West Virginia Toll Family Vacation: Part 2

Samantha: 50 Months, Week 1
Aedan: 14 Months, Week 3 (Week 64)

Our vacation in West Virginia continued on for most of the rest of this week, with some interesting, unexpected events occurring.  The Tuesday of our vacation, we were a bit uncertain what the weather was going to be like.  The forecast was for rain most of the morning, so our plan was to lay low at the house.  However, when we got up that morning and checked the weather, the forecast no longer had a chance for rain.  So, once everyone got ready, we decided to head over to a "local" playground with a picnic area as well as trails for Grandpa and Grandma to hike on after lunch.  We decided to make it back to the vacation house for nap time so the kids could get decent naps that were not just in the car on the way to or from places.  Aedan especially needed that time back at the house because hadn't been getting enough sleep during the day so far on vacation.  The kids had fun climbing on the playground, going down the slides, running around, and getting some energy out.  However, it was a very warm and muggy today, so everyone sought shade after a while.  We found a gazebo where we ate our picnic lunch before going back to the house.

It was relaxing to have the kids in bed at the house, giving us some free time and independent time.  Ben and I were going to take advantage of the hot tub, but once we tried to get in, it was only at 80 degrees, much too cool, and it would not be heated up in enough time to get in while the kids were still napping.  Instead, I spent some time reading on my Kindle.  I love reading, but I find that I just don't find enough time to do it as much as I'd like.  Vacation is the perfect time, especially sitting outside on the porch with the cool breeze blowing and the beautiful mountain view.  When Samantha woke up from her nap, I let her choose another movie to watch on TV to relax and take it easy that afternoon.  They had Big Hero 6, so we sat next to each other on the leather couch and watched the movie together.

However, probably about halfway into it, the power went out, and not just to the TV, but to the entire house.  Ben's parents went around looking for the fuse box to see if something had tripped, but that was not the case.  We weren't sure what to do, but now we were without electricity which meant there was no way to look online and our cell phones did not receive service the entire time we were in West Virginia anyway.  Grandma called the owner of the house to let him know and see if he knew why, and he said he would keep us updated.  We figured the problem would be fixed and the electricity would come back on at any moment, but that did not happen.  Luckily, we had food we could cook on the grill, and we were able to scrounge together enough other food as sides.  Also, the weather had cooled off considerably and being higher up on the mountain kept it cooler, making the house a comfortable temperature with the windows open, despite having the air conditioning not working.  We had no news of the power coming back on any time soon, so we had to make plans for the evening once it got dark and we had no light.  We tried to find candles and flashlights, but there was only one small candle stand and one flashlight that actually had working batteries.  We knew it was going to be a dark night in the house.

The other issue that arose was where to have Samantha and Aedan sleep.  The rooms upstairs were much too warm without the air conditioners running.  Plus, we could not use monitors.  When Samantha woke up during the night to go potty, she wouldn't be able to see, but we would not have been able to hear her call out from downstairs in our bedroom.  Also, we wouldn't be able to hear if Aedan woke up and needed us during the night.  So, we had to make different sleeping arrangements.  We decided to put Aedan's pack and play in Grandpa and Grandma's bathroom.  It was a large bathroom, but it was separated from the bedroom and the rest of the house, which would block out more sound but also allow them to hear him when we woke up.  We moved Samantha's mattress into our bedroom on the main level so that way we could hear when she woke up and could take her to the bathroom that was connected to our bedroom if/when she woke up during the night.  I slept in that bedroom with Samantha that night while Ben decided to sleep in the laundry room basement bedroom because the bed in our room squeaked very loud every time you moved.  It was bothering the two of us when it was just us in the room.  We would wake each other up every time we moved.  Ben tends to move around a lot when he sleeps, particularly at the beginning of the night.  I suggested he sleep downstairs so that way he would not be afraid of waking Samantha (or me) up every time he moved.  If he would have stayed in the bedroom with us, he would have just tried not to move all night, which would then mean he would hardly sleep at all.  Anyways, it took awhile for us to get everyone settled that evening, but we figured it would just be one night and we could survive one night.  I think most of us expected the power to turn back on sometime during the night when we were sleeping.

