My memories of kayaking Lake Wappapelo, pregnant!

Lake Wappapelo, in Southeast Missouri was a great place to stay. It is one of those few areas that we would consider moving to when we are ready to settle down. The small town, self-sufficient, not a suburb, was very appealing to us. But, since this is the kayaking article, I best stick to that subject and not go on a rabbit chase.

The lake is quite beautiful and has good fishing. Shae, Cody and Hanna went on an exploration kayaking trip around the lake. The air temperature was pretty cold, so no swimming.

The next day we took the kayaks to the spillway for the reservoir.

Spillway of Lake Wappapelo, Missouri



I was very pregnant with Tytus at the time, but decided I would take a quick spin anyway. Those of you who know me know that I can be very adventurous. I climbed in, with a lot of difficulty since my belly was huge! Josie decided she wanted to ride with me. She climbed in and we headed out. I didn’t get too far from the shore in case we tipped over.

Fisherman dotted the shoreline, some catching fish, others not.

Seeing the spillway and enjoying the water from a kayak is a wonderful way to enjoy God’s creation. There is something special, peaceful sitting on top of the water; no waves, quiet, no rushing or appointments.

Josie got a little antsy and wiggly, so I decided I better get to shore before she tipped all three of us over; her, me, and sweet baby in my belly! I paddled to a little inlet where I thought we could disembark. Cody, my 17 year old was nearby so I hollered to him for some help.

He grabbed little Josie and set her on shore. I, on the other hand, was not as easy. Sitting so low in the kayak coupled with the water being much lower than the rocky shore, made for a bad combination. I put my left leg out of the kayak and realized that there was no way my large, pregnant body was going to follow.

The police officer, sitting in his car, near the shore, looked at me like I was crazy as I attempted to boost myself out of the kayak, with no success.
I had Cody grab my left forearm. He pulled as I pushed with my right.
Legs flailing, arms grasping, loud grunting, my dress flying up, are just a few of the actions of the moment!

I noticed the police officer looked away politely as my legs flew up and my dress slipped past my knees. I think I would have rather had him come help me, though!

With absolutely no grace and complete embarrassment, I got out of the kayak and on to shore, vowing not to get back in the kayak until after the baby was born.

Shae had two kids for a ride in his kayak.

Cody and Hanna tried to ride together. It was so funny as they almost
tipper over - over and over again.

Gabriel thought he discovered a new island
and named it the "Island of Pine".  He got to
be a real explorer, and THAT is one
of the many reasons we do this trip, so our
kids can do amazing things.

(This story actually took place in the spring of 09.  I am going back in time to tell some of our earlier stories.  Hope you enjoy!)

How Do Eight People Use One Bathroom?

Many people want to know...."What about the bathroom, for all of you?"


Shae, hubby, cleaning out toilet with our drinking water hose??? I hope not! 

We have six kids and have been living in the camper for 2 years now.

One bathroom!

I think it would be great to have a second, though. I do not use bath houses at campgrounds. My thought is, this is my home, I wouldn't go to the neighbor's to go potty, why go to the bathhouse. The amount of time it would take me to run 4 small children back and forth to the bathhouse would be ridiculous. I don't like my older daughter using them alone, too many weird-os out there.

My son and husband use them some, but not a lot.
Cody, my 17 yr old, dumps the sewage tank every four days, sometimes we can push it to five.

We figure Cody must like toilets after
we found him drinking from this one
at the Discovery Center

There is a pecking order to the potty

1. me, when I was pregnant and now our little wee one potty training

2. our 3 yr old daughter

3. our girls, the boys can pee outside if need be

4. our 6 yr old son

5. me, when I am not pregnant

6. dad and our oldest son

Now, when dad is going in to the bathroom, everyone else better hurry up and go first. He may be awhile.

No reading in there, or at least not any longer than how long it takes you to go, except for dad.

We did put a lock on the inside, up high so the little ones can't reach it. We have tried signs that say occupied or empty, but they didn't work, our little ones kept tearing them down.

Privacy is horrible, though! If someone makes a sound in there...everyone can hear it. Giggles fill the room when daddy goes in.  He is so loud and the kids think it is so hilariously disgusting! 

A little secret, turn on the tv or music for cover noise when in the potty.  I don't know if my husband realizes that is why I put Jimmy Kimmel on the tv for a few minutes later at night!!!

