On the Road

This week, we are on our annual visit to North Carolina to visit my dad and Shirley. The difference this year, however, is we now have two little cherubs to transport (as well as all their stuff). So, Dan made the decision that rather than fly down (which we've done since Emily was born) we'd drive. While I'm not the best traveler when driving long distances is involved, I tried to look at it as an adventure. It also helped that I booked a hotel in Virginia so we could break the trip into two days :)

We started off Friday after Dan got home from work. What was supposed to be a 4 hour ride to the hotel according to Mapquest was a 7 hour journey through rush hour traffic in Baltimore, Washington D.C. and Northern Virginia. Misery! It also rained for much of our trip, so when we finally pulled into the Sleep Inn at 10:00 that night, I was relieved. As you can see, the kids were still in good spirits, even after being stuck in the car for that long period of time.

Emily had her first taste of sleeping in a "real" bed (we converted her crib to a daybed last weekend, but I still don' think she realizes it). She slept with me, and Dan had Owen duty during the night. The next morning, we were up and ready to get to Supply! Dan and I have a pretty good system for the car: I drive (and entertain with my singing), and Dan deals with the kids' needs (since I can't turn around in a moving vehicle due to motion sickness issues). We were in Dad and Shirley's driveway before 2:00, the sun was shining, and we were ready to officially begin our vacation!

Dad immediately put Emily to work picking tomatoes in the garden. She had fun helping her Grandpa!

After dinner (shrimp burgers...YUM!) we went to the beach. Emily didn't put on a suit because we were *supposed* to only be putting our feet in the water. Well, running down the beach with Grandma changed that in a hurry. By the time we left, Emily was soaked and had sand in her hair and stuck to her face. Here's our family shot:
Owen was amazed by his first time at the beach!
Emily chased waves, first with Grandma, then with Grandpa. Even though she wasn't supposed to get wet....well, Grandma didn't listen :)