Fun at the beach!

A few weekends ago, we hit the road and hit the beach! None of our children have ever seen the ocean (well maybe Ben did in Europe, but he wouldn't remember), and the girls have never been to a beach!


On the way, we made a stop at Busch Gardens in Williamsburg. They offer free tickets to military families, and we had to drive right by to get to Virginia Beach, so we made a free day of it! We arrived a little before lunchtime and stayed to close down the park at 9. We had a fun, fun day in the hot, hot sun. The temp was in the high 90s, but we managed to find some relief from the heat throughout the park. One of our favorite places to do that was the German Fest Hall. It was surprisingly accurate (we do know our German fests!) and one of the coolest places in the park. Sophie loved the polka music and danced and danced. Sophie, Addie and I did a good bit of hanging out there while the boys rode some rides.

We were surprised at how much the kids loved the rides. Ben could ride on most everything in the park, and Sophie did her fair share of rides too. Ben wanted to ride a big roller coaster at the end of the evening, but thankfully we talked him out of it since we didn't want to stand in the long line. He did ride the log ride with Nick though and came and gave me a big, wet hug when he was done! Our excursion to the park was exhausting but tons of fun. Nick and I couldn't wait to get to the hotel and get everyone into the shower and then into bed.

The next morning we headed another hour down the road to Virginia Beach. The kids were thrilled to see the ocean, and even more excited when they discovered our hotel was right on the beach! Our trip was hastily planned, and we really weren't prepared to have Addie at the beach. We did however manage to sneak in some play time at the beach after breakfast each day before it was too crowded and hot. The weather was still in the high 90s and the water was frequently off limits for swimming due to the strong rip tide. Both the kids loved digging in the sand and made sand castles decorated with the beach treasures they had found. We have also discovered when you have small children, sand gets absolutely everywhere. We are still finding it in the stroller and in Addie's car seat!

After dinner the first night, we headed out for ice cream and a walk on the beach. It wasn't nearly as hot, and we finally didn't have to worry about too much sun exposure for the kids. A nice lady offered to take a family photo for us. It is one of only a handful that exist, AND no one is screaming!

Ben had fun trying to write his name in the sand before the water would wash it away!

Sophie tried to make her own version of a sand castle!

It wasn't all fun at the beach, we went to the Virginia Aquarium too! We figured it was a good way to escape the heat of the day. It's a good thing we went too, because it poured the whole time we were there. It was very relaxing to be in the cool indoors looking at the fish. We took our time at each of the exhibits. There was a nature center attached to the aquarium and Ben had a great time exploring. He even had the opportunity to pet a rat snake, and a baby alligator. Such a brave boy!

It was still pouring as we left the aquarium, so we decided that a beach side dinner was out of the question and headed to the Outback instead. An amazing thing happened as we were driving back to the hotel after dinner. Sophie fell asleep! Those who know Sophie, know that she does not sleep well if we are not home. She rarely even sleeps in the car. She crashed mid sentence while chewing some of her brother's left overs. (You know it had been about 15 minutes since she had last eaten, and since she is a human garbage disposal, she couldn't let Ben's food go untouched!) She even stayed asleep while Nick carried her in the rain into the hotel. What was even more amazing was that she slept until 6:30 the next morning. It was still quite early, so the boys ventured out for ice cream once the rain stopped while I stayed back with the girls. Thankfully, they brought some yummy frozen custard back for me!

Sophie and I hit the beach early the next morning for a walk. Her long sleep had rejuvenated her, and we couldn't keep her quite in the hotel room while the other two children were sleeping. It was a blast walking along the shore with her, and she was so excited to pick up sea shells to take back to Benny.

Our trip wasn't so relaxing, but when is any trip with three children relaxing? We had a great time exploring on the beach and look forward to many more beach trips to come. Next time we will be more prepared!