On Tuesday night we carved our jack-o-latern. Emily was feeling a bit under the weather, but she perked right up with an exciting new task at hand! She was fascinated with the "guts" and wanted to get her hands (and mouth) on just about everything that came out of our pumpkin. Yum. Cold pumpkin goo. Ava, as usual, was ever helpful in teaching her little sister "the ropes". She was adamant that our pumpkin be scary and "evil". Lovely. I drew three types of eyes, noses, and mouths on a piece of paper and let her circle which one I would draw on the pumpkin so that she could design him herself. She drew on the eyebrows for her own added touch.
Monday, November 2, 2009
Dance Class Observation
We returned from Indiana just in time for Ava's dance class. Good thing, because it was observation night! This year, Ava wanted to learn to tap dance. We found a dance school that teaches a ballet, tap, jazz combo class for her age group. Ava attends the class with her best friend, Anna. We were out of town for the last class, when her teacher announced that students should wear their Halloween costumes to observation night. Anna's mommy and daddy were out of town during the previous week also, so neither of us got the memo. Ooops. As you watch the clips, you'll notice our daughters are in leotard rather than costume.
I love Ava's dance class this year. It's the complete opposite of last year's dance school where everything was stuffy and formal and well...cold. This place makes dancing fun! I wish that I'd had more storage on my camera to capture more of the fun exercises given to the children to encourage movement and coordination. Even the music is better! Unfortunately the room was very crowded and moving about to capture a better shot of Miss Ava was out of this question. But here's what I have:
We saw their costumes for the Spring performance tonight...in all of their neon green sequined glory! They even have a little pillbox hat to accessorize. I'm excited!
I love Ava's dance class this year. It's the complete opposite of last year's dance school where everything was stuffy and formal and well...cold. This place makes dancing fun! I wish that I'd had more storage on my camera to capture more of the fun exercises given to the children to encourage movement and coordination. Even the music is better! Unfortunately the room was very crowded and moving about to capture a better shot of Miss Ava was out of this question. But here's what I have:
We saw their costumes for the Spring performance tonight...in all of their neon green sequined glory! They even have a little pillbox hat to accessorize. I'm excited!
Friday, October 30, 2009
Fall Fun in Indiana
A couple of weeks ago the girls and I made our annual Fall trip to Indiana. For the last few years I've tried to make it home for a week in October, spending half of the time at my parent's and half of the time at Mike's parent's so that the girls can do the fun Fall stuff like hayrides and pumpkin picking with their grandparents and cousins.
We visited Northern Indiana first so that we'd be able to attend the Grand Opening of my parent's new office that week. I took the girls apple picking on Friday and pumpkin picking on Sunday.
On Saturday my grandparents had a Plow Day on their farm. Upon telling one of my friends that I attended my grandpa's plow day while at home, they said, "Oh how nice! So everyone gets together to help him plow his field?" After attending plow day, I'd say that it's not so much about plowing the field, but more about the antique tractors that have been lovingly restored and maintained by collectors. It was interesting to see the farm equipment of yesteryear. How lone farmers chugged along, bouncing on hard metal seats out in big fields under an even bigger sky on their little tractors; plows ripping through the soil and turning under crop residue after harvest. This is especially impressive to me when compared to today's mammoth farm machinery that can tackle an area the width of my living room and kitchen combined in an easy sweep. There may even be a day in my lifetime when the modern farmer doesn't even sit behind the wheel. He'll just program a computer and GPS will guide machinery up and down the rows of crop stubble. Plow day means that farmers bring their antique tractors and plows to a field and people come from miles around to admire them and bask in the nostalgia. And then there's food. A big lunch served at the mid-day break. The kids had a blast watching the tractors, climbing aboard and pretending to drive, racing pedal tractors in my grandpa's shop and cruising the event in a golf cart. I helped my grandma prepare for the day, but I didn't expect for it to be fun. I was pleasantly surprised.
On my final night up at my parent's I sent Ava and Riley out to the pole building to play with grandpa and kept Emily and Hudson inside with me while I packed. They are just 6 months apart and finally at an age that they play really well together. They made me laugh all night, communicating with one another in toddler speak. I brought them upstairs as I folded the last of our clothes into a suitcase. To give them room to play, I opened the door across the hall from the room where I was working (the nursery). I closed all other doors...bathroom, master bedroom. Those two are mischevous! As I folded, I heard loud flushing noises followed by helpless giggling. This occurred a few more times before I decided to investigate. I crossed the hallway to find the two cousins sitting in the rocker "reading" a potty training book with sound effect buttons. I'm glad my camera was nearby. I grabbed for it and caught the end of their fun!