That evening a storm had passed through our area, bringing heavy rain, thunder, and lightning, but the sky afterward was beautiful.  It was even more noticeable since we had no lights on in the house, no TV to watch, and no phones or computers to use.  So we all just sat around in the living room watching the sky and talking until it got dark and all we had were the small candles as light.

When we woke up the next morning, we were sad to see that the power had not turned back on yet.  Also, Aedan had woken up super early, somewhere around 6:00 a.m.  Ben's parents kept him out of the living room until about 6:30 or so, but once he came out and started playing, he woke everyone up.  When making noise in a wooden cabin with no other noises, sound carries very well.  Samantha had woken up shortly after 6:00 as well to go to the bathroom and then she gave me a hard time going back to sleep, even though I told her to lay down and close her eyes again and that it wasn't time to get up yet.  I think she may have almost been back to sleep when Aedan came out into the living room, making lots of noise, and making it impossible for anyone to get any more sleep.  It was a much earlier morning than anyone would have liked.

No power not only meant no lights, but also no showers.  The house got water from a well that was on a pump system.  There was a 50 gallon reserve tank, but that would be gone quickly, and we had no idea how long the power was going to be off, so we were trying to conserve as much water as possible.  We followed the rule of not flushing the toilet if you had only peed, and we also stopped washing dishes for the time being.  It was nothing that anyone wanted, but it was totally out of our control.

It was lightly raining throughout that morning, and before we left to catch our scenic steam train, we saw a beautiful rainbow forming across the sky from the deck of our house.

The girls were very excited to ride on the Cass Scenic Railroad.  We purchased tickets in advance and arrived in plenty of time to check out the train cars and visit the general store to go shopping for some souvenirs.  Aedan had fallen asleep in the car on the way to the railroad, so I stayed in the car with him to let him sleep for a little longer.  Ben and Jeni got some coffee in the general store since we were unable to use the coffee pot in our house and were all suffering from a lack of sleep and energy.  Ben lovingly delivered the coffee to the car for me, but opening and closing the door ended up waking Aedan up, thus ending his morning nap.  At least he got a little nap in, as he was very tired since he was up before 6:00 a.m. that morning.

Grandma gave the girls each $10 for souvenirs at the general store.  Samantha chose a butterfly necklace with her name printed on it, as well as a small stuffed animal beaver.  Aedan didn't have a $10 allowance, but he did find this wooden snake that he then carried around the store with him.  It was only $2, so we decided to buy that for him as well.

Our train ride was at 11:00 a.m. with a 45 minute ride up the mountain, a short break at the top, and then a 45 minute ride down the mountain.  When the train pulled into this station, it blew a very loud, high-pitched whistle.  It took everyone by surprise, especially Samantha and Aedan.  Samantha covered her ears and whimpered a little, but Aedan cried pretty hard.  He got so upset that I decided to give him his pacifier to make him a little happier.

After that it was time to load on the train car.  Luckily, we were the car farthest from the engine so that when the whistle blew it wasn't quite so loud.  We weren't exactly sure what to expect out of ride and were pleasantly surprised.  The kids had a good time looking around while the train went up the mountain, and there was plenty of room for them to get up and move around if they wanted.

It was amazing how much smoke and ash poured out of the engine, as well as how much coal they must have to burn to get this train up and down the mountain twice a day.

One of the most fascinating parts of the track were the switchbacks.  It was a more efficient method for climbing the mountain back when they used these tracks for hauling lumber.  The engine pushed or pulled the train past these criss-crossed tracks, the conductor would flip a switch to change us from the track on the left to the track on the right, or vice versa.  It was pretty interesting and amazing to think of all the engineering that went into designing these methods of transportation like trains.

Here is a quote from the Cass Scenic Railroad website: "As the pressure builds, the locomotive is driven at full steam, and the laborious journey up the mountain toward the two switchbacks begin.  The loud huff of the stack, the clanking of gears and pistons, the furious scream of the whistle at the crossings, and the ever present clackety-clack of the rails will indeed make you feel as if you have been transported back in time.  The train soon passes through the first switchback, reverses up a steep grade, and ascends to the second switchback where the process is repeated, and then finally into open fields and Whittaker Station.  The switchback process allows the train to gain quick altitude, and in this instance, the train is traversing a grade of up to 11 percent, of 11 feet in altitude for each 11 feet of track.  A 2 percent grade on conventional railroads is considered steep!"

