A Final Trip as 3

We decided to take advantage of all of Kyle's hotel points and make a little weekend adventure if it in Williamsburg. Williamsburg is always a special place for us to return to, though trips now usually involve amusement parks sandwiching our time on DoG Street and campus.  

This time around we hit up Busch Gardens AND Water Country USA. Being 37 weeks pregnant means I didn't get to do many crazy rides, but I tried to get a few fun pictures since I couldn't participate otherwise! 

Despite having been to BG several times before, we still managed to find a few new fun things to do...probably the big winner was riding the adult bumper cars (Der Autobahn) with daddy, or maybe watching the show at the Festhaus. 

Water Country was a first for A, and he loved it. He's turning into quite the little fish, and the water slides were a blast. 

We always have fun and mange squeeze in a few favorite spots. This time around that included a stop at Queen Anne's Dairy Shack and A's first stuffed Sno to Go, which was a huge hit of course. 

Next time we visit will be quite a bit different, but I can't wait to share these places and experiences with another little boy!!

Disney Wow!

Last weekend we took the plunge...we went to Disney World! It was so much fun and we all had such a blast! A was amazing and never threw a fit once, possibly because I listened to advice from others and made sure we had every afternoon free for various non-crowded activities. 

So here's a quick recap:

We met Mickey and friends for breakfast which was a great start to the vacation! As you can see we all got in the fun...including donning our vintage WDW hats from the late 1980s!

After an amazing start we moved on to the Disney castle which had a little magic in store for us...

We met lots of other great characters too, our favorite being none other than Winnie the Pooh! Seeing A literally shaking with excitement to meet Pooh had us grinning from ear to ear and made the trip worthwhile in itself. 

Don't think we only saw characters though...we made it to Seven Dwarfs Mine Ride twice, Star Tours, Toy Story Mania and of course the classics like Its a Small world and the teacups :)

We can't wait to go back in a few years with 2 boys and see what they love most!

The Beach...at last!

We finally got to the beach this year (and I finally got to posting this) and man it's getting more and more fun! Perhaps the best part was that we were able to join dear friends who have young kids too, so A had a blast with his friends and we had adult conversation:) I think the favorite of the trip for everyone was the treasure hunts. 

But of course we had fun swimming and playing in the ocean. 

And we ventured to the sound to throw the net out for fish and lounge on rafts.  

And of course we had some old favorites like hunting for crabs at dark. 

Overall it was a great vacation and we all got to relax a little!

Playgrounds and Carousels, or San Francisco with Toddlers

I like to think we take A a lot of places and expose him to new things. But if I'm being honest, he sticks to a nap schedule and we always work in stuff that he enjoys no matter the location.  Our recent trip to San Fran was a clear example of this. But guess what? We had a great trip, spent time with family and had some awesome experiences. 

How did we do it? Well, every day included a playground. Yep. We saw the playgrounds of SF and loved it. 

Duboce Park, just a few blocks from our house

Giant cardboard/concrete slide at Golden Gate Park

Riding the carousel (Koret playground here but Pier 39 not pictured and also enjoyed of course).

Alta Plaza for a picnic with friends

By keeping him happy we got to do some awesome stuff too like see the sea lions

And ride the cable cars

And go to the Japanese Tea Garden

And of course celebrate Cousin Bryan's wedding 

So for all you parents out there...stop and enjoy the playgrounds. We did and had a great time. 

Day out with Thomas

With the holiday season in full swing, I have been neglecting the blog! And I have such good pictures and post ideas! Clearly I need to reevaluate my priorities :) 

For A's birthday he received tickets to go see Thomas the Train. Awesome right? So we booked a hotel in Lancaster PA and headed up for the weekend. I enjoyed showing Kyle and A around a place I remember visiting as a child. The chocolate at Wilbur, the huge Central Market...even better than I recalled! 

Here we are in Lititz. Love this shot!

But the real reason for the visit was Thomas. Who doesn't love that cheeky train?

