On Monday, we went to Virginia Beach boardwalk/shopping area. This was a well-known statue, so we documented it.
We roamed together and apart and back together through the shops. Everyone had fun trying on things for fun and for souvenirs.
As we gathered together, Sam, Pax, and Cale put on a show at these steps that went down to the beach. They were working on flips over the steps landing in the sand. Sometimes they would add on an additional skill like a back handspring or cartwheel. They had an audience of more than just us and probably could have made some money if they put out a tip jar! There are videos, but I don’t have any pictures.
On Thursday, a group of 13 went to Top Golf at 8pm. It was late and the drive was a bit long, but the sun was headed down and we had some fun attempting to golf. We had two bays side by side. Some of whacked at the ball, others had a nice swing. Some just stuck to whatever made the ball leave the tee, others tried to improve.
On Friday morning, our family and Luke and Steph went to check out Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge that was just down the road in Sandbridge. It was ridiculously hot out, but we enjoyed the talk by the person volunteering. We had a little fun with their things on display while in the air conditioning.
We also walked out to the dune area, but did not venture into the hot sand to get to the beach. It was a neat place and probably better enjoyed when it wasn’t brutally hot to walk the trails.
While I never participated, there was a group on Monday night and a group on Thursday night that went crab hunting in the dark to see what they could find. Apparently, it is a lot of fun. (I say apparently because I don’t think this is something I enjoy.)
Finally, we chased a sunset. Literally. We tried to get to a place to look west and watch it set since the ocean is technically facing east. The truth is you could see it from anywhere but from a car. We spied it from our deck. Others saw it from the ocean. We all enjoyed its beauty.
Then, Saturday came and it was time. Actually Friday night came and the flurry of packing began. People gathering, stuffing, carrying out, dividing up, and making plans. Nate’s family left at 4am (I think) and made it home by 1:30pm. Luke and Steph and Ben and Steph pulled out around 7 or 7:15am. We weren’t in a hurry since we were taking two days, but then thought, “Well, we are leaving earlier than we thought, so let’s do it in one.” Mom and dad and us locked up and headed out by about 8am. And we hit traffic before ever making it out of Sandbridge. There was a one car accident, with a possible fatality. The road – the one road – out of town was shut down for 3-4 hours. We turned around with everyone else and waited for news in the house that we had until 10am. News came that they were opening up the road through the military base adjacent to town. So, we loaded up and headed out again. After the delay and coupled with a number of heavy rainstorms we drove through, we were firmly in the two days home camp. We stayed at the same hotel as my parents, shared supper (pizza and salad) together, and enjoyed an ice cream treat.
In the morning, we headed out on our own time schedule – them a little ahead of us the whole time. Home felt good as it always does after vacation, but what a trip.
Thank you, Mom and Dad, for investing so much monetarily to make this trip happen. It offered respite from the daily grind, opportunity to invest in one another, and the inevitability of creating memories to bond us more tightly as a family. The pre-planning was its own mission – planning menus, planning groceries to buy here vs groceries to buy there lists, going grocery shopping, packing and distributing, and then unpacking and organizing while there. This year, meals went together well… the ones used to cooking did most of the meal prep alternating days in and out of the kitchen. The men had fun figuring out how to cook the fish on Thursday. The grandkids took over meal clean up without complaint working together as one unit. It was a beautiful spot and a beautiful time. Thank you for the memories of what it means to be family.
