The new Croppin' Cabin!!

Wow..I am so behind here, and I apologize for being absent for so long. I've been very busy, but I'll spare you the boring details. However, I have made some MAJOR changes here on the homefront, and I'm excited to share them.

First, and by far the most highly-expected news I am sure, is that we have added a new camping trailer to our family. It replaces the Shasta, but doesn't really replace the Shasta. Does that make sense? What I mean is while this MORE than adequately fulfills our camping needs as a family, it leaves me feeling a bit void in the "I want a cute canned ham vintage trailer to read & scrap in..." need. But that's okay, because I am totally, completely, 100% okay with that. I know that someday when my babies are at college becoming doctors and lawyers (a mom can hope, right?)I'll have plenty of time to find a new vintage trailer to submerse myself in, but for right now I need to go camping with my family and make memories!

So...I was perusing Craigslist & Ebay and all the local papers pretty heavily after the sale of the Shasta, and just when I thought I needed to take a break from the search, I happened upon a small ad posted on the St. Louis, MO Craigslist RV thread. There were no pictures, but I emailed and asked for pictures. In the next few days, I had totally forgotten about the email, and I sat down to log off one night and lo & behold, there is an email with pictures attached. Robert was here, and we both took one look at the pictures, and my heart started racing. This was THE one..I knew it. I immediately called them, and we arranged to come look at it the following Monday.

The kids, Sadie & I made the 2 1/2 hour trip where the trailer was sitting at a private lake. It had been sitting for 5 years in this same location, as a permanent vacation trailer, so I took the digital camera so I could show Robert the tires, etc. (And hitch, and all those other "guy" things that I'm still learning about but that usually bore me to tears...hey, at least I'm honest.)The seller was super nice, and he took his shoes off before we entered the trailer. I took this as a VERY good sign..the outside & inside were both meticulously clean..you could tell he was proud of his trailer. He gave me a walk-through, and showed me all about the electric hot water heater that he'd replaced the old gas one with, and the water pump, and the toilet and etc..I paid him $200 down and we went back later on the weekend and picked it up.

So..here are the pictures..It is a 1986 Fleetwood Prowler, 28 feet long. It has double doors, a queen walk-around bed in back bedroom, full bath with toilet, tub and shower, stainless steel appliances, jackknife couch, dinette, OODLES of storage, and get this--everything works. No more porta potty, no more sawing and nailing and electric screwdrivers and putty and water lines and gas lines. YAY. No, really..DOUBLE yay! My favorite things are the toilet (hehe), the extra table with leaf by the sofa (can we say SCRAPBOOKING!!), the porch lights at both doors, and all the storage.

Meet the new baby: