One of those rainy days...

You know it is one of those rainy days....

On those rainy days, sometimes camping out and
watching a movie is the best thing you can do

The kids are rambunctious and full of energy. Being trapped in the camper, our home, 'Arrakus' to us, tests the limits of controlled chaos. I fully expected Jen's hair to be completely white, and Dos bouncing off the walls from the sheer confinement.

I was greeted with none of that. Jen and Jr. were on the couch reading a book together. Tayla ("T-Rex") was playing with her naked barbies. Don't ask me why they are naked. Rest assured that if you buy this child a Barbie, it will inevitably end up naked. I think, clothes on these figures are just extra wrapping to her. Either way, she was having a great time playing with them.

Jen had stewed chicken on the stove cooking away while I sat and unwind. Uno and Dos were out making new friends and riding their bikes. The weather had been clear for just a short hour and they took full advantage of getting on the bikes and 'vamoosing' away.

Funny thing these kids. They were so worried about not having friends, or being able to make new friends. But not a week goes by and they have made numerous new friends and pen-pals. Is it still called pen-pals when they just email each other? I digress.

I remember the fears of family members that our kids were grow up awkward. They were afraid are children would turn into the 'social pariah' of weirdness. Rest assured, my kids are socially healthy, have tons of interests, and can make friends at a drop of the hat. I challenge the notion to say my kids are better at making friends that 'normal' kids. You see, my kids don't have a social ladder to climb. My kids don't have to have approval from others in order to fit in a specific pecking order. My kids are kids, and can be just that. My kids are not pressured to fit into a specified peer group. My kids are 'free range....'

Free range? Doesn't that sound ultra hip and veggie? Oh dear, does that mean I am a hippy? Well, so far I don't dress like one, I still like to hunt, shoot guns, and guns shows are second or third most important events to attend other than church and evening supper. But yes, I am a little free range I guess. I am happy my kids are home schooled, and I am happy my kids are free to explore the world instead of confined to a specific geographic location. Just this last month, you would be amazed if you could see what I see in my kids eyes. It is like a world is unlocked to them. They have explored, done things, and seen many new things that they would never had a chance to see without this opportunity to be with me on the road.

Minion Bday Hooray!

Sunday...

Happy Birthday Minions!

My first day off in two weeks. It's minion celebration day... er Dos and Tres's birthday! So up early and off to IHOP for breakfast. Then rushed over to St. Joseph/Benton Harbor Michigan for church at Calvary Chapel Sunset Coast. We finished the day with a movie of 'Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days' and dinner at the Texas Corral.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days

Our day was busy and fulfilling. I forgot to bring my iPad to church and Jen kept nudging me and I wondered why. I was taking notes on my iPhone with the Mantis Bible App (really cool Bible program). I think she thought I was texting or sending emails. Who knows. Service was great. It was fulfilling and restful. That is what I like about services there. You leave fulfilled and rested. I have never left there feeling drained, discouraged, or tired. Strange, but I think that is exactly what it SHOULD feel like.

The Lorax Movie at home 'Arrakis'

Everybody wished Dos and Tres a warm and happy Birthday. We supplied them with love and gifts and fun for the entire family. I work hard at what I do so that moments like these are the most important. It isn't the things, it is the experiences!

A cat in the 'cat hat'

Jen took them to the Chesterton European Market. If you haven't had a chance to check that out, I highly recommend it. I think that it was crazy hat day at the market this weekend. Jen came home with some crazy and funny knitted hats. Even I got one. While funny, somewhat cute, I don't know if you will catch me wearing it. However for Jen and the kids, they were fabulous!

The Waze To Go

Waze is a life saver!

How can I count the Waze?

How would you like instant notification of police in the area (if you like to drive fast)? You get an audible letting you know that you should be looking out for them.

Need to know if there are hazards on the road? Waze will alert you of cars, or other items on the road that you need to watch for.

Is the weather bad? How about traffic (how fast, how heavy, standstill)? Waze will let you know of the hazardous conditions, speed of traffic if slowed down, and other conditions that make your daily commute more informed.

Would you like a turn by turn navigation for free? Waze provides that as well. I am very impressed with this app. You earn points, can build a social network, , edit maps, and make the experience shared by all much better!

