May 28, 2026-Beach Trip-3+3

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I slept well last night except I did have to get up and go to the bathroom. I know that I have talked about this before, but I feel pretty trapped in the camper so getting out of bed takes a good minute. First, our mattress is comfy, but it is just foamy-so when I push down on it, then I just sink in. Second, Bentley is my first obstacle to climb over. Third, Marley and her kennel are at the foot of my side of the bed so I have to shimmy over to Robby's side of the bed to get off the bed. Fourth, I have to climb over Robby or at least his legs while trying not to wake him. Fifth, the bed is just a little bit high for me so getting down is kind of a slide off of the bed. 

Getting back into the bed is the same just in reverse. I usually wake up once thinking I need to get up for the bathroom, and then I go back to sleep. The second time I wake up, I really do have to have go. I have even laid in bed wondering if they make hand held urinals for women. I'm not really sure I could do that....but enough about all of that.

Everyone slept in today. Keaton and Sophia headed to the beach first. Whitman walked out just as they were leaving. I quickly sprayed him, and he caught up with the girls. He also scared the daylights out of Keaton today. He was in the water, and then when she tried to find him, she couldn't. They must have looked for a bit, but eventually did spot him in the shore playing in the sand. He has been wearing a bright yellow shirt, but today his shirt was blue so maybe they is why she missed him.

Campbell headed to the beach next, and Robby and I were not too far behind. We sat up the tent, and it was pretty hot for a while. But then the clouds came out, and it was the nicest beach day we have had yet. We stayed for a while and could have stayed longer, but there was laundry to do.

This evening we all went to eat at the Beach House. It was just down the road and a neat little place. Our food was fine and service was fine, so we can say that we have been there and mark it off the list. (We never got our water refilled-urgh), but the crabcakes were really good. Robby bought crabcakes from Sams or Costco lately, and they were just bad so the good crabcakes made up for the lack of water.

The sunset was really pretty so the girls took some pictures-Whitman even took some as well. He said that he was going to go back and edit them. We dropped the kids off at dinner, and Robby and I ran to walmart for some ice cream (and sunscreen and water). The girls are now sitting on the beach chatting, and we have just finished our ice cream!

May 27, 2026-Beach Trip-3+3

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We didn't sleep as well last night. Bentley laid right near Robby and my heads. Then it started raining in the middle of the night so I had to hurry outside to grab the things on the drying rack. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with the things on the drying rack tonight-it is absolutely full of things since we didn't do laundry. I may just risk it with the rain-we can always put things in the dryer if we need to.

We all slept in a little bit this morning. Robby and I were the first to wake up because of Marley. We headed outside with the dogs, and the girls slowly started trickling out. They didn't make it to the beach until around 11.

Robby and I walked the dogs and came a bit afterwards. We set up the tent, and then had to hold the tent the entire time we were there. It was again crazy windy today-probably even more so than yesterday. 

The girls really didn't stay out at the beach too long today. Whitman even headed back when they did. Robby and I stayed longer because there are a lot of people in this camper, and it is just easier to be out of the way. 

We made it back to the camper and around 3:30 we left for Seaside. Whitman said that he would stay back at the camper and protect it for us, and we took him up on that. The girls walked around Seaside, and Robby and I did as well-we stopped at the bookstore, the grocery store, and I went in one other shop. The girls ended up buying a few things in Seaside plus we stopped at a tshirt store on the way back to the camper. Some how I even ended up buying Anderson and Graham a shirt even though they aren't here.

The girls went to take more pictures. When they came back, we had some bbq for them. Some of them ate, but most did not. They were all in a hurry to take their chairs to the beach. They are currently at the beach chatting. Robby and I are laying in the bed-I'm blogging, and he is working. I might read some, or maybe I will just nap until the girls do get back. 

May 26, 2026-Beach Trip-3+3

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When we went to bed last night, we were pretty sure that today was going to be a washout. However, when Robby went out with the pups this morning, it was bright and sunny. It stayed pretty sunny all day long.

The girls started stirring probably because of Robby and me coming in and out. We decided that since it was good weather we should take advantage of it and make breakfast. As the girls got ready, he made bacon, sausage, and pancakes. 

