Search Results for may (202)

Enjoy time with your kids - they're awesome!

Ashley Longnecker / September 04, 2015

So many people see us traveling with our 4 young kids and the typical response is, "oh man...I feel for ya!" What? What does that even mean? Do people not enjoy spending time with their kids anymore? Why does everyone assume that bringing them along on our adventure equals pain and suffering and despair?

Honestly, I'm fed up with this attitude. I just don't get it. And I'm growing weary of the assumption that our kids are exhausting, overwhelming, demanding, soul-sucking and life-wrecking. 

I'm also tired of the mindset that all parents have a God-given right to be child free for at least 3 hours a day so they can maintain their sanity. Grandparents, churches and pre-schools are all getting pulled into this and I think it's a real shame.

Because while I can totally relate to needing the occasional break from all the noise and craziness, I also could never imagine my life without these 4 beautiful blessings by my side everyday. 

Listen, I understand everyone's circumstances are different. Single parents have to work, and sometimes both parents need to make ends meet. But I want to encourage you to relish the time you get to spend with your kids - not dread it. If I see one more "I'm so excited my kids are going back to school they were ruining my life" status updates on Facebook I'm going to scream (sorry Jen Hatmaker).

Is it hard to be with your kids all day? No, not really.

I've found that the more I'm away from my kids the harder it is for me to tolerate their loud shenanigans. Since we started this full-time travel thing and we're  together all the time, I honestly don't think about going away that often. While I do appreciate the few times I've gone to the grocery without all 4 in tow, it's also not that big of a deal if I end up taking them with me.

In fact, instead of complaining about having them with me I've been trying to pay attention to them more.

Here are a few things I have learned from being around my kids all day, everyday.

1.) THEY ARE KIND & FORGIVING.

Sometimes when I'm having a bad day and I loose my cool over something stupid, they are really quick to accept my apology and forgive me. They often will give me a hug soon after my blow up and tell me that they love me and you know, that is so awesome! Thanks to them I'm learning to forgive faster. 

2.) THEY ARE SOCIAL.

I see them interact with people of all ages. They aren't afraid to have a conversation with an adult and they play and talk to kids of all ages. So many people worry about 'socialization' of homeschool kids. Our kids have played with lots of people while we have been on the road and they are learning to include anyone, not just whoever looks cool or whoever is around the same age as them. This, I am sure was not learned from us. I sometimes think that our kids are way more social than we are. They're teaching us to get out of our comfort zone and talk to people we don't know.

3.) THEY LEARN THROUGH PLAY & TRAVEL.

Guess what! My kids have interests! And guess what else!! We can make any kind of 'lesson plans' out of what their interest are at the time.

Ada is crazy about ponies. So, we talk about the colors of the ponies, and how many there are and what happens if one of them goes away? How many are left? What do ponies eat? Where does thier food come from? How much does a pony cost? I could go on and on. 

Adali want's to run a farm. So, we research all about how to take care of the animals that she wants to have on her farm. How much would it cost to feed all of them for a month? How do you care for the animals? How much would it cost to build a barn? Where would your farm be? What's the weather like there? How would you make money having a farm? What could you give to the community if you had an awesome farm? How would you make it awesome and unlike any other farm so that people would want to come visit your farm?

This is teaching us how important it is that learning comes naturally. Investing in their interests and helping them understand what it would take to make thier dreams come true is really important. Also, we've started to see how to use situations and cicrumstances to learn and get better, not complain and criticize.

4.) THEY ADAPT EASILY.

I thought it may be hard for our kids to adjust to life on the road but you know what? We have seen them thrive. They have come out of their shell. They are getting along better than ever. They talk more to others than they ever have. They are learning to do more things on their own and they are quick to help each other out when they see someone struggling. Do they miss their extended family and friends? Of course. But we encourage them to write letters and to text them. They are constantly learning and I think parents these days see play as a waste of time whereas most kids who are playing are actually learning important skills. 

So - in my completely unprofessional opinion, it's far more valuable to be with your kids as much as possible than to ship them off multiple days a week for some "me-time." You know, your kids are there because you CHOSE to have them. So, why not invest as much time as you possibly can into thier lives?They want to learn from YOU. They want to be around YOU. I bet if you asked your kids who they wanted to spend time with today, the answer would be, "Can you play with me, mommy/daddy?" You have such little time with them in the grand scheme of things.

