Beach experiences

One of my favorite pictures.

Sean found a $5.00 that washed up on shore at the beach.  He spent it last night at the souvenir shop on a gun set.  Best find on the beach.  It surprises me how many wads of chewing gum I have seen.  Note to self:  Don’t chew gum if going in the ocean. 

Now, for the educational portion of this post.  Now we know how they do it.   Imagine our surprise when this front-end loader came from somewhere and dropped some sand and smoothed it out and then drove away… we didn’t see it again.  Too funny.   It was not near our hotel… we had taken a walk toward the pier (seen in the background). 

At night, gremlins come and rake the beach smooth to get rid of all the foot prints so it starts with a smooth slate. 

2010 Vacation May 27 Sanyo 057.MP4

Skinny boy taking on the waves.

More Virginia Beach

Look at what salty misty breeze can do for your hair.  Instant curl.  I’m sure that must be salt causing those white hairs also.

Virginia Beach has a very nice boardwalk.  Part of it is a very wide sidewalk where people walk and roller blade.  Another part is a bike path. 

In the shade, both paths.

In the sun, sidewalk only.

Miscellaneous pictures of the beach.

 

Sean and Sierra using the zoom on the camcorder from our room on the 6th floor.

Fun in the sand.

Sun and Fun

We decided against taking in the sites at and around Williamsburg, mostly due to our new aversion to walking.  The kids are pretty much over walking.  And I have some decent shin splints going on especially in one leg that makes walking a challenge.  They do feel better today but not up for a hike.   

Today we moved on to Virginia Beach.  Nice beach.  First time I’ve ever been to a beach when the temps were not in the 90s or at least felt like they were.  No noticeable humidity.   Very nice. 

 

Cool Room

Last night we stayed in Williamsburg.  The hotel was very cool.  It also was our least expensive night’s stay of our vacation.  I do not know how I managed to find this place but it is a brand new hotel.  Only opened 6 weeks ago.  Smells brand new.  Only cost us $89 and it sleeps 6.  I knew it was going to cause problems for us when we moved to the beach today.  Our oldest child admitted she’s afraid this hotel will fall down.   We all loved the hotel last night.  Here are some pictures. 

Our room (after we had started moving in):

   

If you did not notice, this room had a flat screen LCD TV. 

The kids and Jeff enjoyed the pool and hot tub while I did some laundry.  I think there were only about 3 other rooms being rented that same night. 

Here is the lobby.  That is a fountain flowing down the wall on the right side in the first picture. 

  

More D.C.

Yesterday when we went to Mt. Vernon, we saw an orientation video that showed us what a great military leader Washington was.  It did a nice portrayal of George Washington and included a battle scene with some Indians.  After we were done, I asked Sean what he learned from the video.  He said, “I learned that Indians are a lot scarier than I thought!”  The battle was a bit graphic but it did show how brave Washington was and how smart he was as a leader. 

Today, we walked our feet off in D.C.  I’m pretty sure I left my feet somewhere near Smithsonian although the pain in my ankles would indicate they are still attached. 

We did have great weather today.  The sun did pop out in the afternoon, there was a nice breeze and it was not humid. 

Here are some pictures I took with our new video camera that also takes pictures.  I found this camera on Amazon and it does a pretty good job of picture taking.  It is not as handy for framing photos and viewing them afterward as my SLR but given that it fits in the palm of my hand, it works great for a trip like this. 

From the WW II Memorial looking across to the Lincoln Memorial.

A squirrel some boys scared up into a tree near the Lincoln Memorial.

It was neat to see how the sun changes the way the Washington Monument looks. 

As Sean says, the Lincoln Memorial is “HUGE!”.  Lincoln’s statue is 19 ft. tall.  We also visited a museum that had an exhibit just for Lincoln and it included his top hat and pocket watch and clothes and items related to his assassination. 

The Korean War Memorial.

The Vietnam War Memorial.

Mt. Vernon

It takes several hours to visit George Washington’s estate.  It is hilly so tiring but beautiful. 

 

Slave cabin. 

Sheep.

Wool from sheep. 

End of an Era

Preschool is over for us.  It is a sad and a happy time.  It is always sad to close a chapter of our lives that has brought much joy but it is also a new beginning which brings joy as well. 

Retention Pond

That hole in the flower bed the kids dug earlier this spring has served a purpose.  It continues to grow and now is serving as a retention pond, apparently.  Who needs swing sets and bicycles when you have a personal sized retention pond to entertain them. 

And no, they did not ask first before they got this muddy.   But I am getting better about not exploding and just opening the Oxi Clean and tossing it in with the clothes in the washer.  Sigh. 

Chewing Gum and Long Hair

These two do not go together.  I have removed gum from Sierra’s hair before but it was never a whole piece and never had such a long time to adhere itself.  She lost her gum out of her mouth at church and by the time we could get home to work on it, it was a lost cause. 

Introducing the new Sierra:  

She was really concerned at first but once she saw how it was turning out, she really liked it.  I like it too.  I have been trying to get her to let me cut it for a while because of all the dead ends and so it would be cooler and easier to care for this summer but she was not interested in the least.  I am glad she likes it.  It has thickened quite a bit since she last had it this length which must have been a long time ago.  I think the extra weight might have removed the curl that she used to have in this picture, but it does kick up a little. 

It is amazing how much kids change in two years at this age.