Days 7 and 8

The past two days have been busy and we have been wiped out!  Both nights i have been too tired to give an update...but today we will be in the rv for a long time headed to one of my all time favorite spots....to see caleb, avery, and cole in louisiana!  

On tuesday we finally got to lancaster, pa which is something i have been looking forward to this whole trip.  We looked at quilts and admired all of the horse and carriages that went by with sweet little amish children in them.  It is such a beautiful countryside.  The highlight of the stop had to be the horse and carriage ride we got to take that took us all over the farms and even through a covered bridge.  The amish girl that took us was so kind and answered any questions that we had.  Afterwards we headed to Bird-in-Hand Family restaurant.  It was incredible....we ate a ton...it was a great way to end the day.

Wednesday we stopped in virginia and got to go down into the deepest cave on the east coast.  Ben was actually really interested and millie only fell once:)  Next we went over to The Natural Bridge.  I wasn't really sure what to expect but it ended up being one of my favorite things we have done.  We went on this beautiful walk next to a cascading river that curved around to one of the most spectacular sites i have seen.  The Natural Bridge was truly indescribable.  We got to walk under it and then on a little further they were reconstructing a native american village that used to inhabit the area.  The kids had a good time exploring.

By the time we got back to the rv all 3 kids passed out and slept until we got to christiansburg, va where we got to meet my old college roomate katy and her husband brad for supper!  We had such a great time and laughed a ton.  It was so great to see them!

So today we have a pretty long drive ahead of us to bastrop, la.  We are going to get in to town in time to see caleb's baseball game.  All the cousins are going to get to stay the night on the rv tonight- they are so excited!  more tomorrow...

Day 6

Sweet grammynana

Yesterday was a wonderful day.  We got up and finally got to enjoy the koa campground.  They had a great playground and a big barn with some games so the kids had a lot of fun.  The air was cool and there is something about it that just feels cleaner up here...it's amazing!  After having breakfast on the picnic table... compliments of nonnie and papa ron... and getting our things together we took our rental car over to grammynana's.  Her yard is beautiful and has quite a bit of woods on it so mike and ben got to go exploring.  Ben came back after they had been gone a long time and said " Mama, look....we went hunting and i got some bleed"...and showed me a little scratch on his arm.  So cute.

We stayed there the rest of the day besides me running with mike and john campbell to the grocery store...we had to re-stock the rv:)  So we got away pretty late last night after having dinner with mike's family again and taking a bunch of family pictures.  Mike drove until pretty late last night so it looked like we would get to lancaster, pa by lunch but wouldn't you know it...ben woke up with a tick on the back of his neck.  After about 20 minutes of trying to get it off we had to take him to a clinic in connecticut to make sure all of it was out.  Thankfully it was but when mike and ben got back to the rv mike found another one behind his ear!  Poor kid...he was so upset we had to pull another one off!  Mike took him back in the clinic b/c we had to be sure about this one and we wanted them to look in his ears just in case!  He did great...the promise of skittles, gum, and a new movie for the drive probably helped:)

So now we are on our way to the amish...a little late but still getting there with enough time to see everything!

*Sorry i'm not posting many pictures...upload is slow.

Day 5

Well we arrived to our destination in maine last night at midnight.  We are staying in freeport at the koa camp.  Maine is absolutely beautiful!  The reason we wanted to come up here was because this is where Mikes grammynana  lives and his aunt, uncle, and cousins.  Mike was actually born in portland, maine.  Anyway grammynana has never gotten to meet millie or john campbell.  The last time we were here ben was about cams age.  Mike's parents even flew up here so we could all be together.  

Once we all got together we went up to grammynana's camp on Little Sebago lake.  Mike had told me that i was going to love it but i still couldn't believe how beautiful it was!  When i think of a lake i think of the ones i grew up around that were pretty dirty and as dark as could be.  This one was actually clear...i could see to the bottom....and it was surrounded by deep green trees.  Truly breathtaking!  We had the best time..right when we got there ben and mill took off their socks and shoes and stuck their feet in the water....then aunt martha put them in some old sweatshirts and they waded in the water with a tug boat and a net.  It was right up their alley.   

