Category Archives: Camping

5 Things Friday Catch up Edition!

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  1. Our Disney trip was AWESOME!  We enjoyed Easter Sunday with David and Haley at the Beach.  David and Haley also joined us and Braxton for a couple of days of Disney fun!   We were able to enjoy the campground and have discovered that Hoop De Doo Review is our favorite show!   We are also learning that sticking with what we know we like is maybe better than trying all the things.  This was our first and last trip to Steakhouse 71, burnt steak is not acceptable on any level.  Although it was suggested that we go for breakfast so maybe!
  2. I came home on Sunday feeling absolutely miserable! I walked inside, took a shower and went to bed. I had a cough that lasted for 10 days.  I still have a cough, but it is much better. I was discussing with Matt that I have been sick more and worse this year than I can ever remember.
  3. I still LOVE the camper.   Side note, it took us a full week to actually get it cleaned out this time.  However, I can say it is definitely our money pit. Each time we take it out we end up needing to replace some items.  This trip, the toilet has to be replaced.  It is leaking water both in the bowl and on the floor. Matt has already replaced the seal, so the full thing is replaced this time. We also have to replace a taillight that cracked and the latch on the screen door.  Sunday morning before leaving we discovered that a light bulb needed to be replaced!   Next up will likely be the door!
  4. Because of being so sick on the way home, it has taken almost a full two weeks for me to catch up on everything including blogging!  Now I can begin my count down to summer. Technically, we have 8 weeks left in the school year with 5 of actual treatment.
  5. I have been super busy this week, working on getting the garden planted. We or I should say Matt worked hard before we left, and the greenhouse worked like a charm!  I will be planting out all the tomatoes and green peppers in the next week depending on the weather.

5 Things Friday- Travel Edition

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  1. My mom, Granny, Amanda, Braxton, Lily, Izzy (Lily best friend), Kendall, Zach, Matt and I headed to Haley’s in Florida with the camper on Thursday December 28th.  The trip down started at 4;45 and we arrived around 6:30pm so a 14 hour trip including stops for gas, breakfast and lunch. We headed home on January 2nd.  Lily and Izzy were in the car with Granny as Amanda had flown home on Sunday. We started the trip around 8:15 am. and arrived home at 11:30, a 16 hour trip. It took us 6 hours to get out of Florida instead of 4.   This was I felt like our longest and slowest trip ever.  After much discussion, we are not exactly sure what we could have done differently to make the trip shorter.
  2. Everyone included David and Haley headed to Disney Springs on Friday December 29th, which was Granny’s birthday.  Braxton got his face painted as well!
  3. Saturday was our Christmas celebration. I spent a couple of hours at Urgent Care.  After dinner, Kendall, Izzy, Lily and I headed to the camper. I went to sleep, and the girls enjoyed a girls game which included lots of giggles. Matt and Zach stayed and watched a football game at Haley and David’s. Zach ended up staying at Haley’s for Saturday, Sunday and Monday night. He and Ryder played lots of video games.
  4. Sunday, New Year’s Eve was spent eating and laughing and just hanging out! The girls headed to do a little bit of shopping at Target and Ross. Lots of football was watched as well. I ended up back at the camper early. But everyone else set off fireworks and played with sparkers! It is always nice to spend time with family.
  5. Monday s adventure included a cold trip to the beach! I put my toes in the water, it was cold. Zach and Braxton played in the water. Everyone else watched them as the water was too cold. We all enjoyed just being on a beach the first day of 2024!

Wordless Wednesday- Trip

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One of our favorite things to do when we travel is EAT!  Our recent trip to Florida was even better because some of the time David cooked some of the best food I have ever eaten!

Cracker Barrel is our first traditional stop on a trip!

We celebrated Granny’s birthday at Disney Springs at Earl of Sandwich-one of our absolute favorites!

 

We also ate at Texas Roadhouse for dinner!

Our Best place that we ate is also our newest favorite place!  This will be a definite stop each trip to see Haley! These are called Bento boxes!