We used it to help find dinner yesterday. I wanted chicken wings. Something called out to my soul... 'Buffalo Wild Wings, Buffalo Wild Wings.' I said to my soul, 'It's not on my diet.' My soul could not be abated. I found myself traveling, with family in tow, and the Waze app running on my phone, delivering me to the promised land of wings.

What a great place, Sports, kid friendly food, chicken wings, buzz time trivia. I asked the manager if we could take up residence. He shook his head no, he said something like 'policy' and 'strange request' and 'you are freaking me out.' So we parted ways, I with full belly and the kids in tow. Even little T-Rex ate her Mac-N-Cheese, so that was a plus.

We were able to leave our table with only one spill. Dos, though drenched, had enjoyed herself too. We finished the evening with some kid movie that was interesting, a little over acted, and well... boring. I left to my comfy bed with book in tow. It was a great evening.

Art and History Night

The Board Game of Se-net

Tonight turned into Art History night...

We started the evening with chili on the stove and an evening of sharing. Kids were in rare form for sure. We had a stressful day. Tonight we planned a simple evening filled with quiet times of reading, or other less involved activities.

Jen had to deal with our 'black pyramid' and had to flush the tank again. I had a brutal day answering the phone and fixing user issues. I think the quiet time was much needed as I really didn't want to have a lot of noise in the background. Spend a day in a cramped room surrounded by unhappy folks and dealing with critical issues does that to you.

I started the book 'Midnight in the garden of good and evil' and Momma-San went to bed early leaving me with a disquieted and rambunctious group of minions. No problem I thought. My book will have to wait. Uno asked for a game of Se-net. She is enthralled with everything Egyptian. She got this really cool book with fold outs and activities that she bought from her trip to the Museum in Chicago.

She told me the rules, we played. It was surprisingly fun. Much like a mix of chess, Othello, and 'Sorry!' all rolled into one. I like playing board games, the problem with two person games is that everyone else wants to play. Trying to keep T-Rex, the most annoyed minion who wanted to play, occupied was a tough job.

I haven't sketched in years, this was my result

That is when we turned to art. T-Rex was satisfied coloring in her new coloring book. Uno and Dos wanted me to teach them how to draw. We spent the next hour and a half working on drawing the human head and how to sketch things so that they eventually come out the way they wanted to.
In the end, all off to bed. I settled the minions down with a little struggle, and I am off to bed.

Breakfast Awesomeness

Come on... Stop drooling!

Off to work. Early in the morning and my wife got up with me and made me probably my most favorite breakfast in the world. "An omelet, light and fluffy...", to quote one of my favorite VeggieTales videos. Rounding it out with Dunkin' Donuts Coffee and fresh blueberries from the farmers market!

Before you start screaming at me for 'making' Jen get up and make me breakfast, I have to say it is a true blessing that Jen is more than willing to help me. I roll out of bed, shower, get dressed and have to be on the road in short order. My drive to the client site is a bit far from our campsite. We looked at others sites but they either didn't have room, or had less than admirable reviews online. We are pretty content with our location. While the drive makes my twelve hour day of work that much longer, a peaceful and restful place to call our home while on the road makes it worth it.

Uno and Minion 'Miss Mayham' find a frog

So Jen helps me tremendously by making me breakfast. It allows me to eat a healthy and well rounded breakfast without having to worry about fast food, junk food that is readily available at work, or other less than healthy options. With her help, I have been able to lose twenty seven pounds and keep it off!

Jen makes 'Arrakis' home everyday. From homeschooling, and keeping up with things, Jen has a lot on her hands. But we are having fun! Even when greeted with the dreaded 'black pyramid' as I arrived home today. For those who don't know about the 'black pyramid', it is what happens when the sewer backs up at the drain pipe and piles up behind it. 

Luckily we have a black water flush system. Hooked up the water hose to the system and ran it for about fifteen minutes to flush it out. Problem solved. It is those little things added to our camper that make it easy to maintain and solve the simple problems. Quick and easy, on to more fun.

One other thing... the door latch on our camper seemed very difficult to open last night. I was constantly getting up to open the door as the kids were coming back from playing or riding their bikes. Frustrated, I grabbed one of the most important tools in any mans arsenal... WD40. With a few squirts in the lock mechanism and along the latch and the problem was solved. 

And the hero for the day is..... Still Jen. One door fix still doesn't outweigh breakfast awesomeness.

I am thinking of naming our camper Arrakis

I am showing you the superhero syndrome and your own participation in it.
—Frank Herbert

We found more 3M Command Spice Racks that are 

large enough for our bigger items

I know it is a cheesy...

Referencing the Dune Saga, but if you think about all of this talk about spice racks, the Indiana Dunes, I thought it was appropriate. What would be cooler is if Frank Herbert used the Indiana Dunes as his inspiration for the books. Unfortunately, that came from the Oregon Dunes.

But, Like Paule Atredies, we have had to overcome many hardships in the past ten years. From an unstable economy, several lay offs, poor financial and investment decisions, to the death of my father and closing our martial arts schools, we have had to face a lot. By the grace of God and sheer will, we have made it through. 

Making Arrakis our home, organization and simplicity is the key...

I started to be fascinated by camping and RV'ing a little over a year ago. In my research, I came across Families On The Road, and have been in awe of the families who decided to change their lives and live freely. What is inspiring to see is that people from various backgrounds and countries, changing their lives, living more simply, and experiencing a closeness and contentment I haven't found in the path I had chosen for my life.

You see, I am just different. Sure, easy for me to say, since I am the one writing this. I have so many interests and pursuits, that normally 'define' someone. From my faith in God, strong technical skills, multiple black belts, Master's rank in Kung Fu, entrepreneur pursuits, and various 'sub' interests, I find myself lost, only finding solace in one pursuit or the next.

Obviously, that is unhealthy and not the norm. I decided two years ago to put those pursuits on the back burner and focus on the family and righting both our emotional, spiritual, and financial courses. Changing jobs to become a consultant allotted me less hours of work for much more money. I am home more, spend more time with the kids and dedicate more time to them. We are invested more in our Church and I have taken back the reigns from the world on my family and decided it was time to be back in the driver's seat.

What I admire most from these families and this lifestyle is the simplicity of it. I did a back of the envelop assessment of our expenses living on the road versus living in a traditional home. For our family, I believe we can save $900 to $1000 per month without sacrificing on the luxuries we are akin to.The sacrifice is the home lifestyle in exchange to less room with more experiences, distractions that drain our time to fulfilling our emotional and spiritual needs.

While cutting the chord in selling everything and be completely unattached is still in the planning phase, we have settled on the happy medium of our 'experiment' in living in Casa Barnes, AKA Arrakis for a month. Today, the kids start their first full day of road schooling. We have prepared ourselves and have made the transition. We will keep you updated as our experiment unfolds its results.

The Spice and Bikes

Jen made a new addition to the home. Spice Racks! As you may well know, RV's/Campers are not known for their storage space. There are countless blog posts I have read who have made the decision to live full time on the road and their number one complaint is organization and storage space. Jen and I have thought creatively, took several trips to big box stores, and have start making the camper our home.

One of the major improvements has been push lights for the kids at night. Instead of struggling to reach up to flip the switch for the over head lights, they can simply push on the dome tap lights to give them enough light to make it to the bathroom and back. Another addition is hooks. We got that inspiration from our dear friend Dee Grom. She taught us way back in Tulsa, the wonders of hanging hooks to keep what could be a mess, much more manageable. 

With the modern inventions of sticky backed wall hanging, we are using the 3M Command products and a Velcro variety we found at Walmart to hang our tap lights and anything essential on the walls. Jen found these lightweight spice racks to hang on the wall. We are in pursuit of a larger one for the odd size spices she likes to use for seasoning. Instead of taking up space on the counter or in the cabinets, this limited space can be used for the essential items.

I worked twelve hours today. With a long drive back to the camper, my mouth began to water as I was greeted with the smell of flank steak on the grill to be finished off in the skillet and made into fajita style steak. Cooked with peppers, and onions, add in a dash of salsa, and the dinner made for a welcome ending of my day.

