Virginia Beach: The Final Recap

It's hard to believe the final Virginia Beach recap I'm posting took place almost a year ago to date. I didn't intend for that to happen, but life got in the way of blogging about vacation. I wanted to finish it before this year's vacation, and I hope to be more timely with that recap!

Speaking of this year's vacation, as this post goes live, we will be preparing for our trip to the beach! We're leaving very early Saturday morning, which also happens to be Liam's 5th Birthday. Spending 12+ hours in the car isn't exactly the best way to spend a birthday, but he will be spending the evening of his birthday on the beach! (Hopefully that will make up for it.) We're all looking forward to spending a fun, relaxing week together at the beach!

For now, let's go back to almost exactly one year ago today...it was day seven of our Virginia Beach vacation, and it was Liam's 4th Birthday...

Family Fun at Virginia Beach {Day Six}

We are less than two weeks away from our next family vacation, and I have yet to finish recapping our last trip. I took so many pictures during the last three days in Virginia Beach that I have to break it into two posts, but I'm determined to finish the recap over the next week! Although I do want to share our family trip, it was honestly very low on my list of priorities over the past year!

We absolutely love Virginia Beach, and have gone there the past few years, but we opted for a different beach this year. We're excited, but looking back at all the fun pictures makes me regret that just a bit! If only we could plan TWO beach vacations each Summer...or just move to the beach!

8 Fun FREE Things To Do With Kids In Virginia Beach

We are about 5 1/2 weeks away from our next family vacation to the beach! After spending the past few years in Virginia Beach, we opted to visit a different beach this year. We are really excited to explore a new vacation spot with our family, but we are going to miss spending time at one of our favorite places!

I know this is ridiculous, but I never managed to finish up my vacation recap from last year! I just take so many pictures, and it turns out to be a daunting task. The busyness of life took over, and sharing our trip got pushed to the side. I do want to finish it before our next vacation, so I decided to break the last half of our trip into several separate posts.

As I was glancing through the pictures from Day 5 of our trip, I realized that we spent the day taking advantage of all the fun free activities Virginia Beach has to offer! They also happen to be our favorite things to do while we're there. So rather than just recapping our day, I wanted to share 8 fun free things to do with kids in Virginia Beach, just in case you happen to visit there one day! (And I highly recommend you do!)

Down For Adventure in Virginia Beach - Day 4 {Travel With Kids}

Life in a big family is always an adventure! Vacation is no different. Two parents + Four Kids + 1 Extra Chromosome + Our Favorite Beach Vacation Spot = Extra Fun Family Adventures!

Virginia Beach Family Vacation Diary: Day 3

It's time to take a break from my regularly scheduled blog content, and go back a few months in time to our Virginia Beach family vacation! We just might have had a 61 degree day yesterday, but the winter blues are hitting hard, and we are in the midst of the coldest, snowiest Winter we've had in years. I am counting down the days until we're back on the beach this Summer!

Virginia Beach Family Vacation Days 1 & 2

A few days ago, we returned from our family vacation in Virginia Beach! It was a great way to conclude our Summer Break, but we were immediately thrown back into reality when we arrived home. Not only did 4 out of 6 of us come down with a virus, but we also had only 3 days to prepare for the first day of school, all while unpacking!

Reality hits TODAY. Today is the day when 3 of my 4 kids head back to school. And this year, Dylan starts school over an hour earlier than last year. His bus picks him up at 6:43 AM, so our new wake up time is 6 AM (a full hour and a half earlier)! I'm dreading the start of the new structured routine, and already missing the beach!

Although I can't go back (until next Summer), I can share my favorite pictures, and reminisce about all the fun we had!

VIRGINIA BEACH DAY 1

We left Pittsburgh shortly after 6 AM on Saturday. Every inch of our SUV was packed full of our belongings, including the cargo rack on top, and everybody was excited for the week ahead! We stopped for gas, then began the 8 hour drive to Virginia Beach!

