Imagine

Some kids have imaginary friends.  I did.  Mine was named "Janie".  Janie and I had all sorts of fun together.  I don't remember Janie, but mom and dad are happy to remind me of her.  Gannon and Siri both had short lived imaginary friends.  I could probably look back and tell you about them, but this story is about Annika.
Annika is 3, and she has QUITE the imagination.  But Annika doesn't have an imaginary friend.  Annika has Markship.

Driving down the road a few weeks ago, we were discussing where to eat.  We don't eat out often, but when we do, the kids have a say.  Siri wanted Chick-Fil-A, and Gannon wanted Whataburger (life in the world of fast food is pretty much over when we leave Texas).  Of course they couldn't agree.  They both looked to Annika for a decision, a decisive vote.  They each plead their case: "Chick-Fil-A has a PLAYGROUND!  Don't you want to go inside and PLAY!?!?!?"  "Whataburger has COOKIES with the kids meals!  YOU LOVE COOKIES!!!!"  Annika sat stoic, not blinking, not looking at either sibling. She would not be swayed.  She knew what she wanted.  Calmly and quietly, she said, "I want to go to Markship."
Markship.  So, at three, sometimes places we go and things we see and do have names that aren't entirely accurate.  I racked my brain trying to figure out what Markship was.
"Do you mean McDonalds, Annika?"  "No, Mommy, Markship!"  "Annika, do you mean the place we ate all the lobster in Maine?"  "NO, Mommy!  MARKSHIP!"
At a loss, I did what any desperate parent would do.  I asked for clarification.
"What's Markship, Annika?"
"Mommy.  Markship is the restaurant place with the macaroni and cheese.  With bathrooms that are always open if you need to go potty.  It has pink chairs and pink tables and the food is all soooooo yummy!"

She makes this face while she's telling me about the wonders of Markship.  

"Annika, is Markship real?"  "No, mommy, but IMAGINE if it WAS!!!"

Since that day, we've learned much more about Markship.  It also serves chicken and fries and diet sprite (I don't think she's ever HAD diet sprite), has a HUGE playground with water, there are wooden ships on the floor, and the floor is made of wood.  Any time we talk about a place to eat, or what to eat, Marship is recommended.  Sometimes, Gannon and Siri ask if we can try Markship.  Gannon now has a business model to open a restaurant called Markship.  

If you drive past my house this summer, and there are three beautiful kids sitting at a lemonade stand, colored pink of course, be sure to glance at the name.  You're probably visiting the first Markship in the USA.  Tip well.

Deep thoughts with Annika and Siri

We're currently driving from Galesburg, Illinois back to our home in Texas. The weather has been... questionable for December in the mid west.  Right this very moment, I'm in the bathroom of a Kum-n-go, taking the advice of my grandmother, "if you have the chance to try to go, you should at least try.".
I walked past a conglomeration of cheap redneck souvenir options and into the overly florally deodorized particle board- paneled stall.  Siri had already locked herself in the smaller of the two stalls and I could see her feet swinging as she sat.  I pulled down Annikas pants and sat her on the stained, plastic toilet seat.  I tried not to think of what else had occupied that spot today.
Siri and Annika often have bathroom conversations, but this one was more profound than normal. 
" Annika, these bathrooms are wood, and that means they are nice. And expensive.  Do you know what wood is made of? "
Don't laugh, don't laugh, don't laugh... She was so serious with her delivery...
"Annika, this wood... It's made from TREES.  wood is made from TREES, Annika.  Remember that the wood you see in nature, it's made from TREES.".
Annikas eyes lit up.  She wiped and got off the potty using entirely too much palm-to-toilet contact for my comfort.  She touched the paneling.  " oOoooOoOooh!  Trees are made of WOOD...."

We still have 10 hours to drive...

And, Annika probably has Ebola.

Gannon, tequila, and a Mexican jail

I love to travel.  Loooovvvveeeee.  I love to plan experience, to meet new people, taste new foods... I have wanderlust and I have it bad.  You should check out my travel blog The Jolly Camper.  It's less funny and more camp-ey.

Tonight, we had a great time with our friends, the Warrens.  They are our pastors, our dear friends, our kids best friends....really more like family.  We like to do stuff with the Warrens, and we refer to it as the "WarNig *event*".  We've had the WarNig Christmas, the WarNig Camping Trip, the WarNig Thanksgiving, a WarNig 4th...The WarNig "bottomless cup" hockey game.....you get the idea.  So tonight, there   were drinks, laughs, and trip planning.

