Hurricane Packing list

Clothes

• Swimsuits for Brian, Me, John, Chloe, and Emma
• 8 pair underwear per person
• 4 outfits per person
• 4 hotel lobby worthy pajama sets
• socks
• flip flops x each
  
• closed toed shoes x each

Personal items

• Hair Brush
• ponytail holders for me and girls
• toothbrushes x 5
• toothpaste
• face soap
• contact lens solution
• contact lens case
• glasses and case
• spare pairs of contacts
• Goggles for the kids
• make up
• hair mouse
• hair dryer
  
• hair detangler
• shampoo/conditioner
• sunscreen
• tea tree
• witchazel
• cotton balls
  
• night time pull ups for just in case
  
• Chloe, Emma, and John special blankets and pillows and animals
  
• My pillows and pillow people

Medications

• blood sugar medicine
• asthma inhalers for Chloe and Brian
• Nebulizer (just in case) and meds
• kids clear Benadryl
• My Benadryl
• Zyrtec
• Melatonin
• Brians Multivitamin and kids multi
• injection needles and medication
• b complex
• kids asprin

Useful Items

• Laundry Soap (small bottle) and dryer sheets for hotel laundry
• roll of quarters for hotel laundry
• crockpot (for evenings without manager's reception)
• coupon book
• grocery list for when we stop on the way to hotel (from hurricane manual)
  

Electronics/Entertainment

• My cellphone/charger/car charger
  
• Brian's cellphone/charger
• My Laptop/power cord/wireless adapter
• Brian's Laptop/power cord/wireless adapter
• PSP for kids/games
• DVD books for the van
• fairy book for bedtime reading
• books for mommy poolside/bedtime
• camera

Important Paperwork

• Coppock Hurricane Manual (More to come on that....)
  
• address book
  
• Important paperwork accordian file
• family photo CDs and originals

Pet Items

• Food/Water bowls
• Crate for Leia (have to take out middle seats)
  
• Crate for cat
• leashes and collars
  

Family Hurricane Plan, Part 1: Hotels

As of June 1st Hurricane Season is upon us, UGH! For the past few hurricane seasons my plan has been "if one is headed this way, we will leave and stay San Antonio". Great plan right? Except, then when we do decide to leave, I am running around like a chicken with my head cut off! So for this year, I am coming up with a well thought out plan. I have a binder all set up to be our Hurricane folder, and I thought maybe it could be helpful to someone else so I will post it here...

If there is a hurricane our plan is to go to San Antonio. We are pretty familiar with the city, and alot of our memberships to museums and attractions are reciprocal there so we could entertain ourselves on the cheap.

The first decision is the hotel. At first glance, when you look at my list of hotels, you might think, "wow those are kinda pricey". But I have specific reasons why I chose these.

• They are all in an area of San Antonio I know well. Its a suburban area of town and there is an HEB grocery store, a video rental store, and all kinds of other "normal" nontouristy stores right around the corner.
• Each of these hotels offers a big complimentary breakfast AND most importantly each of them offers a free "manager's reception" each evening. The manager's reception is a light dinner with tea, juice, beer and wine in the evening. This cuts the price of our stay enormously, feeding our family of five is expensive. We almost always walk out putting down at least 40 bucks. And in stressful times, free wine for mommy can't be a bad thing.
  
• Each of these hotels offers a full kitchen complete with cooking implements, dishes, flatwear and a dishwasher. This is a huge money/sanity saver.
• The hotels I choose are "suite" hotels. This means that they have a living room and a Bedroom with a closing door. This way, the kids can maintain their bedtimes and not get grouchy. When its bedtime I can put them to bed and close the door, and be able to stay up myself without disturbing them.
  
• They also have to have a pool, and free WIFI internet.

So the Hotels I chose in order of preference are:

• Homewood Suites Northwest (Spectrum One)
• Homewood Suites North
• Embassy Suites I-10
• Embassy Suites International Airport
• Residence Inn Marriot/Medical Center North

And, since we can't forget our pets, I have put together a list of pet boarding options that are also on that side of town.

• VCA Castle Hills Companion (210) 492-5519‎
• Shaggy Dog The (210) 690-9179‎
• Pet Kennels‎ (210) 697-9585‎
• Ten West Bird & Animal Hospital‎ (210) 696-1700‎
• Babcock North Veterinary‎ (210) 690-6030‎