When your kids are grown and gone I highly doubt you will look back at these younger years and say, 'I am so glad I sent them away for 3 hours a day so that I could be alone!' I bet your response will be something similar to, 'Where did the time go? I miss them being little!' 

So please, ENJOY your kids! Put down the phone! Get outside and let them play in mud puddles. Let them dress themselves. Say yes more often. Don't rush them! Encourage them every day! And for pete's sake, GIVE THEM LOTS OF HUGS! They're only little for a short time. Enjoy it.

Beautiful Acadia National Park

Ashley Longnecker / August 22, 2015

Hello, Bar Harbor, Maine! Show me your best!

We pulled in to Narrows Too Campground in Ellsworth, ME which is just minutes from Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park. We got a nice shaded spot and the kids had room to roam around and play accross the street in the empty space. We couldn't wait to walk down near the water to see what views the campground had to offer. We were not disappointed. 

Boothbay, Popham Beach and a Vintage Village

Jonathan Longnecker / August 18, 2015

After our unexpected layover in Vermont, it was on to Maine! We nabbed a spot at Shore Hills Campground and stayed the week.

Our first surprise? It was really hot. I mean, we drove as far north as we could to get away from the hot and it just followed us. To be fair, the whole east coast seemed to be having a heat wave. Thankfully it didn't last long, and we grew to love the cool evenings with their amazing sunsets.

Hamlin Beach, More Air Conditioning and Fun with Family

Jonathan Longnecker / July 17, 2015

After our overnight at the Ferryboat place, it was onward and upward towards Rochester to get our second AC Unit installed. Since we only had a couple of days before we were scheduled at the RV shop we decided to try a State Park.

We love, love, love state parks, but they often don't have sewer hookups which kind of limits how long we can stay there. They can also be really hard to get a 38' rig in. In fact, it can be so hard that certain husbands may get really angry and just give up and pout. 

To be fair, there were a host of issues we ran into. The first one being that the parkway leading to Hamlin has about 5 or 6 bridges that were too short to fit our rig under. Thankfully we got through one of them in the center (it was an arched bridge), but then had to take the long way around. Also, they didn't have water hookups so we filled our fresh tank (too full apparently) only to have it spilling out on the road the whole time we were trying to back in. We had no idea what was going on so that was stressing us out.

At this point I was super frustrated, but Ashley kept a level head and found some seasoned travelers to help us out in the next loop over. Turns out one of them drove trucks for a living and I watched dumbfounded as he backed the dang thing into the spot his first try. I will confess, I felt like much less of a man at that moment.

THEN we realized that Beebop, our F350 had burped out a couple of quarts of transmission fluid from all the pushing and pulling. Turns out we must have pulled the emergency break on the trailer making a tight turn, causing the truck to work super hard, sparks to fly out the back of the RV and everything smelled like it was on fire. We didn't realize what was going on until a few minutes of that. Can't be good, right? We took it to a local Ford dealership the next day, and they said it had just gotten overheated had an emergency overflow. Everything else looked good for a 2002 engine with 220,000 miles, they said! Turns out they were idiots - but we'll get to that in a couple of posts.

I know it sounds like of hot drama so far at Hamlin Beach. And we were just getting into our spot. But thankfully, the park turned out to be the most beautiful place we'd ever seeen (so far).

Situated right on Lake Ontario, it was like a beach, a lake and a park all rolled into one. The weather was perfect, the sunsets were gorgeous and it had a great laid back vibe. Enough talking, let me show you.

Ferryboat Campsite

Ashley Longnecker / July 13, 2015

On our way to Rochester we needed a place to stay overnight and Wal-Mart parking lot was out of the question in this heat. We found a place in Pennsylvania called Ferryboat Campsites. I think it would have been an ok place but it was a muddy mess while we were there for one night. It all worked out ok because the rain didn't start until we had already got set up and the next morning it stopped long enough for us to hook up, AND, we didn't get stuck in the mud! I call it a win. I wish we had actually had time to take the Ferryboat...maybe next time.

While on the way there I got to drive our house for the first time! It was actually not as terrifying as I thought it would be... that is until you get to construction and narrow lanes. I think I only drove for about an hour. I'm pretty sure Jon may have faked a bathroom emergency so we could pull over and switch drivers. 

Anyway, on to Rochester!!