Matchy Matchy

The Right Way To Think (Moms X2)

"How do you get your teens to wear matching shirts?" One part truck stop bribery, one part adventure lacking structure of any kind and the promise of throwing all our norms out the window. 

Our response to Kid #2 is...kind of?!? One definition of a cult is a small group of people having beliefs or practices regarded by others as strange or sinister.  When we walk into a truck stop, all eyes on us.  While some may shy away from the attention, we are the proud cult of matchy matchy.  A blended family that embraces truckstop breakfast as normal, windows down playlist up (oops blew a speaker today), and the age old rule of youngest in the third row.

We know there are two camps on coordinated clothing.  Those that would sooner gnaw their own limbs off than wear matching t-shirts and those that clap at thought of being matchy mathcy for a good cause.  To the nay-sayers out there, we say it is ALL cool as long as you own it.  Wear it with pride and confidence, go all in and with no apologies. 

Let’s face it we live in a world where either you create and communicate your brand, or someone else will do it for you. Labels, brands, and logos build tribes, create communities and a sense of ownership.  The Operation Beach Gypsy brand represents friendship, freedom, adventure and the creation life long memories.  Our years with our kids at home are numbered. They will leave us and will not bring much with them as they exit our homes to chase their own dreams.  If a summer road trip and matching t-shirts helps us archive, hold on to and cherish experiences and tradition over “things”, then we say yay for branding and matching t-shirts.  

Thank you Uber Prints for helping us create memories and treasure experiences.

The Different Way To Think (Kids X4)

To wear matching outfits, you have to follow a simple set of rules.  Disobey these rules, and face the worse punishment of all... Looking lame.  To avoid looking lame, you have to follow these five rules:

1. Not too flashy!

2. Can't be over 50.

3. Has to be the perfect fit.

4. Make sure its a cool design!

5. Your group can't be too big, or too small.

These are the main rules of wearing matching outfits.

"It looks like we're all in a cult." -Kate Oxenham

We have different opinions on the idea of matching outfits.  Some of us think that its a easy way to recognize one another and not get lost. Others think it gives us a sense of family and something to keep and to remember the road trip by.   When we walk into a truck stop people look as us like weridos or like weird hippies.  In the end, the overall opinion of matching outfits leans towards positivity.  This what us kids think of matching outfits.

Bringing Summer Vacation Back..Road trip style

This year’s journey is Operation Beach Gypsy (June 25-July 25, 2015)

Your Gypsies

My best friend and I from college are both teachers:  2^nd grade and an adjunct college professor. We have four kids between us, ages 8 to 15.   I live in a small ski town high in the Rocky Mountains and the Thelma to my Louise lives in a suburb outside Sacramento. Last year we decided to hit the open road together, all six of us in my pathfinder with no plan other than to spend as much time at the beach as we could and to have no plan.   We had the summer of our lives and plan to do it all over again this year. 

Why Do We Road Trip?

Lady Date Love

We both love pina coladas and cheese enchiladas (all things cheese and rum really).  Spending most of the year in two different states requires a full month of talking non-stop to catch up.

Generations of Friendship

Our children to get to know each other.  There is nothing more special than watching your kids learn to love each other the same way you love your best friend. 

Breaking Amish

My small town boys get to see the big city life.  Living in a small town is a gift and an amazing place to raise kids resulting in a magical and sheltered life. Our road trip gives them a front row seat to diversity and what the “real world” looks like.  As we introduce them to the “real world” Thelma lovingly calls my boys, her “Amish babies”.  Let's not forget that it also gives us the opportunity to show her landlocked babies the love of the sea.

Comfort Zone-Schomfort Zone, Not All Who Wander Are Lost

Living in the mountains allows me to live a life of adventure.  The kinds of folks that live in a ski town tend to be adrenaline junkies that love to travel.  Road trip'n allows a little bit of my reckless abandon to rub off on my dear my friend, a suburban “dance mom”.  Oh the stories she tells at cocktail parties at home about our adventures.  Her friends cannot believe that two mom’s would brave the open road with four kids. 

Reality Reset

A much needed escape for two underpaid and overworked educators.  We love what we do, but there is absolutely a reason why teachers need the summer off.

Fun Without Funds

There is one catch, as teachers our incomes are modest and of course since our husbands are not invited it is difficult to claim budget dollars for a family vacation.  From the minute we got home last summer, we knew this special time with our kids would be limited by them turning in to a-hole teenagers, so we immediately started planning for summer 2015.  Thelma and I have each taken on odd jobs during the school year to help scrap together money for our trip.  We text each with photos of checks and cash we collect, completely comfortable with pimping ourselves out for road trip dollars.  

In fact, we have joked with the kids that when we pull into each “port” they will have to earn the meals and spending money.  Two of them will dance for dollars, possibly painted all silver or gold like the street performers in San Francisco or Vegas.  The other two will use their special powers of agitation.  The thought here is that strangers my pay them to be less annoying.  Surely our superior dancing skills and razor sharp wit will pay off somehow.  It is never too early to teach our kids the power of grifting.

Oh the glamor of summers off... the sad truth is that not many teachers with school aged children are able to take full advantage of their time off.  Financial reasons and/or spouses without time off tend to get in our way.  We would love to show you the world what can be accomplished with a small budget, the willingness to wander, friends that open their doors and share their floors, a whole lot of smiles, laughter and patience.  Please help us celebrate the power of a road trip.

The Power of a Road Trip

Facebook Post from July 17^th…

“Rolling into Crested Butte with 2,600 more miles on our pathfinder, sand in our floor mats and sun kissed. The kids, a little more grown up and all of us, a little more young at heart....thankful for new friends and old ones...thankful for beaches and mountains...thankful for big cities and small towns..road trips rule”