Teamwork Makes the Dream Work!

Well it's a race to the start of this adventure.  This month has been a blur!  End of the school year for the kids and I includes late nights, weekend boating, birthday celebrations for Keith, Nana, Mamo, Papa, retirement parties, Graduations, end of the year celebrations, teacher gifts, moving classrooms, report cards...we are all just going on adrenaline and watching for the light at the end of the tunnel. Throw in a major trip and it gets chaotic.  My amazing team is working hard.  The kids have been excitedly packing as I go behind them and unpack the unnecesary items.  Keith is fixing leaks and making sure Maje is ready for the big journey.  I've got virtual lists and handwritten lists and they are starting to come together.  I know I will forget something, but we have our newly purchased selfie stick, our coffee maker, plastic wine glasses and our entire dvd collection.

This past weekend was a trial run for the Desormeaux's in the RV.  We ventured all the way to the KOA in Craighurst (Barrie) which is a whopping 5kms from our house! If you've never been, it's really a great campground.  We enjoyed going home for forgotten items and to have a shower (camping is way dirtier than the boat).

Highlights and new learning from this experience:

1.     Full Hook up is the way to go.  Seriously, so easy.  Water, sewer, electric done in minutes

2.     A newly purchased sewer hose is a beautiful thing

3.     We need more blankets

We did a mega shop at Canadian Tire and got more than a few looks from people as we pushed our overflowing cart to the parking lot. A stop at the LCBO (who else thinks that strike scare was a major cash grab? But I couldn't chance it!) and we were ready to get back to the campground.

As friends have talked about how excited they are to follow the blog, someone recommended that I keep it real.  No worries there.  I have scoured Pinterest for RV hacks and I have a vision of what my lovely home on wheels should look like - here's a little taste of what it looked like Sunday morning:

And as Parker so nicely put it, "If it looks like this after one weekend, what will it look like after a month?" No fair, I was just getting organized!  And who brought the balloons???

Sunday was time to pack up and get home to prepare for the last week of school.  As I unhooked my sewer, water and electric in the HAIL, yes HAIL, I wondered out loud how many times I would be doing this in the rain.  But I didn't dare complain!
Hail - 1
Allyson - 0

So in the past month I've been thinking about the sibling relationship.  Parker and Abby, like most siblings, run hot and cold. So the question is, how to bribe them to get onboard with the dream of a blissful family vaca? Answer: I'm bringing back the 'Desormeaux Dollar'!  Years ago, in my classroom, I gave out Desormeaux Dollars that students could spend in the Desormeaux Store.  The newly minted Desormeaux Dollar of 2017 is 'kinda' legal tender.  Parker and Abby will be paid when they contribute to the dream and will have to pay me back if they take the trip off side.  Abby has bought in fully completely.  Parker is more skeptical because he feels he's always onboard.  I know he'll join in the fun when Abby is cashing in to buy giant pencils and Fun Dip. And each one is $1 - there are no 5's, 10's or 20's at the Bank Of Desormeaux...

So here's to the end of the school year.  The empty shelves at the LCBO are thanks to Educators who are passing each other in the halls and holding up fingers to show how many days/hours left and giving a wink of joy!  Stay tuned as the next blog entry will be the first leg of the Desormeaux Canada Tour - Destination: Walmart, Sudbury Ontario. How will we contain the excitement????