She Sells Seashells

Our memories of the ocean will linger on,

Long after our footprints in the sand are gone

Virginia Beach 2008

We had been back from vacation for a couple of days when I had to get the sunblock out of the beach bag. As I was rifling through it, a ton of sand came pouring out all over the floor and it didn't annoy me one bit!

We headed straight for the beach the morning after we arrived. I could spend all day watching my girls playing in the sand and giggling and shrieking as the waves splash them! Ella kept bringing me "seashells" ....apparently someone eating pistachios had been there prior to us because the shells were everywhere...much to Ella's delight she thought she was finding a ton of seashells...we, of course, never told her different!

My sister had a class the next morning so we loaded up the kids and took them to the Jumpin Monkey. If I were to open a franchise this would be the one!! It's a big place full of bouncy slides and other huge blow up items to climb around on and there are several play areas, too! When I say "we" took the kids to Jumpin Monkey I mean Heath, my Dad and Damien did. My mom and I headed across the parking lot to the mall!

Several evenings we grilled out and the girls played in the backyard!

This is about as much boogie boarding the girls did! As much as they enjoyed being at the beach, once they spotted jellyfish they opted to stay on shore. (Actually there were alot of jellyfish.)

My dad spent alot of time burying kids in the sand! He says he was made for the beach life and would love to move to the ocean and be a street musician! (Of course when we went to the Smoky Mountains he said he was made for mountain life and when we have been camping he swears he was meant to live the peaceful quiet life in the woods.....I suppose when they went to England he was made for the European life (whatever that would be!) When in Rome....

When Wendi had class again on Wednesday we headed to the park with the kids and let them enjoy the day! Later that day we headed out for more shopping. I splurged on a new pair of Croc sandals and my mom and sister both bought the exact same pair. They are the most comfortable shoes ever. When winter comes, I will need a strong reminder from my good friends that you can't wear socks with sandals!

A highlight of the trip was Colonial Williamsburg! I hope to go back there when the girls are older so than get a sense of the history. Regarding the picture above, Ella asked Heath if she could get her picture taken with someone since Marley got hers made with "those pirates."

This picture just cracks me up! Ella asked me if I would take her picture and she walks over to the edge of the road and strikes a pose. Two college girls were walking by and I overheard them saying "America's Next Top Model." This isn't like Ella at all because she doesn't like to be center of attention.

Towards the end of the week Damien took Heath and my dad to Norfolk naval base ship yard. We did this when we were there two years ago and it was really interesting. Me who doesn't know the first thing about ships was even interested in being right next to a battleship, air-craft carrier and submarine.

This 4th of July was by far my favorite in all my 20+ years!! (Shut up) We had to park a good bit out but it was worth every step. We set up camp and just enjoyed the atmosphere, weather and each others company while waiting for the fireworks show. After the show we were all just standing there at the beach not wanting to leave. We new this was our last day and we were going home to pack up and head out early in the morning! Ella was the 1st one to actually say what we were all thinking...she didn't want to leave. We all looked at each other and since neither Heath or my dad had to be to work until Tuesday we said, "Let's stay!!" And so we did.

After the firworks Heath stayed up watching the documentary channel. Out of 80 some channels....go figure. Anyhow, the point is he came across an "interesting" documentary on ice-cream. The segment was on the ice-cream cone (I'm not making this up!) it was talking about the World's 1st ice-cream cone machine and how it was still used today by the same little old man (they didn't actually call him that on t.v.) that has worked there since 1934. They mentioned the name of the diner and said it was in Norfolk, VA. Yeah!! We actually got to eat an ice-cream on a cone that was made in the World's 1st cone machine! Honestly, it didn't taste any different from any other cone I have had but at least I can go to my grave knowing I tasted a bit of history. And truly, Al was really a cute little old man....he wore suspenders!!

So anyhow, to sum up our vacation: we spent alot of time at (in my opinion) the best beach in the known universe; had a great visit with family and played alot of Phase 10; had the most memorible 4th of July ever and even went to Colonial Williamsburg; and ate an ice-cream cone from a really old machine! It was fabulous and I wouldn't change a thing!