Hair no more 11/11/2016

I always say it's never a dull moment with my sweet little 4 yr old. She is very sassy, very matter of fact, can be bossy, but oh so sweet as well. She claims she'll never leave home and she'll be the one to take care of me when I'm old. Awwww. She can be sneaky too. You see, one morning I got home from work & as usual all 3 kiddos were fast asleep in my bed. I went into their bunkroom & got their beds ready so I could move them over & what do I find under the youngest one's mattress? A pair of scissors and a wad of hair. My heart sunk & I was instantly sad. Nooooo!!!! What did she do & whyyyy? Was it her hair or her sister's? I went to get her & she had a mullet! Gah! I asked her what she had done, but she was so out of it & still sleeping so I had to wait until I got up several hours later to get the full scoop. It took me a while to fall asleep since I couldn't help wonder what the heck happened. Did hubby notice she did it? What were they watching on tv? What was she thinking?

When I woke up and got a good look at her I couldn't help but laugh. She had a mullet alright as well as jacked up bangs. I looked at hubby and asked what happened. He said they were watching a movie and all of a sudden she gets up and asks if she could use this one pair of scissors, but he said no. She found a second pair & asked again, but he said no. She found a child's pair & asked so he said yes. She then went into the bunkroom & when she came out, ta da the damage was done. I asked him if he didn't take all this scissor asking as a red flag, but he said no because she's always cutting up paper. True true. Well it made no sense trying to point fingers so we got everyone dressed so we could find a

 salon to get her fixed up.

 We found a great lady at Super Cuts and she was very understanding of the whole situation and said all we could do was give my baby girl a pixie cut. I saved what was left of her hair and waited for the end result. I have to say my baby girl looked great with short hair, but I do miss her longer hair. Wonder how long it'll take to grow out or if she'll want to keep it short? We went ahead & got the other 2 kiddos hair cuts as well so they felt special….well Dalton would prefer to not get a haircut, but his head gets sweaty so he needs them. Now to hide all the scissors and have a talk with my baby girl about NOT cutting her hair again. No matter what, she's a doll.

Change of Scenery Green River Lake State Park, KY 10/23/2016

Yay the time has come to move over to the tree lined camp site area at the state park. Now that the Halloween festival is over we can pretty much go wherever we want, but we chose a spot that backed up to the big wide open green space next to the playground. It was perfect for the kiddos & we had a perfect view outside so we could watch them play.

 Since the weather was cooling off hubby & my friend, who is parked next door, went halfies on an order of wood. This guy delivered & stacked it right to our site. Now we could have camp fires & smores anytime we wanted. Nothing says camping like a camp fire and knowing that we could have them anytime we wanted vs only on weekends like you'd do on vacation, well that's just awesome.

We were also closer to the check in store where underneath was the tornado shelter/laundromat. I had no idea there was another set of washer & dryers. They had 2 sets each at both bath houses, but they were kinda rusty & outdoors, but at least they had some. Of course it still wasn't enough for the 50+ workampers that were out there. One time we were doing laundry in the shelter area & they had all these supplies stored in their & my youngest asked to play with some balls & cricket sticks & I said sure. Well apparently this toss in the hole board wasn't very secure against the wall & it fell on her. Not sure how it happened, but Yikes! She was ok & just scared, but it wasn't until after I lifted it off her that I noticed the very big & rusty nails that were poking out. Ooohhhh how that could have ended up really bad. So thankful she was ok, my poor baby.

A couple times I went to do laundry & all of them were busy. Oh boy, but it was better than nothing & only $1.25 to wash & same to dry. We did go into town twice to do laundry, but that place was so busy & well it wasn't the cleanest & it was pricey. I saw signs that referred to not washing items that were dirty with grease or oil. Guess there's some workers out there that use that laundromat & have washed such items. It also wasn't convenient to go into town so the campground it was. Just had to learn to take turns....a lesson I'm always trying to teach my kiddos. Yes it can be just as hard to take turns as an adult, but we make do.