On Wednesday we moved on to Mike's parent's, lovingly known to my children as Grandma Pammy and Papa Nick. You will notice an absence of pictures from this portion of my visit. They are all on Mike's mom's camera. I confess, when I made it to my mother and father-in-law's house, I got a little break. While I was home, my parents were busy getting ready for their open house and my sisters (both teachers) were finishing report cards and preparing for parent-teacher conferences. I found myself caring for 3 extra kiddos (my niece and nephews). All that family time was fun, but I was beat! I have a whole new respect for those moms with 5+ children. At my in-law's I had babysitters! Wednesday night I went out to dinner with friends while Ava and Emily played with their cousins under the supervision of Papa Nick and Uncle Dave. On Thursday, my daughters hit a class at the Children's Museum, The Haunted House, and the Zoo Boo with Grandma Pammy, Aunt Stacey, and cousins Nicholas and Tyler. I, on the other hand, met a friend for lunch, picked up Emily for naptime, and met up with everyone again for dinner. On Friday, we were all supposed to make our annual trip to the pumpkin patch, however we got rained out. We went to story time at our favorite children's book store, The Wild in Noblesville, instead. I do have the following pictures from our trip...on Friday night, Mike's whole family gathered for a family portrait and dinner after:
The whole family
The grandkids
Our happy little family
Ava at 5 years
Emily at almost 22 months
On Saturday, Mike and I joined our usual tailgate group, some of my sorority sisters, my dad, and brother in-law on Slayter Hill for my final Purdue Football tailgate party of the season. We topped off the night with Guitar Hero and a couple of rounds of euchre with Mike's sister and her husband at their house. It was a wonderful, busy visit home!
We visited Northern Indiana first so that we'd be able to attend the Grand Opening of my parent's new office that week. I took the girls apple picking on Friday and pumpkin picking on Sunday.
On Saturday my grandparents had a Plow Day on their farm. Upon telling one of my friends that I attended my grandpa's plow day while at home, they said, "Oh how nice! So everyone gets together to help him plow his field?" After attending plow day, I'd say that it's not so much about plowing the field, but more about the antique tractors that have been lovingly restored and maintained by collectors. It was interesting to see the farm equipment of yesteryear. How lone farmers chugged along, bouncing on hard metal seats out in big fields under an even bigger sky on their little tractors; plows ripping through the soil and turning under crop residue after harvest. This is especially impressive to me when compared to today's mammoth farm machinery that can tackle an area the width of my living room and kitchen combined in an easy sweep. There may even be a day in my lifetime when the modern farmer doesn't even sit behind the wheel. He'll just program a computer and GPS will guide machinery up and down the rows of crop stubble. Plow day means that farmers bring their antique tractors and plows to a field and people come from miles around to admire them and bask in the nostalgia. And then there's food. A big lunch served at the mid-day break. The kids had a blast watching the tractors, climbing aboard and pretending to drive, racing pedal tractors in my grandpa's shop and cruising the event in a golf cart. I helped my grandma prepare for the day, but I didn't expect for it to be fun. I was pleasantly surprised.
On my final night up at my parent's I sent Ava and Riley out to the pole building to play with grandpa and kept Emily and Hudson inside with me while I packed. They are just 6 months apart and finally at an age that they play really well together. They made me laugh all night, communicating with one another in toddler speak. I brought them upstairs as I folded the last of our clothes into a suitcase. To give them room to play, I opened the door across the hall from the room where I was working (the nursery). I closed all other doors...bathroom, master bedroom. Those two are mischevous! As I folded, I heard loud flushing noises followed by helpless giggling. This occurred a few more times before I decided to investigate. I crossed the hallway to find the two cousins sitting in the rocker "reading" a potty training book with sound effect buttons. I'm glad my camera was nearby. I grabbed for it and caught the end of their fun!
