You go a'sailing, we'll go a'playing

So The Hubby sails. Well, at least he did before he sold his boat when we hit the road. For the last couple of years he has gone down with other friends of ours from the Southern Maryland Sailing Association to the Hospice Regatta at Western Carolina Sail Club. This year was no exception and he took The Boy. The Boy sails as well but this year they would not be sailing unless someone needed crew, then The Hubby might have. The day before they were due to leave The Hubby went over to North Carolina to pick up a Class C RV our friends had bought from another sailing family. The day they were due to leave he drove it and The Boy to MD to go pick up our friends and their beautiful daughter that he was going with. They drove through the night and stopped by Waffle House for breakfast. The Boy talks about it ALL the time! Every time we go out to breakfast he asks if we are going there. He points out every one he sees....yeah I think he liked it.
Since no one needed any crew The Hubby and The Boy spent a lot of their time playing board games they had brought with. Western Carolina Sail Club has a nice space inside and out. It is on its own little peninsula so there is lots of shore line to walk on. They took walks, The Boy played at the playground they have there with some other kids who had come, and just hung out with friends. At night after the races were done there was food, friends, and sailer's favorite, booze. LOL They have a beer truck that comes to this event and of course mixed drinks. There was also music at night as well. The Hubby always has a good time and next year the whole family plans on going.
Of course I sent them with a bunch of oily goodness. I made a back cream, bug spray, and a joint cream for him. All are musts when sailing. I also sent him with a bunch of other oils for anything anyone might need. Turns out that they came in handy as one of our friends had hurt her ankle. Plus The Boy had his favorite Purification for bug bites. For more information you can check out this blog post Young Living

While they were gone the rest of us did some exploring. After looking for a park for over an hour (we ever checked schools and they were just no fun) we FINALLY found one and it was AMAZING. We had a blast and knew that when The Boy came back we were going to have to come back. We went mid-afternoon and ended up staying till it was getting dark.
The next day the RV dealership we bought our RV from, McGeorge RV was having a Grand Opening of their remodel. They were going to have free food, drinks, a bounce house, a balloon guy, face painter, and a couple Redskin Cheerleader. Also they were going to have all the RV's open so you could take a look without having a sales person with you. Since the dealership was about 5 mins from our campground we decided to check it out. We had a really great time.
The face painter was AMAZING!! If you are in the VA area and need a face painter CALL HER! I attacher a pic of her card and here is the website to her. Doborah N face Painter The paint she uses was NOT cheap either. It was high quality, didn't come off when they were hot, and didn't stain their faces. I will now compare all future face painting to her and I promise no one will come close to her!
The kids of course spent a lot of time in the bounce house. It was not busy so they were able to stay in there as long as they wanted too. Princess had been in a few bounce houses before but this was the first time she really enjoyed herself! She wanted no part of getting out. We also visited the balloon artist a few times. We got swords, a princess hat, and the picture you see below. It was supposed to be a motorcycle. They guy tried, really he did. We ended up saying it was a penguin riding a bike. LOL We also took a look at a lot of the Toy Haulers they had there and I fell in LOVE with one that has a HUGE master. The 2015 Crossroads Elevations Las Vegas Oh how I love thee...........

Who wants to go apple picking?

The homeschool group we had been meeting with in Richmond was going apple picking at Carter Mountain Orchard. I thought this was a WONDERFUL idea and just knew we would have SO much fun. (Yeah, I didn't think it through all the way) I decided I would ask my step-mom to join us and she said yes. The kids were super excited grandma was going to come with and could not wait. The group was going to have a picnic lunch before we went to pick apples so we decided we would find somewhere to grab some food on the way there. Well, we didn't pass anything. We decided we would just pick apples and grab lunch after. We looked around for our friends but they were all running late. We spent some time looking around at the scenery. It was absolutely BEAUTIFUL there. We all loved the view we had from being on the side of a mountain.

The boys were excited to go pick apples so we went ahead and got started. My back had been hurting me for the last week or so so I decided to put Princess in her stroller instead of a baby carrier. BIG MISTAKE! I knew it we were on a mountain, however I failed to make the connection that the orchard would be ON THE SIDE OF A MOUNTAIN! Pushing a stroller on the side of a mountain DOES NOT WORK! Going down is hard because you have to make sure baby does not go down without you, going up is torture just as hard. Oh, did I mention that all the isles you walk down to find the apples were sloped downhill and uneven? Yeah, that made it so much more fun! I was very grateful my step-mom had come. She stayed at the top of the mountain since her knees would not allow her to climb up and down the mountain. I was jealous bummer she could not join us. It came in handy though as the boys would go wait with her when they were tired of acting like mountain goats. It turns out we were there at the end of the season so we had to hike WAY down the isles to find any apples. The boys only ended up getting a few apples each and then they were done. I was ready to go to and I made my way back up pushing Princess.

