Steal Away...to the Beach!

"We didn't have a family vacation this year, did we?" Jeff asked me recently.

"Well, no, I guess we didn't," was my reply after I thought for a moment.  The way years run together, I wasn't quite sure at first; but no, I don't believe 2011 held a specific family vacation for us.  Lots of fun, memory-making family times?  Yes.  A "real" family vacation?  No.

Not that every year has to have a family vacation.  What a luxury to even be able to have one every few years...and what a spoiled "first-world" attitude to think that a year is incomplete without one!

Regardless, a few days ago, Jeff and I decided to try to pull off something that we've been thinking about for a while:  take the boys to Virginia Beach for an overnight trip, and--best of all--do it as a complete surprise.  ;-)

Friday night found me pulling out a suitcase and surreptitiously putting clothing in it while the boys were downstairs listening to Jeff read our nightly chapter from Tabitha's Travels.  Saturday was full of more furtive activity on my part, as I did all I could to ready our family for take-off, just as soon as Jeff got home from work.  I was surprised at how little my boys noticed my unusual activity.  Even when David discovered me mixing up a thermos of Quick Refresher in the kitchen Saturday afternoon, all he asked was, "Is that Quick Refresher?  Yum!"  But he didn't press further to learn why I was making a thermos of it, and not a pitcher, my usual modus operandi when we're at home.

It wasn't until we got in the car, and the boys spotted a suitcase, playpen, and various other paraphernalia that the questions and suspicions arose.  Wanna see how they responded to the news that our destination was Virginia Beach?  :)

In as much as is possible, I'm going to let my words be few...because my pictures are many!  I'm bound and determined to get this posted tonight, so that I don't let my perfectionism get me started down the path of procrastination.  I don't want the adventures of this trip to end up like my Thanksgiving trip, with blog posts strung out over weeks and weeks after the fact!  So, briefly...

We left here a pinch after 5:00 PM, and the drive down was long and almost entirely in the dark (which made it seem even longer and later than it really was).  We broke up the monotony with some food from "Old Mcdonald's" and some reading (I used a flashlight to see the pages) from By the Shores of Silver Lake and some listening to an audio version of The Hobbit (borrowed from the library).  Some of the stretches of route 64 are just boring with nothing at all of interest outside a car window, but despite some restless, squirrelly moments, we made it to the beach with no problems.

Because we knew Virginia Beach would be fairly empty, we had not made a prior hotel reservation.  All we were looking for in a hotel was an ocean view, an indoor swimming pool, and a cheap price.  Days Inn gave us all three.

A surprise awaited us when we got to our room and looked out the window.  Apparently for Christmas, part of the boardwalk is closed off to pedestrians during the evening, so that cars can drive down it and admire the big light displays set up on the beach.  Rather than piling back in our van to drive down the boardwalk, we simply admired it from our room.  :)

Sleeping with the six of us in one room is always an adventure.  In this case, Josiah and David fell asleep very quickly; but Tobin and Shav didn't go to sleep until midnight!  Jeff and I would doze off, only to be awakened by one of the little ones making some kind of noise or (in Tobin's case) needing to go to the bathroom.  Finally everyone settled down and the night was peaceful.

The next morning, after a continental breakfast at the hotel, we walked down to the water's edge, even though it was quite chilly.  Josiah and David were keen to touch the water, which resulted in wet shoes and socks and hems of pants.  Oh, well, they didn't complain.

Looking back at our hotel...

It was a beautiful morning, despite the cold temperatures.

Because he had seen the older boys do it, Tobin wanted very much to touch the water, so Jeff picked him up to carry him forward to reach it.  I don't have a picture to show what happened next, but Shav suddenly hurried up and, unbeknownst to Jeff, got right behind Jeff at the water's edge.  When the wave came in, Jeff let Tobin lean down and touch it; but then, to save his own boots and pants from getting wet, Jeff hurried backwards.  In all the confusion, poor Shav got knocked down and got the wettest of all.  Oh, the indignity of it all!  The bewilderment!  The cold water suddenly seeping through his overalls!  Shav wasn't happy, and he let the whole beach know it.  He wasn't in any danger at all, but I know the dear boy wasn't comfortable in such a predicament.  Needless to say, we started back to our room right away.  :)

Josiah and David were the happiest ones there on the beach, for sure.

A quick attempt at a Fisher men photo yielded less than desirable results!  :)

As we walked back, Josiah and David chased a seagull (although it's hard to spot the gull in this picture, because it blends into the background).