Another problem, not to get crude, but the stink can spread quickly. We always turn the bathroom fan on.
Our sink and shower are seperate from the toilet which is nice.
I cut a shower curtain in half and put hooks through the holes. The hooks hang over the side of the shower. They can be moved around the door to cover the shower for more privacy.

This was no doubt one of the grossest times on our trip.  The poo overflowed in the dump station and our own turds were floating across the road!  I was pregnant and got out of the truck to see what was going on, I almost puked.  It was so unbelievably disgusting, I am cringing now, two years later, just thinking about it!

It was quite unpleasant when the sewer hose ran under our
stairway!  Everyone had to be careful not to trip on our poo!

For more stories about poo and other (fecal) matter, read my son's article
"Into the Depths"

Happy camping!

Sometimes I don't think I can do this anymore....

I about lost it.  Sometimes I don't think I can live in a camper anymore.  I don't have these days very often.  Just every now and then.  If I can get through those moments, hours, or days, I will be fine.  Endurance....it is very hard sometimes.

It has been two years on the road now.  Traveling has been wonderful, yet I miss having a home sometimes. 

Trying to get all of our stuff, for eight people, and live in a 8'X42' box is so hard.  I have been working at it for over two years, from when we bought our camper.  About two weeks ago, I walked into our back room and said, "I give up, it is impossible. Eight people cannot live in 42'.  So, it can be messy, cluttered, and some things can break, and I'm ok with that."  I can't fix it.  I try and try.  I purchase different storage shelves, change things around, pack up some items while purchasing others all in an effort to make our life better in this home on wheels.  I finally realized that no matter what I do, I cannot do it!  It is actually a good place to be, in my heart that is.  I spend too much time trying to live in an impossible situation. 

I have found that in my moments of greatest weakness, God moves the most.  When I am trying to fix, change, manage, and do, I tend to fail at some level if not all levels.  Am I saying that I don't have to do anything?  God will sort my laundry and change diapers?  No, I am talking about my striving and having no peace in the midst of such abundant blessings.  Yes, I am preaching to myself right now.  It is so easy to get caught up in the here and now, the immediate need of the moment and lose the eternal value of the day.

My one year old tried to go in the back room two days ago.  He couldn't even walk because of all the "stuff".  It is all really wonderful "stuff" mind you, but still too much of it!  If we had a house, it wouldn't be much at all.  In a camper, not much is a whole lot of "stuff".  I lost it.  That is it!  Walmart was my destination and nothing would stop me.  I bravely jumped in the van with my 17 year old son and 1 year old son.  Everyone could sense that mama had reached the end.  I bought a bunch of plastic containers of all sizes, crammed them in the van and headed back, after paying of course.

Everyone had to sort, again, and try to take out as much as possible.  One of the main reasons we sold our home and gave away or sold most of what we owned was so we would not be so bound to material things.  Yet, here we are, once again, spending all of our time maintaining our "stuff". 

NO MORE!

I have to admit, it was not easy.  It was like I was packing away some of my dreams.  I thought that I would have more time to paint, draw, craft, sew, cook, etc, with my kids.  I brought lots of projects I had hoped to finally get done, thinking I would have more time.  This is not the case.  So, as quickly as possible, I passed the boxes to Cody, who crammed them in the van.  It was a lot of hard work for everyone, and sad in some respects. 

I know, though. all those things are just things.  I want to see my kids hike mountains, kayak rivers, meet amazing people, learn the history of this wonderful country. 

We will do those projects some day...or not....

But, I do know that I am ok...my kids are ok....and the earth will still revolve with out all of our "stuff".

A Day Like Today Makes it All Worth It

As I have said before, this lifestyle is not for everyone and for us, with six kids, it is not an easy one.  But, days like today make it all worth it.

I enjoyed a long walk and swim today.  It was amazing.  The family went to the pool this afternoon and we had a blast. 

Hanna tried driving for the first time.  She has her permit now.  It went pretty good, lots to learn.

If we had a house, we would not be here, right now. 

Sometimes I want a home so bad, but then I take a deep breath, thank God for my life, and enjoy my day.  I didn't feel that way today, though.  Today was wonderful.

Wild, Dangerous Beasts are Everywhere!

One of my bigger problems is all of the dangerous animals we encounter in our travels.  I have kids of all ages and it seems that most places we go they are like bait.