The drive was relatively uneventful. The kids were well-behaved, we took a (longer) more scenic route which Grant preferred, and although we hit a bit of rain and some traffic, we made it to Virginia Beach exactly when we expected.

Unfortunately, even though our cargo box was within the vehicle clearance, we found that it wasn't quite the case on every level of our hotel's parking garage! Grant had to pull over, we had to unload the cargo box, place everything on Dylan's seat in the SUV,  then remove the cargo box so Grant could park. Dylan and I ended up carrying it up several levels and into our suite.

This was our first time staying somewhere different, and although the hotel was nice and had an amazing view, it was a deal breaker for next year!

SO...everybody was exhausted from the long drive and unloading our belongings, but we still had to go to dinner, and buy some drinks and snacks for the week. Some of us couldn't quite make it through the shopping trip...

When we returned to the hotel, it was almost dark, but I promised the kids that we would go for a quick swim in the ocean. It wasn't exactly the best lighting for pictures, but my entire crew was thrilled to be reunited with the ocean again!

Once we returned to our suite, dried off and changed clothes, we hit our favorite spot: The Virginia Beach Boardwalk! The hotel we stayed in was oceanfront, and our balcony overlooked everything, so we had easy access!

We had a fun first night in Virginia Beach!

VIRGINIA BEACH DAY 2

We slept great, and woke up early on our first full day in Virginia Beach! After getting some breakfast, we spent some time on our balcony drinking hot tea and coffee, and just admiring our favorite view!

Everybody was excited about our first day spent on the beach! We loaded up our new beach cart and headed down to the beach! (If you don't have one, GET one. It's a must have for beach vacations! We have THIS ONE.)

After spending some time splashing in the ocean, all four kids played together in the sand. Burying each other in the sand is one of the first things they like to check off their lists!

They even found a little friend while they were digging!

This is one of my favorite pictures! Liam's expression is hilarious, but I assure you, he didn't mind that much!

The kids had a great time at the beach, but before long, it was time for Liam to take a nap. Grant took him back to our suite, and Dylan and Lexie joined them.

 Lily, who is a beach bum just like her mama, stayed on the beach with me!

Although we could have stayed on the beach until dark, we had to head back to the hotel to shower and get ready for dinner.

That evening, we went to our favorite restaurant in Virginia Beach: Raven! The food is delicious in this local pub-style restaurant, it's affordable for a large family, and all the kids meals are served on souvenir frisbees!

It was such a beautiful night, that we took our time walking back to our hotel. And Grant officially fell in love with baby wearing Liam in our amazing Lillebaby CarryOn! (Stay tuned for more about this carrier, which is made for older kids up to 60 lbs!)

Since it was a Sunday evening, my Game of Thrones-obsessed husband had to watch the new episode. I opted to watch it later with him, and took the kids for a swim in the indoor pool instead! (Oh, but that episode was SO good! Probably my favorite episode ever.)

We made it back to our suite just in time to watch one of the weekly fireworks displays from our balcony!

After watching the fireworks, we went for a long stroll on the boardwalk. Dylan rode his hoverboard, the girls rode their scooters, and Liam escaped the stroller and ran (barefoot of course)!

We headed back to our suite around midnight and everyone got ready for bed. Liam opted to forgo his travel crib, and sleep on the pull out couch with Dylan, instead! Everybody fell asleep quickly after a long, but very fun day!

Our first two days in Virginia Beach were memorable and so much fun, but there was plenty more fun to come throughout the week! It took over 2,000 pictures, and because it's so tough to narrow my favorites down, I'll be breaking our recap into several posts. Stay tuned for days 3 and 4 of our Virginia Beach Family Vacation!

Now excuse me while I cry because three of my kids are gone all day and Summer Break is officially over...



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Virginia Beach Family Vacation: The Final Recap

“Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.”

The last two days of vacation are always so bittersweet. I just want to live them up and enjoy every moment because I know it will all be over soon and that we will have to head back to reality. The beach is my happy place and it was really hard to say goodbye to Virginia Beach this year.

