Weekly Recap {a day early} and Travel Trailer Tour

We made it to North Dakota late Monday night, around 9:00. It was so light outside, the kids played at the playground for about two hours while Rod and some of the guys working with him set up the trailer. I couldn't believe it started to get dark at 11:00 pm! The sun was up bright and early, too!

It's really pretty where we are staying. We are staying in a park with lots of trees {unusual for this part of North Dakota I hear}, a playground, picnic tables, and lots of space!

We found the library on Wednesday {we waste no time}, got a library card and picked out our 3 {THREE} books each. That's all you can check out here - three books a person! Little do they know, we usually have fifty or more books checked out at a time! Luckily, the library is close so we can visit several times a week.

The kids are signed up to start swimming lessons on Monday. They are excited! They have a super nice pool, but my kids can't swim yet. Hopefully, they will get their fill of the pool at lessons each day!

I'm going to show some pictures of the travel trailer and how I am "organizing" our school books and supplies. We don't have the fanciest nor the newest travel trailer, but it's our home for much of the year. It's a 40 foot long Luxury by Design trailer, with two slides, two bedrooms and two bathrooms.

This is the main part of the camper - our living room, kitchen, school room, and boys bedroom! Rod ripped the booth of the trailer and built the bunks you see. The boys sleep there now - two little ones on top and Eli on the bottom.

Here is our "couch" {it's a futon}. Underneath, I have tubs with play-dough, modeling clay and accessories, Mercie's WriteShop supplies, and a bin of all kinds of paper.

Here are the boy's bunks. Underneath, I have tubs of Legos, Duplos, cars and trucks.

On the other side of the futon, I have this cube organizer. The kids school books are kept here. It may not look organized, but it is! Mikaela and Eli each have two cubes, Silas, Titus and Mercie each have one, and I have one for Mercie and Silas's science and history. On top, I have a tray that contains our pencils, colored pencils, glue sticks, scissors, and markers. 

I have different sized containers for our supplies.

In between the futon and the bunks, there is a cabinet. I have art supplies and books in the cabinets. In these bins I have the kid's binders that won't fit on the cube shelf and Titus's preschool supplies - pattern blocks, Cuisenaire rods, counters, and that kind of thing. I am using my School House Teacher's bag to corral our library books!

Rod built me a small desk so the kids and I can use the computers. I have one computer for the kids with their Rosetta Stone Spanish, Stop Motion, and Typing Instructor. The other computer is the one that I use and the kids can't!

Here is my 'kitchen'. There is a pantry and refrigerator to the left of the stove. Not much counter or cabinet space, but we make it work!

This is a view of the kitchen and the bunkroom. That is where the girls sleep.

These are the girl's bunks - Mercie on top and Mikaela on bottom.

The kids use this dresser along with the small closets in the bunkroom. Five kids equal a lot of clothes, shoes, and underwear! Mercie has her Barbie's and accessories in the wicker basket on top. I hung a shoe organizer on the back of the door for hair bows, ponytails and brushes.

How do we eat without a table, you ask? When it's nice, we will eat outside on the many picnic tables provided. When's it's not nice, we will eat on the floor or futon! We've already had several picnics here. The kids love it, and there's no mess to clean up inside!

 

Isn't she gorgeous? She's already been working on the Typing Instructor program and loving it! She is progressing very quickly - much quicker than I thought she would! It's so much fun, she does it several times a day without me asking!

Concentrating hard!

 

We have had a busy few days so far up here! Hope to slow down and rest the rest of the week - my body is exhausted from traveling. How was your week?