On Wednesday we moved on to Mike's parent's, lovingly known to my children as Grandma Pammy and Papa Nick. You will notice an absence of pictures from this portion of my visit. They are all on Mike's mom's camera. I confess, when I made it to my mother and father-in-law's house, I got a little break. While I was home, my parents were busy getting ready for their open house and my sisters (both teachers) were finishing report cards and preparing for parent-teacher conferences. I found myself caring for 3 extra kiddos (my niece and nephews). All that family time was fun, but I was beat! I have a whole new respect for those moms with 5+ children. At my in-law's I had babysitters! Wednesday night I went out to dinner with friends while Ava and Emily played with their cousins under the supervision of Papa Nick and Uncle Dave. On Thursday, my daughters hit a class at the Children's Museum, The Haunted House, and the Zoo Boo with Grandma Pammy, Aunt Stacey, and cousins Nicholas and Tyler. I, on the other hand, met a friend for lunch, picked up Emily for naptime, and met up with everyone again for dinner. On Friday, we were all supposed to make our annual trip to the pumpkin patch, however we got rained out. We went to story time at our favorite children's book store, The Wild in Noblesville, instead. I do have the following pictures from our trip...on Friday night, Mike's whole family gathered for a family portrait and dinner after:
The whole family
The grandkids
Our happy little family
Ava at 5 years
Emily at almost 22 months
On Saturday, Mike and I joined our usual tailgate group, some of my sorority sisters, my dad, and brother in-law on Slayter Hill for my final Purdue Football tailgate party of the season. We topped off the night with Guitar Hero and a couple of rounds of euchre with Mike's sister and her husband at their house. It was a wonderful, busy visit home!
Autism Walk and Ava Live
A little over a year ago, I had no idea of how devastating the diagnosis, "Your child has autism" could be. I had no idea of the day to day challenges of raising a special needs child. And then we moved to Ohio and made some wonderful friends. A family whose son has autism. Over the last year I've learned so much more about what life with a special needs child is like. The various types of therapy, adaptations to be made in the home and at school, and the obstacles that exist to overcome. Today, I am more aware. In October our family walked in the Cleveland Autism Walk in support of our friends. The more research that can be funded, the more help and answers will be available to children living with autism. Here are my pictures of today's walk and some pics I snapped of our new city along the way.
By the time we returned home from the walk it was Emily's naptime. I was pretty beat too, so Emily and I retired to our rooms for a rest. Ava never runs out of energy, so she headed out to the garage to "help" daddy. When I came down with Emily a couple of hours later I found Ava on a small stage in our driveway, belting out Disney tunes. This explained all of the banging and pounding I'd heard outside my bedroom window. They'd been hammering nails into scrap wood to construct a stage. Mike carried the stage to the basement and hooked up a microphone for our little performer while I made dinner. I could hear Ava interviewing Mike as he tried to clean the basement. I wish I'd have gotten that on camera. Funny stuff! Here is some of the footage that I did record of Ava and her trusty sidekick, Emily on the new stage. This kid loves to hear the sound of her own voice(Gee...I wonder who she gets that from?)and she's very proud of how high she can sing. You'll see...you might just need to adjust your volume through the screechy parts. : ) Oh, and if there's any confusion about who actually taught Emily to talk, this should clear it up.
Please excuse our basement, it's a work in progress...
By the time we returned home from the walk it was Emily's naptime. I was pretty beat too, so Emily and I retired to our rooms for a rest. Ava never runs out of energy, so she headed out to the garage to "help" daddy. When I came down with Emily a couple of hours later I found Ava on a small stage in our driveway, belting out Disney tunes. This explained all of the banging and pounding I'd heard outside my bedroom window. They'd been hammering nails into scrap wood to construct a stage. Mike carried the stage to the basement and hooked up a microphone for our little performer while I made dinner. I could hear Ava interviewing Mike as he tried to clean the basement. I wish I'd have gotten that on camera. Funny stuff! Here is some of the footage that I did record of Ava and her trusty sidekick, Emily on the new stage. This kid loves to hear the sound of her own voice(Gee...I wonder who she gets that from?)and she's very proud of how high she can sing. You'll see...you might just need to adjust your volume through the screechy parts. : ) Oh, and if there's any confusion about who actually taught Emily to talk, this should clear it up.
Please excuse our basement, it's a work in progress...
Thursday, October 1, 2009
This week...
I've been lousy at keeping up the family blog over the last few months. After taking more pictures than usual of my family this week (rather that what we're eating), I realized that I could document our week in pictures.