The kids played upstairs while the adults brainstormed. We had initially tried to plan a camping trip for the first few weeks of October, but we kept having "oh, yah, we have *insert event here* that day.  So, no October camping trip.  Somehow, Mexico came up.  Mexico.  I've never been to Mexico!  I think running the Beach to Bay Marathon Relay in Corpus Christi is the closest I've been to our southern neighbors.  Mexico came up, and somehow, between 4 exhausted adults, a bottle of McAllen 18, a cup of coffee, and midnight conversation, a camping trip to Padre Island National SeaShore with a day trip to Playa Bagdad was scheduled.  SQUEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  A trip to put on my count down!  (Yes, we're leaving the continent for Spring break, and YES we're finishing up the lower 48 states this summer...but a CLOSE trip!  Fewer than three digits in the number!!!!!)

We departed the Warrens with as much excitement as two families totaling 12 people can muster at near midnight.  Lists were swirling in my head.  Packing...weather in Mexico in November...food....leaving on a Friday after school....Kids birth certificates, I probably need to order a few more copies...I started thinking out loud.  I think out loud, loudly.

Gannon caught on.
"MEXICO!?!?!?!  WE'RE GOING TO MEXICO!?!?!?!?!"

So, the way Gannon processes things is unusual.  If you've read more than one of these blog posts, you've probably figure that out.

"Yup!  All of us!  In November.  With the Warrens."
It wasn't immediate excitement.  You could almost hear the wheels turning.  What. Would. He. Say.

"Well, I hope I don't end up in a Mexican jail from drinking too much of that drink you warned me about."

I have no recollection of warning him about tequila, but I can honestly say, I
feel like this was a parenting win.    

SIXTY NINE DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!

A whole lot of fun and a whole lot of Jesus

Getting the car detailed before we leave

If you don't know about my camping trip, you have to check it out on my other blog, The Jolly Camper.  We're getting ready.  We're making progress on packing.  Laundry piles are starting to dwindle (as much as they can when you have 2 little girls that change outfits 34u2879572389-7 times a day.  Yes I realize there are letters in that number.)  We've been to the bank.  We've been to Target.  We've been back to Target.  We're so close to ready.

The most popular question I get asked is: HOW DO YOU DO IT?

Patience:  I am not a naturally patient person.  In fact, I'm rather impatient.  As a critical care nurse, I like excitement, and I like to see results. Right.  NOW.  Being patient with gas station clerks (I use all cash, so I see a LOT of these people), state park rangers, other campers, TRAFFIC, my very own CHILDREN....the Lord really pushes me to grow in patience over these times. Essential.

Cash: I pay for the trip in cash. We have a set budget that Gordon and I work out months in advance, then I work my TAIL off to be able to play hard.  I have people tell me all the time, "don't work so hard that you forget to live!"  Um, yah.  I'd say taking a month of work totally off to show my kids HALF the country is living.  We follow the teachings of Dave Ramsey and live like no one else, so we can live like no one else.  I drive a $900 car to and from work, we live in a home where our mortgage payment (which will be paid off early) is only a quarter of one of our incomes, we don't eat out.  But by golly, if we want to eat a lobster in Maine, we eat lobster in Maine!

Trust: My husband is a very understanding and trusting man.  He has NO problem "allowing" me to take our kids for a month because, one, he trusts me, and two, he trusts the benefit of our kids getting to travel and experience.  THANK YOU, Gordon for trusting me with our precious little people :)

Flexibility: Yes, I plan.  Yes, there is an itinerary, but wow, it is fluid.  We know the places we want to stop, but if a local tells us to do something different, we go.  If somewhere we go sucks, we leave.  If we want to spend an extra day somewhere because it is amazing, we do.  This works in with my section on "patience."  A. Lot.

Stupidity/Bravery: Honestly, I haven't' figured out where camping with 4 kids over a month falls on the stupid/brave spectrum.  It's probably right in the middle, which is about right for me.  But the pay off is so so so so so so so so so worth it!

Jesus:  We try to keep Jesus as the center of our home.  And our van.  That makes everything I listed above possible.  Without a heart of Love, the peace that surpasses all understanding, the fruit of the spirit, and finances that honor God first, this whole thing goes up in smoke.  If I have to pull off the side of the road  because Gannon just won't stop kicking the seat because he's mad that Siri got to pick the last movie and Annika can't fall asleep for her nap because Gannon is kicking and Siri is crying and I'm yelling and Kayleigh is wondering WHAT in the world is going on, we pull over.  And we pray.  And we ask for forgiveness from each other, from our Lord, and we ask Jesus to remind us that HE created all the things we have set out to see, and HE created our beautiful little family that I love SO much, and HE is the one we praise for eternity.

