Fever and hacks

Sunday

Yesterday afternoon Kaleb started running a fever, poor kid. It was up to 101.7. Gave him some Advil and he snapped back! Unfortunately, he woke up with 100.8. More Advil and it was back down. He has no other symptoms, which is good and puzzling. Thank goodness I packed our whole medicine cabinet. Ear thermometers are the best!

We debated about staying in OK for 2 nights... but decided to drive 1/2 way to Kansas City today. 3-4 hours is long enough for all of us. Without kids and without the trailer, Phil and I could drive and drive but this is a totally different ball game.

This morning, one of my RV hacks worked BEAUTIFULLY. It was a cover over the blinds to darken the windows by the beds. I bought a darkening curtain and cut it up the size of the windows. Since we are only renting this trailer, I didn't buy curtain rods or anything fancy. Nope- I got the large safety pins and pinned the shade on top of the existing curtain. Phil and Kaleb's area was like a cave.

We made our first meal on the stove- scrambled eggs!

Off we go to Joplin, MO. Kaleb is super excited bc we read an "I Survived" book about the 2011 tornado that hit Joplin.

Notes to self from today:

pack the little bullet blender- Kaleb will always eat a nutrient rich smoothie

pack a mirror that can stand on its own- the bathroom is TOO hot to get ready in... also, turn off the AC before you try to blowdry your hair

The Buck Stops Here...

Tuesday

We were so thankful to have a full day to enjoy Independence and Kansas City. No long drives in the car today!!

Our original plan was less crazy than what actually happened. I knew that just one night stops would zap our energy... but I did not realize how much we would be affected by only being able to drive 55 mph. This made us wayyyy off "schedule" and created a "ride or die" mentality to make it to Independence. Live and learn.

But today was the day we have been looking forward to! Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and the National World War I Museum! The original plan had allowed for each to have their own "day" but, we were still excited with what we had.

Kaleb was bouncing around like it was his birthday... my sweet little history loving son! Both boys had on army shirts, but Kaleb had an accident and could not wear his. He was SO sad. I looked at all of the shirts we had left to give him options, "Mommy, pleeeaaase tell me we have another history shirt." Me, "look honey, we have the shirt Mommy designed (#remembertheladies)" and his
reaponse was priceless.... "oooh yes, women are super important in history." ***sigh of feeling quite accomplished***

His little brother, however, was not amused with either museum. I have had the privilege of touring both museums before... so I took on baby duty and let Phil enjoy them with Kaleb. I can say that I at least walked through both (though at a relatively fast pace, hahaha).

Kaleb learned about what primary sources are at the Truman Library and completed a fun scavenger hunt at the WWI Museum. He was just soaking it up... and I was loving watching him!! In the car between museums he said "Mommy, can you explain the Marshall Plan to me again." Be still my heart :). I got to show him my favorite motto for any leader- "The buck stops here." Ahhhh look at that accountability and leadership.

While Kaleb was relishing in all of the history- Jacob tested the comfiness of the carpet at the Truman Library.

We even had a hearty dinner at home! I was so proud of myself for actually pulling this one off. I threw in our small crockpot at the last second ... knowing that cooking in the camper on a hot day would be pretty miserable. I made shredded chicken and egg noodles. Not everyone loved it (ahem, Kaleb who doesn't like his food "mixed") but it was delicious.

My personal favorite part of our day was going to the Clinton Soda Shop (where Truman worked during his younger years). Kaleb was adorable when getting to pick from ALL of the options! Their chocolate malts are absolutely to.die.for.

The night ended with Phil getting to meet up with an Army buddy, Troy, who is currently stationed at Ft. Leavenworth. And.... he successfully re-entered the camper without waking the boys!! Phew

Finally to first "real" destination

Monday

We had big plans for today. Feeling like we have the hook up routine down, we thought, "we can get to Independence today by noon and still have time to go to Truman's boyhood home." I laugh at our ambition.

It took us a little while to get out of Joplin but the "short" 3 hour drive felt like an eternity. The camper did not feel as stable as yesterday, and none of us were in particularly "feel the love" type of moods. Kaleb woke at midnight with a 102.3 fever, we woke Jacob up getting medicine for Kaleb, Jacob was not interested in going back to sleep and then decided 5:30 was the official wake up time.

Thankfully, I found a Starbucks yesterday evening. This morning it was like a beam of God's goodness when Phil went and got us Ventis. Meanwhile, I decided to call Kaleb's pediatrician. He has been running a fever now for 2 days and I noticed some blister/bump looking things on his knees and elbows. Praying that this is NOT Hand-foot- and mouth (that name always sounds like a disease you pick up at a dirty bar-) I talked with a nurse. Naturally, she said that she recommended we go to an Urgent Care, just in case. I knew this but didn't want to make the decision. Adulting sucks.

