I think I must have been getting ESP back in the summer when I decided to book our VA Beach Family vacation for the week of October 8th, because it just so happened my husband is off anyway due to the lovely government shut down. Hey, if you're going to have to take vacation to get a paycheck, you should actually TAKE a vacation I say. So I'm trying to see it as a blessing, and not worry too much about what will happen if this shutdown continues much longer. I'm saying prayers for our leaders that they might start acting like adults instead of a bunch of children, but in the mean time we are trying to see the silver lining in this ever darkening cloud of the world around us.
We LOVED our vacation to the beach, despite the fact that we were there catching the after effects of a tropical storm. Yep, not a single ray of sun was seen this past week, but we had fun despite the weather. We had a great place to stay in with it's own full kitchen and separate bedroom. We had a balcony overlooking the four pools, all of of which were heated and glorious even in the rain. Two of the four were hot tub warm and I will fully admit that's where I spent most of my time. The other two pools they kept at a comfortable 84 degrees, so the girls enjoyed playing in those.
We arrived on Tuesday, which also happened to be our 9th anniversary. We celebrated by going out to dinner at one of the local seafood restaurants, Bubba's, which was actually quite nice. Of course the girls were with us, but we were so happy to have our vacation ahead of us, and it was a nice way to celebrate nine years together, especially since on our honeymoon we also went to the beach (although the weather that year was PERFECT). One of the best parts of the trip was snuggling up and watching movies after we put the girls to bed every night.
Wednesday the weather was so bad we couldn't even begin to brave the outdoors, so we headed just a mile south to the Virginia Aquarium. The girls LOVED seeing all of the various see animals, and they especially loved that it was so hands on. They got to pet sting rays, hermit crabs, and see all varieties of fish. The crocodiles gave them a scare when they snapped at them as they came up to the window. It made all of us jump, but poor Ella started to cry. The 3-D movie also scared her a bit when one of the fish jumped out and ate a smaller fish. It's a good thing we were in the back row because she was ready to bolt of out of the theater. All in all I think we made quite a memory that day. When we got back to the condo, Shaun took the girls out swimming in the rain. They LOVED it!
Shaun in the I-max theater... ready for his Under the Sea adventure!
NERD!
My cute family!
The crocodile that tried to eat my children.
Thursday the weather was a little better. Overcast and windy, but no rain. So we decided to enjoy walks on the beach and more swimming in the pool. We even rented one of those four person bikes and rode it on the boardwalk. Let me tell you, harder than it looks! But the girls LOVED it.
Just look at this handsome man I've been married to for nine years! He's a keeper:)
These two are keepers too. I'm so blessed.
By Wednesday evening we saw some patches of clear sky, but they never lasted more than a minute or two.
In our condo the girls enjoyed the big jetted Jacuzzis.
Friday it appeared the weather wasn't going to let up, so after checking out we decided to head home via Jamestown. Shaun and I had gone many years ago and we really enjoyed it, so we thought the girls would love seeing all of the live exhibits Jamestown has to offer.
The girls really enjoyed seeing all of the exhibits, but they liked the boats the best.
What a beautiful family I have!
So life tried to give us lemons with a government shut down and crummy weather, but we decided to make some pretty sweet lemonade I'd say! I'm so grateful for all of our blessings, and I'm most especially grateful for my beautiful family.
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