During our time in the trees area, I finally was able to go out & buy myself a bike. I got a cruiser with a basket. The kids were just as excited as I was. It's perfect for riding with my kiddos. Now that they all know how to ride, I can ride with them. Annika can put one dog in her basket & I can put the other. They seem to like it & Annika loves to take the dogs along. Wow how time has flown. My babies are riding bikes. Part of me misses the days of their infancy & just carrying them around, but I enjoy our time now where we can actually do stuff together & I'm not sleep deprived or changing diapers constantly. Now if time could just slow down that would be much appreciated. I think with our new lifestyle time won't seem to just fly by or at least I hope it won't.

Happy Halloween at Green River Lake State Park, KY 10/31/16

We hadn't really talked much about costumes until last minute and I told my kiddos that I didn't want to buy any at the store. I felt we should come up with ideas & create our own. I thought that would be more fun and we could really use our brains to come up with something different. The park was having a big Halloween festival weekend to include a costume contest (along with a bunch of other activities) so I thought we should come up with something special. I quickly went to Pinterest to come up with ideas because you know I'm not THAT creative. I presented several ideas to the kids. We narrowed it down to a family of smores or a glow in the dark stick family. They chose the glow in the dark family & boy was that totally easy to make. Of course it kinda back fired because the contest was at 3pm (hello we need darkness) and we didn't sign up ahead of time for the contest so they couldn't participate. No biggie. We kicked back on the grass with our 2 pups and watched others parade across the stage in their costumes & guess what? There was a smores family. Whew! Dodged that one. I had to leave for work, but made sure their “costumes” were all ready. Trick or treating started at 5pm & it was still light outside so no one could see the full effect of their glow in the dark stick figure costumes.

I was so bummed out when hubby told me & I felt bad for them, but from what hubby said they still had fun getting candy. Guess that's what it's all about eh? Several people commented that “I bet you'll look great once it gets dark”. Well they did look great (I saw the pics), but no one really got to see them because by then trick or treating was over & everyone went inside. Total bummer. I felt like I totally screwed up Halloween this year & I hoped my kids didn't feel embarrassed. However, the next morning after I got up they told me all about the loads of candy they got & “it's ok our costumes didn't glow” they still had fun. I felt much better after hearing that. I was ever so grateful that hubby took them out trick or treating & he took lots of pictures for me. I'm usually the one doing it all & he just walks along. Kudos to him. We may be doing things differently now & no longer living in a regular house, but I still want them to have the same fun & traditions that we used to have.

Yes this Halloween was a different one for all of us. New “home”, new location, new lifestyle, new job. It was the first time in 9 years that I missed trick or treating with my kids. It broke my heart, but I had to work. This is the part of having a job that I don't like. The part where you miss those special moments with your kiddos & the memories to be made. I didn't HAVE to have this job, but I signed up for it & planned on finishing the season as part of my agreement, plus now that we're full time travelers we need the workamping experience to add to our resumes. Yes there will be more Halloweens and other holidays to share, but simply put it just sucked. I had mixed emotions about working especially when something special was coming up. I haven't had a job since before my oldest was born and I've been there for everything for all 3 of my babies. Every roll over, crawl, step, run, booboo, birthday, holiday, you name it & mama was there enjoying every single moment. What's crazy is that for the last 9 years part of me wanted a job so I felt like I was pulling my weight financially (even though we were doing just fine) and here I was finally working & I was feeling guilty for leaving my babies at home. I can't win with my emotions. I know I'm not alone when it comes to this. I'm just grateful we are blessed with hubby's military retirement so I don't have to work all the time. I know many don't have that so I count my blessings. We can just enjoy our travels and create memories without having to seek out our next job. Blessings indeed. In the end my babies had a fun evening and that's all I wanted for them. Now to eat their candy!

