Good-bye Norfolk

So I am feeling a little sad this afternoon. We left my sister's house this morning. :-( We had so much fun with her. We went back to Sandfiddler for another yummy breakfast and then to a coffee shop for teas. We got one that my sister named Memaw's Garden. It's so yummy! Now were on our way to PA. Tomorrow we'll head to Canada. We're having a blast so far. The kids loved the beach. We saw dolphins playing with a couple of surfers. The kids found lots of shells. Big thanks to my sister for a great time. We love you and miss you Michelle.



Kiddos with Aunt Shell




Me and my sissy

Last day at the beach

We went back to the beach today. We head to Pennsylvania tomorrow. We've had so much fun. JD went into deeper water this time. He is so funny. A wave would hit and he would say, "Please, please...I'm too young to die." When he would say that I would laugh so hard and the next wave would take me out, so he said it a lot. It was a great day. Heading to Michelle's to order in Chinese and pack our bags. Thanks Aunt Shell for everything. :-)



Heading back to Aunt Shell's.

In Virginia

We made it to my sister's late Tuesday night. Wednesday we went to the SandFiddler Cafe in Norfolk for breakfast. It is an awesome restaurant. Check it out if you are ever in the area. We went to the beach for a little bit and then went to see a movie.



(Me @ the beach)

Wednesday night Michelle hosted a Celebrating Home party. Yes, I am working on vacation and you know that you NEED a bean pot, so call me. :-) I made a bean pot lasagna and a microwave cake. Then this morning we went to a different beach, Sandbridge, to watch the sun rise and gather shells.



(Sunrise @ Sandbridge)



(Running from the waves)

Then we got Krispy Kreme and Starbucks and went to Michelle's. We took a nap and headed back to the beach and Michelle took our family picture. We went to Sandbridge Island Restaurant and had all you can eat crab legs and shrimp. Then we swam and built sand castles. JD buried me in the sand. He gave me a mermaid tail. Too funny. Had a great day.


I love this picture of Phillip!

Geo Caching

Well, for those of you who don't know what geo caching is...the Air and Space Museum knows and can fill you in. :-)

A day in DC

Today we toured our nation's Capitol. We started at the Library of Congress and went on a tour. Next we went to our Congressman's office. We met the sweet lady that set up all our DC tours. Then Jacob, the intern, took us on a tour of the Capitol. It was so cool. We even got our picture taken on the steps and a copy will be mailed to us. We learned so many interesting facts. Definitely do the Capitol tour if you are ever in DC. We had lunch at Union Station. We even found a few virtual caches. Next we walked to the Washington monument and went to see Lincoln. Man, we did so much walking. Everyone was tired and sore. We took the train back to the car. Went to the hotel and the kids went swimming. Then we ordered pizza for dinner. Noah helped me do laundry. Tomorrow we're going back to DC to the Smithsonian. Then to Norfolk to see my sister. Yeah!



On the Capitol steps.



Visiting Mt. Lincoln.

Sunday

Sunday we drove all day long. We got stuck in a lot of traffic and got to the hotel really late.

Stone Mountain

We spent the day at Stone Mountain, so am just now able to update. We road the ducks. The kids loved it. We even had Captan Tiny as our driver. You may remember him from Under Cover Boss. He was a hoot. We went up to the top of Stone Mountain on the sky ride. It was pretty over cast, so the visibility was low. On a clear day, you can see downtown Atlanta. Stone Mountain is the largest piece of exposed granite. It's 864 feet above the surrounding area. The granite base, meaning what's under ground, reaches to Tennessee and Kentucky. There used to be a quarry there and stone from Stone Mountain is in all post offices built before 1972 and was used in construction of the steps of the US Capitol. The boys (Phillip and Noah) did some caching on the mountain. We also got to tour the antebellum plantation and farm yard. Got to pet some goats, sheep, and pigs. (I liked the plantation tour the most.) Did you know that when Sherman burned Atlanta you could still see the mountain through the smoke? Also, Sherman had all the rails from the railroads in the area pulled up and put in bon fires and then wrapped around trees, so that they would not be useable. They called them Sherman neck ties. We did a ton of walking and were very hot and tired. It was so humid. I think you need gills to breath the air. We stayed late to watch the laser show and fire works. Very cool. It was a really fun day.



This was some rock in the parking lot.



Quack! Quack!



Silly Daddy.



Quack!



Aren't we cute ducks?



On top of Stone Mountain.



Waiting for the show to start. It was so hot and it rained some, so our tushies got wet.