5 Things Friday

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  1. It is the Friday before Christmas. Christmas is on Monday. We have exciting plans for every day between now and then.  Tomorow, we are hosting a dinner for friends.  Sunday is Christmas Eve services at church as well as my family Christmas.
  2. I have spent most of the day working on the dishes for the dinner. The kids have helped especially with the cleaning. We tried something new and I had everyone come in the kitchen, pick a recipe and then assembly. It worked super well!  We got 5 casseroles assembled in less than one hour!
  3. The kids requested and got to open one present tonight after dinner. Kendall is the happiest with her new journaling Bible ESV version.  Lily loved her present of makeup brushes until she saw Kendall!  Zach is confused. He opened a double pack of baseball for a pitching machine that he does not have.
  4. I am planning to get most of the breakfast items prepared ahead for Christmas morning. We are going to plan to breakfast all day along with some leftovers.  I do want to clean out my refrigerator and not let food go to waste.
  5. We leave for Florida in 5 days.  My mother, Amanda and Braxton will be joining us on this trip. We will spend 4 days in Florida including a day at Disney Spring and another Christmas celebration with Haley and her family!

5 Things Friday

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  1. I have been really emotional this week. Probably the most emotional I have been in years. There are a couple of reasons. First, I am transitioning off a hormone I have been taking for a year.  Next is stress!
  2. Matt has a second surgery coming up on Tuesday. I am believing that this will be the final surgery!  This is hard on us on all levels. Physically- making sure everyone can get to and from everything!  Mentally- I don’t even need to describe this stress. Financially- We have been able to cover the cost of both surgeries, but we are stretch really really thin.  Emotionally-see above.
  3. Lily tested positive for COVID today. She has not experienced this before. We are trying to prevent it spreading to the rest of us!  She has been extremely tired with a sore throat.
  4. I am going to declare that first planting of green peppers a failure! We have one seed to germinate. We decided to go ahead and plant a second batch of orange peppers.  My plan was not to buy seeds this year, so I am hopefully we get a couple of plants from this one.  Tomatoes have started to grow!  We also planted kale and radish to feed the chickens.
  5. We have plans to clean the camper out tommorow so we can start preparing for our upcoming trip!

Wordless Wednesday- Camping Fun

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Campus visit for Lily at UNC-W was the reason for this trip

Golf carts are always fun!

Carolina Pines has an awesome mini golf course! We all enjoyed getting to play!

Water park and Lazy river are also part of Carolina Pines.

My favorite part was the hour I spent sitting on the beach. Kendall was the only one to play in the water.

Matt’s favorite part of the trip was ‘Smores”

Our form of camping was fun!

Tuesday Thoughts

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  • As you have probably realized, we were out of town this weekend. Lily, Matt and I went on a campus tour of UNC-W on Friday. We drove down on Thursday and stayed until Sunday.
  • I spent an hour on the beach, we all enjoyed the lazy river, kids played in the pool. Putt Putt was enjoyed as well as a campfire and a couple of card games.
  • We also went to the outlets and enjoyed several hours of shopping
  • We have cleaned and winterized the camper. This includes using it as storage for coolers and plastic totes.
  • I started a batch of pear sauce and have plans to use the new electric canner this week.
  • We are staying very busy. I am still overwhelmed at work. Hopefully this will improve in October.
  • My health is improving, and I am hopeful to avoid a second surgery this year.
  • We have finally turned off the air conditioning which is very late for us. I would love to go any entire month with needing heat or air but the chances are very slim at this point.
  • After returning we have opened the rest of the chicken coop. The chickens are enjoying the extra space and practice flying from one end of the other. We have a automatic door to install but that is down the list.
  • My goal for the remaining three month include reducing the grocery budget and working our way through the freezer and pantry. I would love to do a no shopping challenge but not sure I am ready for that additional stress.
  • The garden is changing as well. We have added the rotating bottoms to the green stocks, we need to dig out sweet potatoes and plant that with carrots. The green beans are finishing and I need to purchase worms to add for the end of summer as well.

5 Things Friday- Labor Day Fun

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  1. We spent last weekend (Labor Day) in Florida!  We left at midnight on Friday night and returned Tuesday at around 8:30pm.
  2. We spent around 3 hours Saturday at Melbourne Beach.  This was very different from what we are used to but it was awesome. I did manage to get out and jump a few waves myself.
  3. This trip could have centered around food. Saturday night- David (Haley’s husband) made some of the best steaks I have ever eaten. Sunday morning, we enjoyed breakfast at a local breakfast place in their new hometown. Sunday night we ate at “Hoop De Do Review” amazing does not begin to cover the food and entertainment. Monday- breakfast at Ohana’s.  We also eat alot at the “Mickey’s Not so Scary Halloween party.”
  4. We attended “Mickey’s Not so Scary Halloween party.”  It was fun but not something I would recommend or even plan to do again.  We did collect enough candy to get us to Halloween!
  5. The weather was extremely hot!   I don’t think I can remember when I sweated so much. I did manage to burn my feet in the sand on Saturday. Sunday night was as storm that left the camper sounded like a tin can.