On Making Our Escape

When your town loses its mind, it just makes sense to make a run for it.  In our case, we ran back home to North Carolina where the weather is warm, the atmosphere's calm, and the only people marching are the ones on base.

We visited our families, hit our favorite aquarium, toured a battleship, and spent a glorious day at the beach.

In January.  

And perhaps most importantly, we discovered that humidity and salt water do wonders for Margaret's curls.  I had been afraid that she was losing them, but no--it was just the central heating.  She clearly belongs in the South.  I think we all do really.

On Taking An Overdue Family Vacation

We took a family vacation to Williamsburg last week which was a bit of a miracle since Chris actually took a whole week off of work and we actually went somewhere that was not another family member's home.  It was pretty amazing.  Actually, when we arrived at our hotel Chris realized it was the same place he stayed in as a boy when his family came to Williamsburg which made our visit that much more special.

I love Williamsburg.  I went to grad school at William and Mary, the whole area is just beautiful and I would totally move there in a heartbeat--unfortunately the chances of that are pretty much zero.  We could be stationed in Norfolk or Virginia Beach but I'm thinking the husband would not be on board for that commute.  Men.

We just had five days to see all the sights so we started off with Jamestown and Yorktown--my childhood favorites.  Well Jamestown anyway, when you grow up mostly in Virginia Beach you just have to accept that half of your field trips will always be there and you don't mind because it's awesome.

I think Jamestown was the boys' favorite, aside from the indoor pool and free put put golf at the hotel that is.  I'm pretty sure they would have stayed and watched the blacksmith for another hour if I'd let them....but, well, mamma was hungry and we all have to learn to make sacrifices for our loved ones......

We got to Yorktown near closing time which meant it was pretty much empty and the boys had the gentleman in charge of the artillery all to themselves.  They were so interested, he took them back and showed them how each and every weapon he had worked and let them touch them all.  Margaret, meanwhile just wanted to pick up all the rocks.  Really she spent the majority of the trip exclaiming "rocks!" everywhere we went and unsuccessfully attempting to carry them all home.  And since most of the roads were gravel in these historic areas there were a lot of opportunities for her favorite pastime.  

We lost one day of the trip to torrential rain and then we spent the rest of our time at Colonial Williamsburg.  And also swimming in the indoor pool and playing free put put golf.  If David had had his way we wouldn't have ever left the hotel.  With those options, plus all the ducks, geese, swans and turtles who were busy tending their nests full of eggs around the property ponds why would anyone ever want to leave?

We didn't spring for the full rental costumes that a lot of the children were sporting, but grandma and grandpa did make sure all the kids had correct period head-wear and weaponry.  

Margaret was obviously very excited about her first mob cap.  If she was just one year older I'm pretty sure I would have dressed her up in full Colonial attire.  Who am I kidding, I would have totally gotten us matching mother-daughter Colonial outfits.  You've got to do that sort of thing when the kids are too young to realize they should be embarrassed by you right?  Well, there's always next year.

Once John and Henry had chosen their guns, David  took grandma back into the store and chose the largest of all the guns for his own.  I couldn't help laughing about the fact that he absolutely could not decide what he wanted until his brothers had each made their choice and then, and only then, could he settle on getting the same thing--but bigger. 

Henry took his weaponry very seriously as he marched through the streets and I had to continually remind him to shoot the red coats, not the tourists.

Of course we took the obligatory pictures of the children in the pillory while they pondered their life choices and wondered where they went so very, very wrong.

All in all it was a very fun trip that went by much too quickly, but I suppose that's how vacations always feel.  I definitely want to go back before we move again.  We spent two days in Colonial Williamsburg and it felt like we hardly saw anything.  And we didn't get to Busch Gardens or the nearby state park full of fossil hunting and geocaches either.  We did however eat at The Cheese Shop, twice, so that right there marks the whole trip a success in my book.  We even snuck out for a date night which we returned from at 8 pm because we were tired and couldn't think of anything else to do but still, another amazing and overdue success.

I suppose I'll just have to get going on those matching Colonial dresses for me and Margaret and we'll be ready to head back again next spring :)

A Disney Vacation

....well, I'm not sure if I'd call it a vacation exactly....a workout, a marathon, a festival of brisk walking and of carrying heavy things?  I suppose whatever you call it, it was fun although I don't think we'll be doing it again in the near future :)

Aunt Courtney treated us to a wonderful (albeit tiring) trip and the boys had ridiculous amounts of fun--and candy (aka "special treats")--I'm not sure if you can still call them special treats if you eat them all day long though.....

By far the biggest hit of the trip was riding the monorail, followed by riding the ferry, and then by playing in the sand and pool behind the resort.....and if you ask David what rides he liked best he will reply that he liked the "boat" rides at the park (i.e. It's a Small World) but absolutely not the train ride through the mountain (i.e. Thunder Mountain) which daddy and aunt Courtney tricked him into riding based on his love of all things train.

The biggest food hits of the trip were found in Gaston's Tavern in the new addition to Fantasy Land that was open for "dress rehearsals."  For the boys it was Lefou's Brew which is a frozen apple juice concoction with a whipped marshmallow topping and for dad it was the pork shank which is now his favorite park food--winning out even over the famed turkey leg which, if you know Chris, is saying something :)  I on the other hand think it's pretty much the most disgusting thing I've ever seen anyone eat and had to look away during the whole pork shank eating ordeal......

Did you know there were two Dumbo rides now?  I scandalized my sister with my lack of current Disney knowledge and the fact that I hadn't been in the park for going on nine years.....

We went to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party on our first night with the boys dressed up in their costumes of choice.....as advertised, it was not too scary and the boys liked trick-or-treating in the park although David made sure I knew that it was not really Halloween yet.....

We actually spent three of the four days of our park hopper passes at the Magic Kingdom with one day at the Animal Kingdom and one evening excursion for Chris and I to Epcot for a date in Japan......

David loved meeting all of the characters and mostly gave them hugs and high fives with the occasional punch to the stuffed belly......Henry on the other hand preferred at least a two person barrier between himself and anyone dressed up as a gigantic Disney character.

We did the Electrical Parade on our last night and David made it about halfway through before passing out--Henry made it all the way to the end--but neither made it to any fireworks........

David made sure to hold his glow necklace up near his face so that Mickey would be sure to see him......

We had a lot of fun and even managed to squeeze in a little time for relaxing and bubble baths....although we may have gotten a tad carried away dumping hotel shower gel into the whirlpool tub......it's the little joys :)

I think it's going to take us all of next week to decompress from this trip....and to convince the children that although we did have "special treats" all day every day while we were on vacation, aunt Courtney isn't here any more and mom isn't as much of a "special treats" pushover as their sweet aunt is :)

Thanks aunt Courtney for all of the fun!