Last year we spent the winter in central and south Florida.  I couldn't believe all of the alligators!  They were everywhere.  One campground had a pond in it, and guess who lived there?  Yes, an alligator!

The parks we walked in and playgrounds we played in had signs everywhere that said to beware of alligators!  Why in the world have they not killed them or at least relocated them?  Kids run right by those ponds every day!

This sign is found on the way into the Florida Keys!

Then, of course, there were the sharks in the ocean.  I have never let my kids watch Jaws, and never will.  We had a lot of fun playing in the surf and kayaking the waves.  Cody got a little freaked once when he saw something swim by him in a wave, while he was on the kayak. 

Cody on his kayak at Playa Linda, Florida

I actually paid to hold an alligator!  I rested it on by pregnant belly.  The kids thought I was crazy!
 But then they did it, too!

We can't seem to get away from snakes.  I grew up in the northwoods of Wisconsin.  Nothing deadly can live up there, except bears, lymes disease carring wood ticks, and millions of mosquitos.  But, when I was a kids I didn't even really notice them.  Up there, though, no poisonous snakes.  I could walk through a swamp and not even worry about it. 

Living in Missouri, I have had to get used to copperheads.  We had 13 on our property one year!  We saw one in northeast Kansas, in Marysville.  It got real close to Shae and Josie.  Shae was so mad at it, he chased it down the hill with a tree branch, trying to kill it!

There was one, huge rattlesnake at Superstition Mt. near Phoenix.  He was right on the side of the trail, all coiled up.  Nasty thing. 

Heading into South Dakota, Wyoming, and Montana brought a whole nother' level of beast.  Mountain Lions are down right evil.  I hate the way they watch us at the zoo.  Then the black bears, grizzlys, and moose, sure keep us on our toes.  I remember hiking in Glacier National Park.  We all sang, "This is the Day", clapped our hands, rang bells, carried bear spray, and stayed together as we walked to see an amazing water fall.

While at Yosemite, we giggled that the sign said to not even leave food in the open because bears will break into our cars! 

We did see a grizzly and two black bears at Glacier National Park.  I was thankful we were in our van, but just in awe of those magnificent creatures.  Now, if I had been on foot, it would have been another story!

A grizzly at Glacier National Park

A black bear at a bear encounter in Bozeman Montana.

 A black bear at Glacier National Park eating huckleberries.

Black bear in Glacier National Park

Yummy huckleberries

Grizzly at bear encounter

Since being in Missouri, we have killed 3 rattlesnakes and two or three copperheads!  I can't believe it!  I have decided there is nowhere safe, no place is free of its beasts, I just have to learn to live with them, or at least in the same forest as them.  Now, if they come after me or my kids, well, that is another story.  I have hunted my whole life and am not afraid to kill an animal of any sort.

I remember in Key West, there was a scorpion.  It was on my kid's toys.  I took their play hammer and beat it so badly that the only thing that was left was a claw!

I unloaded a whole clip on a copperhead, just to make sure it was dead.  I didn't want to get close to check, so I just kept shooting.

Now, I did check the law, and it is illegal to kill poisonous snakes in Missouri unless they are a threat to people.  Well, all of these were in our yard and where the kids play.  We had to kill them.

Speaking of scorpions, there was a very poisonous one sitting on our atv tire when we were in Arizona.  Cody kept it in a cage for a while until it climbed out.  It was a good thing he didn't have it in the camper! 

Lastly, Cody was riding his atv this afternoon and came across a huge tarantula.  I am thankful they aren't very harmful.  He wanted to catch it of course.

We try to read up on what are the dangers in a particular area or state.  Education is the one of the best deterrents to fear.  We try to learn all we can, and then do all we can to not be a victim.  Beyond that, it is out of our control. 

We pray and trust and have a lot of fun!

There is always something, everywhere.  We enjoy our trip and deal with what each day brings.

I am back!

No, we did not fall off of the face of the earth.  A few weeks ago, one of my sweet children set my laptop on my black office chair with the mouse in between the top and bottom of it.

I began to sit down on the chair, not suspecting the laptop to be on it, and crunch.  I heard a crack as I quickly stood up.

To my dismay, my laptop screen was cracked.  Thank goodness Shae had enough forethought to buy the black tie protection at Best Buy when we bought our computer. I brought it in to Best Buy, hoping they would give me a new one, but not a chance.  They did fix it, though, and pretty quickly!  I got it back Monday.  I have a lot to write about, but it is too late tonight.