Birthday Girl!! 10/18/16

Happy birthday to my sweet baby girl, Emry! She turned the big 4 today and she was ready for it, although I wasn't. I got a video of her as she woke up and she had her usual crazy hair. I asked her if she knew what day it was and she said “no” then I told her. She walked away & yelled to her siblings “today's my birthday!” She had to tell them twice in case they didn't hear her the first time. She showed me with her fingers how she used to be 3, but now she's 4. We took her to eat at Waffle House then to get an ice cream cake so we could celebrate at the camp ground. She wanted a horse cake, but I knew that would be hard to find here on such short notice, but she was happy with an ice cream cake. We spent the afternoon fishing before cake time. Once again guilt set in for me because we didn't have her school friends around to do a big party and have lots of presents for her, but I was happy her little friend came over & I invited the family to have some cake. We don't have a lot of room in our fridge/freezer so I was glad they helped eat some cake. I know things are different when you hit the road full time and change to a minimalist lifestyle, but I hope my children see that even a simple party with family is still something that can be fun, special & something to cherish. I do try my best to make them feel special and that their day is indeed a big deal. I hope they feel my love for them thru the things I do whether it's big or small. Of course I tell them all the time how much I love them, but I don't think they'll truly understand a mother's love until they have babies of their own. I know I didn't understand until I had my first. Happy birthday Stinkers! Your sweet smile warms my heart and your stubbornness reminds me how much we are alike. Your spirited personality is like non other and you have the best dance moves. You crack me up daily & I love you more than all the chocolate in the world. Please don't grow so fast! Stay wittle!

 

Green River Lake State Park, Campbellsville, KY 10/11/16

After two days at the place in Columbia we decided to go over to the State Park on the lake to check it out. Whoa! It was beautiful! I didn't want to wait three weeks to get into this place so I decided to go into the office to explain our situation. I was still on her list, but she said if I started working already then we could surely come in now. What?! Awesome! She did have one stipulation & that was we had to move over one row during their weekend Halloween celebration because she had a full house & our spot was already reserved. We were ok with that and said we'd be back the next day to hook up. Happy dance! The only downfall at this place was it didn't have full hook ups, but Amazon had a deal with a poop truck who would come out once a week to pump us out. We knew that wouldn't be enough so hubby ordered a portable poop tank that he could haul with the truck. It was all falling into place & now I would only be about 12 minutes away from work. Whew! That made me feel a little better. On top of that good news this place had 2 playgrounds, a beach area, 2 big bath houses (2 for men, 2 for women), 3 laundry areas, a storm/tornado shelter, wifi, smooth roads for bike rides, a huge wide open grassy space with a stage, and hello….. kids to play with. Score! Things were looking back up again for the Bergmarks. On top of all that I made a new friend & in a couple weeks she would be hooked up right next to us & we would car pool to work. Same shift, same job so this worked out perfectly. 

We were parked in the area with no trees around, but since there weren't a lot of campers in the park it wasn't a big deal since we had space between us. We wanted the tree lined area, but would have to wait until after the Halloween festivities. Being in the trees is so relaxing & makes you feel more in tune with nature, but we only had to hold out for a couple weeks. No biggie & it would be worth it. Turns out in this first space there was a 4 yr old girl staying in a spot diagonally from us. She had a 10 yr old brother & a 2 yr old sister as well. The mom was working at Amazon & said it was her 3^rd or 4^th year back. Wow! I don't know if I could come back year after year like that, but the season was new so who knows. So this little 4 yr old girl came right over & the kids got to playing and played almost daily. They all brought out their bikes & rode back & forth, which was pretty much a daily thing. There was a slight slope from the road & Annika would zoom down & fly past our spot. It made my stomach knot up because I worried about her falling off. Of course what Annika does, Emry has to do. That girl has no fear! I had to tell her not to go to the top of the slope & to use her brakes. I could just picture the road rash from her falling. Gah makes my stomach hurt just thinking about it. Thankfully no one had any accidents….well not until a week or so later. Dalton finally got motivated to learn to ride his bike so I would run behind him while holding onto his shirt. He figured out that he could easily coast down that slope & balance like he used to on his Strider bike, but simply peddling and riding straight seemed difficult for him; therefore, he would walk his bike up then coast down over & over again. I was just glad he finally wanted to ride, but as a mom I still worried about him falling as a new rider. One afternoon hubby and I were standing outside when he said “watch me” and there he went down the slope with his legs out to the side balancing. I told hubby “I hope he doesn't fall” and what happened next? He literally ran into a post & flew off his bike. I'm not exaggerating. The one time I didn't have my camera recording & I missed it. He had his hands straight out like Superman & he was airborn off that bike and went several feet onto the grass. I was so glad he had his helmet on and after a full body check he was fine. He left a nice chunk out of that post. I can look back & laugh about it now because he flew like a super hero, but at that moment my heart sank into my stomach. No more slopes for him until he mastered the simple riding part. My heart can't take it!

