A Couple of weeks, Thanks to Mimmi and Dooders for coaxing us and for sharing their time share time with us, we packed us all up and headed to Virginia Beach for a 3 Day 2 Night Vacation! And we are SO GLAD that we did! It was actually our FIRST overnight trip EVER since we have been a Family of FIVE which has been almost a year and a half:) We were just so nervous with having to pack up so many things, and how the kids would react not being in their own beds all on top of the regular necessary stress that vacations with small kiddos brings that were just too reluctant to go!
But once we headed out of Charlottesville, and we knew we were VA Beach Bound we were ALL really excited!!! Micah and I had been talking to the girls about the beach for a while and they were super excited, I don't think any of their imaginings actually prepared them for the sights once they got there. It was PRICELESS!! Emily and Haley both looked like they were finally "Home"! They LOVED the sand and the water (keep in mind when I say the water, they actually really enjoyed playing "Chicken" and running from the ocean water), but they both LOVE LOVE LOVED the indoor pool at the hotel! It has actually inspired Emily to really want to take swimming lessons! She told Dooders that she would rather take swimming lessons over gymnastics or karate, so that is HUGE! Therefore, that is what I have been busy with this morning, is trying to sign her up for swim lessons:)
While we were at the beach we got to do lots of super fun stuff! Micah and I got to take a night time walk all by ourselves, we go to rent bikes and ride the boardwalk with Ethan, we all got to go to the VA Beach Aquarium, which was AWESOME!!! We ate out at Olive Garden, which is our FAVORITE restaurant, of course we spent a good bit of time on the beach, we swam in the hotel's pool, ate yummy treats, and made lots and lots of memories together as a family that will last forever!!
Going to the Beach together was so much fun and it gave us the courage we need to take our next mini-vacation in a month or so to Northern Va!! Bring on the Summer time Fun!
Ethan's FIRST moment on the Beach!
Emily's FIRST Moment on the Beach!
Think they Love it?
Having So Much Fun!
And when you are not playing ON the beach, of course you are Walking on the Boardwalk!
Our Cute Untied Shoe Little Buddy!
What Haley decided to do as we were waiting to buy our tickets to the Aquarium!
Ethan kept Dooders occupied:)
And then Emily discovered the Rocking Boat too!
But none of that compared to the Sea Lions in the Outside Tanks!
Ethan quite enjoyed being strolled around the Aquarium, Inside and Out!
Haley is all about learning, doesn't matter if anyone else is with her or she is "all by herself!"
The "Famous" Dolphin!! Apparently their cousins, Emma and Luke, had their picture taken on this same dolphin when they were just tiny little people too!! (Now Emma and Luke are 12 and 10)
Now they are all 3 on the dolphin!
Haley LOVED the Big Fish!
And Emily LOVED leaning over!
Dooders: "Ahhh We are Being Eaten by a Shark!"
Ethan: "Wow! This is AWESOME!!"
If one of us is going down, we are ALL going down together!
Until One Smart one jumps ship, that is!
Time to Pat the Sting Rays....And we were all ready too!
One interesting thing that I have found since I have become a Mom has come when I try NOT to pass along my fear or dislike for things to my children! This is one of those times! I DID NOT want to touch that Crab for ANYTHING, but I didn't want Emily to know that so I was talking to her about how NOT scary it was to touch one! And I even touched a few myself:)
And she goes in for the touch! And you know what? After she touched it once, she LOVED it, and didn't want to stop touching ALL of the creatures!!
Haley had a few questions before she went in for THE TOUCH!
We all decided to take a lunch time break and head to Olive Garden! These boys were pleased:)
Emily however fell asleep 5 minutes before we got there, so she was NOT so pleased:(
BUT Mimmi and I snuck another picture in with her anyway!!
And then we headed right back to the 2nd building at the Aquarium!! Micah did an AWESOME job "framing" this picture!!
"Crab Talk"!
When we were getting ready to leave the girls fell in LOVE with this wooden boat and paddle! Emily was ready to go places!!
And Haley was following close behind!
When we came out to the parking lot, the girls noticed this HUGE gorilla and just HAD to go stand by him! So we all followed!!
The girls LOVED jumping around and playing on the rocks!
Later that day Mimmi and Dooders took the girls to play in the sand and we took Ethan on a bike ride! At first, he wasn't so sure about the whole thing, but the more he rode the more he REALLY enjoyed it!!
It was so windy, we didn't want Ethan to get sick, and since we didn't have a hat with us for him the next best thing we could come up with was to put his blanket over his head and ears and then put his bike helmet on top! And, you know what, it worked PERFECTLY!!!
The AWESOME and GIGANTIC statue along the boardwalk!
And then last, but certainly NOT least, if you ask the girls what they remember most about the beach, one or both of them are likely to say with GREAT enthusiasm "The Pool at Mimmi and Dooders' Hotel!" They LOVED swimming there, especially Emily.....just in case you were having a hard time denoting that from the HUGE smile on her face!!
The girls at the End of their swimming adventures! They were so SAD to have to go! But at least now we know how much they LOVE pools and Emily is already signed up for swim lessons!
Couldn't pass up one last shot from behind of these two adorable sisters!! Sure love my kiddos!