A quick update. We are still in southern Missouri.  It is terribly hot here, but, we are sticking it out.  Some friends of ours borrowed us their portable air conditioner.  We have an air conditioner unit in the camper, but ours doesn't cool the camper well enough.  Now, having the second, portable one, it stays much more comfortable.  Although, it is not really cool during the day, at least we don't sit and sweat all day.

Gabriel, our six yr old, learned to ride his bike today!  He was awesome.  It didn't take long at all.  Shae took off the training wheels and he was gone!

Hanna turned 16 today!  She is so sweet and beautiful.  We got her a laptop, with her birthday money and Christmas money chipped in.  It is also for Christmas, too!  It is nice and she loves it already.

I better run.  It is hard to write a complete thought at 12:40 in the morning.
Sheri

A Bit About Us

I wrote this entry in response to a comment on a homeschool chat room I am part of.

I noticed in your response on this subject that you mentioned families that do travel full time and what an education their children get. We are a family of eight who have been on the road for almost two years. We lived in Highlandville and sold our home in 2008. It has been an amazing adventure for us. I have children ages 1, 3, 6, 9, 15, 17. Being on the road full time has its draw backs, but is well worth it for our family. I have always home schooled, so that did not change for us, now we get to study volcanos not just out of a book, but actually in them and near them.
We go to where the Battle of Little Big Horn was. My kids kayak with manatees and in rivers and lakes across the country. We hike and four wheel in deserts, forests, mountains, and grass lands. We take time for people and family we have never met. My children learn skills from the people we meet. We volunteer at camps and churches across the country. Our time is not consumed with things, but what really matters, people. We love God, We love eachother, and we love people.

If you want to learn more about us, go to my blog and website.

www.thelemonadedigest.com

www.thelemonadedigestblog.blogspot.com

Also, KY3 did a piece on us couple of weeks ago. You can check it out at http://www.ky3.com/home/video/Highlandville-MO-family-sells-off-everything-to-travel-volunteer-with-family-98100609.html
 
If you have any questions, let me know!
Sheri

Oh no, I am babbling....

Every now and then I need to stop.  Stress and energy levels get higher and crash, respectively.  Sometimes during our travels, we park it for a while.  We may move a lot for three to five months, then we just sit for a few months.
We just spent a wonderful seven weeks at my mother's.  Now we are at a camp doing volunteer work.   We have been here for a while and are truly enjoying it.  I am getting us on a daily schedule, some kind of routine.  Since I got pregnant in Sept 08, and then had sweet pea in May of 09, our life has been at quite a state of chaos.  Well, I mean managed chaos.  Now, it is time to get back to it.  So I got out the tag board and made a schedule and calendar.  I prayed and asked the Lord what His priorities are for our lives right now and what I need to set aside.
Of course, some things I want to do I am not and other things I did not feel like doing are getting done.  One such thing is counseling.  I am going to share a secret with you.  I know you won't tell anyone, right?  I was raped when I was in the military.  It was a pretty bad deal and one I have just kind of put out of my mind.  When we came back to Missouri this time, I decided I was going to apply for health benefits.  That way if we ever lost our insurance, I could get basic care at the VA hospitals.  When I went in for my first appointment, they asked me a ton of questions.  After giving my answers, they told me I needed to see a counselor.  I really wasn't sure if this was the time of my life I wanted to deal with it.  I am so busy, I can't imagine having to relive and think through all of these deep, dark topics.  I have all of the kids and hubby to love and care for.  I just really wasn't sure this was the right time to get into this.  But, I went one time.  She is a super lady.  I really liked her right away.  I could tell she was smart and really cared.  I know she is a christian, so that made me feel better also.
We began talking about the subject of my rape and she helped me to realize that it doesn't matter what I did or didn't do, no one deserves for that to happen to them.  It really helped me start to release some of the guilt and shame.  I have to keep telling myself that and encouraging myself that it wasn't my fault.  I don't want to get too deep into all of that.  My point is, I am going to stick it out for a while.  I am going to see her consistantly until I feel she has helped me enough.
I had another appointment with her today.  I told her about my trip up to Lake of the Ozarks.  The kids and I drove Cody to a camp this past weekend.  Shae stayed at the camper and worked.  We were gone five days, which is the longest I have been away from hubby in years!  After a long day of driving and errands in Springfield, we got to Lake of the Ozarks.  I was on a road that was two lanes, narrowing down to one lane.  I began to pass the man in front of me.  I was driving much faster than him and wanted to get in front before it changed to the one lane.  The lane began to merge into one and he would not hang back at all to let me in!  I know he saw me, he was just being a jerk.  I would have put on my breaks, but then the van would have slammed the kids around.  It really wasn't a big deal and I just kept going.  When I got to the stop light, that same man and woman drove up to me at the stop light.  He hung out his window and began screaming at me, swearing, and making all sort of gestures!  I tried not to look at him.  After he was done yelling, he squeeled ahead, ran the red light, and kept going!  The people in the car in front of me turned around and were watching him.  He was a psycho!  I began to go when the light turned green, but I did not take my eyes off of that car.  I made sure there was a huge distance between us.  I then pulled into a outdoor mall parking lot, hoping that awful man would drive far away.
The kids couldn't believe that guy!  I was stunned, too.  I tried to shake it off and get to camp.  It was later that night when I began to get afraid and then again later that week I was scared he would track me down.  The counselor showed me how some of my fears were misplaced and some were valid. 

