Camping Trip #2

When Allison and I were little and we would go on vacation, my grandma always got us a huge box of stuff/toys for the car ride. My parents usually either borrowed a van from them or we had a motorhome for some trips, so most of the time we had lots of room while traveling and thanks to maw-maw – we were not bored. Of course, my mom and dad wanted to carry on the same sort of tradition for her grandkids. The night before we left for this camping trip, they brought over a box with toys and other things all wrapped up for the girls to open while we were traveling. I tried to take pictures each time they opened one. It was so fun for them!

 

New vacation sippy cups!! The best thing EVER!!

Along the way, they got to open popcorn, toys, coloring books, and even new toothbrushes!!

   

They loved every one of their gifts and had so much fun opening all the packages. It was a great idea and I hope we get to continue this tradition, it was just so fun to watch and it helped break up the ride so they didn’t get so bored.

And, yep, this is me. DRIVING THE MOTORHOME!! Once on the way there, and once on the way home. Jon had to use the bathroom, so we swapped for just a few minutes and he stretched. I will not be making a habit of driving that big thing, it was STRESSFUL!!

And I realized that THIS is the way to travel. We got to play, watch movies, eat lunch and snacks, and they sure did take some good naps on the road. It’s great!!

  

And here’s our set up! We got into the campground and got all set up, then we went for a walk. One very noticeable thing about RV parks and RV owners, lets just say most of them are, um,  older. Walking around with a 2 and 3 year old was fun, they got lots of attention. Since it was so early in the year, a lot of the other travelers were from up north and had been at the park since December or January. It is fun to walk around, talk to the other travelers and see the different RV’s.

 

A sisters dinner. They couldn’t be cuter!! They sat there and ate and giggled, then Marielle told me “Momma, Aliza is my hype girl.” She thought she was so cool telling me that.

The next day we went to the beach with Jon’s brother Jared and his wife Paige. They were nice enough to come get us and bring us to the beach. That’s one thing about an RV – no transportation, unless you pull a vehicle. We did not. Hopefully next time we travel, we’ll have done something about that.

Anyway, Marielle wanted to be wrapped up in her towel, but she also wanted a snack. Uncle Jared wrapped her up and put her snack just under her chin, right where she could reach them…Silly Uncle Jared!

  

I took this next one with my phone and edited it with an app called “snapseed”. I love that girl!

Here they are, having a blast!

The girls LOVED having Jaret around. When Jon and I were talking about this trip, I said to him, “I wonder if Jaret could come.” Jon said, “I was just thinking that!” I called his mom, Jon’s sister, and asked if we could pull him out of school for a few days and come camping with us. She thought about it and looked at his school work and gave him the go ahead. We were all so excited. Jaret is a great kid and he is so easy to be around. He helps out, plays with the girls and enjoys himself. He is just easy. Here he is watching a movie with Aliza cuddled up with him.

So, Friday night we cooked at the campsite for Jared and Paige. Then they had us over to the condo for dinner Saturday night. Since we had bad weather all day Saturday, our plans for Banana Boat Smores on the outdoor grill (from The Pioneer Woman) were kinda squashed. But that didn’t stop us. We stuffed all this goodness (cinnamon chips, chocolate chips, marshmellows, and graham crackers) into bananas, wrapped them up in foil and put them in the oven until the banana was soft and all the goodies were melted. Y.U.M.!!!

After all that, the girls slept for a very long time on the way home. I think we are going to like having this RV in the family!!