On Monday, Ava's school had cowboy/cowgirl day. They got to dress up like "cow folk" and participated in theme related activities at school. Here are some pictures of Ava on Monday morning before school.
Here's Emily laughing at her crazy cowgirl of a big sister.
Mondays are crazy around here. I drop off Ava by 9, hurry to my parent's group bible study at 9:30, pick up up Ava by noon, feed the girls lunch at home, try to squeeze in grocery shopping and errands before Emily's nap at 2, and then it's off to Ava's dance class at 5:30. She's taking a ballet/tap/jazz class this year. She absolutely loves it. They're learning the Pumpkin Polka for their Halloween dance right now. I'll have to get some pictures of that soon. By the time that I get home, feed the girls, and get them to bed on Monday nights I am ready to fall onto the couch and relax with my favorite shows. Only this is what I found on Monday night when we returned home.
Yes, that's our television set. In pieces. It was broken. Wouldn't even turn on. Kudos to my hero of a husband for tracking down the part and fixing it for just a few dollars before my Thursday night shows!
On Tuesday and Wednesday the rainy fall weather kept us inside, so the girls spent a good deal of time in their playroom, using their imaginations, dreaming up ways to entertain us, and dragging out nearly every toy from the toy bin, as you can see from the video below. I was finished our dinner dishes when I heard Emily, the one baby band, performing so I grabbed my camera. Notice how Emily is so sad when she feels left out. They're both such daddy's girls! Also, note that Ava is currently the director of all productions in this household. "Keep rolling film, mommy!"
On Thursday, Emily and I chaperoned Ava's class to the Backyard Preserve in our town. The senior center used volunteers as tour guides to explain the different plants to the kiddos. It was a wonderful day! Ava was super excited since the trip had been post-poned earlier in the week due to the nasty weather and...well, she's an fan of The Great Outdoors just like her mommy. The sweet lady that served as her tour guide did an awesome job and gave each kid a "treasure map" of the area which Ava was determined to read and follow herself. Emily had so much fun tagging along with the "big kids". She was in 7th Heaven! Note: I did not choose Ava's hat for this excursion...that was all her.
Thursday night we hit the bike trail for Ava's maiden voyage. I wasn't sure how she'd do, but she was a pro. She rode two miles straight without incident. Her increased bicycle proficiency is good for my health. She's my new pace car on the trail. I had to jog the whole two miles while pushing Emily to keep up!
On Friday we have swim lessons. These are Ava's first lessons and I'm really hoping by next summer she'll be swimming without the aid of her floaties. I love her swim school. The teachers are excellent, it's very kid focused and friendly and there are only 3 kids per class. Here are some shots from her lesson last week.
Who knows what the weekend holds. I think we're supposed to attend the wedding of one of Mike's contractors from work tomorrow and I'd love to squeeze in some hiking. The next three weekends of this month are already full! Whatever we do, you can be sure that it'll be an adventure!
Hope you're all having a good week!
Love, Krista
On Monday, Ava's school had cowboy/cowgirl day. They got to dress up like "cow folk" and participated in theme related activities at school. Here are some pictures of Ava on Monday morning before school.
Here's Emily laughing at her crazy cowgirl of a big sister.
Mondays are crazy around here. I drop off Ava by 9, hurry to my parent's group bible study at 9:30, pick up up Ava by noon, feed the girls lunch at home, try to squeeze in grocery shopping and errands before Emily's nap at 2, and then it's off to Ava's dance class at 5:30. She's taking a ballet/tap/jazz class this year. She absolutely loves it. They're learning the Pumpkin Polka for their Halloween dance right now. I'll have to get some pictures of that soon. By the time that I get home, feed the girls, and get them to bed on Monday nights I am ready to fall onto the couch and relax with my favorite shows. Only this is what I found on Monday night when we returned home.
Yes, that's our television set. In pieces. It was broken. Wouldn't even turn on. Kudos to my hero of a husband for tracking down the part and fixing it for just a few dollars before my Thursday night shows!
On Tuesday and Wednesday the rainy fall weather kept us inside, so the girls spent a good deal of time in their playroom, using their imaginations, dreaming up ways to entertain us, and dragging out nearly every toy from the toy bin, as you can see from the video below. I was finished our dinner dishes when I heard Emily, the one baby band, performing so I grabbed my camera. Notice how Emily is so sad when she feels left out. They're both such daddy's girls! Also, note that Ava is currently the director of all productions in this household. "Keep rolling film, mommy!"
