VA Beach Vacay (part 1)

Since we've been back from our VA Beach vacation for over a week, I figured it's about time I finally write a post about it. I'm so on top of things, eh?

If you want to just scroll through the pictures, here's the gist: fun vacation; Evan was amazingly good the entire time.

And here's the first part of the long story...

Since Hawaii was off the table for this year, we chose to visit Annie in Virginia Beach this summer. Virginia Beach, Maui Beaches... practically the same thing. Not.

For the drive, we planned for the worst. I mean, with eleven hours in the car with a toddler, how could we not? For the drive down, we had all of his favorite snacks, new toys and new books ready to entertain him plus all of his comforts of home-- his blanket, his sleep sheep (white noise machine), and several old standby stuffed animals. The drive goes through a lot of rural Ohio, West Virginia and Virginia so I mapped out locations about every 1-2 hours that we could stop for food, gas and/or parks.

Evan was perfect. He chatted and watched traffic, napped, chatted and snacked, looked at his books and played peek-a-boo with the passenger. We only stopped three times. Once for a leisurely lunch, once when he tricked us with his new favorite phrase, "diaper change", and once to stretch our legs. The leg stretching stop was in Charlottesville, VA at the grounds of Monticello.

Snoozer

Country Roads

Monticello Stroll

It was late when we got to our hotel but Evan had been cramped up in the car all day and, of course, Annie and Michaela were excited to come for a visit. The kids took no time at all to warm up to each other.

Checking out the hotel amenities

Sharing! 

Hugs <3

Enjoying the 7th floor view

I love how he looks at her like, "Okay, Boss. What now?" 

42. Visit Loved Ones

Side story: There was a carnival in the convention center parking lot across the street from the hotel. That first night, before I went to bed, I noticed a ton of police and ambulances. It was chaos and I wondered if something had happened with one of the rides. The next day, there was a huge sign: "Carnival Canceled." We looked it up on the local news. There was a shooting. Five shot, one dead. I'm so glad we chose such a safe hotel. 

The first full day of our vacation was also my birthday. My wonderful guys got me a spa gift certificate and a homemade gift certificate for one night in a hotel alone. That means no baby crying, no husband snoring, no dog licking her butt, no cat climbing on my legs. It sounds so glorious. I can't wait to take advantage of it. (Luckily, I have some travel coming up so I'll save it for a while so I can spread them out.) 

After breakfast, we headed to the beach with Annie and Michaela, aka "Annie-Kaya". Evan was interested in the sand but wasn't as crazy for it as I would've guessed. We spent a perfect morning playing in the sand and standing in the waves. He wasn't to excited about the cold water or the way the sand washes away under your feet when the water goes out. 

43. Wiggle Our Toes in the Sand

Evan's first walk in the sand

Love these two

Working hard on sand castling 

Beach Baby

I believe this is how I would like to spend every
birthday from now on: my toes in the sand, the cool
breeze in my hair and my two favorites digging at
my feet

We all got lunch together (free Firehouse sub for my birthday, woot!) and then parted ways to get the kids napping. After nap, we headed to Annie's house for a cookout. The kids had a great time playing while Annie grilled us some goodies. Michaela got me a gigantic balloon for my birthday. Such a sweet kid. This is how life should be-- going to each others' houses for dinner, the kids playing in the backyard while the adults chat. I wish we could live closer to each other.

Happy Birthday to me!

Needless to say, Evan slept like a rock that night.

To be continued...