What do your relationships look like with those you meet on tour?

When I was a kid my mom got this book for us...

Orlando goes on a summer vacation and he is bummed because he will miss his friends.  He soon realizes that friends are all around even though you might be with them for 15 minutes at a rest stop or an afternoon at a lake.

Our relationships look a lot like that.  I know that little-while friends are important and special, but you have to seize the moment to make them.  Those moments can be incredibly awkward or surprisingly natural.

I hear you, Maddie.

I don't feel particularly talented at initiating conversations (I do think Kevin is.) but it's why we are out here...to build relationships...to encourage people.  So I try to learn from my mistakes and not hide because it is hard.  And look we have made friends....

(To be honest I am old and don't take pictures of myself making friends...weird.  SO I am filling this post with pictures of friends we have made while touring the past few years.)

Our relationships usually involve hugging, sometimes even before we learn each others names.

Sometimes new friends become tour mates.

Our relationships look like a 5 minute conversation after a show, or very long conversations that end in the wee hours of the morning.  Sometimes little while friends become long time friends.  I thought being on tour, and not being around friends all the time, we would miss out on big moments in each others lives. Thankfully, that has not been the case.  We seem to be around for a lot of real life moments. Lots of the rejoicing and the grieving that life has to offer.  I am truly thankful for it all.

We got to help with and attend the wedding of our dear friends Jon and Alli.  Kevin met Jon about 10 years ago.

We got to hold baby Arrow 2 hours after he was born. Kevin met his parents before they were even married.

Being on tour has meant we can keep in touch with friends from college even when they move a bunch...yes we are stalking you Jo.

We like to play games with our friends (even if they cheat to win).

P.S.  Thanks for the question Jason.  I realize this only answers half of your question.  We can answer, "What our relationships look like with each other?" another time.

Do you play too?

Nope.

I do have other talents though.

Well, now that we have that covered.  We can move on to the business at hand.

1. If you would like to follow my blog you need to sign in with your google account, on my blog page on the right you can click on that Google + thingy to follow.

2. The original intent of this blog was to answer common questions I get about this touring life.  I think I have covered most of these questions, but perhaps there are more...

 If you have a question about our life on tour please leave it in the comments below.  

Where do you go?

 "Where do you go?"  The answer is almost everywhere that doesn't require a boat or a passport. 

The ever cold and windy Oregon coast.

Boston, MA

Coast

to 

Coast...

Instead of listing a long list of dates and places, I wanted to create a visual aid for you.  If you're wondering why it has been so long since the last post, creating this "visual aid" is one of the reasons.  It was a nightmare for me to create.  My first attempt was in August with a completely different program.  Now, in FEBRUARY, I have something to share...not my original vision but it will have to do or I will never publish another post again.

The map in the link below is roughly a year of touring according to Kevin's "Never ending Tour" excel spreadsheet.  (The same spreadsheet that he started in June 2011...Who knew?)  Of course the time we stay in each place is not represented but it does give you a picture of how often we hit certain regions of the country in a year.

http://www.animaps.com/pb/139150001/91/Tour_2015

What Do You Do When You Aren't On Tour?

Sorry this post is a week late but we are on a break from tour.  So it is actually perfect timing to gather photographic evidence and answer the question:  "What do you do when you aren't on tour?"

Every couple months we swing back around to Saint Louis.  It could be for a couple days or a month. Regardless of the length of stay we always unload every single thing from our car.  It NEEDS a cleaning folks.

The kids help with this massive undertaking which is nice.

The second thing we do is go through the giant pile a mail that has accumulated over the past couple months and hope that nothing bad is waiting for us in there.

The third thing on our list is grocery shopping.  My preparedness varies but the basic plan is to buy as many fruits and vegetables as I can, then I cook my little heart out for as long as the break allows!!! 

  My father-in-law graciously lets me overtake his kitchen and cook crazy things, like meals with no meat...but no mushrooms, that is where he draws the line.  

 Lest you think to highly of me, there is always at least one stressful, disaster of a meal and by the end of the break I am ready to go back on tour and not be responsible for every meal for a while.

On this break in particular we had two weeks of beautiful fall to enjoy...

We did a school unit on LEAVES!

We visited the Saint Louis Zoo and met their newest addition Kali the polar bear.

We also attended a house show that Kevin was NOT playing...Maddie pointed out that this is weird and unusual.

I was able to get a bit crafty and  finish the kids' Halloween costumes.  Kevin is a brown bat.