On Thursday, Emily and I chaperoned Ava's class to the Backyard Preserve in our town. The senior center used volunteers as tour guides to explain the different plants to the kiddos. It was a wonderful day! Ava was super excited since the trip had been post-poned earlier in the week due to the nasty weather and...well, she's an fan of The Great Outdoors just like her mommy. The sweet lady that served as her tour guide did an awesome job and gave each kid a "treasure map" of the area which Ava was determined to read and follow herself. Emily had so much fun tagging along with the "big kids". She was in 7th Heaven! Note: I did not choose Ava's hat for this excursion...that was all her.
Thursday night we hit the bike trail for Ava's maiden voyage. I wasn't sure how she'd do, but she was a pro. She rode two miles straight without incident. Her increased bicycle proficiency is good for my health. She's my new pace car on the trail. I had to jog the whole two miles while pushing Emily to keep up!
On Friday we have swim lessons. These are Ava's first lessons and I'm really hoping by next summer she'll be swimming without the aid of her floaties. I love her swim school. The teachers are excellent, it's very kid focused and friendly and there are only 3 kids per class. Here are some shots from her lesson last week.
Who knows what the weekend holds. I think we're supposed to attend the wedding of one of Mike's contractors from work tomorrow and I'd love to squeeze in some hiking. The next three weekends of this month are already full! Whatever we do, you can be sure that it'll be an adventure!
Hope you're all having a good week!
Love, Krista
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Happy Birthday Ava!
I'm finally getting around to posting the footage from Ava's birthday party. She had a wonderful birthday weekend. She celebrated with Grandma Sally and Grandpa Bailey on Friday. They were passing through on a trip to Maine and just couldn't miss out on their oldest grandchild's birthday. Then on Saturday, the rest of our family and some friends came for the party. Kids cruised the lawn in the Barbie jeep, bounced themselves silly in the bounce house, tanked up on sugar from the pinata candy, and finished the evening by putting on a (noisy) parade with all of the musical instruments from our playroom. All in all, I'd say that it was a great party!
When Ava woke up on Sunday (her actually birthday) her Grandma Pammy and Papa Nick had one last suprise for her...her first bike! We said goodbye to them and Aunt Katie and Uncle Drew, and then we were off for breakfast with my sisters and their families and my grandma. One more goodbye to all of them and we headed to our church carnival. We wrapped up the birthday festivities with a pizza dinner (her favorite) and a family movie. Talk about a birthday weekend extravaganza!
Here are the pictures and video:
When Ava woke up on Sunday (her actually birthday) her Grandma Pammy and Papa Nick had one last suprise for her...her first bike! We said goodbye to them and Aunt Katie and Uncle Drew, and then we were off for breakfast with my sisters and their families and my grandma. One more goodbye to all of them and we headed to our church carnival. We wrapped up the birthday festivities with a pizza dinner (her favorite) and a family movie. Talk about a birthday weekend extravaganza!
