Holy cow did you miss a lot since the last time we met. I’m going to break it up in a few posts because there is just so much and I should have been doing this all along. No matter how much I yell at myself to get motivated I’m just having too much fun to sit down, or at least that’s what I’m telling myself.

On the 12th we went full-on tourist in Fort Worth, Texas, the first stop being Fort Worth Science and History Museum. It also doubles as a school, which I thought was the coolest thing ever! Who WOULDN’T want to school in an awesome museum?!?

They had a dino fossil dig with a wonderfully attentive staff member. She told us all about the dinosaurs we were digging for and where they had found the actual bones.

Their fossil collection was impressive! They even had a smiling skeletal friend to take photos with.

We popped into the Cowgirl Museum across the way and bought a couple of lassos. Lassei? Lasses? Two ropes that catch things if you’re lucky. They have provided hours of fun and no injuries as of yet. One day I got to read, like, THREE chapters in an actual paper book while the tiny cowchildren lasso’d a tree stump. Thrilling!

The next stop was the cattle drive at the Fort Worth Stock Yards. Basically twice a day they walk about 20 longhorn cattle down the road directly next to the gawking tourists and hope that no one gets cow-poked. Very cool but nerve-racking for my paranoid self.

So, on the 16th we had a hell of a day. More like hell of an evening, actually. It had rained pretty much the whole day. We’d been playing board games all afternoon and I had smoked a pork loin in the smoker.

Some time after dinner our phones started blaring a tornado warning. We had not been watching the weather and had just assumed a little rain was falling. We were NOT prepared for disaster. As we ran around gathering flashlights and shoes, poor Wesson was hysterical. We got in the truck and headed for the nearest campground bathroom. Locked! Aww crap. The next one was in the next loop of the campground. The wind and rain at this point hammered home the fact that we were wholly unprepared.

We were the first ones into the ‘shelter’ and we’re soon joined by several other storm refugees and one extremely panicked park employee.

We sat in one of the shower stalls with our kids and hoped for the best, it was literally all we could do.

When the storm passed we headed back to the camper to discover that it had survived! The power was out in the camp, though, and because there was no power the water pump was down. No water, no electricity, no problem. We popped out the generator and we were back in business!

The next morning we found out that an actual real live tornado had touched down less than two miles from the campground, had hopped right over us, and continued on its way. I’ve never wanted to hug a tornado before then.

On the 17th we moved to Dallas. While driving to the new campground, Wesson came down with a virus we’re still fighting ever so slightly. It isn’t winter unless my kids try to get pneumonia for no apparent reason. First, Wesson shared it with Mara, and the first night Mara couldn’t sleep she laid on my chest for hours. Sharing is caring. Guess who DIDN’T GET ANY SICKNESS WHATSOEVER! That’s right, THE DAD.

We did get to meet another family who are also full time travellers. It’s always nice to know that we aren’t the only ones out there.

I’m giving you a “to be continued…” here so that you don’t get sick of me. Words need room to breathe and I am the foremost expert in breathing.* Don’t worry, I’m starting the next one right now. I promise.**
*Lies! I never breathe properly. If it were socially acceptable to wear a Breathe Right strip 24/7 I would totally do it. Allergens love me.
**I went to sleep after I wrote this.