And Shav got interested in what Jeff was drawing with a stick in the sand.

Back at the hotel, we changed into swimming suits and waited for the pool to open.  The boys were happy to watch TV while we waited.  Because we don't have one here, they are mesmerized by it when we are around one.

I didn't take my camera to the pool, but I'll use words to record the fact that we had a GREAT time there!  Shav got chilly, so he wanted out first, but he patiently sat wrapped in towels on a chair and watched the rest of us.  Josiah and David paddled around like little dolphins.  They still have a lot of the skills they learned in swimming lessons this past summer.  I am not a good swimmer at all, but I sure love being in the water.  Even though our time in the pool wasn't that long (45 or 50 minutes maybe?), it was so much fun and very relaxing, especially because there was no one else around.  

Back in our room, I snapped a few pictures from our balcony...

...while the boys watched a little more TV.

And then we headed to Portsmouth to visit the Children's Museum there.  It's been renovated since we were last there, and it was very well done.  We've always enjoyed our time there, but this time was better than ever.  Before we went in, the boys had to have some fun posing...

The lighting was all wonky in the museum--great for museum exhibits, not so great for my camera.  But even though the pictures aren't the greatest, they hold happy memories for me.  So here they are.  A lot of 'em.

"Fishing" from a boat...

Shav driving a bus...

In the bubble/water room, the boys had fun pulling up this hoop to make a bubble taller than themselves.

It's kind of hard to see in these pictures, but the bubble is up higher than Josiah's head.

In the "bank..."

Josiah using trash cans as drums in the music room...

In the dentist office...

In the pediatrician's office, Tobin and Shav got baby dolls and took care of them.  :)

David and Shav waited for the hens to lay eggs...

This made me laugh...Shav went up to the cow to "milk" it, when suddenly it mooed.  The moo was pretty loud, and it startled Shav who backed away from it as fast as he could and went back to the chickens who were much less intimidating, I suppose.  :)

In the grocery store...

This huge purple chair is always a favorite...

The fire room...

A real police motorcycle to sit on!  :)

Jeff took the camera, and I climbed up into the purple chair.  Finally, something to make me and my belly feel small!!  :)

I thought this was pretty, but the boys were pretty bored by it!

Back to the exciting stuff we went...

A sculpture hanging in the top of the museum...

This area dealt with forces and simple machines...levers, wheels, etc.

Jeff pulling his own weight up with a rope...

Car races...

Sound waves...

Jeff has never been stung by a bee.  Until he got too close to this giant...  ;-)

This exhibit was a lot of fun for the boys, who put their hands and faces into it to see the impression it made.  Can you tell that Tobin made these faces?  :)

In the drawing area...Jeff doing a self-portrait...

You can tell David is a product of this tech-savvy generation.  He wrote, "www.iloveyoumom.com."  Sweet.  :)

David posed for Jeff to draw him...

Josiah worked on copying this spacescape...

Then we went into a funny light/shadow room...can't think of how to describe it better right now...

Jeff wanted to get a picture of my pregnant silhouette...it wasn't an easy task for him because of the wild boys jumping around in the room, but can you spot me?

David REALLY wanted to do this activity where you use airflow out of this "cannon" to keep the ball in the air and then guide it through the hoops.  To him, it seemed like someone else was always doing it and he would never get a turn; but finally, close to the end of our time there, I helped him be aggressive and obvious enough to let the people playing with it know that he would like a turn.  He concentrated, worked hard, did not want any help, and figured out how to get the ball through the hoops by himself.

He was a happy camper when he succeeded.  :)

This exhibit demonstrated the use of levers to raise heavy objects.

A family picture, snapped by a friendly employee, and then it was time to head out.  Goodbye, museum!  Until the next time...

But the boys had to pose again before we got in the van.  :)

We hit the road, headed west, and soon three of us were snoozing.  Tobin, Shav, and I enjoyed a great nap, while Jeff drove and Josiah and David listened to more of The Hobbit.  We didn't know where exactly we would eat dinner; but Jeff exited in Richmond and we ended up at Dave & Buster's: a first for the boys.  With the meals we ordered, we got $30 in cards to spend on the arcade games, which was a very special treat for the boys.

Shav was so content just climbing on and off the various games and pushing buttons (which didn't do anything except make him happy).

It was definitely a fun, memorable way to end our very fun, memorable get-away.

29 hours after we started, we were home!  :)