2019: Christmas recap through spring break

Warning: this will be a long post. However, in my defense, I had a few weeks of panic when an email from Google arrived with notification that their blogs were going to be deleted. I have done a little more research, and if I'm not wrong (fingers crossed) my blog will be okay because I don't use google+. Admittedly, I was pretty upset thinking that years of family events and memories would be deleted. Not to mention the panic I felt trying to figure out how to save it all! Fingers crossed and prayers are being said that we are still going to have a digital journal of family events for a while. In the meantime, I need to figure out how to back up what is on the blog.

Because time has gotten away from me, I am going to try to summarize the major events that have taken place so far this year. Thank goodness it isn't July!!

January - Family Christmas: The extended families had numerous obligations for work, school, and family; so, we opted to not hold our annual Christmas Eve family gathering until after the holidays.  We all met at the yellow house and enjoyed brisk weather, warm fire pits, laughing children, crazy dogs, catching up, games, and relaxation.

The girls' Christmas present was a trampoline. It was a little hard
to wrap so it ended up being covered with extra cardboard boxes
and "unwrapped" on the family work day.

Because the living room in the yellow house is really small, we
decided to spend time outdoors. Scott moved Miss Lippy to
the side of the drive way and we used the parking area
for a gathering place.  He had a last minute brainstorm
and built 2 7 ft. long tables and several 2-person benches
out of the old deck boards. They are perfect!! I just need
to give them a new coat of stain and they will
last us for years.  The changes in the parking/driveway
made to accommodate the 5th wheel gave us an
abundance of parking space.

We always have to go through some doggie adjustments
when the family gathers. Tico and Maya got along fine.
The rest of the boys in the pack needed some time to
acclimate to one another. But, the grand girls always
pick up right where they left off.

This year, we decided to eliminate adult gift exchanges and focus
on the kids. They got some interesting gifts this year: money,
journals, games, Hogwarts wands,
 and 400 dum-dum suckers!

I believe if they had been given a bag of rocks and sticks, they
would have been just as happy. They seem to thrive on the fresh
air and outdoor activities when they get together at the
yellow house.

To explain the 400+ dum-dums: Leslie & Rebecca's gifts for
the girls were delayed for one reason or another. Leslie wanted them to
have something to open so she made a mad dash to Sam's club
and bought gigantic bags of suckers!

Jamie and Ryan were so excited to see THAT surprise!  Actually,
they were really good sports about the sugar overload.

Family pics wouldn't be complete without Scott's weird face.
It's a good thing Seth hasn't picked up that habit. It still shocks
me to see Seth standing next to Scott and wondering if
he will be taller than him
the next time he comes over.

We were all joking that Uncle Scott will eventually become know
as Uncle Moneybags if he continues to use
 his spare change as gifts for the girls. 

Not one to let a reason to celebrate Christmas pass,
Jamie planned crazy gift opening games for the girls.

It consisted of trying your best to wrapping gifts wearing oven mitts.
It had to be opened before your partner rolled doubles. If not,
the give and mitts were passed to the next player.

She didn't leave out the adults. They got their share of frustration
trying to unwrap extremely well wrapped gifts.

I think it was more fun taking pictures and listening to them
than it would have been had I played as well.

G... no words.  If he wasn't sneaking inside to warm up, he was sleeping by
the fire pit.  he does not like being cold, smelling like smoke, or being
outside. But, he was there and didn't complain... at least not
to me! Now, Leslie might have gotten an ear full.

My handsome guy... Can't believe he is a senior!!!

Scott set up targets for a bit of shooting competition. We just used his
pellet gun and some paper targets 

Leslie was sent to get targets and only found these.  We
had to get a little creative and give points to who
hit closest to the bull's eye on each target.

Even the grands got to try out their skills.  Once
they figured out which eye to close and how to
put the stock near their shoulders, they did ok.

It really wasn't that loud. No idea why ears needed to be covered.
Maybe she was cold??

After numerous missed shots, Scott finally got out
his fancy shooting chair and the girls started
hitting the target.

January - February Winter Birthdays:  Leslie and Rebecca had their birthday in January and Seth had his in February. I didn't realize how neglectful I've become about taking pictures until I started looking through my pictures for this update. I had to scavenge pictures from everyone's Facebook pages. Needless to say, I need to start remembering my stupid camera when we get together!  Here is what I was able to find; not much but better than nothing!

