Georgetown, TX

It was still raining when we pulled into Berry Springs RV Park in Georgetown, Texas. Last time we were there it was about 90*, so it was nice to see it in a new light. It was also a lot more crowed this time. We hooked up to one of the last available sites and get set up. Unfortunately, our stuff wasn't cooperating. The car wouldn't start and the refrigerator wouldn't go on. The car turned out to be vapor locked, but Mark figured it out. And the fridge had blown a fuse, which Mark also fixed.  

While Mark was fixing everything, Judah got on his jacket and rain boots, pulled out all of his toys, and played in the puddles. He even got his bike out to ride through the puddles. He was having a lot of fun.

In the mean time, Mark went inside and cheered on the Packers in their playoff game. He was pretty excited! When it started to get cold out, Judah came in too and we all snuggled up in the warm RV.

That night was rough. Judah had a horrible cough that wouldn't give him a break. It was just cough after cough. He was gagging, couldn't sleep, and felt miserable. And every time he would cough, Sawyer would wake up and need to be nursed back to sleep. It was a rough night. But we needed to make it through because the next day I was planning to drive to Round Rock to visit Round Rock Donuts and try one of their Texas sized pastries. I had to park down the block and wait in line for about 20 minutes, but it was totally worth it. These donuts were AMAZING! And huge! Supposedly they weight two pounds! (Look in the background of this picture--you can see poor Judah in the throes of one of his coughing fits.) 

Here is the Texas donut next to a regular sized one. They were go good!

After the donuts, it was pretty clear that Judah wasn't going to stop coughing. It was constant and horrible. So I found a nearby urgent care and brought him in. His cough was so intense that he had to wear a little mask. I brought some books to read to him, but he said he just wanted to lay down. It was so sad. They ended up just saying that he had an upper respiratory infection, but they did prescribe him some codeine cough medicine.

We went next door to the CVS and filled the prescription, which I immediately administered. It took two doses to get the cough to calm down. He just lay in bed and watched Scooby-Doo and drank water until he finally gave into the exhaustion a few hours later. By the next day, he was feeling a million times better.   

Mount Vernon, TX

It was chilly and overcast when we got to Still Meadow RV Park in Mount Vernon, TX. We pulled into our spot that overlooked a beautiful open lot and got set up. Thanks to our friend, Joel, we were finally going to be able to experience the luxury of cable tv in our RV. A lot of the parks have cable hook up, but we never had a cable to hook up to it. While we were home for Christmas, Joel hooked us up with enough cable for the whole park. Mark untangled it and got us set up. It was pretty awesome. I think Mark was the most excited of all. He was able to reunite with the speed channel after a tortuously long separation.

We were still fighting off the final of four illnesses that had bombarded us during our three weeks in Wisconsin. The kids were snot machines. But super cute snot machines.

So they relaxed and rested in the cozy RV.

Mark did the dishes.

And kicked it on the computer while the kids continued to relax. Although, I think these pictures make the whole day seem a lot more relaxing than it actually was. It was probably only a few seconds after I took this picture that Judah started whining and Sawyer threw that stack of blocks at me.

The next morning was rainy. I was so excited to hear the plink of the rain on our tinny roof.

We had a long day of driving ahead of us, so we packed up early and left for Georgetown.

The pickers meet up at Texarkana RV Music Park

After Arkansas, we crossed into Texas and revisited the Texarkana RV Music Park. We had been there once before and it was really quiet and beautiful. This time was no different, but it was a lot more crowded. It turns out that there was a bluegrass pickers meet up going on at the park. We couldn't wait until the evening to go check out the music! In the mean time, Mark and the boys worked on fixing the Suzuki's side mirrors.

Then Judah played outside for a bit, we ate dinner, and headed over to the pickin' room to listen to bluegrass. Judah wanted to bring his new washboard along. The musicians were so sweet. They let him get right in the circle. He sat there for over an hour enraptured by the music. It was adorable. They passed a microphone around and everyone took turns leading a song. Judah chose "All god's critters."  

The next morning, the kids enjoyed what would likely be our last day in the snow.

Before we left, we headed back to the pickin' room for a final jam. This time it was just Judah and three other men. They played a few songs, told a few stories, and Judah sang "Bling Blang." Then we went back to the RV, the kids played inside, we got ready to head to Mount Vernon.

Goodbye snow!

Arkansas--back in the Bounder

When we heard that, with the windchill, the weather in Arkansas would be -10* that night, we decided to wait on picking up the Bounder and, instead, stayed in a hotel in Branson, MO. It was completely dead there. We were literally the only people in the hotel. Even the office staff went home for the night. They told us to call maintenance if we needed anything at night. So we didn't see any shows, but we had a nice time snuggling up in the warm hotel room.

The next morning, after a stunning drive through the mountains, we made it back to Dale's farm. The Bounder looked great! She started up right away, so we all piled in and headed to an rv park in downtown Little Rock. Mark hooked up the water and the pipes looked and sounded good. Unfortunately, though, the water filter under the sink burst and we didn't notice until the cupboard under there was flooded with water. We sopped up what we could, and Mark used the hairdryer to dry up the rest.    