Once stopped at Whittaker Station, we were able to get out and walk around a little, looking at the old equipment and buildings that loggers would have used many years ago.  It was raining lightly while we walked around, but stayed light which was nice, so we didn't get soaking wet.  Samantha especially enjoyed the building that was a replica of the kitchen for the railroad workers.  There was a sign that said, "No talking at the table."  She was so confused as to why they weren't allowed to talk at the table.  That would not work well for someone like her who views eating as a social experience.

There is a longer train ride you can take on that railroad as well, so once that train passed by, we were allowed to get back on the train to traverse back down the mountain.

While we waited Aedan decided it would be fun to sit in the rocks and play. :)

Our trip back down the mountain went well and we passed time by eating our packed lunch on the train.  It was a really fun day and definitely an enjoyable experience for the adults and the kids.

We got back to the vacation house that afternoon after the train ride expecting, hoping, that the power would be back on.  However, as we drove through Snowshoe and the other little area with a gas station and couple restaurants that is the closest to the location of our rental house, we noticed that they still did not have power, which meant that, most likely, we would not have power either.  We were all a bit frustrated as we hadn't taken showers for two days.  We ran out of water from the faucets, meaning we had to fill up buckets from the water for the hot tub down in the garage in order to flush toilets and to wash the dishes that had been piling up.

We got the kids down for their naps, putting Aedan in the bathroom again and Samantha downstairs in the extra basement room so that the noise of people talking and moving around on the main level wouldn't prevent her from napping.  Since we hadn't heard from the owner of our house that day and there was no way to check the status of the electricity situation, Ben and I decided to drive in to the Snowshoe resort to see if they had power and if they knew anything about when the power would turn back on.  We stopped at a gas station near our rental house, and the owner of the store said that if you call the electric company they say the power will come back on around 10:00 p.m.  However, this lady said she had a friend that worked for the company and he said it would more likely be 10:00 a.m. before the power would come back on.

Needless to say, I was VERY discouraged by this news.  I was hoping for better news and I was hoping for the power to come back on sooner rather than later.  I hadn't slept very well so far on the vacation, so I was tired and overreacted to our situation.  I didn't even care so much about lights or internet, I just wanted to be able to take a shower, flush our toilets, and be able to get our kids back in their own rooms.  Ben and I continued up Snowshoe Mountain to the village area, and they definitely had power there, meaning they were on a separate grid from the rest of the area.  I stopped in a hotel so that I could talk to someone.  They informed me that they heard the power wouldn't come back on until 4:00 p.m. the following day.  It was at this point that I was really over it.  I did not want to go into another day without being able to shower and without any running water in our house.  In fact, I even asked the hotel worker how much rooms at the hotel would cost in case everyone wanted to just come stay here for one night so that we could be back in civilization again.  My bad attitude was getting worse, and I had my mind set on not staying in that house for another night, not knowing when the power would even turn back on.

We got back to the house and informed the rest of the family what we discovered.  However, they were not as upset by it as I let myself get, at least not that I could tell.  They were making the best of the situation and did not think it was necessary to go stay somewhere else when we'd already paid for this vacation house.  It was hard for me to get over my bad attitude and took most of the rest of the evening.  We busted out the ice cream cake for my birthday that Ben was in the middle of making when the power went out on Tuesday afternoon.  It was not frozen, but it also was not melted.  Ben felt bad that it didn't turn out well, but I thought it was still good, helping us make the best of another night in the dark, unshowered and stinky.

Also, after dinner we decided to have another water gun fight.  After all, it was our second to last night of vacation, and it would do us all a little good to be outside and get wet, getting at least the feeling of being clean.  We had a great time being silly together, and it was after this that I realized how silly I was being in feeling so worked up about the power being off.  We ended up having a great time playing together, something we would not have been able to do had we all gone to the resort hotel, or especially if just our family would have gone.  Here are some silly pictures we took in the middle of our water gun fight, acting grumpy, pointing our guns at Grandma who was taking the picture, and then pointing our guns at Grandpa.

