot the kids sneaking off to play in the water?

They had so much fun exploring but that water was cold! 

We had zero service out here, but Gretchen pulled out her computer so she could work on a story she's writing. I just laughed at this site. We had zero water or sewer hook ups. We were literally using the water in our tank, our batteries, and a generator, and here she is on her computer. 

The next morning when I woke up this was the view outside our camper. Look at the moon right above the mountain top. 

I walked over to the other campers, and found my brother whipping up a batch of sourdough french toast. I have to take a moment and brag on him...... He is a fireman and he can cook. Our entire trip, he cooked up big breakfasts and dinners. Everything was delicious and he was so selfless cooking for 18 people. 

After breakfast, we got dressed and headed to Ouray, Co. The cutest little mountain town.......

 

Our Epic Camping Trip: Amarillo

A few weeks ago, we woke up super early for an epic camping trip. 

This trip was so much fun, and I wish we could have stayed longer! We made so many great memories and saw so many amazing sights. It really was an epic trip. 

We spent the week before our trip packing the camper. Food, clothes, birthday presents, games, toys, toiletries. It was all there by Friday evening so Saturday morning we just woke up and headed out. 

We let the girls just ride in their pj's. They had books, tablets, dolls, and lots of things to keep them busy. 

We stopped in West, Tx at The Czech Stop for kolaches and breakfast. 

Their nutella kolaches are amazing. 

After a few more hours of driving, we pulled off for lunch. Because we were in the middle of nothing, there was no where to stop, but we had sandwiches, chips, oranges, and chicken salad. It really is convenient having everything we needed attached to our truck. 

By 3, we arrived at our first campground in Amarillo. We met up with my parents, my brother & his family, my brother's best friend & his parents & his in laws. In total, there were 6 families and 18 people in all.

 We decided to eat dinner at Big Tex Steakhouse which is famous for their 72 oz steak. Our campground even picked us up in limo's to drive us over to the steakhouse. 

The girls thought the limo ride was so fun. 

We had a 2 hour wait when we arrived. But, we made the best of it by exploring the gift shop, and all the sights outside. The girls found these masks and thought they were hilarious! 

And there were lots of photo ops outside. There was also a shooting range inside and a porch area with a band in the back, but we were informed the buzzers didn't work out back, so we just stayed out front. Plus, it was super crowded! 

Lots & lots of photo ops! 

And even the world's biggest cow! 

So, their 72 oz steak is world famous and you can get the meal free if you finish everything within an hour. The steak, and all the fixings. The fastest time belongs to a female who ate everything in 4 minutes! 

The girls ordered kids meals which came in cowboy hats. These hats got lots of wear on our trip! 

All 18 of us... minus my mom who was taking the picture. Also, I thought she was just taking a picture of the girls and I was over there giving them directions on where to sit. 

We finished our meal a little after 9, headed back to the campground via limos, showered, and went to bed, because we had a 5 am wake up call the next day! 

 

Before We Left...

Welp, I meant to publish this blog post before we left, but man, those days were hectic! I was busy finishing up all the loose ends at work, and packing for a 2 week camping trip which is not easy! Thankfully. before all the craziness, we had some fun before we left. 

Our church opted to not have a VBS this year. But, they're having fun events throughout the entire summer! The girls were pumped about the foam party! 

Lots of foam and lots of fun. 

Nothing but smiles! 

After they played in the foam, they rinsed off in the "carwash."

DJ and I attended football recruiting nights each Friday in June. DJ doesn't typically attend these events, but he had to run a video so we were able to go. And, we got a sneak peek of the new end zone facilities! 

All of the balloons they use to decorate are so fun. 

On Father's day we headed to church. 

and then we went to eat at a cajun restaurant in downtown Round Rock. 

And Megan worked overtime in gymnastics since she was missing 2 weeks. She had 2 private lessons before we left so she could learn her beam routine. 

 

Adalyn's 8!

During our 2 week epic camping trip, Adalyn turned 8! She hates traveling on her birthday, but I always tell her this way, she gets to celebrate a ton! We celebrated the morning of her birthday, the evening of, a few days later once we arrived home, and we still have her friends party! She gets celebrated a lot! 

Adalyn's birthday was Monday and mine was Friday, so we went out to eat Saturday evening at Blue Corn Harvest. She picked out a cookies & cream cheesecake dessert while I opted for peach cobbler! 

Two birthday girls and a Megan. 

Gretchen is currently hanging with my parents through the rest of the month camping, and these two girls are closer than ever. They've been dressing like twinsies. 

On July 4th, we celebrated the 4th of July at our campground in the Big Tetons and took Adalyn's "last day of being a 7 year old" picture. 

I always take these pictures before tucking them in to bed, but on this night, the girls had a cousins sleepover and slept in their cousin's camper. 

Twinsies. 

One last picture with daddy before pj's and a sleepover. 

I try to decorate for their birthdays after they go to bed, and since we were in the middle of nowhere, I didn't have a lot of options, but I did find  "Happy Birthday" lights at the campground store and hung those in the camper along with her presents. 

She was excited about her presents and wanted to open them first thing in the morning! 

Her Pops & Grandma Dee sent her present to us before we left so she would have it to open on her birthday. She was really excited about the LOL car! I mean, it even has a pool in the back- who wouldn't be excited about that?!

Her cousin gave her a bracelet making set. 

And then she read her card from her family present....

and opened her Present Pet! 

She has been so excited about this toy! 

This little pup has gone everywhere with us since her birthday. 

Her big sis gave her exactly what she wanted.......

gum. 

If you asked Adalyn what she wanted for her birthday, she'd tell you "gum, candy, and a present pet."

Gee gave her money!

Adalyn would go in to stores and want to spend all of her money and when we would warn her to not spend it all she would say, "well, Gee's going to give me more on my birthday." 

That afternoon, we celebrated with an oreo cookie cake and then we went to the campground lodge for dinner. 

We had lots of fun celebrating Adalyn on her birthday! 

 

The End of Homeschooling

Well, we did it! We survived an entire school year of homeschooling! Before this year if you would've asked me to homeschool my kids I would've laughed in your face. I knew that there would be lots of head butting and arguments involved and I just knew that I wouldn't be happy.

Well, I was wrong! 100% wrong. I absolutely loved the slower pace and being home with my girls 3 of 5 days a week. Our homeschool year was wonderful and I would love to do it again.

Unfortunately for me, I was working way less and I really need to bring in a bit more each month, so we decided to go ahead and send the girls back to school next year. And, the world is finally returning to whatever this normal is. So long as masks aren't required next year we can figure out a way to deal with the rest of any craziness that might happen. 

That being said, I figured out that once you remove the external stress of: waking up for the day, getting kids dressed, fed, out the door, and then rushing home to do homework, activities, feed, bathe, and get to bed- life is a heck of a lot simpler. I was not stressed much at all this past year, because we had removed all of the things that stress me out. If we could afford for me to stay home, I would do what I could to continue homeschooling. 

Adalyn used a mixture of The Good & The Beautiful for language arts/reading and handwriting, Brain Quest workbooks, and an actual 2nd grade math textbook. We also incorporated Bible verses, science that sisters were doing, spelling, sight words, and watched some history lessons on YouTube. 

One of my favorite things I did was have her call her grandparents on the days that I worked so she could read to them! It was a wonderful way to connect them together.

Math was by far her favorite subject, although she absolutely hates when she has to regroup in subtraction. She is well on her way to learning the basics of cursive handwriting, and she knows about all 500 sight words that our elementary school would require. We are currently working our way through 600 & 700, and she knows a good portion of them already! 

The curriculum I wanted to use with Megan wasn't available at the beginning of the year because it was sold out! So many people started homeschooling last year!

We started off using Brain Quest books with her, and then transitioned her over to Easy Peasy All in One, which was the same program that Gretchen was using. 

I loved it on the days that I was home with her, but on the days that I had to work, she continued her Brain Quest workbooks. Eventually we had her using Easy Peasy even on days that I worked, once she could navigate the website on her own, and that worked well for about 2 months. Then I realized she was completing the workbook pages only and not logging in. Grr. 

On my off days I had to go back and reteach what she was skipping. So, needless to say it took us a long time to get through math! We are still working on it throughout summer and touching up on some things so she'll be ready for 5th grade! 

She also used Good & Beautiful for handwriting, and I am amazed at how much growth she had in that area! 

Spelling was also an area that Megan excelled in! 

Currently, she's working her way through reading The Swiss Family Robinson, and once she's done, she'll be finished with the reading for the school year. 

Gretchen excelled at school work this year, but that's just who she is. She loves school and learning. She took pre-chem, algebra 1, language arts, reading, and 2 history courses. 

She also used Easy Peasy All in One and read too many books to count! She completed end of the year power points and taught us some things too! 

She's super excited about going back to school next year and being with friends. 

I absolutely loved this homeschool year and I don't regret it for a minute. Seeing them learn, grow, play together, rely on each other, teach each other. Those are moments I will always treasure. We laughed together, cuddled, read books, studied the Bible, memorized verses, wrote stories, and just had fun. It was definitely a year to remember!