Virginia Vacation

Sorry for the lack of blogging. I've been blogging a lot more over at our food blog, and kind of forgot about keeping track of our life on here as well.

About 3 weeks ago we got lucky enough to be able to go to Virginia for a few days to spend time with Nate's family.

Thursday we arrived in the afternoon and just hung out for the first bit. Thursday evening we decided to head down to DC so we could see the monuments lit up in the dark, and enjoy walking around in the cooler weather as well.

Friday morning the whole gang headed down to Virginia Beach. After some awful traffic and some hotel miscommunications we finally checked into our rooms and headed to the beach to play. We found a parking spot close to the beach, and were able to enjoy playing in the waves and the sand for a few hours before it got dark.  We spent some time trying to catch seagulls, and finally caught one with the help of some chips, a towel and team work. And played a game trying to keep a beach ball of the ground as long as we could by hitting it to each other (this wasn't very easy with the strong winds). After dinner, even though it was dark, the board walk had enough lights to keep the beach lit a bit and we enjoyed chatting, and enjoying the cool ocean breeze as we became entranced by the crashing waves. We also enjoyed some delicious Hershey's ice cream too.

Saturday we headed down to the beach a little bit earlier, after an on the house breakfast and some time relaxing in the hot tub. The beach was more crowded but after renting a raft to play with in the water we were able to clear some people away from us (because they didnt want to get hit). The raft was so much fun, bouncing over the waves. And even after the boys got out Sandi and I enjoyed using the raft as a 2 person boogie board. Around 2 or 3 we decided to leave the beach and head back to Sterling. Although we were stopped by some traffic we made it back in time to see Planet of the Apes along with some popcorn.

Sunday was a more relaxed day. We went to church in the morning, lounged around the house in the afternoon and ate a family dinner in the evening. However, I was so happy because Anthony, Jana and Zoe were able to come over for dinner. Zoe was such a doll, and I couldn't believe how grown up she has become since I last saw her at Christmas. I enjoyed playing outside with her and Strider (their dog) and we all also played a game of Scrabble.

Monday was also a relaxed day. The boys went to the church to play basketball, the girls went on a 4 mile walk. Then we went to get blizzards from dairy queen and sent Dain home to SLC. That night we went fishing, and caught tons of blue gills by dropping in a hook with bread attached (no pole was really needed, only string - haha). Nate and I also treated the family to some delicious homemade pizza (seriously might be the best we've ever made).

Tuesday morning we all headed up to Baltimore to spend some more time with with Anthony, Jana and Zoe. We went to breakfast, and all got stuffed with some amazing food before heading on a little tour of some of Baltimore's best places. We went inside an amazing library and music conservatory and then headed back to their place to visit for a bit before we had to head home. Nate and I went straight from their place to the airport and were happy there was no traffic so we were able to get there in plenty of time. Instead of getting food before our flight we decided to splurge and get some on the plane and split a meal of crackers and dip and a sandwich wrap.

We were happy to come home and be reunited with our favorite pup and even ready to get back to real life and our jobs. I seriously missed my students while we were gone, especially my night students (since I missed 2 full weeks of class with them).

We were so happy to have spent so much fun time with family. And hope that we can make it back for Thanksgiving!