That evening, we made a couple more adjustments in the sleeping arrangements for our children.  I put sheets up to cover the windows in the bathroom that Aedan was sleeping in, wondering if the light is what woke him up before 6:00 a.m. that day.  Also, since I hadn't slept very well the previous few nights and needed a good night's sleep, Ben offered to take Samantha down to the basement bedroom with him, leaving the main floor bedroom just for me.  It was nice for him to offer, so that way we each had a night of sharing a room with Samantha and helping her if she needed to go to the restroom.  Then, once the kids were all in bed for the night, the adults played a game of Ticket to Ride by the light of our little candles and the flashlights on our iPhones.  It was kind of funny that we were trying to play a game in the dark, but we figured that would be a good way to pass our time on our second night without power.

10:00 p.m. came and went that night with the power still not coming back on.  Again, I think many of us secretly hoped that it would turn on sometime overnight, but we didn't hold our breath.  Aedan still woke up just as early in the morning, waking up Samantha, Daddy, and me as well.  Aunt Jeni and Alaina didn't seem to be as bothered by it as much that day.  We were just going about our morning, hanging out, eating breakfast, and playing.  I was trying to figure out how I could shave my legs and wash my hair before we left for our excursion for the day.  And then, something miraculous happened!  Around 7:30 a.m., we heard a beep, we saw the fan blades begin to turn, and we realized the power had FINALLY turned back on!  Everyone was so excited!  Aunt Jeni went around and took pictures of everyone's happy faces. :)  I was so glad that the power came back on before we left for the day, giving everyone a chance to take showers, go around and flush the toilets, as well as get things cleaned up in the kitchen.  I think we all felt much better after that.

Our plan for the day was to go up to Snowshoe Mountain Resort, get a Fun Pass for the day, and enjoy our time doing many of the various activities on the mountain.  Our first stop was Split Rock Pools which had an inside and outside swimming area connected by a "door" in the water that you could swim through.  The water was nice and warm.  The pools had a couple of fun water slides that were the perfect size for the girls.  They would just continually go down the slide, over and over again, trying various ways of sliding down: sitting up, laying down, on their side, on their tummies.  They were having a blast!  Aedan even got to wear a floatie and thought that was pretty neat to not have to be totally held in our arms the whole time.  We were swimming at these pools for almost an hour and a half, and even then the girls did not want to leave.

After getting changed back into dry clothes, we found a restaurant to sit and eat some lunch before continuing on with our fun activities.  After lunch, Ben, Grandma, and me took our turn on the zipline that went above the street in Snowshoe village.  It was not a very long zipline, but it was fun, especially since it was included in our Fun Pass.  Then, the girls got to go on something called a Eurobungy, which basically was a huge trampoline that they got to jump on while attached to ropes and a harness, making them bounce up higher in the air.  They thought that was pretty fun and enjoyed their time bouncing.

After the Eurobungy, it was already after 2:30, so we decided it was time to take the ski lift down the mountain to the lake.  Grandma lovingly offered to take Aedan back to our vacation house so that he could take a nap while the rest of us stayed to play longer.  She was at least able to ride the ski lift down and back up again before taking him back.  We figured Aedan wouldn't do well outside all day without a nap.  Plus, the sun was too hot and bright for him.

Samantha and I rode the ski lift down to the lake together while Daddy stayed up with Aedan until Grandma came back up to get him.  Samantha was a little afraid of getting on the ski lift at first since you have to sit down while it is still slowly moving.  However, once on and she tucked her feet up on the seat so as not to lose her shoes, she enjoyed herself, thinking the view was interesting and commenting on how high off the ground we were.  She also thought the ski lifts for the mountain bikes were interesting as she saw them coming up the other side.

When we first got down to the lake, I let Samantha play on the playground while we waited for Daddy to come down the mountain.  From there, we went out on a paddle boat together on the lake, swam out to a large inflatable slide, and played in the sand on the beach.

After a little while, Ben and I decided to go out on a kayak together.  Grandpa took a video of our troubles at the beginning and I just had to include it.  It took us a while to get the hang of how to paddle in order to go a certain direction, but once we figured that out, we had a good time out on the lake together.