And here's the video of it: http://www.youtube.com/attribution_link?a=Q5bhj3GXDdw&u=/watch%3Fv%3Dff70OLHqrz8%26feature%3Dem-upload_owner%23action%3Dshare 

The best part about this is that you not only see Thomas buy ride aboard! Look at A showing off his ticket :)

And Percy was there too! We took a short ride aboard as well. 

And they had fun games and stuff. Here is A rockin' his Thomas and Harold tattoos. 

So thanks for the tickets DD and DaDoc. We had a great time!! A told his teacher he was Thankful for Thomas after we returned. Not quite what we want him to aim for with that question, but I think the point was he liked it :)  

Life's a Beach (Part 2 of the family vacay)

I meant to do this post earlier this week, because with Halloween looming, I already have some great pictures to share! Oh well, it's here at last :)

Most of the week we had fantastic weather...check out DaDoc (far left), Pop, A, Kyle and Fella enjoying the fishing and waves.
 
We mostly tried to fish...

though a few fish were caught (none good for eating).

And we went exploring too!

And on the one day we did have rain, we went to the NC Aquarium! This was our first full aquarium trip, and it was really fun.

Don't worry...we relaxed plenty too...mostly by playing play-doh and watching Jake!

We had a really great time with our family, and can't wait for the next family trip in 2015!

Crabby Time

Don't worry. Crabby time is not a reference to A's recent mood or behaviors. Instead it is a reference to the nightly ritual we had while at the beach this past week! Perhaps this was A's favorite part of the beach trip this year. (And I mean for real favorite, not just the last thing mentioned.)

With the sun going down around 7pm, it was perfect for us to head out to the beach and hunt for crabs each night. Well, except for that night it was pouring rain of course so we skipped. Fiddler crabs, ghost crabs, sand crabs...whatever you want to call them...are downright fun to chase around the beach for all ages! 

First, take a look at one. They range from 1 inch to 6 inches and are usually tan or spotted to blend in with the sand. Here's a tinier one that DaDoc was happy to hold for us. 

But searching for and running after them are really the fun part. 

Just wait til you find one!

Yep. We had fun. I think we'll do it again. 

Over the River...

Last weekend we tacked a little vacation to Williamsburg on to the front of our trip to see Maga and Pop. Rather than deal with summer traffic of I-64, we decided to take a more scenic (and much more enjoyable) route over the James River.

It was A's first time on a ferry boat. He had a blast feeding the birds.

And of course as the song goes, we went to Grandmother's house (though we drove through Peanut fields and in Subaru, of course). We had a great time visiting, playing outside and eating delicious food.

We had a chance to visit downtown Portsmouth and the Children's museum. It puts our Discovery museum to shame (but of course we'll still go back).

What a great trip! We can't wait to see what adventurous route we take to get there next time!

Busch Gardens Fun

Recently I decided to get a season pass to Busch Gardens. I wasn't sure how A would like it, or if there would be enough for a kid his age, but I decided that since Disney is a little out of our comfort zone right now, this was a good way to ease in to the amusement park experience. 

Wow. First, I have always loved BG. It's shady and fun, and walking around is enjoyable. I love the idea of visiting different countries and experiencing their food and fun. Second, A clearly agrees with me. 

We started with the train ride. It gave me some time to look at the map, and this guy wasn't going to complain. If we had done nothing but ride the train all day, I think he would have been happy! We opted for one ride around the whole park (20 minutes). The best part? The conductor gave him a high-five! What more could a 2 year old ask for?!

Next up we decided to meet the horses. Petting the Clydesdales was fun, as was his first real ride: the Li'l Clydesdales. You can tell he's a fan.

And of course since we had passed Sesame Place on the train, we couldn't skip it. So, here we are in Sesame Place riding the big ride (I sat next to him on this one)...

and then meeting big Bird and Abbie; sadly, Elmo was on break. We'll meet him next time!

Then it was off to Italy for the balloon ride...

and Germany for the planes.

After 3 hours we had had enough and were getting hungry. Rather than end up with a cranky toddler, we headed out in search of dinner. In all we had a fabulous trip. We'll go back in a few weeks and teach his big cousin all about it. I'm sure he'll be a pro and want to show it off to everyone :)