The family decided to meet in Temple to celebrate Seth's 18th birthday.
It is a 2 1/2 hour drive for Leslie's family; an hour for Ryan's family;
35 min. drive for Becca from work; 40 drive for Seth from Gatesville; and 30
min drive for us from Killeen. Schedules were crazy at this time of
the year and we were determined to NOT put off this important
milestone for Seth.

He hasn't ever been too thrilled about getting his
picture taken. But, his aunts and mom were
relentless and got a pretty good shot of him.

He was even really good natured about the Roadhouse
birthday tradition. 

How can this sweet, gentle giant be 18?!?!?

Jamie has become the official baker for birthdays. She managed
to make a personal cake for Leslie...

another one for Rebecca...

and one for the family to enjoy. We are so
lucky to have her... the cakes are always
amazing!

March - Granddaughter Sleep-over; Sophie's fund raiser; Family Camping: One of the things I noticed while we were at the Roadhouse was how much the girls miss each other. They were disappointed that we had to end birthday dinner so early and it was so hard for them to say good-bye. I decided to have their moms bring them to me for a weekend around their spring breaks. Unfortunately, their breaks weren't at the same time; they were back to back.  But, luckily it worked out. Depending on the day and hour, they had a great time, an ok time; and a not so good time. But, they managed to create lots of sweet memories. We played on the trampoline, colored, visited a local Rock and Roll Ice Cream Parlor, shopped for books at Barnes & Noble, had a visit from Aunt B, stayed up way too late, went to church, and ate a lot of junk food.

Uncle Scott and Poppy set up an outdoor table under
and awning because we had simply beautiful weather.
Too beautiful to stay inside for meals.

I love that the girls enjoy coloring. I'll admit that I'm a coloring
fan and cherish the time we spent coloring and chatting. 

The girls managed to fit on the new IKEA sleeper/sofa. But,
a couple of them have issues with gas so one of them
moved to the love seat in the middle of the night.

I managed to get a beautiful picture of the grand girls
with my feathered girls in the background.

Who can pass up a chance for a silly pic??

The trampoline was a rest spot, jumping spot, snacking spot,
and chatting spot. Still one of my smartest purchases ever!

March - Baking and Camping: During part of the Ft. Worth grands' spring break, Sophie needed to learn to make cinnamon rolls.  She was chosen to attend a leadership conference for a week. However, it will cost $1,000. Leslie wants her to earn as much of the fee as possible so she decided to sell cinnamon rolls to the school staff, Gerson's work associates, and their church family.  I drove up and spent a couple of days with them to teach her how to make them.  Sophie did an amazing job and worked so hard. Together we managed to get about half of her orders filled.  She finished up the orders once they went home after our camping trip.

Sophie learned how to use the bread machine to make her dough.
She used regular yeast for the first batch and it took forever.
Once we got the rapid rise yeast for bread machines, the
process went much more quickly.

Before long, she had two bread machines going at once
and didn't need any help at all.

Doesn't everyone need an apron this cute??
The socks really set off the outfit.
It's a shame she looks so serious.

We had originally planned to camp at Big Bend National Park. Unfortunately, the government shut down made it tough to get reservations in time. We ended up going to a local Corp of Engineers Park. It was okay, but quite a let down after planning on Big Bend.  Leslie, her girls, Scott, Ron and I went out early and got camp set up. Ryan, Jamie, and the twins joined us a couple days later. Rebecca came out and spent a day with us. It was cold but bearable and the girls had a great time.

The camp site we had backed up onto a huge, empty field.
The grands were able to play baseball, kick ball, horse shoes,
climb trees, and shoot off sky rockets. 

For some reason, the guys preferred to assume
the responsibilities of the spectator section.
However, Scott had a pretty good reason to sit around.
The brakes on Miss Lippy locked up on the way out.
He spent the first couple of days at camp working
on getting them in good working order again.

The nights and early mornings were pretty cold. However,
the afternoons warmed up beautifully. The girls were
able to remove several layers of clothing and got
plenty of exercise.

Unfortunately, there was only one hiking trail at the camp grounds.
We were only able to cover part of it because one loop was
overgrown.  

