Noah Ray

It’s 7:50a as I begin to type my next blog post. I’m sitting at our little kitchen table next to the window with an open shade. The sky is just starting to become light and the view is amaking me smile. Being that I lived in the desert longer than I haven’t, I have an immense appreciation for trees. It was a couple days ago that I was walking our dogs around the campsite and I snapped this picture of our RV hidden beneath the canopy of trees. Looking at this picture again, I feel so incredibly blessed.

We have been on the road nearly three weeks now. It has been an adjustment for all six of us (dogs included) but with every passing day I feel like we are feeling more and more comfortable with our RV life. Alex has taken on the task as dog walker and poop picker upper. He also empties the black and gray tanks and takes care of things on the outside of the RV. He has also been perfecting his Chai tea and peach cobbler making skills. For the most part I take care of the inside duties such as cooking and cleaning. Alex has maintained his waking up early schedule and I wake up shortly after him. This morning I was greeted with a Chai tea that he prepared for me. Today he took the truck in for an oil change up in Kalispell but on most days he’s heading to the gym for his turn to get his workout on. Noah is usually waking up when Alex is heading out. I give him a few minutes to fully wake up while I make breakfast and prepare for my time at the gym. Then it’s Road Schooling time. I was going to order an actual curriculum for him prior to heading out on the road but we decided that we will keep his makeshift year of kindergarten stress-free, enjoyable and focus on Noah’s experiences as being the biggest part of his early education. With that said, he is learning his reading, writing and arithmetic. More importantly, he is learning about the world around him. One of the biggest parts of kindergarten is the socialization aspect. I am so thankful that we have found opportunities for him to participate in his two favorite sports, tennis and soccer while we have been here. Noah has found friends wherever we go and is always eager to show them his Bey Blades. For those of you who don’t know what Bey Blades are, you must be living under a rock. Just kidding:) Noah carries around his Bey Blades wherever we go in hopes of finding another little boy who shares his same passion. To my surprise, there are a lot of Bey Blade enthusiasts in the state of Montana! We have found them at just about every park we have been to and most recently our neighbor up the hill in our campsite. For those of you who might need a visual, Noah had laid them all out last night so he could show my friend Robin…

Noah has also enjoyed countless hours of playing in the woods, creeks rivers and lakes. I love that he gets his hands dirty and finds cool rocks and leaves wherever we go. He plays, explores and asks questions about how things work and how animals live. When we sold our home, we gave up 2400 sq feet of living space and 1 acre of backyard, but we have gained so much more. During these uncertain times, I have come to the conclusion that there is no normal. After talking to numerous Moms everywhere, I have heard at least a dozen different versions of kindergarten for the 2020/2021 school year. What I do believe is, the only normal that we can provide for our little ones is our consistent love.

After a full day of adventures, I prepare a healthy meal while Alex starts a campfire that we sit around after dinner. We finish off the night watching a classic movie in bed such as the Goonies, Beethoven, or an Adam Sandler flick. Adam Sandler has definitely become one of Noah’s favorites. Once the movie is turned off, I finish off with reading to Noah. Right now, we are reading one of my Uncle Chris’s books. He hasn’t published it yet but he sent it to me through email. By this time of the night Alex has already fallen asleep so it’s just the two of us and the glow my phone while I read to him.