I had not had an asthma attack in months and let me tell you, I think they had all been saving themselves for this one day! I may have used my steroid inhaler one to many times. By the time we went to pay I was shaking just a bit. We went ahead and bought our apples, some doughnuts, and other food items they had and started to the car. we got to the car and MY KEY WERE MISSING! Yeah my keys were poof gone, somewhere on the side of a mountain! I figured they must have fallen out at one point when I had Princess sideways at weird angles in the stroller. The Boy and I went to ask at the registers to see if anyone had turned them in. When we got up there I found our friends who were finally there ready to go get apples. I asked them to keep an eye out for my keys and I went to find someone to help. One of the girls was about to go find a worker to help us comb the mountain when another cashier asked what she was looking for and the girl said my keys. The cashier had them! I was so excited I hugged the girl and told her she was my new best friend and I meant it! We were over 2 hrs from home so getting The Hubby to bring the other key would have NOT been fun. When we all got in the car we decided that we would consider going apple picking again early in the season when the close trees still have apples, and hopefully find somewhere NOT on the side of the mountain. Overall the general consensus was that we were glad we went even with everything that happened. It was not what we were all expecting but it worked out nicely in the end. We ended up grabbing some lunch at Mc Donalds and I was VERY glad that I had brought my oils with me. I had just gotten my ER order in and so I threw Cat Boy's oils in my bag and also added in my Deep Replif. I had been using it to help with my back pain. When we got back in the car I put some on my back and my neck. I always get a sore nexk when I drive. I also handed it over for my step-mom to use on her knees which were bothering her from the walking she did do. We both enjoyed the soothing relief it gave us. I just love my Young Living oils! Click here for more info

When we pulled in back home we found this little guy trying to steal The Hubby's bike! You just can't trust anyone these days!

Monkey develops a nut allergy

So Monkey had broken out in hives a few times here and there. One when we first moved into the rv, and another time when we were at my dad's house swimming. I didn't think much of it and just figured it was random rashes. Well one day while watching a movie The Hubby was eating a bunch of peanuts in the shell. Monkey asked for some and by his 3rd peanut he told me he was itchy and his chest was full of hives. I then realized that the day we were at my dad's he had had a snack with peanut butter as well. He had had peanut butter other times between moving into the RV and now and not reacted but I knew that peanuts were also present at at least 2 of the time. I also know from a friend whose son has a peanut allergy and just general knowledge that you do NOT mess with peanut allergies. So I called about 15 allergists the next day till I found one that could get us in the soonest. He got skin tested for peanuts, and then tree nuts. He reacted to peanuts, hazelnuts, and almonds so she ordered a blood test for them as well. We were due to have a food challenge for peanuts about 8 weeks after the testing, but we had to cancel since we were not able to get him back to VA due to me breaking my foot. (More on that later). Since the tests we have been keeping him away from all peanuts, tree nuts, and anything that may be made in a facility that processes those items. We have to check EVERYTHING! He got a rash just from some vitamins that were processed in a facility that has tree nuts. VITAMINS! Thankfully Monkey has been WONDERFUL about it all. He is great about making sure he avoids bad food, has his epi-pen on him, he tells EVERYONE about his allergy, and is great when we tell him he can not have something. He even told me one day a good thing about having a nut allergy means he tries more new foods which he likes! I love his outlook! Picture one is his rash after the shelled peanuts, picture 2 is his peanut prick test, picture 3 is his tree nut test. .

Thai Gourmet Restaurant Ashland, VA

The Hubby had a hankering for Thai. We used to have a really good place back in MD so we were worried that a new place would not hit the spot like he wanted. I asked around at the front desk for some referrals and got a few ideas and then we hit up google for more reviews. We settled on a place close to the camp ground. Thai Gourmet Restaurant. They had a menu on-line which was important so we could all look it over before I went up and picked it up. We were hoping for a place that delivered but had no luck.
The Hubby ordered Pad Thai with chicken, I got Stir Fried Basil Leaves with Duck, Monkey and Cat Boy had Pad Thai Chicken as well, and The Boy had Thai Gourmet Fried Rice. I had asked for some Red Pepper Sauce on the side for The Hubby. I called and put in the order. The wait was not that long to go pick it up, around 20 mins. When I arrived our food was ready. I asked for Shrimp Chips which our Thai place in MD had. They are the round white cracker type things. They did not have any. This made Cat Boy VERY sad as he loves these. We all do, but he was especially bummed. He likes to have the same thing at each restaurant of that type (Autism fun), so he was expecting them when he found out we were having Thai. When we got home I realized they had not included the Red Pepper Sauce which bummed The Hubby out since he needed a bit more kick in the Pad Thai.
Overall this place was ok. The food was done fast and it was hot when I got it home. The Hubby said the Pad Thai was okay. I was not happy with my Stir Fried Basil Leaves with Duck. It was not what I was expecting. The taste was ok and the duck was very chewy. Monkey and Cat Boy enjoyed their Pad Thai. The Boy didn't care for his rice. We would not order from there again. There were other option in the area so we would keep looking for a place we enjoyed better.

