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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.

Vermont and more Truck Issues

Ashley Longnecker / August 11, 2015

Our last week in the Adirondacks, at North Pole RV Resorts, Jonathan started noticing 'a weird sound' from the truck. It was a really loud sound and he suspected that it had something to do with the ball joints on the front wheels. We had plans to drive to New Hampshire and overnight there on our way to Maine the following day. The sound on the truck kept getting worse and Jonathan was really worried about us making it to New Hampshire. We decided to overnight in Vermont and see if we could get the truck looked at before heading all the way to Maine. 

No problem! We put the general direction of where we wanted to go in the GPS and realize after about an hour of driving that we are headed to a ferry. The options were take a ferry in 10 miles, take a ferry in 30 miles or drive an extra hour with a questionable truck hauling our house. 

We quickly choose the first ferry, after all, we're making memories, right?

We are in LOVE with the Adirondacks!

Ashley Longnecker / July 30, 2015

Wow! That’s all we could keep saying as we took the scenic route through Lake Placid and up into Wilmington, NY on our way to North Pole RV Resorts. The views were just spectacular. So many huge rocks, so many huge mountains and the AuSable River was just begging for us to come play on its rocks and splash in it’s freezing water.

The campground we chose was North Pole RV Resorts. Although, we didn’t stay in the ‘resort’ side of the campground. Across the street was the 100 Acre Woods and that is were we set up camp for the week...which turned into 2 because we loved it so much. There is so much to do in the Adirondacks. We could easily spend 2 years there and never see it all. Did you know that the Adirondacks are larger than the 5 biggest National Parks put together? I had no idea! And why isn’t it a National Park? It’s completely amazing and we will for sure be going back. 

While there we drove down the street from our resort and parked on the side of the road and found a trail down to play in the AuSable River. Of course it rained, but that didn’t stop us from rock hopping,