1 Year Full-time RV Family Anniversary!

I am sitting here writing this on the 1 year anniversary of us living as a full-time RV family.  I am reflecting on how much has changed in the last year.  I would not have guessed how our life would look today.  Maybe parts of it, but surely not the entirety of it.

My husband travels for work.  For the first couple years I stayed at home with the kids, while he went to other states for months at a time.  It was hard.  The kids would cry for daddy.  I would cry for him.  Parenting two little boys by myself was difficult.  All the daily care, decision making, and discipline fell to me.  I would consult with my hubby, but he was working long hours, and for the most part I just had to handle everything with the kids.  After a couple years of this, we had all had enough.  We decided that we were going to travel with him.  We'd live in our RV, and figure it out as we went.

It was March 16, 2015.  Hubby had been living in the RV for a while, but we were finally going to join him.  We started off in a 30 foot travel trailer with two bunks in the back.  It had a single small bathroom.  It also had very little storage space or counter space.  But we loved it anyway!  We were together! Our boys were 4 years and 2 years old, and I was pregnant with our third boy.

The first couple months I drove back and forth to our apartment once a week, so that the boys could finish the year of preschool and I could attend my prenatal appointments.  I was also able to collect mail, take care of cleaning the apartment, and other assorted tasks that must be done to run a household.  It worked out fairly well, though it was a bit hard having "two homes" at the same time.  It seemed whatever item I wanted was at the "other house", wherever I was!

The end of April came along, and I was at the apartment for a couple days so the boys could attend preschool. To my surprise, I went into labor several days before my scheduled c-section.  Eeeek!  My hubby barely made it to the hospital (came racing from a neighboring state!) before our third son was delivered via c-section.  That's a story all in itself!

We spent the summer partially in our camper and partially in our apartment.  We did some traveling, and visited family.  It was a bit tight having 3 kids and 2 adults in a 30 foot travel trailer, but we made do.  The baby wasn't mobile yet, so that helped!

In the fall of 2015 we went to Wyoming for hubby's work.  It started to become more apparent all the time that we needed just a little more space.  So, we made a big change!  We traded in our little travel trailer for a huge 40 foot fifth wheel with 5 slides.  The boys had an entire bedroom and bathroom all to themselves!  We had our own bedroom and bathroom!  Plus a nice kitchen, dining area, and living area.  Now granted, this was all still in an RV, but it was HUGE compared to what we had been living in!  We even had room to put a mini crib in the bedroom for the baby!

The second part of the big change....we moved out of our apartment!  We no longer had that home base to return to.  It was very emotional for me to move out of our apartment.  We'd lived there for several years, and I truly loved it.  But financially and practically speaking, it just didn't make sense to keep a place we would only be at a few times a year.  I had 3 days to get everything out of my apartment.  By myself.  My parents watched the kids, I gave away a lot of stuff, threw out even more, packed the rest, and hired movers to get it all into a storage unit.  It was a crazy few days, let me tell you.  Walking away from our apartment for the last time was bitter-sweet.  It was the right decision, though.

Packing their toys up on the patio.

Saying goodbye to their best friend from across the way.

Last look at our home.

It's been a crazy year, with lots of changes.  We bought a new RV home, moved out of our apartment home, and added a baby to the mix.  I cannot wait to see what the next year brings!  Hopefully it's just a little bit more predictable (knock on wood).  Time will tell!