I get on trusty Google and read reviews for some pediatric urgent cares, find one that looks great and call my insurance # to make sure they are in network. I truly despise insurance. Our's is so terrible we really only have it in case of a really bad illness, accident or something that would cost 100s of thousands of $. Other than that type of situation, we end up paying full price for everything bc our deductible is insane. I digress... anyhow, the clinic I found does take our insurance (yippee) and is less than 10 min from the campground. Win-win, or so I thought.

You know how some "urgent cares" are now really stand alone ERs? And they bill like an ER visit? Well... I think this one was one of them. Don't get me wrong- if you have an emergency, I will shell out any amount of money I have to for my babies.... but a fever? I am used to a $100-$150 copay, but the least costly ER visit we have experienced (with Jacob last summer when he had "Nurse Maid's elbow") was $650. My baby was in terrible pain, I had no problem with that visit! However, I was not prepared today. You know, we just had a ton of water damage to our house... have a $3,000 deductible and now this extra unexpected bill. I desperately try not to worry about $, God has blessed us and we are fiscally responsible... I am just a "planner" and some things you cannot plan for. Adulting is HARD.

Back to Dr visit. Sweet Kaleb was like a wilted flower when we got there. He was burning up and so tired. 102, again. Checked him, no HFM, Praise the Lord and then came the Strep test. Poor baby, I had to pin him down in my lap. I HATE having to do that. But, he got a popsicle and a negative result after. I wiped his tears and took him to Target for a small toy. (He picked a bow and arrow so that he could shoot with my Papa Bob once we get to WaKeeney)
Just a virus that has to run its course... it is hard not getting exact answers but I am so thankful it wasn't HFM or strep that the unknown is a-ok with me.

Also at Target, I picked up a Bullet blender to make smoothies for him. He hasn't been eating very much and I know I can get him to eat smoothies (packed with nutrients). I even put coconut water in with it tonight to help with hydration and it was delicious.

Both boys are fast asleep now, phew. Time for Phil and I to watch "Detour"... it is a ridiculous comedy about a road trip with kids... ha!

Night 2- ahhhh sleep

Saturday night

We stopped at Sequoya State Park in OK. It was GORGEOUS!! We got there before dark, had a pull through landing and easy hook up. Thankful that we did throw in the pack and play, Jacob slept ALL night!!

I made noodles and meatballs before we left home and it was so nice to have dinner ready!

We learned a valuable lesson with the fridge- this might be a duh for many but for us it was GREAT. If you freeze gallon jugs of water and put in the fridge with freezer packs it acts like a cooler as you go down the road. So thankful for that bc living out of a "real" cooler was going to be a pain.

I am trying desperately to keep mostly healthy food in our bodies and that requires refrigeration. Fruit and veggies, lean meat, etc. It is SO easy to just eat junk when we travel. Also, I am trying a new snack system with the boys and it seems to be working pretty well. They each have their own lunch box full of snacks. One of each kind - Jacob would eat a box of fruit snacks if I let him... and for every lunchbag snack they have to have a cooler snack. I packed a small cooler with grape cups, bags of carrots, sugar snap peas (Kaleb loves, Jacob chews and spits out) and apple slices (thanks to Costco they are precut and already in bags).

Hitting the road a little earlier.... maybe

Saturday
After the super early wake up, we had happy little Dentons and thankful for coffee parents. The boys both took baths and it was just the right size for Jacob. Everything was camping bliss... until Phil had to fix the tow stuff. He watched some YouTube videos and thought he could fix some of the sway issues.

Famous last words. 2.5 hours later, he is drenched, greasy and tired BUT he did it! It was waaaaay too hot for the boys to be outside and we had to bring the trailer slide in --so they got to spend some quality time in the car. Kaleb worked on his reading work and Jacob finally slept.

We set out and Phil says, "I am worried that we might need a new front tire". WHAT???

Thankfully, we went to Discount Tire, had it checked out and it was fine! Phew

We made a stop at Wally World to pick up some things I had been adding to a list... $165 and an hour later we left. With all that we packed... what in the world could we possibly need?
1. Take and toss sippy cups. Kaleb doesn't use a sippies anymore but with Jacob not contained in a high chair it is totally necessary that all drinks have lids!
2. Cool (light weight) clothing that can get greasy and dirty for Phil to set up and take down the trailer (and a pair for his handy helper, Kaleb, too)
3. Paper plates, sorry environment, Mama does not want to do too many dishes in the tiny sink.
4. Egg crate for the bed, just in case i get to sleep tonight ...
5. Allergy medicine, 3 different kinds
6. Little toy hot wheels from Cars 3. (As if we do not have enough but they DO have the new characters)
7. I have no idea what else, but apparently it was about $50.

All and all, today has been great. After fixing the trailer, it is driving much better and we are not on the nasty I35!