Here are the pictures and video:
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Our Summer Vacation 2009: Travel Journal and Pictures
We hadn't planned to take a week-long vacation this summer. However, my parents had purchased a week in Williamsburg, VA and were unable to use the trip. We were more than happy to make take them up on the offer to go in their place. So we packed up our suitcases, beach towels and pool gear, shut down the house, stopped the mail and set out early on a Saturday morning. With the kids happily watching a DVD in the back and Mike at the wheel, I started going through the paperwork for the resort. Something caught my eye. Check-in: August 16th. That didn't sound right. I looked at Mike. "Today's the 16th, right?" I asked hopefully. "Uh, no." he said and I could see the look he was giving me. Uh-oh. I had the date wrong. It was kind of late to turn around and go home. After a few minutes of discussion, we decided to head to D.C. first and get a room for the night. After all, we'd planned to take the girls into Washington sometime on our trip. D.C. was two-plus hours away from where we were staying in Williamsburg so this way we wouldn't have to make it a day trip with 4 hours on the road. My little mistake also worked out well because D.C. is only about 6 hours from our house, so it broke up the trip a little. Here is day by day account of our week in Virginia:
Day 1 Saturday August 15th
After realizing that we (ahem...I) had the Williamsburg check-in date wrong, we secured a room in Falls Church, VA. We took the Metro from where we were staying to the Federal Triangle. Both girls loved their first Metro ride, although the idea of staying in your seat alluded Emily. She was pretty squirmy. We braved the heat and saw the Washington Monument, the WWII Memorial, and the Lincoln Monument. Actually, Emily and I sat at the bottom as I had just been there two months ago and Mike and Ava climbed to the top. By now, we were hot and tired and hungry. We walked a looong way to the nearest Metro station to wait for a train. The tracks were under maintenance, so it took a even longer time for a train to arrive. We finally boarded a train. A broken one! Apparently it was experiencing mechanical problems. Stopping and starting. Losing electricity. It completely shut down once. It is really dark underground! Then as it lurched forward, it rocked on the tracks so far back and forth that I thought that we were going to fall right off of the tracks. Yikes! You could tell that everyone on the train was really nervous (including us). Luckily, when we finally pulled into the next stop, it was ours. They made everyone get off of the train and it rolled away empty. We made our way back to the hotel and the girls had their first experience as roommates. Crazy kids! It was like they were having a slumber party. Ava pulled Emily out of the pack and play and into her bed. We would have been none the wiser, except an hour later they started to giggle. I went in to check on them and they were all snuggled up in Ava's bed. Hard to be stern when my heart was swelling out of my chest. They were just so sweet.
Day 2 Sunday August 16th
Off to the National Zoo. It was ridiculously hot. We saw almost everything in less than three hours. We were craving the air-conditioned haven of the van! We hit the road to Williamsburg. It was supposed to be a 2-1/2 hour drive. Traffic was horrible. It took us almost 4 hours! Checked in to our hotel/condo. Then off to shop for supplies. We had our first Sonic for dinner. Yum!
Day 3 Monday August 17th
We started off the day in Newport News, VA for some shopping. Mike forgot his tennis shoes in Ohio and walked right through his sandals at the monuments and zoo in D.C. After some shopping we made our way to the Yorktown Waterfront where we sat overlooking the Chesapeake Bay and had a relaxing picnic lunch. We climbed a tree and walked on the rocks and Ava saw her first live starfish. It was huge! We made it back to Williamsburg via the scenic Colonial Parkway for naptime and then spent the evening grilling out and swimming in the pool.
Day 4 Tuesday August 18th
Out the door to Historic Jamestown first thing in the morning. The museum was awesome...and air conditioned! Next, we toured the settlement. First the fort, then the waterfront and the first ships that landed in Jamestown, and finally the Powhatan Indian Village. Then, back to the room to cool off for Emily and I. Mike and Ava went on a miniature golf adventure. Dinner was at Hooter's next to the resort. All you can eat wings! When we'd had our fill we headed to William & Mary, the second oldest university in America. Spent some time in the bookstore and walking the streets while waiting for our candle light ghost tour of Williamsburg. This was educational and fun! I'd definitely do this again. Unfortunately, during the tour, I noticed that Emily was "not herself". When we got back to the room I noticed that she felt warm. I mean, even warmer even than the hot night would warrant. We took her temp. and she had a fever of 102. Ibuprofen and off to bed for her! Actually, after a big day of sight-seeing it was bedtime for all of us.
Day 5 Wednesday August 19th
Not only did Emily have a fever, I had developed a nasty cold. We rented movies and hung out at the resort for most of the day. In the afternoon, while Emily napped, I took Ava back to Yorktown. We toured the Watermen's Museum and then walked out to the beach on the Chesapeake. It was an absolutely beautiful afternoon! We waded and collected shells and sponges and explored the shoreline. Before heading back to our room for the night, we grabbed some Ben and Jerry's to cool off.
Day 6 Thursday August 20th
Em and I were still under the weather, but we decided to head down to Virginia Beach anyway. We figured that we'd stay in the air conditioned car most of the time and just see the beach. We drove all the way down to Sandbridge Beach next to False Cape State Park and decided to go ahead and put on our swim suits and experience the beach for a bit. The beach was perfect. So beautiful! And it was fun to watch all of the surfers too. We only spent an hour and a half on the beach, most of it in the water 1)because the waves were big and so much fun and 2) to keep cool. We definitely fell in love with Virginia Beach and would like to return one day. We did our best to rinse off the sand and hopped in the van for the trip back to Williamsburg. We returned just in time for dinner and filled up at Captain George's giant seafood buffet. Hey, you've gotta chase a day at the beach with a big seafood dinner!
