Happy Times in Virginia Beach

I don't think much about whether or not I'm happy.  But that's the case the last few weeks.  There is something really special about being here and seeing our kids and grandson Brooks.  It's been a happy time.  We've had the time to slow down and help out and spend a lot of time with our kids.

Earlier in the month, we made a fast trip up to Fairfax where Adam and Melissa live.  We wanted to take them out to dinner and help them celebrate their first anniversary.

Though it was a short time, it was great to see them again.  And we got acquainted with the latest addition to the family, their Yorgie Josie.  She has a perfect temperament and fits in great.

Back in Virginia Beach we've been able to spend a lot of time with Brooks.  What a deal!  He is really at a cute time (20 months) and is learning so much and growing up so fast!

 Just hanging out in the back yard.

 A couple of hours at the petting zoo checking out the goats and chickens and birds and lots of other animals.

 Back home on his iPad with Grandma and Grandpa.

 All ready for church.

 Trying out his newly acquired finger painting skills on the back porch.

Sitting still for a minute for his first school picture.

Besides all the stuff we've been able to do with Brooks, we also have been getting trained on this babysitting thing.

We were babysitting while Kelly and Jon went to a wedding.  That was the Friday nite of the hurricane weather.  It all turned out for us fine, but we drove back to the campground and had to make our way through a couple of places with big water and some cars that weren't so fortunate.

In the campground, we listened to the rain and wind for a while before we had to pull in the slides.  Somehow we missed the forecast that changed.  We watched the path of the hurricane as it made its way up from the Caribbean and it was supposed to turn out to sea before it got to Virginia Beach.

It apparently never turned and went up the side of the coast.  It is the hardest rain and wind that we have experienced and not something we want to go through again.  The driver's side of the Roadrunner got the brunt of it and even though the windows were all closed, it was raining sideways for hours and water came through the drainage channels in the window tracks.  It wasn't gushing in but the constant rain produced a steady drip on the inside of every window.

The window sills and counters on the DS were wet and dripped onto the carpet.  In the bedroom the same thing happened.  Places where the sheet or blanket on the bed touched the carpet caused the wetness to creep up the blanket and sheet edges to where we had to pull them off and sleep in our sleeping bags.  Not a big deal.  Dealing with some leaks is easy.  Thankfully we were not around any trees so that issue was not a worry.

The only real damage we had was the topper on the DS slideout.  It was flapping so hard for so long it actually tore.  Ugh oh...

 I got three or four kinds of heavy duty tape to repair it, but it didn't work too well.  I was able to tape and staple some tape up there but it still wasn't the answer.  I was talking with my friend Bob who suggested a marine tape of some sort.  I looked for some on Amazon and got it which so far is holding.

It is a bit of a stop-gap measure so we can get them all replaced at Brannon's in Red Bay.  So our plans for the next month have changed and we will be stopping there to get new toppers.

We still are hoping to go to Key West for a some time and return before Christmas.  We have about six weeks from November 6 to December  15 where we were going to get away and then return before Christmas.  We will be here from then until probably the end of March or April to help with grandson #2 who arrives on February 5.

So our plans now are to go to the Atlanta area, see the state capitol and sights there, then to head to north central Florida, maybe head to Key West, then back up to the panhandle (Fort Walton Beach and Pensacola) before heading back to Red Bay, AL. Toppers for the slideouts seems like an appropriate Christmas present...  There are probably other places we could get them done but its worth us to take the trip and get them done right.

So we have spend time planning on those six weeks and charting our travels so we can make reservations at different places.  I will be posting our updated calendar once I get a chance over the weekend probably.

While here, we continue to get experience with babysitting. After a few evenings of babysitting which went fine, we signed on for a weekend while Kelly and Jon  took a weekend for a little getaway at a bed and breakfast.  I was telling my brother about us doing that and he asked, "That's a little scary isn't it?"  I replied -- "Not when you are with Pam..."

So from noon Friday to mid afternoon on Sunday we baby sat.  There were a few times it got a little long and he wondered where everyone was I am sure, but it worked out fine and we were glad to do it.  I could never quite what it was going to be like as grandparents, but we are enjoying it tremendously.  And it makes us happy!

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles!