5:30 a.m. – Kids start to wake up. We encourage them to go back to sleep. This hasn’t worked yet. They figure out something to do semi-quietly in their beds.
6:00 ish – We get up and get breakfast started.
Between 6 and 8 am, we are making food, getting everyone fed, and cleaning up. This is pretty leisurely.
8 a.m. – Everyone gets dressed for the day and we read our Bible and pray.
9 a.m. – Adam starts getting the RV ready to roll for the day. The beds are made up and put back together into the sofa and table for the day. Fluid levels are checked. The water tank is refilled, gray and black water tanks are dumped. He unplugs us from the campground’s electricity source. We usually find somewhere to fill up on gas, and Adam also checks the tire pressure all six tires while the gas tank is filling up. While Adam is doing all of this outside, I am usually getting the kids settled into their journaling for the day. This is pretty easy for Samuel and Elijah, but takes some one-on-one for Isaac and Matea. Of course, neither of them can write. Matea is content to scribble, but Isaac would like to really write. So most of his journal time sounds like this: “Mom, how do you spell ‘we’?…how do you spell ‘went’?…how do you spell ‘to’?…”
10 a.m. – we’re finally hitting the road. Every morning it amazes me that we’ve been up for over 4 hours at this point and we’re just now ready to roll. I love these 5 kids. I have not figured out how to get going in a more timely manner in the mornings.
From 10ish to about 4 or 5ish, we drive. We stop for fuel when we need to. We also stop around lunchtime to switch drivers. I usually drive for about 30 minutes while Adam fixes lunch for everyone. We do this because I get motion sickness walking around in the coach while he’s driving. This is our compromise. But we keep my driving at a minimum, because honestly, he’s a much better RV driver than I am. I am nervous driving, and he's nervous watching me drive.
While we drive, we mostly let the kids roam the RV. The exceptions are the littlest two, who mostly are strapped into their carseats. We have little activities to keep them occupied, and they all enjoy reading and looking for license plates. We talk, we listen to CDs or the ipod, we break up squabbles, we eat snacks.
Around 4-5ish pm is a rough hour in the motor home. The kids are hungry and tired of driving. We are usually distracted and trying to figure out what we’re doing for dinner and where we’re headed within the town we’ve stopped.
5:30 ish – We eat, everyone’s belly is happy, and the world is good again.
6 pm – clean up from dinner. Shower or sponge bathe anyone who needs it. Change into pjs and brush teeth. Make sofa and table into beds and set out pillows and blankets.
7 pm – Everyone’s in bed. We have been sleeping 2 boys per bed, and Matea by herself. The boys all love sleeping with Abraham, so they’re taking turns on a rotation basis each night. We read a story or talk, then we pray. The 4 boys are out like lights. By just past 7, we can count on everyone being asleep except Matea, who is a freak of nature and can survive on less sleep than should be possible for a 2-yr-old.
8 pm – We start driving again. Adam and I consider this our “date” time. If we’re near a populated area, we grab coffee and settle in for a long drive and talk.
8-11ish – we drive and talk and enjoy the peace and quiet. For the first hour or so, we try to convince Matea to stay in bed until exhaustion finally overcomes her 25 lb body and she succumbs to sleep.
11 pm – we pull into a campground, plug in and settle in for the night.
1 comment:
That GIRL! It looks like she's the only one awake in the picture. I sure do miss you guys!!! (So does HB)
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