Welcome to The Vetetoe Family Tour Our Home page! If you have made your way to here then chances are you have already researched list upon list upon list of travel trailer models and floor plans. Generic photos probably are not why you are here. You want to see what it looks like to live in a camper with kids. Am I right? We have been in our camper since late summer of 2014 and while it has experienced some wear and tear, we still love it!
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Our rig is a 2015 Heartland Silverado 37QB with a king bed, outside kitchen, and we remodeled the dining area some. Okay, so we took out the table and moved a single booth. But the difference was life changing! The total length of “Beauty” is about 42′ and we haul her with a 2014 RAM 3500 turbo diesel dually affectionately nicknamed “Beast”. A little lame, I know, but I am quite the nerd and we did have three little girls all 4 and under when we set out. It fits us!
When we began considering this lifestyle, I knew a washer/dryer would be a requirement. We had done hotel-living long enough and often enough that laundry mats just were not an option. We researched, debated, discussed, and finally decided on what we thought would be the perfect washer. I walked in confident in our choice and the amazing sales manager flat-out refused to sell us our choice because of the number of complaints he had received on that unit. He politely guided us over to the Splendide 2100XC {vented!} and made it clear that this cheaper option was exactly what we would need. SOLD! Knock on wood but that has been the best camper investment/upgrade we have ever made. Cloth diapering and all: we love it!
The metal tree you see hanging here as well as all of the stickable décor in our master bedroom came from Hobby Lobby. Our towels are all part of the J.C. Penney quick dry line and we try to keep a bundle of extras under our bed for the rare guest. I love having fresh and fluffy brand new towels under our bed just waiting to be washed!
It took me about six months of camper life to finally give in and make the investment in a larger stick vacuum. Space was my main concern and also functionality. In the end, we went with the Shark Rocket and I am so grateful we didn’t splurge on the one I “thought” I wanted. We vacuum 2-3 times a day so having the vacuum accessible is important tome. All of this time and it is still going as strong as it did that first day!
This baby gate is by Summer Infant and is pressure mounted. It has held up very well and so far has not worn out which is impressive with the amount of use! The kids have climbed all over it but even the oldest cannot get over it and it has not fallen down a single time. We remove it easily for moves since I am paranoid about it puncturing the wall but you might even be able to leave it up full-time.
The wall map is from Amazon and we glued rolled corkboard across the back. From there, we added command velcro strips meant for photographs to keep from damaging the walls while also allowing us to easily move it if we ever change campers. We use push pins to mark anywhere that our family stays/lives together. It is so wonderful tracking our adventures!
You can read about our experience with changing the dinette over to a reading nook. The process was terribly simple and well worth the loss of a table. We may eventually change this into an area for two recliners instead but more on that to come later. (Update: As of October 2017 we have a double reclining couch with small side tables and a bookcase instead of the booth and love seat. We may choose to update photos but I know these originals have been beneficial to many so we are leaving them for now.)
All of the diapers and inserts you see out as well as our wet storage bags were all purchased from Wink Diapers. For our newest little one (our first boy!) we have stocked up on a mixture of pre-loved all-in-one diapers as well as some new BumGenius Freetime diapers. We have not made the leap to cloth wipes but we do use Babyganics and it has been a great combination for camper living.
The cubes that we have been using as a makeshift library are actually “Honey Do” storage cubes from Amazon which can be reorganized in various ways to fit your needs and space. The Mickey bin is part of a set from Target and while stand was broken within a week these bins have been very useful for shoe, toy, and book storage.
This baby gate is also from Summer Infant and it was by far the best choice after almost a year of research. This gate was actually our second attempt at finding a solution for this spot. We wanted the mesh in case our little laid on it and fell asleep…which she now does regularly. We have had no issues with her being able to open it and even our middle child has not been able to force her way into or out of the bed.
Wondering about keeping an older toddler from falling out of the top bunk? Read about our solution!
One of the most common questions we receive about our outside kitchen is how often we actually put it to use. Honestly, it has been 100 percent worth the minor loss of inside bunk space to have this available any time we need it. The cabinet is handy for storing extra canned goods, the fridge makes for invaluable additional cold storage, plus we love having frozen popsicles or smoothie tubes available while playing outside during the warmer months. I can let the littles escape to the outdoors year-round while I cook dinner on the stovetop, in th summer we can throw the crockpots outside keeping the cooking heat out of the camper, and in the fall we can throw a BBQ without missing a single football play. Seriously, we love our outside kitchen!
Want to see the home the first day we owned it? Read about that over on Our New Home!