The gruesome twosome's (AKA minions two and three, AKA the twins's) birthday is next Sunday. Jen decided that it was time to buy them new bikes. They had outgrown their old ones, and the chain on JJ's bike had broke. For an early birthday present, Jen bought them two very cool bikes with security locks to keep them attached to the camper when they are not using them. We never had bikes this cool when I was a kid.

My last 'cool' bike I had when I was a kid got stolen. It was found at the elementary school I attended slipped over a fire man pole. I don't know how they did it, but to my dismay, they had to cut it in order to get the bike free. Thus, expensive bike, my cool bike, lost to unknown criminals out to make mischief. I am happy that I can give my kids a bike that they can love as much as I did at their age.

Jayelle (minion numero uno), also got a bike. Sure, it slightly diminishes the joy of getting a bike for your birthday, but Jen and I plan a couple more gifts for the twins. The caveat, was that Uno would only get a 'normal' bike while the dynamic Duo (I have endless names for them), get more high end fancy bikes. At first, I wasn't a fan of this idea. Ultimately, I see the wisdom in it. Jayelle didn't bring her bike and was feeling left out. Her razor scooter isn't conducive to the surroundings. Having a bike, will allow her to be a part of the gaggle of kids roaming the park and have fun. It goes to show the heart of the Duo that they wanted her to have a bike too. Gotta love these kids!

It's the little things

It wasn't too long after getting my new camper when things started falling apart. Don't get me wrong, I still love the lifestyle. In my mind, I just want things to be perfect. Don't know why I expect that, maybe when you spend the money for a shiny new thing, you just want this to stay nice for a while. Thanks to my step-mom Lorelei for imprinting this on me during my teenage years.

As you can see in the photo above, the gas arm and hinge popped off the outside kitchen door. Right now, I am propping the door open with a shower curtain rod that I purchased from Walmart. It works, but less than ideal. Maybe it is God telling me that as far as I travel, and important I think I am, I am still a redneck.

In an earlier post, I wrote about how frustrated I got over a brand new computer not working that I had purchased for my wife to aid in road schooling. You just have to appreciate the lessons God gives us. This lesson learned yesterday played out to lesson applied that night. 

I am in the middle of an implementation for my client site. They have two hospitals going live and this by far is the most stressful times. It is a month straight working with little to no time off. Sure the overtime is a huge blessing, and will be well used to help pay off the last of our debt, but it runs you down something fierce. With my family in tow, having 'down time' really isn't an option. This could be a recipe for disaster. God used that computer fiasco to temper me for the evening.

More things broke. Piva, our family cat decided to lounge in between the slide out and trim for one side of the kids bunk room. My oldest daughter was worried about her being there and attempted to fetch her down. In doing so, she reached for the trim piece to give her a little support. As you can imagine, the entire trim piece came completely off. Our new camper is not so new anymore.

Instead of getting angry, I decided to inspect it. I know that material cannot be super sturdy and strong for this camper to be light enough to be pulled by a standard truck. They made it that way so that people could enjoy the larger campers like the fifth wheels without having to purchase a new truck to handle the load. It is an easy fix. I could do it my self. I could use gorilla glue epoxy and adhere it back to the original surface and you will not know that there was ever a problem. 

I debated fixing it myself. Instead I chose to get in touch with our RV dealer who is actually close by. We were planning to get the gas arm replaced with lower strength ones (the cause of our problem). Since I was going to pay for them to come out (the issue is covered under warranty), I might as well have them come out and professionally repair this as well. Jen will call today to work out the details. In the event it is not covered, I will fix it. 

What I learned is that, it is most important to teach the kids to respect and treat this camper with care. Thinking before acting is going to be important. That said, I know from reading other blogs that campers are a luxury, they are not perfect. They have a purpose to serve and while you may try to make it perfect, in the end, you sacrifice quality for weight reduction.

The biggest plus from this all, is that the family is together. I have noticed some important changes in the last two weeks. We are closer both physically, spiritually, and emotionally together. We cannot run and hide in our rooms, or get involved in too many other distractions in the RV. What a blessing that is. We keep the important stuff, important! Everything else doesn't matter

.

