More Virginia!

Well, here are a few more days worth of pictures from Virginia. When you take 1000 (yes, that's one thousand) pictures, it takes some time to go through them all! Let's start out with Sunday... no fancy slideshows this time either - just too many pictures! So I just stuck with the plain ones!


Sunday July 6. We went over to Jared's MaMa Stafford's house for some dessert and some more family pictures! We love MaMa. She is a great cook, and always makes sure we have MORE than plenty to eat! She makes us eat, and eat, and eat! The kids love to run around her yard, and play with her funny little Pug named Buddy. Everyone gathers at MaMas on Sunday afternoons, so we got to see some of Jared's aunts and uncles.




Monday, July 7...
We went to Pocahontas State Park to swim in their fun pool. It is a really neat and pretty place. We walked down to the water first, and saw a whole bunch of geese! The kids thought that was awesome, then after some debate, we decided to hit the pool! That was definitely a hit!




We had a slower week, until Friday, when we decided to head to the BEACH!
Friday, July 11...
First we hit Fort Story (an army base in Virginia Beach) where the famous Cape Henry Lighthouses are located... after a slight security fiasco, we were allowed to go in. We were lacking some paperwork for some vehicles, so we did a little shuttling. Nice tight security on those army bases! There are actually two lighthouses located right near one another. The older one, built in late 1700s is not in use anymore... people can go up inside it, though. And we almost did! But it was hot, and the kids were ready for lunch, so we skipped it. The other lighthouse (they call it the NEW one!) was built in 1881. It is still in use! We also enjoyed some time at the beach there.




Later on Friday July 11...
We ate some lunch just outside the base, and then walked down the road to a beach where we could actually get in... the only problem was that there was NO WHERE to change into swimming suits. The kids were already in theirs, but us adults we unprepared, so it was just the feet (and legs) that got wet on us! Plenty of sand however, and GREAT waves! The kids could have stayed there all day! We were sad to leave. Later, we found out that there was a red flag (meaning that the waves were dangerous). We hadn't seen it, so we swam at our "own risk" apparently!

Trip to Virginia - The first 5 days

Well, we just returned from a GREAT trip to Virginia. It was so pretty and green (and humid... well only a few days were really humid). We had the best time visiting with family and friends. Get ready for a serious picture overload. And it's only the first 5 days worth (we were there for two weeks).
We left on July 1st. We flew out of Salt Lake City, stopping in Minneapolis, and finally arriving in Richmond, VA! This was Hayden's first time flying (and Bryson was so little last time we went, that he didn't remember). The kids LOVED the plane! On these slideshows, if you click right on it (you might have to click a couple of times) it will open it up bigger, and then if maximize that screen and you look on the right side, there will be a place where you can click on SLIDESHOW, and it will make it full screen.





July 2nd, we went over to Jared's Mom's old house. They are fixing it up to sell it. The kids had fun playing in the backyard for the last time, and then we headed over to her new house and the kids played basketball.





July 3rd we officially started the Family Reunion activities with a cookout at Rockwood Park. Everyone was there. We had great food, and took a walk, enjoying the beautiful scenery.




July 4th - INDEPENDENCE DAY! We started the day off early, with a flag ceremony and pancake breakfast at the church. Then we went to Dogwood Dell, where we spent much of the day playing on the playground. We got there early to save good seats for the concert and firework show later that night. It was nice and HOT, but then the festivities were almost cancelled when a thunderstorm came through. Thank goodness it passed by so we could enjoy a little cooler weather and stay for the show! We ate Kentucky Fried Chicken, and the fireworks were AWESOME!





July 5th - we went to Maymont park to take some family pictures. Tim and I took the pictures. I haven't downloaded the pictures he took yet... but here are some that I took. After family pictures, we went inside the Nature Center, where the kids had all kinds of fun things to do and see. Then we went outside for a little picnic.




Thanks for looking... I'll have more pictures in a couple of days!