Virginia Vacation Part 1

Because of the size of this post, and the number of pictures, I'm going to post our vacation in a couple entries. It makes it easier and less overwhelming when trying to get it finished!

This past week we took an exciting vacation to Virginia. Jeff had been looking at different options for a while, and we finally figured this would be a great choice for a more-affordable trip. We actually bought most of the trip through eBay, and stayed at a beautiful resort, the Wyndham Kingsgate, in Williamsburg, Virginia. Even though the place is pretty pricey, we got a great deal & paid less per night than most cheap motels. One of the best parts was that we paid for most of the trip with money made from selling items on ebay. We packed up and left Saturday morning to drive to Virginia. We didn’t check into the resort until Sunday afternoon so we thought it would be fun to stop in Charlottesville and spend time with Kimberly & Mike. The boys did well on the 6 hour trip down there. At one point just outside Charlottesville, we were stuck for about 35 minutes at a stand-still because of a construction truck that had lost control and spilled sand all over the highway. Caleb kept saying, “Go, go!” but at least I had time to change Matthew and feed him before we got going again. And I have to say how beautiful Virginia is! I guess we can't hold a grudge against Mike & Kimberly for choosing Virginia over Philadelphia for law school; it’s absolutely beautiful. We didn’t get in until late that afternoon, but we had a yummy dinner that Kimberly made and then we all went for a walk to see the law school and vicinity. We went for a walk down by some softball fields and then on some paths through the forest. Jacob & Caleb absolutely loved it, and it was so nice to be out enjoying the weather and visiting with Mike & Kimber. When we got back we put boys to bed, visited for a while more and then went to bed. Church was at 8:30 the next morning, and it was a lot of fun going to church with M&K. We met some nice people from their ward, and I got to watch Kimberly doing singing time for the primary, she did a great job! After church we did naps and relax time before having another yummy dinner. At around 6, we packed up and headed out for Williamsburg. It was only about a two hour drive; Jeff and I enjoyed talking together. We made it to the resort, got checked in, and attempted to get the boys ready for bed. They were pretty excited about the place and were having a blast running around, jumping on their bed and playing together. I don’t blame them though, I was happy too, the place was pretty awesome!

First of all, our ‘room’ was bigger than our whole apartment. It had two bedrooms, one of them huge with an oversized jet tub, two bathrooms, a living room, dining room, kitchen, washer & dryer, large balcony, and the whole place was completely furnished even down to dishes and laundry detergent. The Wyndam Kingsgate is a timeshare resort so the entire place is pretty nice. Not only do you have a great place to stay, the resort also offers: 2 outdoor swimming pools, hot tub, an indoor swimming pool, a playground for the kids, tennis courts, a free gaming arcade with tons of games for all ages, miniature golf, picnic/BBQ areas, a gym and fitness center, etc. It’s all included in your stay so we were feeling pretty good about our selection.

Another fun thing about the trip was that Kimberly & Mike were able to enjoy it with us for a couple days! We finally got the boys to bed, and Kimberly & Mike arrived at the place just after 9. We got everything settled, and then played games together. They brought a fun new game called ‘Bisari’ (spelling?) that we played for a couple hours that night. We got to bed pretty late, but had a ton of fun. Another nice thing was that the couch had a queen sized pull-out bed, so Kimberly & Mike and the boys had their own rooms, and Matthew slept out on the pull-out bed with Jeff and I.

The next morning Kimberly and I went for a run together. The weather was great for the entire trip, but the first couple of days we were there, Williamsburg was right in the middle of a heat wave and temperatures were well over 100 degrees. Kimber & I went running at 6:40am, and even then it was already nearing 90 and extremely humid. Our run wasn’t quite as long due to the hot & humid weather, but we had fun and were amazed how many pancake houses lined the main street in Williamsburg. When we got back, Jeff had already left to go pick up some groceries at the store and took Matthew with him. Jacob & Caleb were just waking up so I bathed them, fed them, and got them ready. Jeff got back around 8 and went to the gym for a quick workout, then went to pick up our attraction tickets. During that time I fed & bathed Matthew, and put him down for a nap. Jacob & Caleb during this time went with aunt Kimberly to the clubhouse to play some games at the arcade and had a blast. When everyone got back, we finished packing up lunches and waters (we definitely needed a lot of those!) we headed out to Busch Gardens. It was sure fun to have Kimberly with us. Poor Mike hadn’t been feeling well for a couple days, so he ended up staying back at the hotel to catch up on sleep, we sure missed having him. Busch Gardens was a blast! It was especially fun to have Kimberly with us because we were able to switch watching the kids and go together on rides. Jeff and I went on a rollercoaster first and Kimber, being the super woman she is, managed to get all three kids plus stroller & bags down a massive staircase (I promise we were unaware of the stairs) to another section of the park with fountains. Jeff and I met her over there after the ride, and then she & Jeff went on a few rides together while I took the boys on some kiddie rides. We spent the day going through a good section of the park. It was really a fun place and was kept up so well. There were lots of fun rides for the kids, and plenty of exciting ones for us as well! At one point, Kimberly and I took Jacob and Caleb with us on the big log ride-the kind that go around the water trenches, and eventually drop down a massive waterfall. Okay, they might have been a bit young for that one, and the look on their faces as we’re going down the final plunge was pretty funny, definitely a ‘kodak’ moment (I would have bought the picture if it hadn’t cost $20!), but they really did have a fun time. Some of the kids’ favorite rides were: the carousel, the airplanes, bumper cars-Jacob did that one half a dozen times & got pretty good at it!, hot air balloons, and tons of other cute little rides. We loved the roller coasters and other big rides! Alpengeist, Griffon, Apollo’s Chariot, and a few others-I'll do a tribute to some of our favorite rides in another post. Finally around 6:00, we decided it was time to head home and see how Mike was faring. We stopped to order some pizza, and then attempted to find the Rita’s Water Ice that we had coupons for. This was another great memory of the trip; here we are with Kimberly and I crammed into the front seat of the car, trying to go off a cheap little map we picked up from a Chinese restaurant. We kept making wrong turns and trying to figure out exactly where we were, meanwhile I was unaware that they had ordered a pizza and was trying to come up with ideas for a quick dinner, including a recipe for a meatloaf from off the back of a baby rice cereal box that included using three jars of baby food. Needless to say, we were all laughing and having a great time. We did eventually find the Rita’s and returned back to our hotel with pizza and water ice for Mike. We all enjoyed dinner together then said goodbye to Kimber & Mike. It was sure fun to have them with us, and our first couple days were great!