The realization that we won't see the ocean again for another year, and that when we do all four of my kids will be another year older, always hits me so hard!  I told Grant that somehow some way we will live near the beach one day. Life is just so much happier at the beach!

The last two days of our Virginia Beach family vacation were crammed full of all the things we wanted to do one last time before we had to leave. Here's the last installment of our vacation recap. (I can't believe I actually finished this year! I'm chalking it up as a win!)

{DAY 7}

Day 7 was our last full day of vacation. (Boo.) After breakfast we spent most of our day at the beach. Thankfully they lifted the ban from swimming in the ocean that morning. Just for the record Day 7 is apparently when my kids start to get bored with being at the beach all the time!

Liam quickly fell asleep for his nap on the beach and Grant, Dylan and Lexie headed out to boogie board. The waves were pretty rough that day so Lily stayed on the beach with me. She played in the surf and built sandcastles all afternoon. Yet again only a few people were on the beach. It turned out to be a really great day!

 

 

We went back to our hotel suite around dinner time. After showering and getting ready for the evening we went out to eat at our favorite Virginia Beach restaurant (The Raven) then snapped a few pictures on the beach. (I shared those in The Kids Behind the Blog post earlier this month.)

That evening we rented a family bike and pedaled the entire length of the Virginia Beach Boardwalk. Along the way we stopped at a few playgrounds, checked out statues along the Boardwalk, visited the giant King Neptune statue and paused for a few minutes to listen to the orchestra play movie themes in the park by the beach. Pedaling that bike is quite a workout but it's one of my favorite traditions!

After we returned the bike we went for a ride on the Virginia Beach ferris wheel. (Liam slept through it and Dylan refused to pose for a picture.)

We ended our evening with Dippin' Dots then trudged back to the hotel to pack up. We were all feeling so bummed about having to go home after having such a great day. By the time I had everything packed up and ready to go everyone was sleeping. I sat on the balcony for a while just enjoying the ocean breeze and the sound of the waves.

{DAY 8}

It's tradition for me to wake up to watch the sunrise on our last morning at the beach. It's usually by myself but this year Grant, Dylan and Lily joined me. Grant and Dylan eventually headed back to bed after the initial sunrise but Lily stayed awake to watch the entire process. I'm not a morning person but it's my favorite morning of the entire year. The beauty of the sunrise over the beach always takes my breath away!

After the sunrise I always grab a beach chair, a book and a cup of coffee and head down to the beach for an hour. I leave the kids in the hotel suite with Grant and enjoy an hour alone at my most favorite place on Earth. I'm not going to lie: I adore my family but I look forward to that moment on every trip. It's my most peaceful morning of the year!

I eventually headed back up and woke up Dylan, Lexie and Lily and told them to put on their swimsuits. We never visited the hotel's outdoor pool on any of our trips so I figured this would be a good time! Sure enough it's completely empty early in the morning!

I had a great time with my three oldest kids! Unfortunately the fun was short-lived. We had to head back up to the hotel suite to get dressed, wake up Liam and Grant and grab some breakfast.

We had to rush to load up the cart and it took three trips to the SUV to get everything crammed in. And just like that our trip was over. We had to say goodbye to the ocean for another year.

Despite the rocky start with my untimely illness we had a wonderful family vacation! I always said we wouldn't be one of those families who returns to the same beach every year but I have a feeling we'll be spending time at Virginia Beach again next year. We just love it there and it has quickly become my family's favorite vacation spot!

Virginia Beach 2016...that's a wrap!!!

I do want to cry when I reflect on our trip. I miss the beach. I miss the slower lifestyle. I miss not having to run from one activity or obligation to another. I miss our entire family being together all the time and how everyone was so relaxed and happy. But it was a really good trip and just looking through our pictures makes me smile. We made some incredible memories together this year!

Let's Be Friends!

  

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