Virginia Beach- Last Leg of Spring Break 2015

After Jamestown, and a brief stop at the outlets, we headed to Virginia Beach!  Originally the forecast had not been one favorable of a stop at the beach, but as the day progressed, the promised thunderstorm was pushed back later and later!  So, we sailed by the hotel (the perk of a husband who travels a lot!), grabbed some pizza from a local Little Caesars, and headed straight for the beach!  As we walked onto the beach, we ran into some old friends, and spent some time watching the kiddos play in the waves, the adults catching up!  It was wonderful!

Team Work- pizza and toys!

SO excited to be at the beach!!

After playing for over 2 hours in the frigid water, building many sand castles, and consuming lots of pizza, we headed to the hotel.  We dropped off our things in a huge room and headed for the pool!  There they swam for almost an hour!

Cutest luggage ever!

Living on the edge- putting their feet in the hot tub!

 We ended the evening by watching some of Annie- how they could keep their eyes open after such a long and action-packed day, I do not know!

They were all up and ready to go back the next morning!  We grabbed a quick breakfast at the hotel- along with an entire bus-worth of a dance troupe from North Carolina Central University....

Working and not fighting- I'll take it!

This was the highlight for Addie- there were about 5-6 dolphins swimming down the coast!  There were actually jumping at one point!

Putting to use the skills they learned from Jamestown....

The only way to leave the beach is with ice-cream in your hands- or a milkshake or a frosted lemonade...

The kids did great- they played for over 3 hours on the beach, rode for over 2 hours home, happily, helped unload and vacuum the van!  It has been an amazing Spring Break!  One filled with Virginia memories and history!  We are abundently blessed!

Jamestown Adventure

Our final Spring Break Adventure was to Jamestown!  We were trying to squeeze in all the fun Virginia things we could...  Both Adeline and Alden had studied some about Jamestown and they were excited to check it out.  Al had to travel to California for work- so off the 5 of us went!

Checking out the canoes the indians made

An Indian Home- they were undecided if they would like to live in it...

Learning how the indians turned animals bones into weapons, utensils, and sewing needles! 

They LOVED exploring the boats- all 3 of them!

As we are exploring a boat, I hear my name- and it's my old college room mate and her family!  She graciously offered to take a picture for us! 

The boys liked these bunk beds...

See, the girls don't need their own rooms!

Team Work to fire a cannon...

Looking fierce in their armor

They all got to hold a musket- and loved it!

Outside the Settlement

The highlight of the day- the free ferry across the James....

It was such a fun day- and it wasn't over!  I surprised them with a trip to Virginia Beach!!

Washington DC Adventure

On Wednesday, Al took off, and we all headed into Washington, DC, for an adventure!  Luckily for us, Asher's best friend, K, and her Momma, who is my good friend and co-worker, were also going to DC for the day, so we met up!  It was such fun- and it made our life SO much easier!  The kids love each other and stuck together despite the crazy crowds!

SO excited to see each other

Using K's picnic blanket to keep warm!

Ready to explore Air and Space

Touching the moon!

Trying some space ice-cream!

After the sardine experience of Air and Space, we decided to walk to the Lincoln Memorial.  We stopped at the base of the Washington Monument for a photo op.

Having another adult is awesome- proof we were ALL there!

We had a great time despite the chilliness and dampness of the day!  Thanks T and K for helping us!!

Cinderella

Tuesday of Spring Break was a down-day....  The kids just played, Asher never changed out of his pjs, I grocery shopped, Al worked....  During Asher's nap time, the girls decided to spend some of their Easter money and go see Cinderella (thank you MarMars and PopPops!).  It was fun to share that sweet movie with my girls- I hope they can be kind and courageous, too....

Easter in NY 2015

Friday after school, we headed to NY to celebrate Easter.  The kids did great in the car and were so happy to get to MarMar and PopPops!

Saturday we dyed Easter Eggs and played at the park- it was super cold, so when MarMar turned on Hop, we happily watched!

Sunday morning we enjoyed the slightly warmed temps and were able to capture a few cute pics of the kiddos!

When we got home from church, Nate, Uncle Frank and Aunty Jen were there!  The cousins just jumped into playing with each other- so sweet!  They enjoyed an egg hunt- what a difference a year makes- Asher only needed help finding the eggs with just his name on them!

Monday we headed to a free local zoo!  The kids loved getting to see all the animals up close!  The strutting peacock, a drowsy black bear, and "wrestling" ducks were huge hits!  You never know what you will see at a zoo in springtime....  The kids are still talking about how seeing the "wrestling" ducks was one of their favorite parts of Spring Break....

After the zoo, the kids played outside some getting rid of some wiggles- we headed home at bedtime.

Everyone had a great time- snoozing away by 6:45pm!

Monument 10K

This could be Al's final Monument 10K to run- and he's been running in this race for over 12 years!  With this in mind, I dug out the kids winter jackets and blankets, and we went downtown to cheer for him!  It actually flurried on us and was by the far the coldest Monument 10K, but it was worth it!  As an added bonus, we were able to see our friends the L's run by, too!  Of course, we did get our traditional Dunkin Donuts to munch on- and the kids loved the pompoms and clappers that were passed out.

It was cold, but oh-so-fun!  Who knows- maybe we will drive up and Al will continue this tradition....

For Sale and Sold!

Since we are moving to Atlanta, we needed to sell our current home....  We decluttered, cleaned, and decluttered some more, and did more cleaning....  We listed it Tuesday at 10am, and had a solid offer by 8pm Wednesday!  I am SO thankful we only had to have the house show-worthy for 2 days- that is hard with 4 kiddos and 1 sick dog!  Once again God has shown His favor and we are thankful!

Alden is an expert dust-bunny-finder!

Addie is an excellent little-kid-entertainer

He is dedicated to eradicating the dust and cobwebs!

We had new windows installed- so pretty!

Playing on the playground during a showing

We have a great Community Group- another family opened their home so we could still meet on Wednesday!