Back to the Beach...kind of!

My children love the beach and have been begging to go back since we left the Outer Banks. I would have LOVED to indulge them with another beach vacation, but it wasn't going to happen this summer! Instead, I found the next best thing for them--the beach...of a lake. While we were still in Charlottesville, we visited a local park with a lake beach. The kids were thrilled with the huge expanse of sand and water and couldn't wait to get to some sand and water play!

I'll have to say, the lake beach is a lot different than the ocean beach. I didn't think I'd have a problem with it, but it just felt DIRTY! The sand was the coarse brown type, there was goose poop everywhere and the water was that brackish warm temperature that just made me sure we were absolutely bathing in bacteria. I attempted to repress my germaphobic side and just enjoy my beach day with my kids, but I'll have to admit that I pretty much followed them around with sanitizing gel!

Maybe Tristan was trying to avoid hand sanitizer! He LOVED the beach, the water fountain, the fish. He couldn't get enough! We loved watching a boy fish in the shallow water. The kids were SO interested in his bucket of fish. He used his net and scooped up a few minnows for us and the kids loved it. Bennett spent a good portion of the afternoon with his head stuck in the bucket watching the minnows swim around. I think he would have eaten those minnows if I would have allowed it!

Please keep in mind that it was over 100 degrees on the day that we chose to spend at the beach. It was broiling on the sand. For some reason, I believed playing on the beach playground would be fun. I didn't take into account the SCORCHING temperature of the equipment! The kids indulged me with some pirate faces and then we moved back to the warm water.

Back at the room, it was playtime, romper room style. We're such a quiet, sedate family!

Our hotel was in the same parking lot as Dunkin' Donuts. Bad combo! We watched over to the donut shop several times for an afternoon coffee break. It sounded like such a great idea at the time! I made the mistake of buying only one frozen drink to share between us all. Let me just say that Bennett is one demanding little dude. He does NOT understand the concept of taking turns and screams every moment that he's not actively sucking up the sweet nectar from the straw. I felt a lot sorry for the other folks who were trying to enjoy their afternoon coffee break! I kept apologizing to the ladies at the next table, who were very understanding. It may be awhile before I'm ready to endure another "fun" coffee break!

Busch Gardens

While in Virginia, I knew we had to take the opportunity to visit Busch Gardens. We were only about an hour and half away and we didn't foresee any point in the future when we'd be so close. Sea World/Busch Gardens has a program that allows members of the military and their families to go to one of their establishments one day a year for free. We simply couldn't pass up the chance to go on the one Saturday we were in Virginia, despite the fact that it was 100 degrees that day! The kids were SO excited--they couldn't wait to get started!
Hard to believe that we're at a point where we can go to an amusement park with only one stroller. It would certainly have been easier to have had a double and Tristan definitely tired out during the course of the day, but we survived with just the umbrella stroller. I made the kids stop and pose for a photo just inside the entrance. They grudgingly obliged me, but I could tell they were ready for some action!

Busch Gardens is beautiful, fun and has a contract with Sesame Street. The kids were SO excited to see some of their favorite characters in Kiddie land and ride the Sesame themed rides. Even Bennett could get excited about seeing Elmo everywhere!

And there he was in the flesh! Maura and Tristan were PUMPED! They both still love Elmo, despite his ear piercingly annoying voice! Bennett loves Elmo--in theory and in movies. In person, he was a little overwhelming. He enjoyed looking at Elmo, but there was NO way he was going to touch, get near, or sit on his lap. At least he didn't scream!

If Elmo was scary, Big Bird was terrifying! Bennett hid his face in Brent's shoulder and would not remove it until Big Bird was gone! I loved the big yellow bird! It was like meeting one of my childhood heroes. I LOVED Sesame Street as a child and Big Bird was one of my faves!

Below: I thought I might be able to get away with putting Bennett on the lap of Abby Cadabby--she's a kindlier, gentler pink monster who Bennett was happy to exchange high fives with. No dice. You can't trust someone with pink and purple spiky hair!

Maura had no such qualms! She couldn't wait to hug on Abby! I couldn't help but feel sorry for these characters. It was 100 degrees on that day. I was sweating like crazy in my t-shirt and skirt. I can not imagine how sweltering it would have been to wear a character suit! I think they were only out for meet and greets for five minutes before they went in for breaks. Thankfully, due to the heat, the park was nearly deserted, so we were actually able to meet the characters pretty quickly.

Loved it! Watching my dear ones interact with their little heroes was precious!

I would have LOVED to take more photos of my children enjoying the park, but the camera is just too big and too expensive to lug around all day. After our time in Kiddie Land, Brent took the camera back to the car so that we could lighten our load. We had an awesome day, despite the terribly hot weather. The kids loved visiting all the countries, but honestly I think the highlight of their day might just have been all the Sierra Mist we allowed them to drink. We never let our kids have pop. Never. That day, we bought the souvenir cup and just kept refilling it so that the kids wouldn't dehydrate. They loved it. LOVED it. Sucked it up as quickly as we as we filled it. Bennett screamed every time we tried to take it from him. He is my wild man and he knows what he wants. What he wanted was that sweet Sierra Mist nectar!

Busch Gardens has a surprising number of kid friendly rides. We found at least two or three rides in each country that the kids could ride. We made one of the biggest mistakes of our parenting careers at the park, though. I spied an indoor ride, it was hot, and we made a beeline for it. We did ask the ride operator if the ride was scary and he assured us that it wasn't very scary. Brent and I took turns riding. I went first with Maura and Tristan and Brent waited with Bennett(in the deliciously cool air conditioning). Well, the ride was TERRIFYING! It was a holographic, 4D type ride where they squirted water, blew fire and had holographic demonic characters come right up into your face. Terrifying. Tristan hid his face and Maura took off her 3D glasses and I felt like the world's worst mom! Thankfully, they have never mentioned the incident and we'll be avoiding any and all haunted houses from this point on!