Fun in the Sun, and not handling stress well

Another day in the Sun. The kids had an absolute blast yesterday when they visited Central Beach along the Lake Shore. Always careful as you can see, each of the minions wore a life jacket. It seems that the lake claims lives every year and that the under tow can pull people away. Of course this is the case whether you are in the Great Lakes, a river, or the ocean... there are always dangers.

Combine common sense, and a little extra precaution, you can have a fun day at the beach wherever you may end up. The only issue we had is that the kids came back a little sun burned. It could have been worse, all of our children take after me with fair complexion. We found earlier this year bathing suits that have UV protection and bought a swim suit for everyone in the family. That helps a lot. Me, I go from pasty white to the color a Lobster, back to pasty white.

The kids also were able to get five pounds of Michigan Blueberries from a local farmer's market. I would rather them eat healthy and delicious blueberries than snack away on unhealthy things like potato chips and other garbage easy to find at your local grocer. As you can see T-Rex in this photo, she is drinking one of the soda's made from our new SodaStream. Ok, we are not perfect! Sure, we could go the all natural way, however for our family, we live in a balance.

For me, I had a long frustrating day on the job. Coming home, I wanted to bless the wife by taking her out and buying her a new laptop since our old one crashed and the junker desktop we have been limping along at home didn't quite fit in our camper, we needed something very manageable that could server multiple purposes. 

We decided on a MacBook Air. I am a huge fan when it comes to Apple products. After supporting both Windows and Linux environments in my past, I decided several years back that I would buy a Mac and see what the hub-bub was all about. I was very surprised and happy. It combines the best in general security, had a great operating system based on Unix, that was mainstream enough to provide plenty of apps to meet my needs that worked well to integrate easily with Windows environments and networks. 

The main use of the new MacBook Air is for homeschooling. Providing kids with the tools they need to do their schoolwork, and matched with awesome and easy to use creative tools to make the whole process fun. My lovely bride would have all the tools she needed to prepare for teaching, with a small footprint to boot. And it fits really well with the RV life. It is ultra portable, lightweight, and rugged!

We found a great deal on the MacBook at the local BestBuy. They had an open boxed version for $250 less than a brand new one. I bought an external super drive as well as an AppleTV to go along with the accessories. The drive allows us to run DVD's as well as other learning programs we use to help the kids in the learning. We had to purchase this because MacBook Airs do not have a DVD/CD drive. That is fine with me because most of the time, we don't use it. Most of the material is available online to download. The AppleTV is for us to be able to send video streaming to our large TV. Thus making the material much more easily watched instead of having kids cram around a small screen.

Bought and paid for, off to the camper...that is when the trouble started. I opened the MacBook Air and everything looked fine. As soon as I booted up, I expected the normal start up and walk through that you normally see on Mac's to help you set up the computer. To my surprise, they hadn't wiped the machine. Worse they had locked the login user out from basically EVERYTHING. This along with not even providing passwords for the accounts made things more difficult. I even tried removing the setup file using terminal so that when I rebooted, it would take me through the process again of setting up the machine and creating new Admin and user accounts.

None of that worked. Instead, I had to call Apple Support. We went and wiped out the old settings and to my dismay, they wiped out the entire OS. The good thing is that you can restore the entire machine by downloading a new OS through the restore process. Unfortunately, it wouldn't find my wireless connection in the camper. I tried everything. I even walked the campground in the dark in hopes to find a good signal. No Dice. Eventually, I just gave up, put the machine in the box and tried to calm down.

In the kids excitement, they all wanted to see and look at the new machine. I was already under a lot of stress trying to get it configured. I really didn't want to be bombarded with a thousand questions and have everyone clambering around me to get a look at the new machine. I lost my cool. I yelled at the kids. Father of the year award... lost. 

I am definitely not perfect. I have lots of opportunities to grow in this area. I wasn't angry at them, I was angered that this new purchase that was supposed to be a godsend to my wife and children was utterly falling flat on its face. Instead of closing the computer and giving up an hour and a half before I did, I took the frustrations out on my children. Some things are just not worth yelling about. A smart person would realize that we should have had it checked out before we took it home. You know what they say when you assume...

