Random weeknight visit

We've been missing Kevin on the weekends because he's been out working on my car so much, so we decided to take advantage of the current situation and have some fun! I let Drake miss school (cringe) so we could hang out at the hotel and swim, order in pizza, catch up on random cable TV, and make Kevin's week a little more bearable. If we're paying for a room, we might as well use it!!! 

We love road trips!!! 

Made it to the hotel pool! 

And hot tub

The kids were so excited about this hide-a-bed. 

Kevin had to leave for work about 5:30, so we had breakfast at the hotel by ourselves. I must say that Holiday Inn express has the best free breakfast! Fresh made pancakes, yummy cinnamon rolls, tons of fruit, granola, boiled eggs, yogurt, hot chocolate, juices. The kids and I dig it. Especially Drake. 

We've stayed at this hotel in the past because Kevin worked on the Starbuck job with a guy whose wife is the manager and it's been great every time. There's a fridge, microwave, and dishwashing sink and dishes in the room. It makes it totally tolerable to hang out all day with two kiddos!! 

--I wrote that last sentence in the morning. By the end of the longest day ever, my tune has changed. We had a good morning, watching The Disney Channel, eating the remnants of breakfast, and a long trip to the pool while I worked (having kids old enough to play in the pool by themselves is glooooriius!!!!).  We walked to Pita Pit for lunch, and then that is when all hell broke loose. Back at the room, it was literally five hours of me reminding them to be quiet, and not to stomp and jump, and to keep hands (and all other body parts) to themselves. And not to destroy the other one's toys just for fun because you're bored. Kjersten. I was so worried about the people in the room under us, or on either side, and I spent the entire five hours stressed and grumpy, and working. In hindsight (where everything is obviously 20/20), we should have taken a time out and gone outside to run around for a little bit and blow off some steam, get a little tired and have some fresh air. 

I'll make myself do that next time, for all of our sake. Some days we have fun and some days just kinda suck. But, the point of going down there was to see Kevin and we got to eat dinner with him and him and the kids swam, while I enjoyed some peace and quiet packing the car. 

We're home now and not ready for the rest of the week, but that's how it goes when you randomly pick up and leave midweek!! 

Umatilla, OR

Kevin finally moved out of Starbuck, WA! His short call ended up being seven months and almost two steps! He is now officially a third step, and by the time it got to the board for approval, he's already half way through his third step hours. 

I keep thinking how quickly the last year has gone. And then two seconds later I am trying to convince myself that we can do this for another couple years. Some days it seems so easy, so routine. And then the next day it just seems impossible. My hope is when we look back on this time, we are completely sure without a doubt that it was worth the sacrifices that we've had to make. It's so hard to not have Kevin around all week and then to hardly see him on the weekend because he's taking care of things around here, broken cars mostly. A month in Hawaii is what I've got planned in my head. Sitting on a beach drinking cocktails while the kids make sand castles. I hope eight year olds like to make sand castles. 

In other news, my car is still broken but should be fixed (for real) this coming weekend (fingers crossed!!!). Not having my own car for the last three months of summer has turned me into a crazy maniac. I'm so thankful that my mother in law has let me drive her spare car, but it's just not the same. I live out of my car! Especially in the summer. I love to randomly drive down to see Kevin in the middle of the week to cheer him up. He works so hard for us and I know it kills him being away from his family all week. But it's just awkward when you have to drive someone else's car a couple hundred miles randomly in the middle of the week. 

Thusly, I feel like I missed out on half of summer and that's really bumming me out, especially now that Drake is in kindergarten. To top things off, the axle on the camp trailer broke and now it's stuck at home and Kevin is having to stay in a hotel, which is a lot more expensive than an RV park, but thankfully, again, he's getting a super good rate. 

After Starbuck, Kevin worked in Umatilla on a substation for a couple weeks, which was supposed to be 4-10s but he only got one Friday off. He's since moved onto a new substation in Boardman, OR and he has an RV spot lined up there as soon as the camp trailer axel is fixed. 

What's new around home? 

Sissy started preschool. 

Drake did mutton bustin at the fair and had to check out the tractors!! 

The kids still love touring restaurant bathrooms. 

Grandma made Kj a super cute dress!! 

I've got Germany on my brain (I'm going there in less than three weeks!!!) Road trippin through Germany, Austria, and Switzerland!! 

The kids are so obsessed with swinging. 

Tonight I'm contemplating taking Drake out of school Wednesday to go stay at the hotel for a day so we can see Kevin and swim in the indoor pool!! Counting down the hours until Kevin can pick where he's working!! And counting our blessings for the people who have pitched in to help us get through these last few months of chaos!! Xoxo 

Oh, September

Fall is in the air! I've had to cover my garden due to potential frost, Drake started kindergarten (😁), and I'm making and consuming all things pumpkin.  My car gets more broke every time we turn around, and we're begrudgingly selling our camper to buy a new engine. Kevin's still down in Starbuck but could be moving any day now. And so we wait, fingers crossed that the timing works out that a move doesn't mean southern Oregon and the return of nonexistent weekends and hours and hours on the road to see each other. 

