Virginia Beach!!!

We spent all of last week in Virginia Beach with our good friends the Sweazys and our babysitter Abby (fondly known as Bo-Babby)...we had a great trip!!! Aside from the torture of a 15 hour car ride (NEVER again...the kids did fine, but Jason and I were stir-crazy!!!), I wouldn't change a thing about the trip. We usually travel south, so this year we decided to try a new direction and Virginia Beach was our choice! I wasn't sure it would measure up to the beaches from previous vacations, but it far exceeded my expectations. I think if we had stayed right on the 'regular' Virginia Beach, I might not be as thrilled with our trip because most of the condos are right at the edge of the city...just miles of tall concrete buildings. Luckily, we happened to pick a condo that is 'off the beaten path' and it was perfect! Our condo was in a residential area about 15 minutes outside of the city area...we drove through forests with lots of little farmer's markets and cute shops to get to our place...it was just adorable! The weather was perfect and the kids really enjoyed their time at the beach and the pool. I think this is the first year that they have actually appreciated the beach...in past years, they did not like the sand or the waves and always wanted to play in the pool. This year, we had equal requests for pool and beach, so that was nice! I am already trying to think of a destination for next year's trip, but I must say that this year will be hard to beat! Here are some photos of the highlights of our trip:

This is an 8-person bicycle!!!

We spent a day on the boardwalk section of Virginia Beach...this was a huge statue on the boardwalk:

This picture makes me laugh because Ashlen looks like she is about to gun the ball straight into a target...not so much. She currently sports a sidearm throw that put this ball into the teddy bears along the wall on her left side...we are just lucky she let go of the ball in time or else Isabel might have lost her top snaggle-tooth a little sooner than she had planned:

The girls are posing in front of our restaurant:

Getting ready to play mini-golf at the 'Jungle Golf':


It looks like Isabel is retrieving her ball after making it into the hole...nope. She liked to hit the ball once at the beginning of each hole, then go pick it up and put it into the hole with her hand. Had we kept score, she would have gotten a '2' on each hole! Here she is giving herself a birdie:




The kids pose for a shot on the Jungle's water fountain:

The girls loved this idea so much that they kept giggling as I was making their tails:

Isabel may not be able to put 'sandcastle builder' on her resume, but it was a good try:

Ashlen liked the shade of the beach tent:

The boys are trying to beat the girls' score...it took awhile, but they did finally make it:

Bo-Babby learned to body surf...the waves here were great for this:

Bryce gave it a shot too:


Ashlen loved to play football on the beach...she almost always got sand in her eye from the ball, but she was a trooper about it:

Long warm days on the beach + No naps = Tired Girl:
Isabel can sympathize with the need for SPF 10,000:




The condo had three different pools. The one by our place was the kid's pool...it had lots of squirty-playground-like features:
My girls have always been very timid in the water, so I am still shocked when I look at the following pictures. When we arrived, Ashlen would not put her face in the water past her mouth and Isabel would cautiously swim with her face under the water in the right conditions (meaning, calm water and an adult nearby). By the end of the week, we had two little fish!!! Here is Ashlen putting her head under water:Getting ready to jump in:Ashlen would jump in and swim over to me:Isabel loved to jump in all by herself and even learned to cannonball!She loved to be thrown into the water:I waited until the last night to do pictures on the beach...of course, it ended up very cloudy that night. But, I think the pictures will look okay in black and white, so all is not lost:We had a great trip and look forward to many more family vacations!!!