RV Camping with Leo

Yesterday (which according to Leo is any time in the past and in this case is actually July 28th since I wrote this last week) we loaded up the RV and drove to daycare to pick up Leo. He was VERY excited to be going on his first RV camping trip with Peepaw and Meemaw. We drove to Baker Park, only 20 minutes away.

We pulled into our parking spot and then realized that the site didn’t have running water. Huh. So we drove to the water fill up. Unfortunately we hardly ever fill up the water tanks, so once again we couldn’t remember how to do it. Finally someone else pulled up to fill their tanks and helpfully pointed out that Lee had the hose hooked up to the wrong outlet. Oops! 

Drove back to our campsite and checked the water. Nothing was coming up of the faucets! Why? After several minutes of frustration the water started coming out. Whew! Hopefully we will be able to remember how to do this the next time we need the water tanks!

It was very hot, so Leo and Lee put on their bathing suits and headed for the beach. I said I would catch up with them in a minute. I headed for the main beach, about a 10 minute walk away. When I got there they weren’t there. Uh-oh. Worried that I had somehow missed them and they had headed back to the campsite I hurried back. I had locked up; I sure didn’t want them sitting there waiting for me, locked out of the camper!

But when I got back they were nowhere to be seen. It was 6 pm, so I fixed the dog's dinner and then made the salad for ours. Still no boys! I was just getting ready to jump in the truck and go look for them when they came back. Turns out there was another beach just across from our campsite and that’s where they went. 

We had lasagna and salad for dinner. Leo didn’t eat much for dinner, but he often does not. Somehow he was hungry for a little ice cream however!

Pretty soon it was time for bed. We made the table into Leo’s bed. He was very very very excited, too excited to settle down and read some books with Peepaw. Finally I had to use my scary mommy voice a little and then he laid down and went to sleep.

We all were soon in bed. Everyone was tired. I read a little but turned off my light before long.

Lee set the coffee up the night before so I was able to get a cup when I woke up at 5:30. Everyone was up by 6, which is earlier than Leo usually gets up but no matter. Waffles for breakfast!

After breakfast we rode bikes to the playground. Leo rode his Strider. He’s really proficient on it now. By next year he’ll be ready for the larger Strider that has pedals and Kirby can have the little one.

It was a nice playground, all kinds of rope things to climb and hills made out of artificial turf to jump off. Slides, tunnels, a zip line, plenty of activities. Then we rode over to see the big beach. Leo wanted to go right in but we needed to get our bathing suits first. We left his Strider there, rode back with Leo on the Mac Ride. A Mac Ride is this very cool way to transport a kid on your bike. They have a seat right in front of your seat, plus their own handlebars and a place to put your feet. It all just screws securely on to any bike. By the time they're two any kid can ride on a Mac Ride. Lee jumped in the truck and went back to get the Strider. While we were changing into our bathing suits Leo suddenly got a funny look on his face. “What’s wrong?” I asked. “Is this our home now?” His lower lip quivered. “I want my mommy,” he replied. So I gave him a hug and talked a little about what we were going to do for the rest of the day, and how he would see his mommy tomorrow after nap. The moment passed, but It left a little tug at my heart. 

We rode back to the beach with Leo on the Mac Ride. We played in the water, built sand castles, looked at the grasses growing along the shore. Then back to the RV. We sat outside under the awning and enjoyed relaxing until it was time to grill hotdogs for lunch.

At naptime we drew the curtain around our bed and put Leo in there with Elmo, the Westie blanket, and the ocean sounds white noise. I made the dogs have naptime too and put them underneath the table so they wouldn’t try to get in bed with Leo, or bark at any passing noise. It’s working perfectly (so far). Leo is a good napper, so hopefully he’ll sleep for 2 hrs or so.

During nap I went for a walk on the path around the campground. There were some great rain gardens on the path, full of native flowers. I wish our rain garden looked like that, but it’s far from it. It doesn’t drain well in the spring and kills most things I’ve tried to grow there, unless I put them around the edges. The edge is starting to look great, but now I've got to slowly build it up over time and maybe eventually it will drain properly. Or not.

After nap we went for another bike ride. We played on the beach a little. Sarah called and talked to Leo, but he didn’t understand that there wasn’t any video because Sarah was driving. He kept holding things up to the phone to show her, but of course she couldn’t see them.

We went back to the RV and sat outside. Then Lee started a fire. Leo helped and was pretty beside himself when he was allowed to throw a piece of wood on the fire. We watched the fire for awhile (or danced around it, depending) and then went inside to eat dinner and fall asleep.

In the morning Lee made banana pancakes and then did one more bike ride and went to the playground one more time. By the time we packed up the RV, drove home, unpacked the RV and ate lunch everyone was tired. Leo is taking a nap and I wouldn’t mind one too. Either that or a cup of coffee.