While we worked on getting things unpacked, Judah got bundled up and played outside.

We spent the day putting our clothes away, cleaning off the dust, and trying to find places in this small small space for all of the toys that the kids aquired over Christmas.

The next morning, we left early to head towards warmth.  Mark hooked up the car in the cold.

While I took pictures of the view.

And then helped him (photo courtesy of Judah).

Everyone was happy to be back home. 

With the car hooked up, we headed into Texas to spend the night in Texarkana.

There's no place like home for the holidays

After dropping the Bounder off at Dale's farm, we made the drive home to Wisconsin in two days. When we got to my dad's house we immediately threw on the first warm stuff we saw and ran outside to play in the snow.  

The next day, my mom came over and we all hung out and prepped the food for the upcoming feasts. Judah wanted to rock a mustache like Grandpa, so he used a branch from the Christmas tree and some tape. Then they were twins. 

Judah had a blast playing in the snow. He spent hours out there. Sawyer, on the other hand, hated it. I think he would have liked if not for the oppressive snow gear, so I let him check it out in his jammies. My mom was appalled.    

On our second night home, we went to Janell and Andy's house for a reunion. A bunch of other friends surprised us there as well. It was so nice to see everyone! And the Samson-Judah reunion was beyond adorable. 

The kids played and the adults caught up. I had missed these guys like crazy.

Samson turned on Scooby-Doo for everyone and the big kids were enraptured. Sawyer just wanted to steal Owen's binkey.

Then Judah and Samson had a snack of cereal and milk in matching bowls. The cuteness was a little overpowering.

The next day was Christmas eve. Judah spent the day in the snow.

And Sawyer spent the day setting off the novelty Christmas figurines.

Judah and dad relaxed in bed in the afternoon.

That night, as per Camin Christmas tradition, the boys got to open one present. They opened their gifts from Aunt Lynne and Uncle Denny. Judah loved his Lightning McQueen legos and Sawyer was really excited about his talking and singing dog.

Before bed, Lala and Grandpa helped Judah set out a plate for Santa and his reindeer. 

The nest morning, Judah was crazy excited to get downstairs and see if Santa had showed up, but he waited patiently at the top of the steps for Grandpa to make coffee and get things ready. 

We stopped off in the living room to open stockings.

Then went into the kitchen to see if Santa had eaten his snack--he did!

Finally, we made it into the sun room to open presents. The boys really raked it in. And everyone had a sweet time exchanging presents and hanging out. 

After presents and Breakfast at Grandpas, we all got dressed and headed to Grandma's. The cousins were super excited to see each other. 

And everyone got a lot of fun presents.

Shea's riding toy was the hit of the party.

After some fun, and family photos, we headed to my Grandparent's house for some more food and family. 

Later, the boys got some more cousin time when little Sophia came over for a visit.

Our trip home was also pretty productive.Judah got a lot of reading done. 

So did Sawyer.

We met the Gorzalskis at an inflatable playland.The kids jumped and played and rocked out. 

We visited Kara and James and Charlotte. I always love chatting with Kara. And the kids always love playing at their super fun house.

On New Year's Eve we went over to the Ampes. The babies celebrated by jumping on the aero bed.

And, of course, we popped some bottles.

Judah ended up partying a little too hard and passed out on the couch shortly after the count down. 

The next morning, the babies had a group bath to get cleaned up for the new years party at the Gilkay's house.

They have a ton of costumes and great toys. Judah and Samson were living it up.

Mark, like Judah, had partied a little too hard the night before, so he spent most of his time on this couch.  The rest of us had an amazing time eating, chatting, and playing Catch Phrase.  I love the Gilkay's house on new years day.

The next day we headed to the Great Wolf Lodge in Wisconsin Dells for the Camin family annual water park extravaganza. Sawyer was sick and Judah was terrified of the falling water, so Mark spend most of the time with them in the room while I got to hit up all the water slides with my sisters.

Here we are walking up...

And here we are sliding down...

My dad also got in on the action.

This year, our outing happened to fall on my birthday, so we went out for dinner at High Rock in downtown Wisconsin Dells. It was delicious!   

On Friday, my sweet friends threw me a birthday party at the Didier's house.  It was so great to get together with everyone one last time. And I even got birthday cake!

Katie cut everyone's hair before we left. Sawyer wasn't having it, so Wren tried to cheer him up.

Then  she helped Katie cut Judah's hair.

Then she shared her bath with Sawyer.

Naked baby attack!!!

These kids are all so sweet. I miss them already...

On Saturday we went to Colleen Mattingly's wedding. It was so fun to see the Mattinglys again. I love them all so much and we don't see each other as much as we should. The wedding was beautiful, and I had a blast dancing with Lisa and Colleen until they turned on the lights and told us to leave. I'm sad that I don't have pictures of any of that, but I didn't have my camera with me and I forget to get Megan's pictures before I left. 

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The wedding was in Lake Geneva, so we stayed the night in a hotel there. The next day, we went home and got all of our stuff together, and packed into the car. The Gorzalskis came to my dad's house for one last goodbye and then we all went to sleep. The next day we woke up at 5:30, transferred the kids into the car, kissed my dad goodbye, and began our trip back to the Bounder.