Going to an amusement park without any additional help is a new experience for us. We generally go places like this with family members who can help hold babies and assist at bathroom breaks. Instead, Brent and I had to take turns going on rides with the kids and we took Bennett on some rides that I would never have previously attempted to take a baby. When we rode the Log Jammer ride, he rode front and center with me and got soaked. I'm not sure how much he loved that!

My very favorite event of the day came in the evening when we visited Ireland to see a special puppetry program for the kids and I happened to notice that an Irish Dance program was scheduled to start in just 20 minutes. The kids were exhausted and hot, but we figured we could squeeze in just one more fun event. I'm not sure if they loved it, but I was mesmerized by the flashing feet of those Irish dancers! Awesome!

What an awesome day. We reached our car just as the fireworks went off, sponged bathed with wet wipes, changed the kids into jammies and headed "home." We truly enjoyed our fabulous family time. They kids can't wait to go back to Virginia next year so we can go to Busch Gardens!

Hotel Life and the Livin' is Easy

In July we travelled to Virginia to spend two weeks with Brent as he did his two weeks of Reserve duty. It was two weeks in a hotel and I was apprehensive. Two weeks of a lot of togetherness could be awesome or awful! I tried to approach the preparations with an open mind and a LOT of activities for the kids. It wasn't hard to imagine the havoc that three bored children could wreck on a hotel room, so my mission was constant involvement! I took a huge box of activities, a bag of books and lots of movies. Couple that with some awesome snacks, and the kids were ready for some serious fun!
We spent the beginning of our mornings at the continental breakfast, which was always a bit stressful for me and always entertaining to the other guests. Brent left for work LONG before we were ready for breakfast, so it was just me attempting to get all four of us fed without creating too big of a scene. Thankfully, one of the hotel staff took a liking to the kids and she lent me a hand on the mornings she worked. I'm not sure what I would have done without Ms. Laura. Tristan was disapointed that she wouldn't be going home with us! One particularly funny morning, the kids were watching commercials on the TV of the breakfast room when a commercial came on for a hair removal product. Tristan remarked(loudly) that we should get that for Daddy. He then said, "Daddy needs that to get the hair off his chest!" I burst out laughing and couldn't help but notice most of the people within hearing distance doing the same. Never a dull moment. We generally transitioned from breakfast straight to the swimming pool, which was a lifesaver! It was over a hundred degrees for many of the days we were in Virginia. The kids had a blast in the water and it was a free and easy activity for me. LOVE!

I generally spent the majority of the rest of the day entertaining kids. I fed the kids lunch in the room every day because I couldn't stand the idea of trying to eat in public for three meals a day! We sprung for a suite while we were there, which meant that I could put the boys down for naps and could still use the other room with Maura. She played puzzles, drew pictures and played on the computer while the boys napped and I was able to enjoy some recreational reading. It's amazing how much more time you have when you don't have to clean!!

Lets just say that our room wasn't always calm, sedate or quiet. I feel very lucky that we never had a noise complaint called on us! I think the walls must have been extra thick in our room because I never heard our neighbors--or maybe it's just that I couldn't hear them over the din that was coming from our room!

We ALL looked forward to the time of the day when Daddy would come home. We loved that he got off work most days at 4:30--especially me!! I would often escape when he came home just to go do laundry and be by myself! My kids are awesome, but there's just SO MANY of them!!

The evenings were our chance to have FUN!! All hands were on deck and it was time to party! We had to eat out every night, with varying degrees of success. Every parent of multiple preschoolers knows how stressful eating out can be. Imagine doing it EVERY night! No thanks! We went to a "nice" restaurant only once and Brent ended up taking Tristan to the potty just after our food arrived and taking Maura out for discipline later in the meal. We ended up leaving the restaurant with Maura wailing and I swore I would never go out to eat with the kids again. Of course I had to break that vow the very next night. Not every experience was awful, though, and we did get to enjoy some great family time. I especially loved watching the kids snuggle with their daddy on the couch every night for bedtime stories and Bible reading. It was just precious! Another evening, we got out into the great outdoors at Shenandoah National Park. It was cool and beautiful up in the Blue Ridge Mountains!

We enjoyed a bug infested picnic, then attempted a hike. I wasn't sure how it would go, and Bennett was not at ALL fond of the hiking backpack, but once we got underway I was glad we went. It was just beautiful in the woods. We were even able to see places where bears had torn at dead logs to get at the bugs inside. The kids LOVED the wild raspberries that grew all along the path and we stopped multiple times to harvest the juicy red berries. Bennett was a BIG fan and looked like a little birdie waiting for a berry to be dropped into his little mouth!

Right before we went into the woods we came face to face with this doe, who was not at all afraid of us. I approached within about fifteen feet of her before she finally walked away. So beautiful. Later, we came upon three deer grazing and the kids had a great time scaring them away. In fact, I think this little jaunt into nature was one of little tree huggers' favorite experiences!

Sunset on the Blue Ridge Mountains. Just gorgeous! We were so blessed to get out into God's creation and enjoy it so much. I hope we are able to visit Shenandoah National Park again someday when the kids are able to enjoy a more extensive hike. Maybe next time we'll see a bear!