Falling Down and Having Fun

So Cat Boy was outside playing one day and apparently forgot how to walk. Walking is tricky, I have issues with it often. (We will cover that in another post). Anyway, he fell and scraped his legs pretty good. By the time I got outside to him, about 15 seconds after the scream, his one leg was already changing colors. He was upset but not overly so, which was pretty good considering his past history. He has Anxiety so often times he thinks the sky is falling. He fell at King's Dominion once, scraping his knee and as we waited for a person from First Aid he had a full blown attack saying he was drying, and his heart hurt, ect. We got through it pretty well, but I am pretty sure the teen employee that was waiting with us was a bit freaked out. LOL Anyway, he fell and I got him inside, cleaned him up, and put some Young Living Lavender on his legs. Within minutes the color had returned to normal. I applied it a few more times that day and by bed time it looked SO much better. I LOVE this stuff. The kids call it my magic oils, and I really do agree. If you would like some more info on oils or want to get a kit for yourself you can find info on this blog post. Young Living
The kids, (and me too) had been counting down the days until King's Dominion started all their Halloween stuff. We had made sure to go a few times before it officially started so we could see stuff as they put it up. This really helped Cat Boy not have anxiety over the unknown. During the day till 5pm it is all kid friendly. They have some super fun stuff in the kids area. They had a petting zoo, foam bubble pit, pumpkin decorating, trick-or-treat stations, a maze, and more. Then after 5 they make it all spooky. They have workers dressed up, haunted houses, fog machines, ect. The boys wanted to go at night so I went ahead and took them on opening night while The Hubby stayed home with Princess. I was pretty sure we would not even make it into the front gate before Cat Boy wanted to go home. However he did better then I thought. His progress really amazed me sometimes! They made a special map for the Halloween Haunt that showed where all the spooky stuff was which was super helpful. We studied the map, went the way that took us through the kids area so there was nothing spooky, and made it to a stage to watch a really cool show where people did tricks on a trampoline, walked up walls, ect. After the show we tried to go see some other stuff but there was fog everywhere and Cat Boy was NOT about to go walk through fog. After all fog means spooky, and people jumping out at you and that was NOT on his list of fun (mine either if we are being perfectly honest). So we decided to head back the way we came and grab a funnel cake on the way out. We found a store ont he way that had everything lit up with blacklights and light balls so we played there for a bit. While eating the funnel cake we watched a man dressed up as a bush jump out and scare people. It was SO much fun. The people that screamed the loudest were the biggest MEN! The Boy also decided that was his new dream job....he was going to grow up and be, A BUSH!

The next day the whole family went during the day. We did all the activities they had to do and had a blast. The favorite was by far the pit full of bubbles. The bobbles were really cool. They didn't make a big soapy mess when you played with them. The kids decided that we needed one of these little bubble pit contraptions. Hey, it would make bath time a TON more fun! It was so much fun we ended up going a few more times before it ended. We even ran into some friends one day from the RV park. The boys really loved that and they had fun riding some rides with them while I enjoyed some adult conversation.

Young Living

I have been using Young Living since May 2014. I am in LOVE! We use it everyday. We use them on Cat Boy for behavior issues, and to help his mood. We use them for cleaning. This was VERY important to me that we use as few chemicals as possible when we were going to be in such a small space. We use them for skin care, cuts, back issues, stinky laundry, immune boosting, boo boo creams, and so much more. I chose Young Living because of many reasons. They have been in buisness for over 20 years. They are PURE oils. Not fillers, no adatives, NOTHING but PURE oil (There are a few that have a carrier oil for easier application). They are the only company that distills all their own oils which means we know EXACTLY what is in them and how they are distilled. Most oils only come friend first distillation (again a few exceptions where the quality is not compromised otherwise but this is VERY few oils). Plus they have an AMAZING Seed to Seal guarantee.

When I started out I ordered a few oils from a friend. Less then a week later I was ordering a kit. This is by far the BEST deal. It gives you 11 oils, a diffuser, a roller ball, and some samples all for less then the price of 10 of the oils! PLUS you get a 24% discount on all future orders for the rest of the year.

No, buying a kit does NOT mean you need to sell. It just gives you the wholesale discount. Think of it like a wholesale club. There are 2 kits I recommend if you want to take this oily journey. The Premium Starter Kit ($150) or the Premium Starter Kit with Bamboo Diffuser ($160). The only difference in these 2 kits is which diffuser comes with it.