Some pictures from Kevin, they've been spacing and finishing up this job. 

Here's what's been happening at home:

Drake started kindergarten at the same school I went to, I think maybe even the same classroom!! 

Kjersten has been enjoying some on e on one time with mommy and papa while Drake is at school. 

Drake has insisted on riding the bus to school. This has proven harder for me to swallow than his new morning routine of showering, his 6:15 getup time and 8:00 bedtime (I hate routines like that), and his being gone at school all day. Every time I see the bus pull down the road I get a huge lump in my throat and all I can wrap my brain around is that bus driving away with my little baby in it. He's the person that made me a mommy. He has my heart wrapped around his finger. His skin is my skin. I worked from home the last five years so I could be there for his firsts. To make sure I knew what he ate every meal. And when he used the bathroom. And what the TV shows he was watching taught him. My little bubble I've had him in is floating away in the wind and is about to get popped. I am, however, so excited about this community. My village. At school he has two older cousins that he sees daily. His best friend is a grade ahead of him at the same school. I know the secretary and the PE teacher and lots of others. So while I'm so sad, and a bit relieved, that my time at home with my first born has come to an end, I feel so comfortable and confident in the place that he is at and I wouldn't change it for the world. 

Sis is enjoying some of her own time. 

It feels like fall, golden sunsets 

On Labor Day weekend we were supposed to go to Yellowstone and camp for one last summer hoorah, but the weekend before my engine seized up and that ruined those car camping plans. Kevin ended up tearing he engine out and working in the shop Saturday and Sunday, but we took Monday off from car work and went to Schweitzer for their Fall Fest. And boy did it feel like fall. 

Bundled up for the chair ride. 

Chair lift ride up

Hiking around 

We met my brother and his family up there. 

Pouring on us. 

Waiting out the rain. 

Ride down....bbrrrrr. 

Meltz grilled cheese sandwiches...yum!! 

Twelve 12s?

Summer is in full swing! The kids have had a session of swim lessons. All of our planned camping trips have come and gone. Kindergarten is literally right around the corner (EEEK!!!). And Kevin is still down in Starbuck. It's so funny that the "short call" is the longest job he's been on. 

Last week we found out that he had to work Saturday and Sunday, 12 hour shifts, so I needed to head down to help out with laundry and some homemaking in the trailer. That thing hasn't been deep cleaned in the year it's been on the road!!! 

I signed up for a trail run at 49 a few weeks ago on a whim. I've been wanting to do it since it started a few years ago and it hasn't worked out so I just signed up and decided to make it work. That made the weekend shorter, but I had fun and finished one minute over the time I was shooting for, which is good for not running. I hardly walked and it was pretty hilly. 

A quick shower and the kids and I hit the road. We got down to Starbuck around 2 Saturday afternoon and we knew Kevin wouldn't be off until 6 or so. Which turned into 7. The kids were excited to be at the trailer though, even if Kevin was still working. Kevin finally got home and we had dinner and watched TV and all snuggled together.  

Praying Mantis we found at the trailer 

Waiting for daddy to get home 

Yay!! Snuggles. 

Sunday was "laundry day." I couldn't find a laundromat closer than Walla Walla or Lewiston online and because I can't fly by the seat of my pants, we had to go to Lewiston. I was pretty sure there's one in Pomeroy, but not certain. So the kids and I went to Lewiston and did laundry in a totally packed laundromat and then wasted the rest of the day. It was 106. Too hot to swim we decided. Kevin had another later than expected evening working and we brought home pizza from Tomato Bros for dinner. 

Favorite playtime in the trailer 

It was 106. We needed ice cream. 

Dishes with a different view 

I had to work from the trailer on Monday, but got up at 5:30 to start so I could bring the kids swimming in the afternoon. Unfortunately, the weather was crazy and windy and when we got down to the Touchet River to swim it was 90 and super windy and raining. We checked out the river quickly then left. 

Disclaimer: before I cleaned the floors. 

Touchet River:

We decorated the trailer for Kevin

Sunset from the Tuccanon River RV park 

And, then we got up and headed home at 4:45 Tuesday so I could work in the office for a couple days. 

It was a busy trip and I'm feeling exhausted from all the running around, but we love seeing daddy and spending time in the camp trailer. The kids have some special toys that we leave down there and it makes it so fun to play with them. 

I keep trying to wrap my brain around this feeling of not knowing where Kevin will be next but not having crazy anxiety about it. I think I might be getting used to this line life thing. I just wish we were at a point that the kids and I could be with him more than a few days here and there. This job is winding down and our fingers and toes are crossed that Kevin will go to the next Sturgeon job in northern Idaho.