We got to go exploring....which we all loved....and we got some great pictures of the kids too.  When we got a little chilly we went inside the camp where they started a fire.  It was so peaceful and such a great time of visiting.  Mike always says some of his best childhood memories are from being up here visiting and getting to go to the camp so i think it was extra special for him. 

Later in the evening we went back to gary and martha's house and mike's cousin adam and his wife marlene came over with their new baby colin.  It was a lot of fun to see all of the kids together.   

The kids sacked out right after we headed back to the rv!  I am looking forward to a good nights sleep tonight....good night from falmouth, maine.

Day 4

Today was incredible!  Maybe my favorite yet!  We woke up in New Jersey and headed to rhode island.  I wish you could have seen us in the rv driving through the bronx in new york!  We definitely were country come to town!  It was awesome!  We got in to rhode island and headed to New London where we parked the rv and got our tickets for the ferry that went over to Block Island.  While we waited to board we got some lunch...new england style...mike had a lobster roll and i had a fish sandwich.  We boarded the ferry and went straight to the top and looked out while we ate our lunch.  The kids loved it!  We admired all the fishing boats while we sailed away for block island.  It was a 55 minute ride so for a while we stayed on top but ben and millie started getting cold so we headed down a level where you could be inside where it was warmer.  It seemed like a good idea at the time...but there was something about not having that fresh sea air in your face combined with the rhythmic  swelling of the waves that had everybody feeling like they might lose their lunch.  Me and cam were the only ones that were pretty much ok...but ben went to sleep, millie layed down, and mike kept his face buried in his arms on the table.  When we got to the island everybody felt a lot better and we were excited to start looking around.  First we went to a couple little shops and then we headed to this little farm that had some farm and exotic animals.  I almost fell over when millie eased over to a pile of manure behind the fence saying in a sweet voice..."aww...look at the baby chicks."  As she got closer she realized her mistake as i just died laughing!  My sweetheart...maybe we ought to up that prescription on her glasses.:)

The kids couldn't wait to get to the beach so we bought a few sand toys because it's still too cold up here to get in the water.  The town was beautiful...it was so nice to walk everywhere.  We got to the beach and the kids had a blast!  They LOVE the sand!  Ben was bummed because he buried his garbage truck and we never could find it!  Mike was really sweet and surprised me at the beach with a necklace that i had admired in one of the shops! When is was time to board the ferry ben and millie were covered in sand!  The ferry ride back was much better and nobody got sick...we made sure to stay near the fresh air!  

Oh one other thing....this was hilarious....when we where on the ferry on our way back ben and mill made friends with this little boy.  Ben asked him if he had to use floaties and the little boy said "only when i need 'em".  For some reason that compelled millie to say as she had her thumb up to her mouth "when i was a baby i drank milk."....huh?  It was so funny and socially awkward.  

It was such a great day....what a gift to get to see these things with my sweet family.  My sweet babies are growing up so fast right before my eyes....i told ben on mother's day that my favorite thing about mother's day was getting to be his, millie, and cam's mom.  He said "you know what i like about mother's day"...and i said "what"...and he said "lovin' you".  Thank you God for my family.

day 3

Today was a great day!  We drove for a while through virginia, west virginia, maryland, and ended up in pennsylvania!  We went to hershey, pa to Hershey Chocolate World.  It was amazing.  The kids got to be "factory workers" where they got employee photo id's and got to make hershey kisses.  Then we got some of the best ice cream i've had in a long time.  Even john campbell got to have a couple licks...he was ticked that he didn't get more!  We went on a ride through a  fake Hershey Chocolate Factory that was geared toward little guys with singing cows and such.  This place was huge and they had everything chocolate you could imagine!  By the time we got to lancaster to see some amish country most everything was closed so we are going to go back through on our way home...we did see a few horse and carriages but all the shops and restaurants close by 8pm..we are really looking forward to seeing it in a few days.  Now we are headed to block island, rhode island to go to mohegan bluffs.  more tomorrow....

Day 2-"Clark, that there is an rv."

