The Woolley Family: At the Beach

This year we took a family vacation to Southern Shores, NC, in the Outer Banks. Mom and Dad rented a house with just enough room for all of us kids and our kids, and the house was right on the beach. A splurge for sure, but it was SO NICE to have the beach right there. With all of the kids and the gear, it was nice to not have to drive anywhere or to walk a long distance to get to the beach. We were able to set up for the day in the morning and come and go as we pleased. Then, we had a little lookout deck at the top of the dune, so we could leave our stuff there at night and not haul the chairs and umbrellas all the way back to the house. It was absolutely wonderful. I can't thank my mom and dad enough for making this vacation wonderful for all of us.

However, our vacation did get off to an interesting start. The night before we left, a huge storm swept through Columbus (and WV and VA). The power was out in a lot of neighborhoods, but not ours, fortunately. On Saturday morning, shortly before we left, my mom called with a bit of sage advice: "the power is out all over WV, so if you get to a 1/2 talk of gas, start to look for a place to fill up, because a lot of places are closed." Then, Danila called to let me know that her parents didn't have power in Staunton, VA. You see, we planned to stay with them on the way down to break the trip up into two days. We decided that places would be booked no matter what and decided to risk it and head to the Kennedy's on the way down. We got on the road and just north of Beckley, WV started to look for a place to get gas. Sure enough, service stations were closed all over the place. We tried to get off at the Tamarack exit, but the exit was closed (even though we could see the Tamarack and the service center on the turnpike were open). We went another exit south and found out from a trooper that we could exit northbound, but not southbound, as they were trying to control traffic. When we finally pulled off there was a long line for gas. I opted to get the girls out of the car and take them in for a potty break while Jon got gas. There was a $30 fill-up limit and the entire service center was running on a generator! We made it to Staunton around 7pm and had to go out for dinner because the Kennedy's still didn't have power. But, they did do a decent job of keeping their house relatively cool during the day, so while it was hot, it wasn't super-uncomfortable (thank goodness for shade trees!). We got to bed at a reasonable hour (for us, but the girls were up pretty late) and in the morning woke up to A/C and power! Danila's mom, Chantal, took us to a nearby park on Sunday morning so the girls could play and get some energy out of their systems before we loaded up for the rest of the drive down to North Carolina.

Jon decided on the drive that he would much rather drive the whole way than be the one entertaining the girls. I was either passing them things (we had a goodie bag with a special treat for each girl every 2 hours or so) or sitting in the back between them reading stories, blowing bubbles (yes, in the car), coloring, doleing out snacks, or holding hands and blankies for nap time. Car trips with little kids are not for the faint of heart (or for the unprepared!). We also didn't realize how much pit stops for the bathroom and meals would add to the length of the trip. Every stop was an hour (at least it seemed that way), especially meals - even at McDonald's. But, we have to admit, the girls were very well-behaved and definitely excited to see their cousins and grandparents when we made it to Southern Shores.