We played for a little longer on the beach, and I took Samantha on another paddleboat ride as our last activity of the day.  She helped me paddle for awhile, and then she just relaxed in the boat, telling me she was going to take a little nap because she was tired out from a fun-filled day outside.  It was getting close to 4:30, and we were in charge of picking up dinner on our way back the house, so we decided it was time to leave.  As we rode back up the ski lift to the top of the mountain, Ben and I sat there talking with Samantha between us, reflecting on how different it is to just have one kid to take care of.  It was SO wonderful to be able to spend the afternoon with just Samantha, giving her one-on-one time with just the two of us, something she probably has not really had since Aedan was born.  In fact, Samantha wanted to keep riding the ski lift so instead of getting off at the top, we decided to stay on and ride the ski lift down and back up again.  Time like this is precious.  We had a wonderful, fun last day of our vacation.  It was the perfect way to end our time in West Virginia. :)

That evening after dinner, Aunt Jeni built a fire in the fireplace on our deck so that we could roast marshmallows for s'mores.  Aedan was getting tired and crabby and was not in the mood to wait for the fire, so I took him to get ready for bed early.  However, the girls enjoyed roasting marshmallows, but even more enjoyed the end result of eating the sticky, chocolately treat.

Since the power had come back on that morning, Samantha and Aedan went back to sleep in their normal rooms for out last night on vacation.  However, Aedan took a very long time to go to sleep.  I thought he was asleep, but then he woke up when I was putting Samantha down.  After that, both Ben and I went in his room several times trying to get him settled down to sleep.  He was crying pretty hard, which is very unlike him.  We weren't sure if something was bothering him, like teething or an ear infection, or if he thought it was strange sleeping in a different location, yet again, or if he was just overtired from the long week of vacation where his schedule was thrown out of whack.  It took us over two hours before he finally gave up and fell asleep that night.

Once he was finally asleep, the adults got to enjoy roasting marshmallows and eating s'mores on the porch while watching the sun set over the mountains.  It was a beautiful sunset that night, and Jeni took this great picture of the sky.  You can't get much better than a view like this, especially for our last night on vacation.

Friday, July 17th was the day to head back home and was also my birthday.  Driving for 6 1/2 hours with two young kids is not the ideal way to spend your birthday, but we had just had a great week together with lots of family time, so the actual day didn't matter to me at all.  We were on the road by around 9:30 again, stopped for lunch at a mall in Charleston, West Virginia so that the kids could walk around and stretch their legs a little more, and then we hit the road again.  We made one more stop that afternoon for a bathroom and ice cream break at McDonald's, making it to the kennel to pick up Roscoe just before 6:00 p.m. when they closed.  It was a long day, and the last hour or so of the drive everyone was done being in the car and we just had to push through and get home.

The rest of the weekend was spent playing catch-up: catch-up on household tasks, grocery shopping, and getting more sleep.  You could tell the kids were glad to be back in their own beds as they slept in much later in the morning than what is typical.  They were also happy to be back home around their own toys, and Samantha spent a lot of time playing Barbies in her room by herself.

We had church on Sunday, our community group met after church for a cook out, swimming time, and time to discuss our parenting book.  I attended a baby shower for my friend Maggie before coming over for community group, so we got right back to life in Oxford once home from vacation.  I know I always feel a strange lull after returning from a long trip.  I look forward to our family vacation for such a long time that it's sad when it is over.  I am a big quality time person and a week long vacation with my family and extended family is good for my soul. :)  I can't wait to figure out where we will go next year!

Here are some cute videos from when we returned back home.  Samantha was trying to help feed Aedan his Cheerios for breakfast on Sunday morning, but instead he thought it was more fun trying to feed his sister.  They are so cute together.  It makes my heart happy to watch them interact.

In the evening when it was just too hot to be outside playing, we decided to get out some energy by playing Samantha's smurf dancing game that we checked out from the library.  Aedan enjoyed dancing along with us as well!

Monday morning was back to our normal routine of Ben going to work on campus while I found ways to entertain the kids.  We were invited over to a friend's house that day for a play date with some other moms from church.  The weather forecast was warm and sunny, so we had plans for the kids to play in the sprinkler.  It was fun to spend time talking with other moms while our kids enjoyed some play time with new friends in a new environment.

(Blog about July 14-20, 2015)