Needless to say, Jen and I got up in the morning and prayed. I asked for forgiveness for my crappy attitude, and we are taking the MacBook Air back. I left it up to Jen as to whether she would take a replacement, or have the GeekSquad (who we purchased a package from) would work on the machine. Either way, I am fine with the decision. God is in control, even when I think I should be. This is a great lesson to me about living on the road. Things don't go as planned. Sometimes it will be out of your control. The best way to respond when things get away from you is to give up, seek help from those who are well suited to do so, and move on. It is not worth all the fuss nor the damage to relationships it could cause!

Indiana Dunes and the Jr. Ranger Program

Officially, we have told the kids that school starts next week. This will allow us to fully try out road schooling and determine whether or not this is something we want to do for the long term. I will say however, I am very impressed with how the kids are adapting. They have come from having their own rooms to a much more cramped living space. Our living room is combined with kitchen and dining room which means that we multi-purpose everything.

However, each of the children have a designated place to use for learning and working. 'Defined' spaces means a lot to our children as we are still fighting constant 'mines' over property. Just last night we had an Epic battle over an extra blanket being used during a movie of  'Mirror, Mirror' we rented from RedBox. 'It's Mine,' got in the way of a peaceful evening only to be settled by me turning off the TV and reminding the children that we are all in this together and that sharing is an absolute must. Finally, they calmed down and peace was restored.

The Indiana Dunes has been a huge draw for us. The kids love adventures at the beach. From climbing Mt. Baldy, to just playing on the beach, the kids seem to love it. I am actually even more impressed with the Indiana Dunes Junior Ranger Program. They have booklets that you can get in their office or download. The kids explore and learn about the lake shore, the beaches, plants, birds, and other historical information. From there, they fill out their booklets to turn them in and get their Junior Ranger badge.

Earlier last week, I had the chance to climb Mt. Baldy and it was a fun adventure for all. There is so much to do and see. It has also provided us with an endless list of 'to do's' and 'to see's.' What better way to spend an evening than a sunset walk along the beach with the wife as the kids scamper and play in the surf?

Food and the RV

Cooking with all the conveniences of home

Well after a long day of work, I head home to our camp. After a year on the road consulting, you cannot imagine how good a home cooked meal sounds. As a consultant you spend your evenings searching for something new or stick to the same old food chains. Worst is the immersion of fast food day in a day out. Much like the college fifteen, consultants on average do the consultant forty. Long hours, inactivity, stress, all combine to push your health toward a downward spiral.

Road schooling, the advantage of having my kids with me wherever I go means home cooked meals. It allows us to prepare healthy options and consciously plan our meals throughout the week! One added benefit that comes from consulting is that I do get paid a per deim. Carefully planning meals and bringing my own lunch box (my awesome camo cooler) allows me to bank the per deim which allows for fun and adventures at little or no cost to us.

We have all the modern conveniences of home. Stove, microwave, well stocked fridge and freezer, along with outdoor grill round out our kitchen and necessaries. A decent pantry combined with some creative storage options enable us to meet the needs of a family of six. We even have opportunities to teach chemistry, math, history, and even geography by teaching the children how to cook.

Tonight was collard greens, cantaloupe, and lean strip stake. Home cooked meals beat any five star joint hands down!

The Adventure Begins

The Adventure Begins...

My name is Jeff, I am the father of four awesome 'minions' and the husband to a wonderful wife. We plan to spend the next month living in our new 2013 Cougar High Country as a way to learn about home schooling on the road. As a health care consultant, I have been given the opportunity for an extended stay on location. We thought it would be a great opportunity to experience something new, grow as a family, and just see where this adventure takes us. Wish us luck, I am sure we are going to need it.

Our goal is for one month to experience what it is like to live on the road together in an RV. From homeschooling, cooking, and just plain living, we plan to share this adventure together. This all within our travel trailor (2013 Cougar High Country). We started this week as I pulled the camper onto location and waited for Jen and the kids to arrive after they had finished their summer swimming lessons. Already, we have climbed Mt. Baldy, met numerous new people, ate fresh produce from local farmers, fished, and played! And this isn't even our vacation!

I will post more interesting thoughts and musings as we experience this adventure together!