Maddie is Rosalina with her pal Luma (Mario Galaxy characters).  I finished them in time to wear to the Magic House, a really cool children's museum in STL.

We try to make it to church and if we do, we often stop at Imo's Pizza on the way home.  It's a Saint Louis tradition.

The kids really love lounging around at grandpa's wearing their robes and pajamas for as long as possible.

Playing many, many, video games is also high on the To Do List.

This break, and most breaks for the rest of this year Kevin is consulting...so it is not much of a "break" for him, just a different job.  He is also working on some new music with Fallon and playing as many video games as he can.

Don't be fooled, underneath these professional looking clothes are a pair of red swimming trunks and a Families t-shirt.

Breaks from tour are busy, really busy.  We have to fit in a lot of life maintenance; doctor and dentist appointments, bank trips, oil changes, cleaning, work, unpacking, repacking. Despite all the "chores"we really enjoy the change of pace, sleeping in the same place each night, the opportunities for each of us to be creative and also spending time with family. 

Not...technically...a question.

"Touring must be so exciting!"  While not technically a question, it is a statement (dare I say assumption) I hear a lot.  Touring can be very exciting.  

The kids were super excited to see dolphins for the first time in Florida.

We get to see new places and meet new people and hear great music almost every day.  At the end of the day realizing that you made a connection with someone or maybe encouraged or helped someone is also exciting, to me, anyway.

The reality of day to day life on tour, especially when you are not the musician (Kevin plays, sings, and writes the music), booking agent (Kevin books all the shows) or manager (also Kevin) there is a lot of down time.  Most of the time schedules are such that big adventures can't be accomplished in the time before a show or the time before we need to leave for a show.  So we wait...

We wait to leave to get to a show...

Sometimes waiting is great because it gives you down time to spend time with friends.

We wait for venues to open...

 

We wait for shows to start...

Surprise!  Sometimes shows don't start on time.

We wait to go to bed after shows...

 

Well, let's be honest, sometimes we don't wait to sleep...

30 minutes here, 2 hours there; sometimes we make the most of our wait time by exploring what is near, chatting, running in circles, or creating.  

Who would have guessed a community garden with veggie sculptures would be right across the street from the show.?!?!

Who would have guessed the kids would find a super fun box at tiny "park" on same street as the coffee shop Kevin was waiting to play at later that evening.

Sometimes we just wait.

 

 

So, do you homeschool?

Do we home school?  Sure we do, but we like to call it car school.  The state of Missouri requires very little from home schooling families, which is nice because it gives us a lot of flexibility to teach our kids on tour.  

Maddie is in First grade this year and Kevin is in 3rd. 

We don't really take a summer break so that through out the year if we have days that school seems impossible on the road we don't worry about it.

Often school during the summer involves science experiments, art, building projects and more since the kids and I find ourselves at grandpa's house for a couple of weeks.

Making geodes for our Rocks and Minerals Unit

Everyday we work on reading, writing and math. This involves lessons, independent work, discussions, revisions and celebrations when stories, books and units are finished. We add other subjects and topics depending on the kids interests. We try to take advantage of down time no matter where we are to get some school done.  

We have a lot of school time in the car.

We had school at a botanical garden to celebrate the first day of Autumn.

Libraries are the best.  Free, quiet and resources at your fingertips.

We try to take advantage of the traveling nature of our life. We visit lots of parks and gardens.

We also visit lots of National Parks, natural and historical.  The kids have acquired quite a few badges and recited quite a few Jr Ranger pledges.

Most recently we went to the San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park.

Zoos and aquariums are also on our list of things to do. In May, we went to the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, IL. 

Museums are very educational and many of them are free.  This is the first programmable computer in the US, located in Boston, MA.

Art museums are also an occasional field trip.

Sometimes we explore towns like Savannah Georgia, 

or we explore the natural environments we find ourselves in like tide pools on the Oregon coast.

Rest stops can be very educational too.

I bet car schooling looks amazing to you. The truth is teaching our children is hard.  It is hard to be a teacher and a parent at the same time.  It is hard when my kids act like regular kids and aren't focused on their math or rush through their work so they can play or get mad at themselves or mad at me when work becomes difficult.  But, I am thankful that our schooling is a group effort that both Kevin and I are invested in.  I am thankful for second chances to teach and encourage my kids well. Our goals for this time of schooling might be grand and idealistic: a general knowledge of the nature and history of the country, and a love of nature, exploring, and learning. Whether or not this happens, I am thankful for the moments of wonder and discovery I get to experience with Kevin and Maddie.

Maddie discovering that Lake Superior is COLD!