Thanks for Giving

We were so sweetly included and embraced by Peggy and Matt and their families and friends this Thanksgiving. It meant so much to us, being away from our families and home this year.

I'm pretty sure Clara will not lack for love in her life. Her grandmothers had quite an elaborate game of securing their time to hold and rock and love her. Unfortunately, we thought too late to get the whole group in the picture before people started leaving, but we got what we could.



Jamie walking Max. She is in love.

Not All Showers are Created Equal

Robb says I'm being dramatic. I beg to differ.

We pulled in after a few days of dry camping. Our water tank is leaking so we are being extra vigilant to save water and I was desperately looking forward to a shower. What also should have ensured a magical shower experience; I was going alone. Normally the kids and I preform a sort of shower circus.

But, no, this time I was indulging.

So in my haste to sneak out unaccompanied I forgot my absorber (our oh-so-brilliant alternative to towels which save space, moisture and laundry.)

Not the end of the world, obviously the clothes I'm wearing are going into the laundry and will make fine drying utensils.

The campground bathroom looks a little dingy and neglected, sure, the corners haven't been swept; no big deal.

Now things start to go down hill. The lack of water pressure and the type of shower head combine in such a way that water drips down the wall which was covered in suspicious dark spots, but leaning against the suspect wall wasn't even an option as the control was sticking right out at chest level.

I pressed on.

Managing to contort myself so as to lean my head against the suspect wall I was able to siphon off a bit of the water. Trying to get the back of my head I rotated so my face was looking up at the ceiling granting a fabulous view of the Texas sized spiders and their plentiful webs overhead. Shivering now because it is impossible to stay in the water I reach for the shampoo which sends not one, not two, but three cockroaches scurrying.

I didn't stay to shave my legs.

More Austin Fun

Suzy and I at the same botanical gardens she recommended 8 yeas ago and which we visited on our first motorhome trip through Austin. I found the spot I had nursed a 5 week old Jamie.


At Home Slice Pizza; simply magical. We walked along South Congress, shopped, visited a costume store bigger than some department stores and met Leslie; a famous local who chooses to live on the streets and wear no pants. Good times.




Jamie and a friend, finding some much needed girl time as they were surrounded by a boy scout campout, much to Bobby's delight.

Slowing Down

Love Austin.

We are camping at a gorgeous park (McKinney State Park) where we can bike, hike, hang out outside, have campfires and all the usual lovely activities of camping. We realized that we have been traveling/urban boon-docking for too long.

Hanging out with amazing friends who we have had a fantastic time catching up and solving all of the world's problems with.

And, of course, the new baby Clara to hold and rock and get our baby-love-fix in with. No, it doesn't make me want another, we are all filled up here, but it is so wonderful to have babies to visit.


Jamie and Bobby getting to know Max. I wonder if a kennel would fit in the rv....



Matt sings Peggy rocks, what a magical way for Clara to go to sleep.
Jillian thought doing flips would be the perfect accompaniment.



Off to Suzy's today to hang out downtown!

This and That in Texas

We tried to repeat our Newell Coach experience with Foretravel in Nacogdoches, Texas. We failed magnificently. We arrived too late for the tour, oh, and on the wrong day.

We moved on to College Station.

Horrifying half of you and with tears of pride from the rest we visited the George Bush Presidential Library. It is an impressive building with a huge collection of interesting items. They have a fun kids' tour with worksheets and dog houses. It was definitely worth seeing and we are excited to visit some of the other Presidential libraries.

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What do we do when you sprain your wrist in this family? We go mountain biking!

Jamie fell off the monkey bars and was given the proper amounts of ice, rest, sympathy and ice cream. And then we went riding. She was doing great but then on a particularly bumpy stretch she started crying. Brilliant doctor that he pretends to be, Robb quickly took off the wrap that was cutting off her circulation and she felt much better.



Science experiment day. They had fun and learned a thing or two and I used up a bunch of the corn syrup left over from the fake blood of Halloween!

Deep in the Heart

Enjoying College Station, Texas but so looking forward to heading over to Austin tomorrow!!

Just a quick note to tell you to check out Jamie's page. She didn't have a whole lot of time (Mommy was hogging the opportunity to catch up with some long overdue correspondence!!)

Miami (a) and Snapshots

We are in Miami (somehow pronounced my-ah-ma by the locals) Oklahoma.

On purpose.

No, seriously we detoured to come here specifically.

Our Newell Coach was born here and we went to tour the factory. Robb's tireless research in choosing Newell was affirmed in spades. We thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of our Newell experience and the trip was totally worth it. Though no one asked to look at our rig, we were invited to camp here and return whenever we were in Miami (a.)

A snapshot (pun half-halfheartedly intended) of our past few weeks follows with some gross omissions.

Sadly, we neglected to get any pictures with the Hasselgren family. We hope this just guarantees that we will see them again soon to rectify that overlook! Jim and Kristi, We truly appreciate your generous hospitality and treasure our time spent with you. Seeing those five tow-heads lined up on the couch is a picture we'll have in our hearts forever and we can't wait for some more pool lessons from Hannah!