How about a not so dangerous sport like fishing? Yes fishing is so much better. You can't get injured from fishing….well technically you shouldn't, but you haven't fished with my kids. They only had 2 fishing adventures during our stay at this park & there's good reason. It's simply a lot of work. From constantly putting the worms on their hooks (hubby's job) to helping cast out over & over again while dodging their hooks. On their first adventure they fished off the side of the lake near the boat launch & it was a rocky area. You really had to cast your line out in order to not hit the rocks. Annika got really good at casting & was a natural. The other two kiddos tried their best & it was pretty entertaining watching them. No one caught any fish on the first adventure, but Dalton did manage to catch his hat. He tried to cast out but apparently forgot to let go of the lever & that hook just came right back at him & hooked the rim of his hat. Yikes!! I could only imagine if that would have gone into his eye. Hey it could happen. As always I was on high alert the whole time because Dalton decided to move to a spot off to the side & no surprise it was a sheer drop into the water if you missed your footing. Why must my kids give me a heart attack? His response “I won't fall mommy”. Well I sure hope not. We had to cut our fishing experience short that day because I had to go to work. Mama's bringing home the bacon now!

On our second fishing expedition a couple weeks later (Emry's birthday) we went to the opposite side of the park near the tent camping area & fished off the beach area. I'm happy to say I caught a fish & Annika caught 2! As we neared the end of the worms, for some reason my kids got all sentimental & didn't want to use the last 3 worms to fish. Instead they wanted to keep them as pets because they were so cute. Uhhh what? I could have sworn I saw Emry kiss one of those slimy worms. Ick! I told them we couldn't have pet worms & that they should just put them in the sand so they could create their own home. That idea wasn't good enough for these precious worms so instead my thoughtful children created a little house out of rocks and leaves then put their beloved worms into their new home. As we walked away they waved & blew kisses and said their many good byes to their new worm friends. It was quite entertaining and every day for about a week they asked if we could go check on them. I told them that the worms were probably deep in the sand keeping cool, but we did take a trip or two over there and sure enough there were no worms present. I love how sensitive & thoughtful my kiddos can be. It's sweet.

Whether it's riding bikes, fishing or just playing outside with friends. I hope my children grow to love the great outdoors as much as hubby and I do.

Three Springs, Columbia, KY 10/8/16

Well this didn't turn out the way we had planned. About two months ago I made reservations at an approved Amazon campground (Green River Stables). I called a month later to confirm & the guy said “yes I have you down” however he never took my credit card information, phone number or anything. I was skeptical, but he said he went by his word. Ok, it's a southern thing, I get that so I felt we were good to go. The day we were supposed to arrive at this campground, hubby saw an online review that stated “if you have reservations at this place you'd better call because we had reservations and just arrived only to be told they had no room for us.” Hubby told me to call to verify since we would be there in a few short hours. I called & sure enough they “had some contractors who extended their stay due to bad weather at their destination and can't leave just yet.” Heck that's not my problem. That's not how reservations work. When the current person's time is up then they leave so the new people who have a reservation can come in. It's not rocket science. There are other places along the way those contractors could have stayed. Needless to say I was not a happy camper and it turns out this happened to at least six other Amazon workers who were coming in to stay at the same place. Not good business practice at all. Grrrrr! I quickly scrambled to find the other approved campsites before they filled up. Only one campground (Three Rivers) had openings and unfortunately it was about a 30 min drive to the Amazon distribution center from there. I wasn't thrilled about having our only vehicle for 11 hours while leaving hubby at home with three kiddos. What if there was an emergency? We didn't have a choice at that point so we took it. On the bright side it would only be for about three weeks because I was on the waiting list at the State Park to move in after their Halloween celebration. The campground at Three Rivers had NO amenities EXCEPT wifi. No bathrooms, no showers, no laundry, no playground, no dog park, etc. It looked like a grass field that was cut into a horse shoe shape then fitted for rv sites. It was very peaceful there, but there was nothing. The girls tried riding their bikes on the gravel road, but it wasn't the best. There was however an underground shelter of some sort, I'm assuming in the case of a tornado. I was happy about that. We only stayed for three days because this mama worked her magic and got us into a way better place closer to work.

