August 21, 2017-- the Oregon Coast had been broadcasting its biggest promo for eons-- a FULL SOLAR ECLIPSE. We traveled north with our own once-in-a-lifetime experience in mind, though-- Kailyn's first birthday.
She was born into the traveling life whether she wanted to be or not. We learned we'd be expecting her after our plans had been launched into action. Should we continue with this nontraditional life on the road with a newborn on the way?
We had moved into our trailer in the thick heat of summer in Southern California, July of 2016. I was hugely pregnant and adjusting to life in small quarters, praying the air conditioner wouldn't break. I was in labor while doing laundry at Jurupa Regional Park in Rubidoux, California, though I didn't know it at the time.
Kailyn Wynsley arrived August 19, 2016 and her first and only home was and is our Jayco North Point 377RLBH.
As August 2017 approached and we made our way up the West Coast via the 101, Kailyn had no idea she was about to celebrate the anniversary of her first year not only as a beautifully developing baby girl but as a young lady living a most nontraditional adventure.
We settled ourselves in Sequim, Washington only two days before her birthday, a deadline and moving day that had this mom's brow pounding with mental pictures of what this baby's first birthday DAY should be.
With family and friends nearly a thousand miles away and echoes of a perfect first birthday party for Evelyn in my mind's eye, I struggled against what "should be" and "what is". I fought an internal battle between what I felt I should be offering my kids in a traditional sense with whatever acceptability we found in living a life somewhat estranged from family and friends in favor of the endless highway ahead. Which is right?
I wanted nothing more than to be in ONE PLACE for Kailyn's birthday. With the anticipated eclipse path nearby, we could only secure our two days at the KOA we'd stumbled upon in Sequim. This heartbroken mama, who'd had only one goal in mind that week-- not moving on Kailyn's birthday-- was informed that we could only stay two nights and would have to find another place to stay on August 19th.
I fought back tears. Moving Day is an effort in an of itself-- a day sacrificed to feverish packing and buckling, securing and double-checking, driving and drive-thru-ing, booking and reserving, parking and leveling, and finally again unpacking and settling in... none of which was in my idyllic picture of Kailyn's first birthday.
I did my running around as needed for her big day and little party. We browsed Downtown Sequim for gifts and baking supplies. Evelyn chose a rainbow wooden stacker toy as a gift for her baby sister, I chose a yellow amber necklace. We asked inside a cupcake bakery where we could find molds to make chocolate shells so I could make the picture I had in mind-- Kailyn's shore-themed cupcakes for our small celebration, wherever it may turn out to be. The women in the shop were angels in disguise-- they had chocolate shells onhand and sold me a handful of seashells and starfish for only $1. Things were looking up!
Brent, feeling my pain over having to make Kailyn's birthday a moving day, struck a deal with the KOA owner. The owner found us a spot to stay in for an additional three days. Though it wasn't in the newer renovated part of the park, it was secluded and was exactly right for us.
So, I baked, we wrapped, and we woke to August 19th, 2017. Kailyn turned one year old and the first of her front two teeth peeked from her gums in celebration. She sported her new amber necklace and opened her rainbow stacking toy. We blew up balloons and hung decoration and sang "Happy Birthday" as if surrounded by two dozen family and friends.
We celebrated Kailyn's first year the same way we celebrated her birth-- in a campground in the comfort of our small home.
This little soul has seen the world and traveled along in the best of spirits. To her, change in normal, people are friendly, and we are her everything. She is open to adventure, accepting of others, and optimistic of everything. She is our gift and we give her the gift of experience.
The eclipse two days later was anticlimactic when it came down to it. How can a huge shadow overshadow our ultimate joy-- Kailyn??
We celebrated her big day two months later when we arrived back in California for an extended and planned stay, but that day in Sequim, Washington was exactly what it is all about-- us, the unknown, and the celebration of the light that brings us all together: a one-year old who has known only this life and has spent every day of her life with all three of her nearest and dearest. How could it get any better than that?