Steph, Allie and Keith, all the pictures from our fabulous day with you are on Jamie's camera and I am hogging the computer so we will have to wait to share those. Jillian has finally stopped asking of every where we are going, "Is the girl with the white sweatshirt going to be there?" She is in love. As am I, it was so great to see you all and know what a happy life you've found.

Monty; Jeff and Jen's sweet, sweet dog. A golden and poodle mix who doesn't shed and kept the kids entertained all night. Jamie fell in love.


Robb and Jeff. Jeff's dad got some, I'm sure, great pictures of all of us, but they are, of course, on his camera. Oh well, it was so good to get to see the Meurer clan!



Back at BW3's. Donnie, Erick, and Katie helped us introduce our kids to the wings of our college days.



We stopped at Erick's on our way out of Denver and ended up spending one more night outside of his place. Between his jalapeno poppers, chicken tacos, guacamole and $2.00 water he's lucky we ever left!



Our little kitty cat, vampire bat and vampire.


Sticking pennies to the train track with left over fake blood. We figured if we had to listen to the train whistle in the middle of the night we should have a souvenir.



We went out to Odell's brewery; live music and sample trays. I love college towns.



Next up to Sterling to see the Grahams. We managed to show up at the worst possible time; besides being crazy busy at work, Toby is building a house by himself and, though it is not quite done, was scheduled to move in the next day.


We did manage to steal some time and sample some local Mexican food. Here are the girls and kids minus Sully; their almost two year old cutie.



Lake Maloney in Nebraska; so beautiful, if it weren't for the threat of some real winter weather, we might still be there.



Happy trails!

Busting Your Hitch is a ......

You can rhyme as you please.

We were making our way south, enjoying The Swiss Family Robinson on audiobook, when Robb asks, rather calmly in retrospect, "Why can I see the truck?"

Our tow vehicle doesn't normally try to pass us.

It could have been a much more harrowing tale, he pulled over slowly enough so that the front of the truck is only slightly dented, the safety cords held and apart from inconvenience we are no worse for the wear.

Jamie wants to be the one to post pictures so look for those.

We are going to be exploring Wichita (Robb's dad's place of birth) while we "re-connect." It looks like we might be in luck with blue ox (the hitch) even though we are a bit (read three times) outside of the warranty period. But really, I don't think they are EVER supposed to just snap like this.

Gillian Welch's YouTube version of "Wichita" has had to sustain us since I doubt Lex is willing to fly in and play it for us live.

Once again no pictures, Robb's need to research the hitch trumped my plea for the computer.

I'll leave you with my early morning groggy conversation with Jillian.
J, "When are we going home?"
I replied in song, as is my customary response to her oft asked query, "Home is wherever I'm with you."
To which she replied by finishing the song verse, "it's true."
Not satisfied she tried a different tact, "Where are we going today?"
"Wichita."
She thinks for a minute, "They have food?"
"Yes."
This, apparently, wholly satisfied her and she snuggled merrily in waiting for her siblings to stir.

Kids' Updates

Be sure to check out Jamie and Bobby's pages, they are now competing for computer time ;)

electricity

Boon-docking has saved much in exorbitant campground expenses, but makes for difficult blogging. When charged batteries are in high demand blogging doesn't take first priority.... think work, school, research..... I'm trying this from the phone so please bear with me. Just be thankful you don't have to read as slow as I text.

The proximity to the train tracks (consistently active in the wee hours of the night) of our current 'yard' was justified this morning with some flat pennies for all, carefully stuck to the track with left over fake blood on our walk home from Wash bar last night. Keep reading and that might make more sense. My editing skills are severely limited on this device.

We so very much enjoyed the rest of our stay in Denver. We have many dear friends there and we relished visiting with all the ones we were able to. Seeing, and in some cases meeting, their children was heart warming. We didn't get enough pictures but hopefully I'll get to share a few.

We are now exploring Ft. Collins, where, we both swear we went to school, but are having a bit of a challenge recognizing her for all the changes. Thank God for Lucky Joe's or we might have checked the gps.
Ok, so it isn't that extreme but a lot can happen in a few short years. Or maybe it has more to do with just how many of those "few short years" have passed.

The Rams were nice enough to let the kids experience a victorious first college football game. It was sunny but we do miss those Sonny days we knew.

Halloween was fun. Jamie found a recipe for fake blood which bloomed into a of vampire, a vampire bat, and a kitty cat. (Jillian wasn't quite as intrigued with the prospect of the blood.) We did what we could with what we hag and a couple choice items from the thrift store!

We walked around downtown and the kids chose ice cream cones as their treat rather than trick or treating. Jamie's rather insightful rationale behind this choice; "it is better to enjoy an ice cream than to go collect a bunch of candy that mommy won't let us eat anyway. " Hmmm.... well, ok so the girl has me.

This has taken all morning and the natives are beyond restless. Off to stock up on Odell's so that we may woo Suzy when we get to Texas.

Xoxo