Then the girls and Whitman headed to the beach. I sprayed Whitman and put sunscreen on him very well; however, he is burned. Robby is burned, and he just sat under a tent. So just imagine how burned all of these other girls are! They were diligent with sunscreen, but the sun was just so strong.

The waves were incredible today. The kids did get in the water, but not very far. When Robby and I showed up at the beach, Campbell asked me if I was going to watch Whitman. Sweet girl was watching her brother. I did watch him for her-he didn't go out very far, and by 2ish he was ready to go in. 

I walked back with him and made lunch for everyone. I returned to the beach with their snacks. Robby and I sat there a bit longer, but eventually the girls called the beach quits and went to the pool. We then loaded up the tent and hauled all the things back to the camper.

Robby did laundry this afternoon, and we picked up pizza for tonight's supper. The girls spent about 2 hours, no kidding at all, getting ready for a beach photo shoot tonight. I probably should have dressed Whitman up too so he could have taken a pictures with them. 

It is just 8:30, and the girls have plans to go and crab hunt tonight. Robby, Bentley, Marley, and I are all settled in the bed though!

May 25, 2026-Beach Trip-3+3

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We slept wonderfully well last night. Well, kind of wonderfully well. Marley started barking when we went to bed; she heard Robby and me coming and going to the bathroom. Then at 4 when we made our bathroom runs again, she started fussing again. And then at 7:30 like usual, she again started whimpering.

Thankfully, none of those time did she bark and whine for long. I have read articles about dogs Marley's age decide that they don't like the crate and become fussy in their crates. Tonight I think she will sleep even better, not that she has done anything, but because our back air conditioner will be on blocking some extra noise.

Marley hasn't done anything today except for ride in the car-let's pause here to talk about how terrified she is of everything. Riding in the camper scares her if she is up front, loud noises scare her, the rain, and even the sand scared her when she first stepped on it. She will need therapy after this trip. After we got here, I just let the dogs walk around on their long leashes while we stood around. It was raining then so they were soaked. Robby brushed them and dried them before coming in, but it was so noisy with trucks and campers rolling by and even the trash truck. She could not get in this camper fast enough.

It was about 9 when we left Spanish Fort this morning. We were not in any hurry because we knew when check in was, and we knew what the weather looked like. It  wasn't raining when we left or 20 miles down the road when we got to Buccees. After getting gas, we all went in, and this Buccee's might possibly be the busiest one I have ever seen. Probably being Memorial Day only increased the crowds.

We arrived at Camping on the Gulf around 1 or possibly before. It took us no time to unhook the car and back into our spot. The light rain didn't even slow us down. The girls all explored some, and by the time that we had eaten lunch the rain had stopoed.

We took some chairs to the beach, and Campbell, Keaton, and Whitman even swam some. We saw the storms coming in over the gulf, but Robby and I didn't think too much about it when we left our chairs and went on a walk. We had to hurry back to our chairs, and then carry everything back to our campsite. 

We were all drenched when we made it back, and it was pouring. We finally all made it in and got settled. Some people took showers, but everyone changed into dry clothes. Robby eventually did some laundry to dry some things. Then we had walking tacos for our supper tonight. Robby had leftover chicken spaghetti, and I had leftover salad we don't really know if the walking tacos were good. We can eat those leftovers tomorrow night or tomorrow during lunch since we were be in the camper because it will still be raining. 

After supper we ran to Walmart for a little bit. Robby and I bought us and Whitman some ice cream. Some of the girls had showers, and currently everyone is back in the camper. I think that the rain has stopped, so we will possibly take the dogs for a quick potty break before heading towards bed. 

May 24, 2026-Beach Trip-3+3

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Many months ago Campbell planned a beach trip, and it is finally here. She had a whole presentation about where, when, and how much this little trip would cost. Her "how much" category wasn't taking into account a war making gas prices jump nor was she taking into account how much gas this camper actually uses at all.

We started the morning off with church. Since this is Memorial Day weekend, there was also a picnic at Raymar after church. We had planned to skip the picnic, pick up the extra friends with us and head on down the road. However, during church Robby decided that maybe we would go to the picnic to just grab a bit to eat.

When church was over, we collected Sophia and Laynie, and then at Raymar we added Elliot to the mix. We ran home and in less than 30 minutes we were on the road to the beach. The trip was fairly uneventful (praise God).