That's about it.  Everything else is a fly by the seat of our pants adventure which is the fun part!  Hope you enjoy following The Jolly Camper over the next month.  Read, Comment, Share, SUBSCRIBE, and Enjoy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  

TOMORROW, WE RIDE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Faces

I was looking through my camera the other day, needing to upload some of the 2000 pictures I have of our travels over the past year.  
You can view those on my blog The Jolly Camper

Here are some of the "Selfies" I found.  

For your viewing pleasure, Ladies and Gents...

Literally

There are kids who are good at vocabulary, and there are kids that are good at language, and then there is Gannon.  Gannon is articulate, he has a fantastic vocabulary, and Gannon has difficulty interpreting literal language.  Gannon also has a great friend, Jaidn, that has difficulty interpreting literal language.  You can check them out in real life on their YouTube Channel, The Rabbit Holes.  Really.  Hearing Jaidns voice adds a TON.  This story is about the two boys.

(Watching T-Bone Dance)

We were awesomely blessed by our dear friends the Warrens with tickets to the San Antonio Rampage Hockey Game.  WOOHOO!!!!!!!!  AT&T Center, great seats, great friends.  Since they got tickets, we got snacks, 'cus that's how we roll in the WarNig (Warren-Koenig) family.  We got beer. We got popcorn.  We got A sprite.  One, unlimited sprite.  Now, I've told you about the Warrens before.  They have 5 awesome offspring whom we love to death.  Those five plus our three littles are quite a group, and they were being asked to share ONE sprite.

(Gannon and Mommy)

Gannon and Jaidn were a bit perturbed that the girls were sucking down the sprite like it was the sweet nectar of the Gods.  I tried to reassure them that there would be plenty. 

"Guys, it's a bottomless drink, don't worry, there's more where that came from!"


They stopped.  It was going to be ok.


5 minutes passed.


It was no longer OK.


Gannon seemed upset.  I inquired, then listed to the exchange of literal thinkers:


Me:  What's the matter, bud?


Gannon:  Well, if the drink is bottomless, how does it even hold the drink?!?!?!


Jaidn:  Gannon, the drink isn't ACTUALLY bottomless.  I checked!

WarrNig Klan :)

The N Word. Kind Of.

Gannon has a Facebook.  He is (normally) very monitored.  Saturday night, I won Mom of the Year award for falling asleep while Gannon was on my computer.  Bad bad bad bad bad bad BAD idea.  

I didn't know right away that something had gone awry.

Headed into church on Sunday, a dear friend approached me.  "Did she respond?" she inquired.  I gave a rather blank look as I had NO idea who was responding to what.  

"T (we'll call her)!  Did she respond to Gannon's Facebook post?"

Gannon was no where to be seen.  Probably trying to download games on the "Giving Kiosk"  

Lord Mercy. 

 I started to sweat.  My face got red.  

This could not be good.  

I went for my phone. 

 I scrolled through Gannon's account.  Nothing incriminating.  A few Toby Mac references.

I went to T's account.  

I scrolled.  

And I found this post:

To which Gannon responded.....

We're still waiting to find out.

Banana Bread

Gannon loves to bake.  He also hates to sleep.  This can be a dangerous equation.  We've woken up to some very interesting messes, and some very unique recipes have been created in the wee hours in the Koenig home.
It had been some time since Gannon had tapped into his culinary juices.

2:00 AM
Gannon:  BurstS into the bedroom, using his inside voice.  His inside voice is LOUD.  "MOM MOM MOM MOM MOM!  WAKE UP, THE BANANA BREAD IS ALMOST READY!!!!"
Me:  Blurry eyed, but somehow wide awake, "What banana bread, Gannon?"
Gannon:  THE ONE I MADE YOU!  COME LOOK!
Me: Follows Gannon downstairs.  Finds the oven at 450* with this inside...

Yes, that is a plastic bowl.

On the positive side, he DID have most of the ingredients right, right? *Yawnnnnnnnnnn

Breakfast

Mornings in my house are hard.  I know I've mentioned before that Mr. Koenig has a hard time waking up, so I count on him for bedtimes.  Mornings, well, that's all me.  Between the Siri throwing fits about her outfit,

(She wanted to wear her skirt inside out.  I said no.  Then I said yes.)