Dad's Bluegrass RV 10/6/16

 

Hello Kentucky! We finally made it, but had to make one last overnight stay before getting into Campbellsville. We pulled into this campground & the owner met us out front in his little golf cart. He was super nice. He apologized for the renovations that were under way & asked if we'd stay long enough to listen to the live music they had on the weekends. Unfortunately no, but I'm sure it would have been a cool thing to listen to live bluegrass music. We got an end spot & before we could get out this young girl, about 8 yrs old or so, came speeding over on her bike to give our kids the scoop on the rv park. She was very friendly & mentioned the cat that wandered around & the lady's dog 2 rows over that you could pet if she was outside and then there was the nice old guy who would take you fishing & “it's ok to go into his trailer”, etc etc. Ummm I'm more cautious than that so I reminded the kids that they were not allowed to go into anyone's trailer. The girls grabbed their bikes & rode around with her next to our site. I walked with them so they could wander the campground. It looked like a lot of permanent campers and the campground overall was very full. After our walk around the camp ground & briefly saying “hi” to that young girl's mom we all made our way back to our trailer. I gave them drinks & goldfish crackers then the girl asked if she could use our bathroom. Ummm I wasn't real keen on the idea only because we had just met her, but I figured if she had to go so bad that she couldn't make it to her trailer then I should say yes. I didn't want her to have an accident because I said no. Well big mistake on my part. She was in the bathroom for a long time & I wondered what the problem was. I also couldn't help but wonder if she made her way into our bedroom. She finally came out of the bathroom & oh my goodness I was utterly taken by surprise. She had to go alright & she made a mess of the bathroom. I couldn't help but wonder what the heck happened. Not to be mean, but it was so gross. I quickly cleaned up her mess & had to wipe down the entire bathroom with Lysol wipes just in case. Never again, sorry. Learned my lesson. Again not trying to be mean, but I don't want to go thru that again. I told my kids I hope they never do that to another person's bathroom & if they did then they'd better clean up after themselves.

While I was taking care of business, hubby was researching the area & said he had something planned for the next day, but he wouldn't say what it was. I joked & asked “what is it a haunted house?” ding ding ding! Turns out I was right. He found this place called the Octagon House that was supposedly haunted. I knew for sure we'd have 3 extra people in our bed that next night if they knew they were going to a haunted house. I told myself I'd play it down so as not to over spook our kiddos. I was curious if we'd actually see or experience a ghost in the house. Once we got there I was surprised the house was smaller than I thought, but still an interesting house. It was 3 stories high, with the basement partially above ground & yes in the shape of an octagon. There was a really weird nursery room full of dolls that instantly freaked out Annika & she no longer wanted to be in any room so she stayed in the hallways & begged her dad & I to go outside. Of course we wanted to see all the house so we walked quickly then hubby finally went outside with all 3 kids. Dalton & Emry weren't real excited about the house. Instead they wanted to be outside playing with the blue eyed dog. I, on the other hand, went into each room taking pictures hoping to see a ghost, but never saw or felt anything. I heard a guy talking to another group of tourists & he claimed that he had seen a lot of paranormal activity. He had a group of folks who had the ghost technology & traveled to all kinds of haunted places to do their scientific gathering. He said of all the places he'd been, this Octagon House was the most haunted. Well I guess we arrived on an off day for the ghosts. Back to the campground we went to get ready for our morning departure. Next stop Campbellsville!