I listened to a book and actually finished it on the road. Robby listened to the Hogs lose their ball game. I probably should have started heating up supper before I did, but I waited until we stopped. It was nearly 9:30 when we did eat our chicken spaghetti, bread, and salad. I think that it was all pretty good, but it was kind of crazy in the camper-lots of teenage girls getting ready for bed took a bit longer than we had planned.

Plus a few of our camper guests have never road tripped in a camper so that added to the confusion. You would not believe the amount of stuff packed into this camper-you probably didn't know that each night of this beach trip, there were be different dresses worn and hair styled so a photo shoot can take place. Whitman is trying his best to stay away from all of these girls; however, he has become their photographer.

Getting everyone into bed was quite the feat as well. We finally got Marley in her kennel and Bentley threw up on the floor. Then Marley started barking while I had to search the camper looking for Robby's phone. Currently, it is getting quiet in the back with us plus it is getting quiet up front. 

I'm glad it is getting quiet because I'm a bit tired. My morning started at 5:30 when my alarm went off. I jumped out of bed to make sure that Reagan was awake. While she got ready, I did the dishes and laundry before seeing her off.

I crawled back in bed and had myself a nice nap until it was time to wake up for church. I actually got up earlier than I needed because I thought that Campbell was leaving at 8, I was walking down the hall to make sure she was awake when I realized she wasn't leaving until 8:30 so I slept a bit longer. 

Reagan made it to camp, and she was excited about today because this was the day the kids started arriving. I saw some pictures and it is quite a arrival-some are in buses plus some kids are hanging out of their cars with signs. I know she is going to do great, and I really hope that she loves it.

May 23, 2026

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• I woke up at 7 something this morning excited that I had slept in, so imagine my excitement when I realized that I still had time to sleep some more.
• We eventually did get up and start on the morning. I washed two different loads of towels, folded the laundry, and unloaded the dishwasher. Then Robby and I left to run a few errands. We started at the post office and then Costco. 
• Next was Walmart where I did our shopping, and Robby did some shopping for someone else. That worked out well though because it did get us moving quickly. We also ran into Sams to buy a few last things for us-the more we think about what everyone needs to eat next week, the more we end up buying-snacks for Reagan, food for the people here, food for the people on the trip-it's a lot.
• We were also hurrying because Reagan was on her way home. She thought that she was going to get off at noon, but she was in the her car heading home before that. This morning she changed her cabins to get ready for tomorrow when campers arrive. Then she hit the road for home.
• She had a car load of laundry-three loads. Now she has folded that laundry, added a few more things to his bags, and is probably getting ready to go to sleep. She will have to leave at 6 in the morning. She has big kids next week and is excited about that, So far, she is really enjoying camp.
• This evening we met Graham at Chilis, and the whole family enjoyed supper. Reagan told us about camp, and Graham told us about his half marathon distance that he ran this morning. He even splurged and picked up some doughnuts afterwards. 
• Graham and Anderson went to play volleyball afterwards, while the rest of us ran to Kroger quickly before coming home. We even bought a bit of ice cream to celebrate tomorrow's trip.  

May 22, 2026

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• This morning when my alarm went off, I got on out of bed and got myself ready-then I climbed back in the bed-shoes and all. It was so dark and dreary and since Marley was sleeping, I thought I few more minutes in the bed wouldn't hurt anyone. 
• I still got up before anyone else in the house. After a few things, Robby took care of Marley while I started loading up the camper. We have quite a bit of food left to buy for our little trip, but there were about 4 loads off food to put in. It started pouring while I was out there, so I stayed a bit longer to wait out the rain.
• The big even today was a new tire for the Subaru. Graham came home to pick up Campbell before work, and said that the low tire light came on. I found the psi of the tires and one was pretty low. 
• Robby ran home and found a nail in it so while they were at work, we got that tire replaced. They weren't able to fix it, so Robby was none too pleased about having to buy a new tire for a new car with new tires, but it is what it is.
• I picked Campbell and Graham up from work, and as soon I made it home, Campbell and Keaton ran a few errands. Anderson worked out while Whitman and I did some school work-yes, even on a Friday afternoon at 5, we did some school. However, when we were done, Whitman and I played the new game.
• Robby brought home pizza for supper, and now Campbell has gone to feed her chickens (not hers, but ones she is watching).