Labor Day ROAD TRIP!

The kids and I had our very first long Road Trip together (sans Dad*) this past weekend.  We had a BLAST and I do have to say that my kids were awesome.  The. Entire. Time.  I feel so blessed to have them!

Thursday evening I picked the kids up after work and we headed south on I95 to Roanoke Rapids NC.  It took us 4 hours to reach our first destination.  We played punch buggy, bingo (you scream bingo when you see yellow car), and sang at the top of our lungs to Call Me Maybe and a lot of Beatle songs.  We ate cookies, Chick Fil A, and milkshakes.  I got lost trying to find our hotel, and had to enlist help from Suri to get us back on track.  Evidently there are 2 exits for Roanoke Rapids.  Who knew?  We checked into our hotel, and the hotel fun began.  The kids had fun in the elevator, opening the hotelroom door, getting ice, and of course, we couldn't pass up the indoor pool and the hot tub.  Even if it was almost 10 pm. 



Friday morning we ate the hotel buffet and hot menu for a low price of 10.99 for all 3 of us.  The hotel room was also a low price of 30 dollars (used some of Ryan's hotel points).  That's a pretty good deal at the Hilton Garden Inn!

We were on the road by 7:30 am and heading south to destination #2:  Courtney's house!  We landed at 11:30 with minimal stops.  Courtney (carrying baby bump, Stella) took us out to a yummy lunch at Carolina Roadhouse and then we met up with Heather and the boys at the beach!  It was so good to see them all and let the kids play while we soaked up the sun and chatted.  The kids were entertained by the sun, sand, and ocean for hours. 

 

We ended our evening relaxing at Courtney and Eric's house where Court grilled dinner, we chatted about Stella's arrival, ate ice cream (Courtney has a Baskin Robbins assortment of flavors in her freezer...go figure), the kids fell asleep watching TV, and we chatted some more before heading to bed ourselves.

Saturday was Mountaineer Game Day!  The first game of the year!  Let's Go!  Mountaineers!  I jump started the day with a 5 mile run in the overly hot/humid morning.  I literally was ringing wet afterwards.  We all got showered, our WV gear on and out the door.  I dropped the kids off to Mom (she was staying in Pawley's Island so all the grandkids stayed with her), and then hit the WV game with Court, Eric, and a restaurant FULL of WVU fans at Broadway Louie's.  WVU put a stomping on the Marshall Thundering Herd!  Let's Go!  Mountaineers!  (Courtney has the only picture of the day on her phone.  Boo).

Sunday we all spent the day at Pawley's Island on the beach.  Pawley's Island is a unique beach that is well worth visiting.  It is full of sea critters and seashells.  We saw bunches of starfish, hermit crabs, a sea urchin, and lots of small fish.  We scavenged buckets of sea shells.  Walking around Pawley's Island was certainly a highlight of the beach trip.

We also saw a dead jellyfish...probably similar to the one that stung my tough nephew, Lochlan, a few weeks before at Pawley's.  Lochlan was stung all over his torso, arms, and hands.  From what I understand it was hurt terribly and poor Lochlan cried for hours.  Well, wouldn't you know in the first 10 minutes of being at Pawley's Island, Little Miss Lauren got stung by some sort of sea critter.  She was in the ocean up to her waist with Nana, and suddenly I hear 'A crab bit me!'.  I ran down and scooped her up as the welts began to rise on her lower leg.  Only about 4 little welts total.  She cried a little, and ice took the sting right away.  I gave her benedryl, and she was back in the ocean quick as lightening.  Something stung her...or bit her....but I'm not sure it was a jellyfish.  We never heard another thing about the sting from her.  Oh, and the benedryl knocked her out like a light during our walk.  She was one tired piggy on my back!

See Stella in there!

Sunday evening Mom, Jeff, the kids and I ate dinner at the PIT.  The PIT is a very cool place off the main strip packed full of dollar bills stapled to the walls,ceilings, frames, doors.  My kids left their names and the date on their dollar right beside the light on the back wall.  Let's hope we find it again the next time we visit! 

Monday morning I carried the kids to the car in their PJs at 4 am.  Pulled out of Pawley's Island at 4:15 am and into our driveway in Front Royal VA at 12:15 pm.  Our Labor Day Road Trip was a success and over way too fast.  We made memories.  We sang out loud, we visited with my oldest bestest friend, we laughed out loud, we visited with loved ones (AKA Family), we stayed up too late, we ate junk food, and we had a ton of FUN.  We can't wait to do it again. 

*Ryan stayed home on this trip because of his annual Fantasy Football Draft party at our house.  This is where 12 adult men get together and pick their Fantasty NFL Teams and act like 12 teenage boys.  The beach was way more fun.  ;)