The reality of living in 300 square feet.

I have all these super amazing pictures that I can't wait to share with you all. But right now they're all on the iMac and Matt is working this morning, so I can't really get to them. But I promise, we have done some really amazing things in the last two weeks. The redwood national forest, San Francisco, and visit from my super fabulous sister.

But, like I said, I can't get to my pictures right now. So you all have the great pleasure (or not, because it's probably pretty dry and rambley) of learning about what life is really like living in such a teeny tiny space.

First of all, let me say that for the most part, it's actually better than I was expecting. We still have a couch, a kitchen table, a fridge, sink, oven/stove, shower and toilet. And a queen sized bed. (Now it's like you're reading a craigslist ad for an apartment.)

I'm pretty good at organizing, so storing our stuff hasn't been a huge issue. all the kids blankets go under the pull out couch during the day, the TV goes in the storage under our bed when we're driving.  We pretty much have to strictly follow the rule "a place for everything and everything in its place". We have plenty of room for books and games and lego. Obviously just the downsized stacks of books and games and lego. The rest are in storage back home.

So for the most part, it's fine. But once in a while we run in to....problems. Like how there's one toilet for 5 people. And one of those people is recently potty trained. And how the clothes closet opens up right into the bathroom and also our bedroom. It's pretty much the definition of bottleneck when people are trying to get ready in the morning or for bed. Lots of people have had their toes stepped on and fingers shut into doors and cupboards.

The kitchen table turns into Oliver's bed. It's actually pretty easy to make into the bed. Not so easy to turn back to the table. At least not easy if you're under 6 feet tall. There's a weird angle and you have to perfectly latch the table to the wall. Anyway, it's usually Matt's job. But last week he had to leave at like 6 am to get to a conference in San Francisco. It was St. Patrick's day, and in our house we have a Lucky Charms for breakfast tradition. So I made the table (I thought), poured huge bowls of Lucky Charms and milk, and everyone sat down to eat.

Then, the table buckled, fell from the wall, and spilled Lucky Charms and milk EVERYWHERE. Sawyer was trapped under the table where it fell on his leg. I saved him, dropped the table, and scraped up our lovely hardwood. Sawyer was upset because his leg hurt and he was covered in milk. So he took his pants off. I was trying to clean up the floor, but the stupid marshmallows were expanding in the stupid milk and getting everything sticky and pastel coloured. Sawyer was so upset by this point that he peed. Like a whole freaking liter. All over the floor. And cereal. So now the floor was covered in milk, cereal, marshmallows, and pee. Everyone was screaming, myself included. Let me remind you that this is a very small space and it's virtually impossible to clean a floor so small without just being right in the mess. Eventually I got it all cleaned up. And then Hayden pipes in with an ever so sweet "am I EVER going to get to eat breakfast?!" I managed to get them each a small bowl of the remaining Lucky Charms, and went to take a shower. Yuck. Then I realized that we had gone swimming the night before and the only clean towel was used by Matt that morning and was soaking wet. It was a super fun morning.

So yeah. Sometimes stuff like that happens. But so far, the good has outweighed the bad. (Except for on Tuesday, when Matt was hooking up our sewer hose to the drain, it backed up on him. Yes. The black water tank backed up on him. Like everywhere. It took a few hours and a whole lot of bleach to get it fixed. But we had a very kind RV neighbour who took him to the RV store and helped get everything we needed.)

But we're still happy. Today we are going down to the little shops near Avila beach to find the bookshop and the ice cream parlour. Life is good.

-Jessica

The Oregon Coast

Ahhhhh. Seriously you guys. This week has been so fantastic I almost feel bad telling you all about it. Almost.

On Monday, we left Washington in a torrential downpour. Matt wasn't very excited about driving in all the rain, but once we got to Olympia, it had totally cleared up. We stopped to do a bit of shopping and stock up on some groceries. And let me tell you, it is cheap here in the good old US of A! I couldn't believe the price of the milk. It's like $2.50 for a 4 litre jug. Cheap! I love it! So we totally went crazy and even let the kids pick whatever cereal they wanted. Captain Crunch with berries. Ha. Berries. Right. So I pretended it was gross and then ate it for dessert.

Anyway, from there we took this amazing bridge from Washington to Oregon. It was huge and gorgeous.

Not the greatest picture, but you get the idea. So then we went to our KOA and got settled. 

(Sidenote...if you have never stayed at a KOA, you really should. Tonight we are at our third, and they're pretty fantastic. Awesome playgrounds, clean showers, laundry, wifi, the works.)

The next morning, we headed down the road because we were told there was a nice beach there. Nice didn't even begin to describe it! It was stunning. Gorgeous sand, brilliant blue waves, and a shipwreck. The kids were in heaven. 

Isn't that just the coolest shipwreck?

Love his crazy hair in this one. 

Ok. All these pictures are of him. But he's just so darn cute. 

It was just so great. Then we went back to the campsite and swam and sat in the hot tub. Matt made burgers while the kids played at the park. Did I mention it's only March? As in still winter? Its was like 18 degrees. Fantastic. 

Next day we packed up and started driving along Hwy 101. It follows the Oregon Coastline all the way down, and it does not disappoint. It is just breathtaking. There are all these adorable little coastal towns and some really great lookout points too. So we stopped at some. 

And then we went to Cannon Beach. Sigh. I'll just let the pictures speak. They're much more eloquent than I am. 

So there it is (in a teeny, tiny nutshell)- the Oregon coast. Natural, earthy, awe-inspiring beauty. 

Tomorrow- the Californian Redwoods!

And we're off!!

Yesterday was the day!

We woke up bright and early (like 5 am early) and set off! We had to be at the ferry early to go through customs. It was a lovely, rainy, west coast day. As the ferry pulled out of the beautiful Victoria harbour, I felt a slight wrench in my stomach. Mostly excitement, but nerves too. Oliver and Sawyer were giddy with excitement, but Hayden was having a rougher time saying goodbye to his hometown.

So Matt took him for a quiet one on one walk around the ferry while I went inside so the others could run around a little. He was okay after a while. Poor little man just feels so much. And I love him for it. After we arrived in Port Angeles, we met my Dad and Step-mum for lunch and then headed back to their place.

If there's anyplace to begin a trip, this is it. They have possibly the most beautiful ocean view around.  It's impossible to not feel peaceful here. Their backyard is a beach, so Matt is down there with the boys right now, running around in the rain. It's fantastic. Combine that, with the incredible food (two fabulous cooks living here) and it's a straight-up vacation.

The one little big hiccup is that we discovered, on the Saturday before leaving, that there was a hole in our hot water tank. Serves us right for not checking it sooner. We didn't have time to deal with it before leaving, but luckily my dad has a guy for everything. I didn't even need to ask him if he had an RV guy (he doesn't even own an RV), I just said "Dad, can you call your RV guy for us?" and he got us in right away. They ordered a new one for us, and putting in in tomorrow morning. I'm glad we budgeted for repairs because this one is a doozy! I asked Matt how much it was, and this conversation happened:

"Wow."
"How much is wow?"
"Right in between ouch and boiiiing ".

100 points if you get that reference.

Anyway, I'm jut glad we discovered it while here rather than on the road. And we're still on schedule. Next stop- cousins!!