the Tickled Pineapple: November 2017

So after camping in Hatteras Jamie was a little hesitant to make another trip. He kept saying it was a lot of work. Which it was but it was also a lot of fun. Needless to say we planned this trip to Endless Caverns before the Hatteras trip ended so he had no choice. :-) I was nice and gave him a 2 month break. lol

So to make this trip super easy we decided we weren't going to open the camper to pack. We were going to put everything in the back of the Suburban. Oh yeah, we were going to get that "fixed" so that it could tow the camper.

To "fix" the Suburban we attached the lowest solid hitch we owned at the time and got my dad to drive the camper around the block with the camper in tow. And it was "fixed"!!!! Something about the adjustable hitch, the camper, and the Suburban didn't jive, but a solid hitch was just what we needed.

So on to packing. The weather wasn't going to be very warm to we decided that the boys were going to wear sleepers all weekend so we didn't have to worry about keeping socks/shoes on them. I also threw in some fleece sleepers to keep them extra warm while sleeping. So packing for them was easy, some diapers and wipes and they were done. For Henleigh I went for heavy jeans, sweatpants, and long sleeve shirts. Along with diapers and wipes of course. :-) I also threw in hats and gloves for all the kiddos just in case. Good thing too because it was COLD!!! For baby gear we packed 2 of the kids highchairs and a pack-n-play.

As far as packing the camper we keep all of our towels and sheet in the camper so we didn't need to pack any of that, we needed a few chairs and propane and the camper was ready.

The ride to Endless Caverns in the Suburban was awesome!!! So much better than 3 kids in the truck on a long trip. Towards the end the boys got hungry and I was able to crawl in the back and feed them. Which was great because we didn't have to stop and they were ready for a nap when we got there so both Jamie and I could set up. Win Win!

It was very cold so we sent a lot of time in the MC with mom and dad but it didn't feel crowded or awkward at all. Mechelle and Raylan also met us so it was great to see both of them and finally get to hold my nephew. :-) On Saturday we toured the caverns. I just have to say that we were a sight. 5 adults and 4 babies, the tour guided kept counting to make sure we had everyone. Garrett loved looking at everything in the caverns, Hunter and Raylan slept and Ms. Hen Elizabeth wanted to walk and then didn't want to walk and then wanted to walk again. Poor Grand-dad.

This would be an awesome picture for someone who is looking to do couple or wedding pictures. Henleigh was nice enough to sit long enough for me to take a picture. :-)

We got our first cousin shot. And no one was crying. Another WIN!!

We had an awesome, relaxing_much needed weekend. Jamie also learned that camping doesn't have to be a big ordeal. We can make it simple for weekend trips, but we still have the space and supplies for longer trips. A couple of things we did learn...if the weather is going to be below 30 degrees at night we need to bring 2 propane tanks. We did great Friday night but ran out of propane Saturday night at about 1am. The bathhouse at the campground had space heaters so Jamie went and grabbed one of those so we didn't have to move the kids in the middle of the night. It worked okay but next time we will be bringing 2 tanks and our 2 space heaters just to be safe.

On the way home we also discussed making some beds for the boys. Currently the just sleep with us, but what we found was that they are starting to move more and kept rolling into us which didn't give us much space. So we are currently looking for a solution... how can we make the other bed kid/baby safe? Let me know if you have any ideas.

Oh and by the way I convinced Jamie to take one more trip this year. We will be heading to Island Resort the first weekend in Dec. I am super excited!!!!

~November 10th-12th, 2017~

FROM WAKING UP IN KINDERGARTEN-Nov. 19, 2013

Happy American Education Week!!! Tomorrow my school is having it's open house and knowing me I am rethinking my lessons for tomorrow. So instead of doing our next Talent and Development lesson (which to be honest is boring) I have decided to do something turkey related. Not only do I want to change my lesson but I am exhausted from our field trip today and can't decide what to do. Here is what I have come up with so far...

Read Steve Metzger's Silly Turkey Party and do a problem solving activity. Click here for a free copy of the problem solving worksheet.