Life as a Yowler

A lot has happened in the last few days. I’ll try to summarize the main things. I’ll start with a story. Caed and Brielle basically share a bunk bed in this RV. They don’t sleep together, but they both hang out together in the bunk during the day and whenever they watch a movie. Each bunk bed has a TV at the end with a dvd player. So anyways, Caed put a movie in before bed and then came out and told the adults that the TV wasn’t working. We went to see a huge crack down the center of the screen and a very guilty look from Caed. Brandon asked him what happened to the TV. Caed thought for a minute then said “I think it was a bat. Yes, it was a bat because they have SUPER sharp teeth.” Brandon said “Caed, you have one chance to tell me the truth without getting in trouble.” He said “ok, maybe it was my feet.” Turns out the little sucker kicked the tv because the dvd was skipping. 🤦‍♀️

Brandon’s mom flew home a couple days ago, so we are on our own again with the kids. It was a huge blessing having the extra help. All the kids miss her and her crafts she made with them. She sure is crafty. It makes up for my lack of craftiness. Joah and Brielle both love making things.

We have been keeping up with our school on and off. We have averaged about three school days per week. That’s not too bad for Summer. I love the fact that we are ahead of the game because we have more traveling planned for the Fall. I love the curriculum we chose. It is great so far!

We saw an alligator at our campground today. We are staying at the Orlando KOA. One of the camp owners was outside at the time we saw the gator. He said there are several small alligators that have been hanging around. Occasionally they’ll get a really huge one. Joah has had a hard time since staying here at this camp. I will occasionally let him go outside by himself if he stays on our campsite. I haven’t let him since we’ve been here in Orlando. He has not handled it well and is convinced he could fight off a gator if he needed to. 🤦‍♀️

Joah had a major meltdown today. He is known for meltdowns and big emotions, but this one was huge. He was yelling and screaming and very irrational. I had him calm down, then I talked him through it. He is tried of being on the road and longing for consistency. I reminded him of al the fun things he’s done and the memories he’s made. He is the child that traveling is the hardest on. I told him I understood. I feel the same way at times. It’s hard being away from our home with no normal routine. It’s hard for both of us to be spontaneous and not plan ahead much. Changes of plans throw us both off. We talked about how the RV is our second home. We talked about how his bunk bed is like his bedroom. It is his space. We talked about how we would rather be with family, and stick together, then be back at home alone. We talked about being flexible and going with the flow. This is our life and we need to learn to adapt. Even when we feel frustrated we still need to use self control and choose gratitude. Overall traveling is a huge blessing. I can totally relate to his mixed feelings and emotions. But overall we love it. Today we had a very laid back day. I made the kids each nap. We did school and read lots of books. We took it easy and tried to recuperate from the business of earlier this week. Brandon had store trainings all day.

We planned a couple extra days in Orlando around Brandon’s store trainings. We went to Disney while Brandon’s mom was still with us. It really takes a third adult to sit with the baby at times during rides. Every time we go to Disney, first of all Brandon makes fun of me for my childlike excitement. Second of all, Brandon and I get into a mild fight over how we spend the day. I love seeing the kids meet characters and filling up their autograph books. Brandon makes it his goal to take the kids on every single ride. We always both compromise and try to do both. We tried out Hollywood Studios this time. We wanted to see the new Toy Story Land. We also wanted to watch a lot of shows. We knew the heat in July in Orlando would be awful. Each time we watched a show, we got a break from the sun and heat.

If you follow my Facebook page, you saw that poor Caed was terrified to ride the Slinky Dog Dash. We forced him to anyways. About 50% of the time, Caed ends up loving something we make him do. This time just happened to fall in the other 50% of the time. Poor guy was terrified. When we got done he said “dad, I am NOT riding the slinky dog tomorrow, ok?” Poor child.

He wasn’t too traumatized. In fact, he fell asleep that night clutching his Slinky Dog.

Four times now, I have gotten to watch my kids faces light up when they see Mickey for the first time. Isla’s reaction, by far, takes the prize as my favorite though. She saw him and fell straight backwards. Just plopped right on the ground.  I panicked because I literally thought she fainted. Nope. The little goofball was just overwhelmed and excited. Brandon said, “can you even imagine what her reaction would have been if it would have been The Wiggles?” That girl will not be attending any concerts in high school that’s for sure! 🤣

After spending most of the day at Hollywood Studios, we park hopped over to Magic Kingdom. We went on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. It’s Brandon’s favorite, and the last time we were at Magic Kingdom it was closed for renovations. Caed, once again was wailing that he didn’t want to go. Brandon made him. When it was done Caed said “dad, thanks for making me ride. This was my favorite.” He keeps talking to random campers about how he was very brave and rode the Pirates. 🤣  After riding the ride, we watched the fireworks show. Each time it amazes me how awesome of a show it is.

The next morning we slept in, then went to Typhoon Lagoon. Disney was running a special. Since we bought park hopper tickets, we got a free day at a water park. It seemed like the perfect second park to do for July. Water helped tons with the heat.

I wasn’t aware that there would be characters at a waterpark, so I didn’t take the kids autograph books. Oops!

Unfortunately we did not have LILO or Stitch’s autograph, so I asked the information desk worker for blank paper and explained we forgot our books. She said no problem and she also said to check back in an hour.

I couldn’t believe how sweet and thoughtful this girl was.

They said Stitch chewed on it, so they laminated the cover. 🤣 Both LILO and Stitch signed the inside of the book. It was so incredibly sweet of them. We really appreciated it!

We rode every ride at the waterpark, but we spent the most time in the wave pool. It was so fun. The wave was huge. Brandon and I swam out deep with the oldest two kids and rode the wave all the way in. We did this a few times. I lost my sunglasses. Brandon kneed a guy right in the face. It was very intense. It seemed really dangerous to me, but definitely a ton of fun. Basically there were hundreds of people everywhere and you lose all control when that wave hits. You go wherever that thing takes you. Unfortunately for that one guy, Brandons’s knee was taken right into his face.

We decided last minute to eat at Chef Mickeys during our time in Orlando. I called one day in advance, and they happened to have a cancelation. We met Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, and Pluto. They come right to your table for pictures and autographs. The oldest two kids used their Polaroid cameras, so they were able to print pictures right away.

The very first time we went to Disney, Brielle turned two on the trip. We met every single princess. When we asked her who her favorite character was that she met, she answered “Donald Duck.” That describes her personality well. While she loves princesses, she equally loves characters like Donald Duck. 🤣