So today was our second full day on our rv adventure.  We were trying to make up some time so we drove quite a bit today.  We did stop for a quick breakfast and once for starbucks....it feels funny carrying starbucks across four lanes of traffic to load up on the rv...."rv and starbucks" just don't seem to go....maybe "rv and dr.thunder"...anyway...Later this afternoon we ended up in knoxville, tennessee at the World's Fair Park.  The first thing we did was to go up in the Sunsphere which was this huge ball on top of a tower where you could look out over the city.  Next we headed to a big playground called Fort Kid where ben and millie got to run off some energy.  Then mike and the big kids changed into their swim trunks and we headed to these 30 foot fountains that shoot up out of the ground that you can play in.  The water was freezing but they loved it!  I had packed a picnic so we ate on the lawn and i surprised the kids with a tea set i had brought so we had a tea party too.  Our crumpets were cashews!  By the time we got back to the rv it was getting dark so while mike and the kids stayed out exploring i gave john campbell a bath in the sink...he looked adorable and kept splashing and smiling up at me.  I can't get enough of him!  Tomorrow our goal is Hershey's Chocolate World and Amish Country....can't wait!!!!  

*I would post pictures but my upload speed is slow so maybe i will do more tomorrow.

The Scheuchzer Family RV Trip

The RV trip has begun!  The Scheuchzer family will attempt to go from greenville, texas to falmouth maine and back in the next 10 days!  So far it has been hilarious!  We didn't leave until 10:00 last night...which was only 14 hours later than we had planned:)....and we were so tired from trying to get ready all day we only made it to texarkana!   The best part of last night by far was when mike got pulled over twice!!!!  The officers said we were swerving all over our lane!  Mike was ticked...it was hysterical! This morning we drove for a while and before we could even stop for lunch mike was pulled over again! Does it get any better than that?!?!  This time the officer asked him if he had been drinking....oh my goodness...it makes me laugh just thinking about it! What's crazy is he wasn't even hitting the rumble strips!  Anyway we stopped for a quick lunch before we headed on to memphis, tn.  We went to the Mud Island Riverpark...it was a replica of the mississippi river from minnesota down to louisiana into the gulf of mexico...it was so great for little kids because they got to wade down the five block river and when we got to the end they got to go in a paddleboat around the "gulf".  They were so cute!  The weather was perfect too so that was nice.  The kids were wiped after all the walking so we ate supper at Huey's and got back in the rv.  They were so pumped to get to sleep in the booth that folds out into a bed!  ok....more to come...

Rascals

My 2 big kids were absolute rascals today...and here's how:

* Millie was painting her toe nails so carefully today after she painted mine that i left her unattended for a few minutes.  MISTAKE.  I knew there was trouble when ben told me to come look at what she was doing.  She had painted her leg, the bottoms of both feet, and her hand.

*  While i was putting the baby down i could barely see out my door...just enough to see millie getting the ice cream out of the freezer and ben holding the ice cream scooper and saying "be really quiet".  I came out a few minutes later and found that ben had wisely disappeared leaving millie to chow down by herself.  All she could say was "ben opened it"...as if that justified her mouthful.  Hilarious.

*  While i was getting ben in the bed i noticed that he had dumped out what remained in the lotion bottle all over his blocks and bridge.

*  I looked over today and millie had a strange expression and i realized she had given john campbell some of her cheese stick...a big chunk in fact.  I had to do the infamous finger sweep to get it out before he tried to swallow it.  Let's just say he wasn't too thrilled....apparently he likes cheese.

I'm pretty sure they knew it was mother's day tomorrow...they wanted me to earn my title:)

Another funny thing millie said while she was looking at my back...."You have moles on your back."  "I sure do mill."  " I wish i had moles"....aahhh a girl can dream:)  and of course ben had to chime in with " i have a couple moles cause i'm bigger."  

And lastly,  ben and millie stayed at Molly's most of this week and while they were there molly told ben that if he ate the crust on his sandwich it would make him run faster.  So today i told ben i would beat him to the mailbox and while we were running and he was "winning" he looked back at me and yelled "I ate the crust!!!!!"  I thought i was going to die...he cracks me up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!