Meanwhile, we worked our tales off at camp, washing the walls and scrubbing sludge off of the floor of the huge dining hall.  Even Gabriel and Josie helped.  Hanna worked really hard and Naomi also.  We actually got a lot done in between driving back and forth to Cody's camp, swimming, putt putt golf, eating peanut butter and honey sandwiches, and hanging in the motel room. 

I sure was ready to get home on Sunday.  It  had been a long weekend.  I don't think I will do a volunteer job with out Shae and Cody.  It was hard on the rest of us, but still good.

On the News!

Exciting day for us, WE WERE ON TV!  Check out this link to see the news story about us on KY3, Springfield, MO

http://www.ky3.com/news/local/Highlandville-MO-family-sells-off-everything-to-travel-volunteer-with-family-98100609.html

It was a lot of fun to film it; a great experience for the kids.

Also, check out my new article about the trip at Christian County Headliner News  http://ccheadliner.com/ 
I have been writing articles about our trip for about a year.


Let me know what you think!

Sheri

I Really am Blonde Even Though my Hair is Getting Darker....

I know that if I am driving the van, it is my responsibility to know how to take care of it and what to do
in certain emergencies. Shae does all of the oil and maintenance, so I just rely on him for most things
to do with our vehicles. I rarely even put in gas. When I am out driving around, I have to purposely
look at the gas level, because sometimes I just forget to; I have gotten so used to Shae just filling it!

I don’t believe in blame or excuses, so I take total responsibility for what I am about to tell you. We
knew our van had an overheating problem. This was going to be my first big mountain pass to drive
over. I was hauling the flatbed with all of our toys on it. I should have researched overheating.

BUT I DID NOT

I DID NOT RESEARCH ANYTHING

Well, I know you know where this is going...

We began going up Hwy 16, from Buffalo to Ten Sleep, over Powder River Pass, in Wyoming. I hadn’t been climbing the mountain long when I noticed my water heat gauge rising. It was just a little at first. I tried to slow down a little, but that didn’t help.

I called Shae on the walkie talkie and he said to slow down
and .....what?

Oh no! We lost signal.

I hurried and tried him on the cell phone....

Oh No! No signal!

I really didn’t know what to do. I had Hanna dial Shae’s number over and over, but no answer.

The gauge kept rising.

I knew I needed to pull over. I found a spot and got off the road. My father passed away in 04’, so I
couldn’t call him,

WHO ELSE?

I tried my father-in-law. He said to turn off the air.

BIG OOPS ON MY PART!

Never turn on the air if your vehicle is over heating. My mother-in-law shouted from the background...”I just read in a travel book to turn your heat on high if you are overheating!” So, I cranked the heat.
After a few minutes, the temperature began to go down. I got back on the road and drove ahead to
where Shae had finally found a spot to pull over. He couldn’t believe I had the air on. It was pretty
dumb of me. I should have known better.

I did learn a lot that day...

•First, be prepared for what situation I am in. Shae may not be there to help me.

•Second, do not turn on the air when we are driving up a mountain.

•Third, my mother-in-law knows random facts that she doesn’t need to know living in flat Florida.