The part that was cleared was fairly easy to walk, nice and wide,
and had a few really scenic areas perfect for pictures.

Like this one...

And this one...

and this one.

Any time spent with family around a camp fire and enjoying
nature fills my heart with joy and happiness.

Unfortunately, this camp out wasn't all joy and happiness.
We experience the sorrow only pet owners understand.
Crazy Hoss, Rebecca's bulldog, died while we were at camp.
He was eleven years old and we think his old heart
just gave out after a day of running, barking, and
being loved.  We will miss the crazy, sloppy guy.

Whew! The last time I got this far behind, I swore it wouldn't happen again. Never say never! Anyway, that's the last few months in a nutshell.

Searls Family Road Trip 2018

It All Started with Every Kid in a Park Pass

Two years ago, Leslie, Scott, and I took Seth, Maggie, and Sophie on a crazy road trip that looped through Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, and Oklahoma.  We took 2 cars and a bunch of luggage. The ride itself wasn't bad; but, checking in and out of hotels and finding inexpensive and relatively healthy food made it a pretty exhausting adventure.  Not to mention the expense!  We started talking about buying an RV on that trip. We came home and started looking; eventually buying Miss Lippy.  This year we finally had all the remodeling done on her. Sophie was in 4th grade and could get the Every Kid in a Park Pass; so, we decided it was time for our second road trip.

Originally, we had planned to go to the Grand Canyon and up through Colorado into Yellowstone.  But, a series of unexpected events kept us from ever getting the trip planned. We finally decided to take a loop through Arkansas, Kentucky, and Tennessee to see what few National Parks there are in those states. We also planned to visit historical Civil War sites.  As a teacher, I'm appalled at how quickly events such as the Revolutionary and Civil Wars and pioneer advancement are skimmed over in school these days.  It was important to me that my own grandchildren see and experience the atmosphere in those sacred sites so they fully understand the sacrifices that were made to establish this great nation.

On July 22, with Seth camping out at Scott's house to do doggie day care and watch over the chickens, Ron, Scott, Leslie, Maggie, Sophie and I took off in Miss Lippy with Thor as our chase car.

We stayed in KOA campgrounds along our trip because we wanted full hook-up, easy in and out parking, a pool, and laundry facilities.  The sites we chose are listed below with a 1 to 5 star rating; 1 being barely acceptable and 5 being we would gladly go there again.

Hot Springs KOA, Hot Springs, AR - 5

Prizer Point KOA - Land Between the Lakes Area, Cadiz KY - 1

KOA Journey - Corbin KY - 4

KOA Hurricane Mills - Hurricane Mills, TN - 3

KOA Journey - Little Rock, TN - 5

KOA Texarkana - Texarkana, TX  - 4

Our intention was to find a camp ground that was centrally located and use it as a home base. Once we got to the chosen sites, we realized there were way too many things to do in 2-3 days.  At the half way point, Scott mentioned it would be easier to travel with Miss Lippy in shorter bursts of time by driving to destinations that had parking large enough for an RV, visit as long as we wanted then eat lunch before heading to our next camp ground. We changed some of our reservations and the plan worked out great.  It made it possible to have shorter times in the vehicles, and we weren't spending so much time driving from centrally located campgrounds. Scott is planning the next trip and will keep that discovery in mind.  Leslie put it best when she said, "We learned a lot from our first RV camping trip, and we just keep learning with each trip." 

Here is a collection of pictures we took before and during our 2018 Searls Family Road trip. 

Two of the bunk quilts I made from scraps of the curtain fabric.

...2 more bunk quilts

a few of the road trip shirts

Day 1: departure!

I started out with the best of intention regarding pictures of me... ha!

Our first stop was Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas. I can't tell you how many times we have driven past this park on trips to and from Ohio to visit family.  I'm so glad we finally made it a point to stop! It is simply beautiful! The RV park was small, well shaded, easy to access, and had a wonderfully welcoming staff. It is a little old but in great condition. We especially loved the ice cream truck that drove through each evening.  The town of Hot Springs is in a wonderful location, nestled between tall, tree covered hills. The streets are lined with quaint shops filled with bath salts, oils, and assorted gift items.  There was also a wonderful, hand-on science center in Hot Springs. It is called Mid-America Science Museum.  The outdoor exhibit is outstanding, with a suspension bridge and dino trek. 