2 hours until our stop for tonight.

We made it! 1st night

Look at that narrow, uphill, landing pad. My sweet husband has the patience of Job. It took us 30 minutes, cell phones and flashlights but we had her parked by 10:30. Special note: my children have a really early bedtime... Jacob around 6:30 and Kaleb 7:30... they are wide awake when we get settled.

We are excites to be settled!! Now time foe bed.

5:00am is an acceptable time to wake up, right, Mommy? Phil slept at tge back of the trailer on yge bottom bunk with Kaleb on top. Jacob had a nice little bed on the floor next to my bed, but of course it freaked him out (cant blame a Mommy for trying). We have the pack and play but were tryinf to avoid using it. He finally fell asleep with holding him and telling him a story about a birdy named Chirp with a friend named Blue. They had all kids of adventures before he fell asleep. I quickly learned that he does not liked to be touched and does NOT like blankets (he is still sleeping in a sleep sack). Around 3 he decided to sleep on top of me, with my shirt lifted so his face was right on my tummy. Awe how sweet... until he starts drooling and it is running down my side. Then the little angel wakes up at 5, ready to play. Thankfully, the TV turns and can face my bed. Baby Einstein to the rescue!

Day 1- For real

We woke up at the usual 6:30 and got busy doing last minute tasks.... thinking (foolishly) that we wluld be pulling out by 10am. Ha!

Phil goes out to mow, we completely lose power, and then the mower dies. To make matters extra special, little bit, has absolutly no desire to stand, walk or play... noooo he is demanding to be held. He is -almost 21 mo and weighs 30 lbs!!

We pack, prep, and load more crap. Organize said crap in the camper. Again, we were rescued by one of our neighbors. She offered to let the boys play at her house while we got ready. Even with this huge boost of speed... we did not finish until 1:30. What in the world took us so long??? We cannot figure it out. To be honest, though, we are both Scouts, and one of our mottos is to "Be Prepared."

I go to get waters for the road and Icant find my Yeti. AHhhhhhhhhh insert 2 year old tantrum from 39 year old Mommy. (Amazing neighbor to the rescue again- she let me borrow one)

We pull out at 2:30, get 4 houses down and Phil realizes he didnt plug in the brake or lights for the trailer. We messes with them for about 20 minutes.... in the sun.... it was 101. Good thing we had just showered- ha!

Ok, we are off. Kids are nicely playing with the busy bags I had prepped, I start to crochet (working on a blanket I started for Jacob when I was pregnant with him... I must finish this before he turns 2! We have 2,200 miles for me to work on it bc I am NOT going to drive this thing!

Kids being angels lasted about 10 minutes and literally "when are we going to get there came out of Kaleb's mouth." Traffic on 35 was AWFUL, Jacob was screaming, Kaleb wanted me to "teach him history," and poor Phil was trying to control this crazy trailer.

We make it to Temple, see a Chick-fil-a like a beacon on a hill and stop. Yessss we have made it an hour away from home- hahaha.

We bought a back up camera at Costco, tried to get it to work for a while, me reading technical instructions is a joke. (We figured out it is truly a "back up" camera, not a "stay on while you drive since you cant see anything in your rearview" type of camera.) bummer

Our goal was to get north of Dallas- but, we are stopping for the night at Cedar Hill. We havent hooked up anything yet and now we get to do it, in the dark. I am sure there will be a story to tell!

Day 0 and 1- not what we expected

Wednesday
Phil picked up the trailer on Wednesday, got home at 4pm and we started loading.... and loading...and loading. Insert taking care of the children, and getting them to bed. Fast forward to 10:30 pm, I rounded the corner in the hallway of our laundry room ans noticed the baseboard pulling away from the wall... then I found more damage. I opened the door to the furnace closet and there was about 3 inches of standing water. Houston... we have a problem.
Phil was in the camper when I broke the news. Insurance company claim started and mopping up the water is how we ended the night. Guess we are not leaving tomorrow- sigh.

Thursday
Praise the Lord for one of our sweet babysitters ans my precious nephew. I took the boys to my sister's house and Sydney and Peyton watched them all day while we dealt with the stuff at home. 2 water extraction people, AC guy and contractor.... ended with 4 giant fans, all of the flooring in one hallway and 1/3 of our playroom ripped up, all baseboards in the area removed, and a giant dehumidifier. Meanwhile we were still trying to pack and load... in a HOT camper bc the braker kept tripping.
Our amazing neighbors (and Kaleb's best friend) asked him to spend the night- praise the Lord. He struggles with loud noises and those fans sounded like a jet airplane. Phil and I kept packing, prepping and loading. Not sure we will ever be ready to leave...

detonated: 
: to set off in a burst of activity : spark
This is the story of my life since our little blessing entered into it.