Our Five Ring Circus: Virginia Beach Family Vacation 2016: Day 3 & 4

Tuesday, September 20, 2016

Virginia Beach Family Vacation 2016: Day 3 & 4

One month ago today we were waking up to our first full day at Virginia Beach! An entire month has flown by since that day. I know I say it all the time but I still can't believe how quickly time passes by.


We had a wonderful family vacation at the beach this year! I took so many pictures that I have to break my recap into two days at a time. I'm determined to finish my recap by the end of the month though! (You can see Day 1 and Day 2 HERE.)

{DAY THREE}

On day three, which was a Sunday, I was still sick with that nasty cold. I was moving very slowly that morning! We woke the kids up and immediately went down to the lobby for the breakfast buffet. The breakfast spread is amazing and I was really bummed because I didn't have much of an appetite.

After breakfast Grant and Dylan ran some errands. They had to buy pull-ups and wipes and pick up a new pair of rollerblades that Grant found on Craigslist. Wouldn't you know that the rollerblades that he had since he was a teenager broke on our first day of vacation? Somehow he found a brand new pair for $20!

While they were gone the girls, Liam and I relaxed in the hotel suite.

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When they returned we headed down to the beach for the afternoon. Liam fell asleep right away! I was okay with that because it meant I could relax for a bit!

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The three older kids played in the sand for a while before heading into the ocean.

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By the time Liam woke up the beach had cleared. I just love going to the beach at the end of August because it's so quiet!

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The older kids spent the rest of the afternoon swimming while Liam played in the sand.

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They eventually worked together to dig for sand crabs. They ended up with quite the collection!

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Sand Crabs

After a few hours Grant, Lexie and Liam went back up to the hotel room.  Dylan, Lily and I stayed at the beach until dinner time. Other than the lifeguard in the stand next to us we pretty much had the beach to ourselves!

Virginia Beach
Virginia Beach Family Vacation

We eventually headed back up to the hotel suite and everybody was napping.  I opened the doors to the balcony and drifted off to the sound of the ocean. I never nap at home but I obviously needed some sleep! I napped for less than an hour but woke up to Dylan shaking me. There were dolphins right near the shore again and he knew I would want to see them! Once again there were about 20 of them and they really were right near the shore!

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We ordered some Chinese food and watched the sunset while we ate.

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We went out for a bit but had to race back to the hotel because a storm was coming. We stood on our balcony and watched the lightning over the ocean. We watched as it rolled in and the power of it was unreal. You could feel it coming and we saw people racing for cover on the boardwalk before we even saw the rain hit. It was amazing to see and it was over just as quickly as it began.  Even so we decided to stay in the rest of the night!

{DAY FOUR}

Day four (Monday) was very much like day three but more relaxed.  The weekend crowd-if that's what you would call it-was gone and we didn't have any errands to run. We spent the majority of our day on the beach!

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Boogie Boarding
Virginia Beach
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It was SO nice to see our kids getting along so well!

As usual Grant took Liam back to the hotel for a nap in the late afternoon and Lexie went along. My awesome beach bums stayed with me on the mostly empty beach!

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Lily is just fascinated by the sea gulls. She loved them last year and she loved them just as much this year. She's like the pigeon lady in Home Alone 2!

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We eventually joined our other half in the suite, ate dinner then strolled the boardwalk. While we were out we saw the most beautiful sunset!

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When we were in Virginia Beach last year there was a circus in the park that Lily absolutely loved. She was thrilled to discover it again and took a break from our walk to watch the end of the show.

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After the show was over we introduced our kids to the best frozen custard in Virginia Beach then headed back to our hotel for a swim.

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After swimming we went for a late night walk on the beach. It's one of our favorite traditions! The kids couldn't wait to use their brand new light up rockets and walk along the edge of the water to search for shells.

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We had such a fun, busy day and everyone fell asleep quickly when we returned to the room! Stay tuned for the second half of our trip...

Virginia Beach Family Vacation

Let's Be Friends!


13 comments:

  1. I love what little beach bums you have! Looks like so much fun. Seeing dolphins again would have made my day.

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  2. Aaahhhh can we just all go back now. Beach life was absolutely fantastic and I am REALLY going through the post vacation blues, sigh. I love how laid back your trip was, it looks perfect.

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  3. You have me dreaming of a true beach vacation with our kids! It looks like you had such a fun time!

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  4. Looks like such a great trip! I love the pictures of the kids playing together and Liam sleeping on the beach is so adorable!

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  5. Another great couple of days! I can't believe how close those dolphins were to the shore! How incredible! We saw some on our trip this year, too, but they were waaaay out in the ocean!

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  6. Can't believe you were so close! Love these pics!

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  7. It looks so beautiful! Virginia Beach is one of my favorite places. I have family there and in Richmond and we make trips up that way every year.

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  8. This looks like an absolute blast! I was going to say: Do your kids always play so well together? They look like they are the best of friends!

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  9. Wow! The sunset pictures are stunning and all of that ocean fun makes me want to go! I haven't been to the ocean in yeeeeaaaars.

    I love all the close up pictures you take of your kids! Remind me, what kind of camera do you use?

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  10. This post reminds me how much I miss the beach! I need to rewind!

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  11. your kids look like they had a wonderful time at the beach! I can't wait to bring my daughter there some day

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  12. What an amazing time! Oh I want to go there right now! Your kids are all beautiful and this is what family memories are all about.

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  13. I have never been to Virginia Beach, but it looks incredible! I can't believe all those dolphins!

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