Part of the suspension walk at the science center

one of the statue on the dino trek

one of several odd, mechanical displays

Poppy's first road trip!

The perfect shot... mid sentence.

What's up with that belly!?!?! Love the ice cream truck!

Family shot in the hills on Pinnacle drive

Mimi, Poppi, Maggie, and Sophie

Uncle Scott

One of the many active bath houses

entrance to a beautiful walking path behind the bath houses

one of several hot spring fountains in town

The girls really didn't like the hot water!

Our second stop was at the Land Between the Lakes Recreation area in western Kentucky. Boy was Prizer Point RV park a disappointment! When I made the reservations, it listed "spacious pull through sites with lake views, game room, lending library, bouncing pillow, pedal carts, boat rentals, corn hole, volley ball, basketball, laundry facilities, 2 pools, all in a beautiful setting."  It was poorly cared for, run down, bug riddled, over priced, and the personnel were incompetent! At this point I was starting to feel a little concerned about the rest of the trip! Fortunately, we didn't spend much time at RV park so that helped.  We visited Patti's 1860 Homestead and Settlement, the bison and elk reserve in the Land Between the Lakes recreation area, Ft. Donelson Civil War site, and took the driving tour. It was very well done! You drive to sites in numerical order, enter a number on your smart phone, and listen to a description of the location. Much more enjoyable that reading it aloud your self. We ended this leg of the journey with a stop at the National Corvette Museum.  The sink hole display was fascinating and frightening at the same time!

At Patti's 1860 Settlement

                                     

Maggie

Sophie and the static hair slide...

Maggie & Sophie 

Uncle Scott checking out a future wood shop project...

LOVE this furniture! Seth needs to take welding next year.

Ft. Donelson

Maggie working on the Junior Ranger packet

We could just see the elk sticking to the shade; it was so hot!!!

A couple of mother & calf bison, also trying to stay cool in the shade.

The Dover Hotel, a river boat stop near Ft. Donelson

Ft. Donelson National Historic Site

location of one of the first iron clad battles

overlooking the Cumberland River

the family

It was fascinating to learn how they built the battlements of earth, overlooking the river. 

Civil War/Veteran's Cemetery, Ft. Donelson

Ron and Scott

Leslie and the girls

A collection of cars that were destroyed in the sink hole

outside the Corvette Museum

Miss Lippy was the cheapest and healthiest restaurant! 

Our second leg of the road trip was in Eastern Kentucky. Our intention was to go to Mammoth Caves National Park on Friday, Ft. Boonesboro and Cumberland Falls State park on Saturday, then Cumberland Gap National Park on Sunday. We had to change things around because my brother and his wife wanted to meet up somewhere in Kentucky. They live across the river from Louisville, Kentucky and the site closest to them was Ft. Boonesboro. So, we ended up going there on Friday. It was a bit of a disappointment because the weekend is when they have all their tradesmen and demonstrations. However, we did get to visit the fort without a crowd, and there were a couple of demos going on; candle making and the smithy. It was good to see Larry, Kathy, and their daughter Hannah, so the missed opportunity was worth it. 

The decision to switch days also made our trip to Mammoth Caves a huge disappointment. It was so crowded on Saturday and the best tours were already filled by the time we got there. We did go on a self guided tour of one of the caves and had a nice picnic lunch at the park.  Of course, Ron (The Mayor, as our kids used to call him) made lots of new friends as he sat on benches and chatted with complete strangers.  Our trip wasn't a total bust; and, we learned another important lesson about popular National Parks in peak season... don't go.

My favorite place was Cumberland Gap National Park... and I didn't take any pictures!!! It was amazing to reacquaint ourselves with the stories of the early settlers that crossed such rugged territory to establish new territory.  Seeing Ft. Boonesboro, and then watching the informational video about the Cumberland Gap and it's exploration was perfectly meshed.  I think it helped the grands have a clearer understanding of the sacrifices our ancestors made. We enjoyed the wonderfully cool days and crisp evenings; the lush, green Cumberland Mountains, and the warm, friendly people. I simply didn't want to leave. Of course, while we were in the area, we couldn't pass up visiting the site of the original Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant and enjoying a meal. It was so quaint and nostalgic and made it easy for us to break our "no fast food" rule. On a side note, there is a difference between the Cumberland Gap National Park and the state park. At the state park, you can see the famous Moonbow. It's a bit crowded but worth the effort to go. 