Day 7 Friday August 21st
Despite the fact that Emily wasn't "100%" we had already purchased tickets to Busch Gardens Europe and needed to use them before our trip came to an end. We made it into the park just as the gates opened and spent the day enjoying the variety of attractions that Busch Gardens has to offer. The girls had a blast on all of the kiddie rides, at Dragon Land, and at the new Sesame Street attraction. Mike's favorite coaster was the Griffon and I thought the DarkKastle 4D experience was pretty cool. I had planned to take Emily back to the resort for a nap, however, she fell asleep in the stroller and took a two hour nap despite all of the excitement around her. By 4 pm we were sufficiently sun-baked, so we made our way to the room for a shower and then met up with our friends Brian and Anne for a delicious dinner at Food For Thought. I definitely recommend this establishment if you find yourself in the vicinity of Williamsburg. Great food and service!
Day 8 Saturday August 22nd
We awoke to raindrops on the window. Ate a quick breakfast and headed to the Williamsburg Winery. As we listened to the weather report, we realized that Hurricane Bill was the cause of the rain drops and stormy weather was on the horizon. The only item on the agenda for the rest of the day was a little time by the pool before packing for our departure in the morning. With storms in the forecast, pool time seemed unlikely. We decided to pack up our things and move out a day early, rather than fight through the storms and Sunday traffic. We fled like fugitives, and here I sit, 13 hours later, typing this. It was a long trip home, but now that I sit here with our bags around me and the girls sleeping peacefully in their own beds, I'm glad that we left when we did.
Rather than make a montage of our trip pics I decided to put them on Shutterfly, so that I could post descriptions with the pictures. After you click on the link below, then click on "View Album" under the picture of Emily. If you want to read the descriptions about the pics click on "detail view" at the top of the next page rather than just clicking on "slideshow".
Here's the link to the pictures: Summer Vacation Pictures
And here are a couple of clips from Virginia Beach and Busch Gardens:
Day 1 Saturday August 15th
After realizing that we (ahem...I) had the Williamsburg check-in date wrong, we secured a room in Falls Church, VA. We took the Metro from where we were staying to the Federal Triangle. Both girls loved their first Metro ride, although the idea of staying in your seat alluded Emily. She was pretty squirmy. We braved the heat and saw the Washington Monument, the WWII Memorial, and the Lincoln Monument. Actually, Emily and I sat at the bottom as I had just been there two months ago and Mike and Ava climbed to the top. By now, we were hot and tired and hungry. We walked a looong way to the nearest Metro station to wait for a train. The tracks were under maintenance, so it took a even longer time for a train to arrive. We finally boarded a train. A broken one! Apparently it was experiencing mechanical problems. Stopping and starting. Losing electricity. It completely shut down once. It is really dark underground! Then as it lurched forward, it rocked on the tracks so far back and forth that I thought that we were going to fall right off of the tracks. Yikes! You could tell that everyone on the train was really nervous (including us). Luckily, when we finally pulled into the next stop, it was ours. They made everyone get off of the train and it rolled away empty. We made our way back to the hotel and the girls had their first experience as roommates. Crazy kids! It was like they were having a slumber party. Ava pulled Emily out of the pack and play and into her bed. We would have been none the wiser, except an hour later they started to giggle. I went in to check on them and they were all snuggled up in Ava's bed. Hard to be stern when my heart was swelling out of my chest. They were just so sweet.
Day 2 Sunday August 16th
Off to the National Zoo. It was ridiculously hot. We saw almost everything in less than three hours. We were craving the air-conditioned haven of the van! We hit the road to Williamsburg. It was supposed to be a 2-1/2 hour drive. Traffic was horrible. It took us almost 4 hours! Checked in to our hotel/condo. Then off to shop for supplies. We had our first Sonic for dinner. Yum!
Day 3 Monday August 17th
We started off the day in Newport News, VA for some shopping. Mike forgot his tennis shoes in Ohio and walked right through his sandals at the monuments and zoo in D.C. After some shopping we made our way to the Yorktown Waterfront where we sat overlooking the Chesapeake Bay and had a relaxing picnic lunch. We climbed a tree and walked on the rocks and Ava saw her first live starfish. It was huge! We made it back to Williamsburg via the scenic Colonial Parkway for naptime and then spent the evening grilling out and swimming in the pool.