Gannon needing to work on his 6-pack

(Teeth were't brushed, please note he is not wearing socks.....yet)

And Annika with her........Siri-ness

Most of the time, they don't get breakfast at home.  Sometimes, I am a stellar mom and make instant oatmeal, but cheerios in a cup are the staple.  No milk, just plain, dry cheerios.  Driving to school this morning, 2.5 days before Christmas break, I won the mom of the year award.  I TOTALLY forgot food for ANYONE.  Whoops.  Fortunately, I think we were out of the house in enough time for the kids to eat *gasp* school breakfast.  

I got a rapid response of extreme enthusiasm, which surprised me.  Siri cleared it up.

"Mommy!  You are the best mommy in the world, do you know why?  Because at school, they have my favorite kind of Cheerios!  They are my favorite because they RAINBOW Cheerios!  They are EVERY COLOR, mommy!"

I was a little confused, trying to think of the specific type she was describing when Gannon pipped in, annoyed as his sisters excitement.

"Fruit Loops, Siri.  They're Fruit Loops".

Food Poisoning

Gordon has always had a hard time waking up.  A Really.  Hard.  Time.  We went through a four alarm clock stage, we went through the "Christmas Bells Alarm" phase, we've thought about getting a taser for wake ups!  There have been some interesting "the kids woke up but he didn't" moments in our lives.  Yesterday was one of those days.  I was at work and I got the text...

Gordon:  "I fell back asleep and woke up at 8:45...  Gannon was eating and feeding Annika the spaghetti that had been left on the table overnight..."

He went on to tell me how he had educated Gannon about food poisoning, especially with meat and dairy, and that he appreciated him taking care of his sister, but to be aware of the dangers of eating left out food.  Gannon was more than concerned for his sisters safety, apologized to Gordon for feeding her possibly contaminated food, and cleaned up the mess.  But Gannon doesn't just let things go.  Not that easily.  He ruminates and obsesses.  He over thinks.  He's also a bit of a hypochondriac.

Later that same day, I got this text....

Gordon: "Gannon just told me that " well, at least I didn't catch the food poison... But I did have skinny poop this morning, and THAT is not ordinary..."

Stars and Stripes Forever.....

It has become a tradition over the past few years to spend the 4th of July either at work, or with my best friend and her family.  Its a 50/50 split, and often I feel like Work and Family share custody....not really.  So this year was our turn with the Real family.  We had prepared the kids with conversation about the freedom we enjoy in America, about the birth of our great nation, we watched parts of "1776" and "Independence Day".  We had fabulous food, beer, pie, kids running amuck with sparklers, poppers, and a sundry of other pyrotechnics.  It was a grand time!  About an hour into blowing up various fireworks, Gannon ran in his normal hyper-excited state to myself and Sharee and asked the question of the night...
"HOW LONG TILL WE COUNT DOWN TO MIDNIGHT!!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!"

180 days, Gannon.  Wrong Holiday.

The 40 Essential Items to 24 Days on the Road with Your Kids

The 40 Essential Items to 24 Days on the Road with Your Kids

ie:  The Packing List

19 days from right now, I'll be taking off with my four kids (ages 16, 8, 5, and 1) on a grand adventure of a road trip.  We'll be visiting 14 states in 24 days and camping IN THE CAR!  I'll be posting on how we're fitting an air mattress in the back of the van here soon.  So, here's the conundrum: I have to be able to fit everything from the trunk in the front two seats for sleeping.  Here, I'll show you....

This is the layout of the van.  See the trunk space?  See the front seat space?  Well, the whole list of stuff, minus the air mattress, sleeping bags and pillows need to go from the back.......................

to in between the front seat and the dash.  This includes Annika's car seat.  So I'm posting my list to make sure I didn't forget anything, or maybe even skinny it down!  Please comment below.  I appreciate you reading!

1.  Air Mattress
2. Sleeping Bags x4
3. Pillows
4. Cooler with Ice
5. Bread, Peanut butter, Jelly, and a knife
6. fruit/crackers/snacks/cheese
7. WATER
8. Cups for A
9. Binkies for A
10. Diapers/wipes for A
11. 1 pair long pants each
12. 3 pair shorts each
13. 5 pair underwear each
14. 5 t-shirts each
15. 1 sweatshirt/jacket each
16. 1 pair tennis shoes each
17. 1 pair Sandals each
18. 5 pair socks each
19. 1 swim suit each
20. 1 towel each
21. 2 pair jammies each
22. deodorant
23. shampoo
24. conditioner
25. body wash
26. toothbrushes
27. toothpaste
28. face wash
29. moisturizer
30. Sunscreen
31. Bug spray
32. Benadryl/Motrin/tylenol/valium
33. money
34. tampons/pads
35. MOVIES
36. BOOKS
37. Emergency Kit
38. Atlas
39. Tablet/charger
40. Cell phones/charger