If you would like to join me on this oily journey you can sign up at https://www.youngliving.com/vo/#/signup/start?site=US&sponsorid=1828562&enrollerid=1828562 That takes you to my direct sign up link. If you can please make sure my Member Number (1828562) is in both boxes that will ensure you are on my team and I can help you with all your questions. That also makes you part of the Lemon Droppers which is how I get my AMAZING graphics and so much mind blowing help! Here is a little step by step instruction graphic as well. Here is a graphic to explain everything or you can follow the directions below:

Step 1: go to https://www.youngliving.com/vo/#/signup/start?site=US&sponsorid=1828562&enrollerid=1828562
Step 2: Be sure to choose “Member” instead of “Retail Customer.” Becoming a member is the only way to get access to the kit and the 24% discount you get afterwards. It’s really important!
Step 3: Make sure my member numbers are in the blanks (1828562)
Step 4: Select your country and language and click next.
Step 5: Enter your personal information and create a username, password, and a 4 digit PIN number. The password needs at least one uppercase letter, one lowercase letter, and one number. Be sure to write all three of these pieces of info down! You'll need them if you ever want to log in to place an order or contact customer service in the future.
Step 6: Select your "tax information" choice. This information will only be used if you decide that the business end of Young Living is something you want to do. If you never sign anyone up, this info will never be used. Lemon Droppers do not pressure people into the business end…EVER. We want you to use and love your oils and we love you as a member whether you work the business end or not.
Step 7: Choose your starter kit. You can click "View all Starter Kits" to see all the choices. Choose the Aroma Premium (this is the one with the Aroma/Bamboo diffuser) or the Premium (this one comes with the Home diffuser). These two come with a diffuser, 11 oils (5ml bottles), and samples and booklets. It will be $150 for the Premium or $160 for the Aroma Premium. You can choose whichever kit you wish, but some of the other kits do not include the Everyday Oils kit or a diffuser so one of these two is what I always recommend.
Step 8: Feel free to click "No Thanks" on the Essential Rewards portion. You are not obligated to sign up for Essential Rewards (ER), but it does have some great benefits like cheaper shipping and the opportunity to earn free products. To be honest, I always tell my new members to get the kit and try the oils out, and then talk to me before your NEXT purchase. We then we will see if ER is right for you and your family.
Step 9: Select your shipping method and enter your billing info and click "Next". Please note: The warehouse is very busy these days and it could take a couple of weeks to get your kit. This isn't always the case, but I just wanted to give you an idea of what to expect just in case!
Step 10: On the next page, confirm your purchase and add any oils if you desire and check out. You are DONE! WOOHOO! Yay! You are a member! I remember how excited I was when I ordered my starter kit. Your membership will stay active as long as you spend at least $50 in a calender year. You DO not have to continue to “renew” your membership…that kit was a one time thing and you will remain a member as long as you spend that $50 a year. Which trust me…will never be a problem.

Fun with clay

Monkey was learning about Cuneiform writing. So we whipped up some salt clay and him and Cat Boy sat down and more some tablets. They had a blast. Cat Boy learned just how hard it was for them to write since if you pushed to hard it made a hole in the bottom, and that if you messed up there was no eraser or backspace button. He used to get SUPER upset when he would mess up, but he took it in stride smoothing it back out and trying again and again. We baked it in the oven to harden it when we were done but I forgot to take a picture of that.

The Boy meanwhile make a clay diorama of his favorite habitat. That was of course the ocean. We went ahead and bought clay for this one so it would be easier to work with and he could re-wet it between sessions. He did an AMAZING job on it. The hardest part was keeping it away from Princess. I also forgot to take a picture of the finished project with this one too. Boo on me.

Visit time

As I mentioned earlier, we left quite a few AMAZING friends back in Maryland. Since we were only 2 hrs away from where we used to live we invited some friends to come visit. The trip had been delayed a few time but they FINALLY made it down before it was time for us to leave. The kids were BOUNCING off the walls waiting for their friends to get here. If I heard, "How much LOOOOOONNNNNNGGGGGEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR?" One more time my head was going to explode. LOL Though I secretly was thinking the same thing because I wanted some time with their mommy who is my MD BFF! They eventually got here and the kids LOST it. LOL The chaos that ensued would have been loud in a large house but in our little 35sf rv....well you get the picture. It was totally worth the hearing loss. We went ahead and made Desiree Low Country Boil since she had never had it before (or OLD BAY! GASP!). That night of course we had to make S'mores. I mean you can NOT have a sleep over at a campground WIHTOUT S'Mores. I am pretty sure there is a law against it. There were also some trips to the park, including one in the rain. We were so glad that they were able to visit and we hope to be able to do it again when we are close enough.