Several of the cabins have demonstrations in them most weekends.  

Demonstrations include, candle making, weaving, calligraphy & printing, the black smith's forge, and re-enactments.

In one of the cabins, there was a video explaining the role of Daniel Boone in the settlement of Kentucky.

Maggie and Sophie

Corbin, Kentucky is home of the original Sanders Cafe.

Maggie had a kids road atlas that she read aloud from during most of the trip.
It was in her atlas that we discovered this little gem.

The weather was surprisingly cool, compare to the triple digit temps we left in Texas!

Love, love, love this place! Can't wait to go back.

working hard on yet another badge

I love how this ranger station had the backdrop for the pledge ceremony.

Sophie wasn't as excited about the "learning" part of our trip as Maggie was.

Ahhhh; breathtakingly beautiful!

Our next 2 days were actually travel days.  We had to get from Eastern Kentucky to Texas in short travel segments so we stopped the first night at a town called, Hurricane Mills, TN. It is just west of Nashville, TN. While we were there, Leslie and I took the girls into Nashville to another science museum. This one was by far the best I've ever visited! It's called, Adventure Science Center on Ft. Negley Blvd. Not in the best part of town; but, worth the trip! Leslie has a family pass to the science center in Ft. Worth and it comes with a joint membership agreement with many science centers across the nation. She is able to get free entry for their family and 2 guests. It is well worth the purchase because visiting science museums on hot afternoons is a perfect summer activity.

the ever-reading-Maggie

Beyond the Rubic's Cube was mind boggling! So many applications for a simple toy! 

Rubic's cube wall art

super fun playscape

When we left Hurricane Mills, we stopped at Shiloh National Civil War Park.  While there, we found a memorial built to Col. James Vetch, and ancestor on my mother's side. The site covers many acres and the driving tour is a little confusing, but doable in an afternoon.  Regardless of how much time a person spends there, the atmosphere is powerful. I know there is currently a lot of controversy about Confederate memorials at state and county locations; but, how can we simply erase part of our history? Men and women from both sides sacrificed so much for a cause they believed in. Whether they were north or south shouldn't discount their courage and commitment. I fervently hope and pray that future generations will protect these national parks and monuments because society learns from analyzing and reviewing the historical mistakes made; not by erasing them.

Outside the visitor center

The junior ranger program here was pretty extensive. But, who can resist dressing up
in period clothing!

Sophie in confederate dress

Maggie working on the museum scavenger hunt

Getting some help from Uncle Scott and Poppi

Veatch memoria

Each state that had soldiers in the battle erected a monument. 

Almost home! Our last stop was back in Arkansas at Crater of Diamonds park. It is a bit off the beaten path and on a pretty winding road. But, the girls both enjoyed the stop for their own reasons. Sophie loved the physical part; digging, sloshing in water, and picking through pebbles. Maggie enjoyed the educational portion and found the discovery facts fascinating. They are so different and we were lucky to find things to interest them at each stop.  Lucky for us, we got to the park early in the morning and the weather was surprisingly pleasant. There were a lot of serious diamond hunters there, decked out in work clothes with every digging implement imaginable. One sweet family gave the girls an assortment of shovels and pails as we entered the park. Leslie also rented some additional equipment for the day.  We didn't find any diamonds (sigh) but had a great time. 

view of the crater

sitting in the shade

all decked out with digging gear and ready to go

digging and sifting

sorting and hunting

sloshing and filtering

sweating and smiling

This face says it all!

As I finish up this post, I can't pass up the chance to say how thankful I am that I've had these experiences with some of the people I love most. We had several discussions about the next trip in 2020, hoping more of our family member can go with us. Miss Lippy was amazing! She chugged up and down the mountains and swerved her way around the twisting country roads without much complaint. Our only difficulty came in the final stretch as we hit rough Arkansas roads and Texas traffic. The bunk room ended the trip looking like an earthquake took place back there; and, Scott is pretty sure her tires left the road on a few bumps in Arkansas. I think it is safe to say, we are all pretty confident she will give us several more years of adventures.  Go RV!!