Day 4 Tuesday August 18th
Out the door to Historic Jamestown first thing in the morning. The museum was awesome...and air conditioned! Next, we toured the settlement. First the fort, then the waterfront and the first ships that landed in Jamestown, and finally the Powhatan Indian Village. Then, back to the room to cool off for Emily and I. Mike and Ava went on a miniature golf adventure. Dinner was at Hooter's next to the resort. All you can eat wings! When we'd had our fill we headed to William & Mary, the second oldest university in America. Spent some time in the bookstore and walking the streets while waiting for our candle light ghost tour of Williamsburg. This was educational and fun! I'd definitely do this again. Unfortunately, during the tour, I noticed that Emily was "not herself". When we got back to the room I noticed that she felt warm. I mean, even warmer even than the hot night would warrant. We took her temp. and she had a fever of 102. Ibuprofen and off to bed for her! Actually, after a big day of sight-seeing it was bedtime for all of us.
Day 5 Wednesday August 19th
Not only did Emily have a fever, I had developed a nasty cold. We rented movies and hung out at the resort for most of the day. In the afternoon, while Emily napped, I took Ava back to Yorktown. We toured the Watermen's Museum and then walked out to the beach on the Chesapeake. It was an absolutely beautiful afternoon! We waded and collected shells and sponges and explored the shoreline. Before heading back to our room for the night, we grabbed some Ben and Jerry's to cool off.
Day 6 Thursday August 20th
Em and I were still under the weather, but we decided to head down to Virginia Beach anyway. We figured that we'd stay in the air conditioned car most of the time and just see the beach. We drove all the way down to Sandbridge Beach next to False Cape State Park and decided to go ahead and put on our swim suits and experience the beach for a bit. The beach was perfect. So beautiful! And it was fun to watch all of the surfers too. We only spent an hour and a half on the beach, most of it in the water 1)because the waves were big and so much fun and 2) to keep cool. We definitely fell in love with Virginia Beach and would like to return one day. We did our best to rinse off the sand and hopped in the van for the trip back to Williamsburg. We returned just in time for dinner and filled up at Captain George's giant seafood buffet. Hey, you've gotta chase a day at the beach with a big seafood dinner!
Day 7 Friday August 21st
Despite the fact that Emily wasn't "100%" we had already purchased tickets to Busch Gardens Europe and needed to use them before our trip came to an end. We made it into the park just as the gates opened and spent the day enjoying the variety of attractions that Busch Gardens has to offer. The girls had a blast on all of the kiddie rides, at Dragon Land, and at the new Sesame Street attraction. Mike's favorite coaster was the Griffon and I thought the DarkKastle 4D experience was pretty cool. I had planned to take Emily back to the resort for a nap, however, she fell asleep in the stroller and took a two hour nap despite all of the excitement around her. By 4 pm we were sufficiently sun-baked, so we made our way to the room for a shower and then met up with our friends Brian and Anne for a delicious dinner at Food For Thought. I definitely recommend this establishment if you find yourself in the vicinity of Williamsburg. Great food and service!
Day 8 Saturday August 22nd
We awoke to raindrops on the window. Ate a quick breakfast and headed to the Williamsburg Winery. As we listened to the weather report, we realized that Hurricane Bill was the cause of the rain drops and stormy weather was on the horizon. The only item on the agenda for the rest of the day was a little time by the pool before packing for our departure in the morning. With storms in the forecast, pool time seemed unlikely. We decided to pack up our things and move out a day early, rather than fight through the storms and Sunday traffic. We fled like fugitives, and here I sit, 13 hours later, typing this. It was a long trip home, but now that I sit here with our bags around me and the girls sleeping peacefully in their own beds, I'm glad that we left when we did.
Rather than make a montage of our trip pics I decided to put them on Shutterfly, so that I could post descriptions with the pictures. After you click on the link below, then click on "View Album" under the picture of Emily. If you want to read the descriptions about the pics click on "detail view" at the top of the next page rather than just clicking on "slideshow".
Here's the link to the pictures: Summer Vacation Pictures
And here are a couple of clips from Virginia Beach and Busch Gardens:
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