Medieval Times

Ever since I saw an advertisement I have wanted to take Xander and Savannah to Medieval Times. David and I went to something similar at the Excalibur hotel in Las Vegas years ago and had such a great time. So, while David's parents were here we decided to take advantage of the great deal they were running. (Poor Noah got left at home with a babysitter.)
When I told Savannah and Xander that we would be going to a dinner and show where we would see knights jousting they decided to dress the part. They both looked so cute.


We had a four course dinner that we ate with our hands...chicken, ribs, potato...it was pretty good. I especially enjoyed the apple pastry dessert!

We got each of the kids a little red flag that they could wave whenever our knight was performing. Here is a picture of our knight...the Red and Gold Knight!

Several times during the performance each knight throws flowers into the audience to the ladies of his choice...and guess who one of those little ladies was? That's right, our cute Savannah. She was cheering so loudly and was so hopeful... boy, was I happy when I saw the knight look her way and throw the flower right to her.

We got to meet the performers after the show. Although Savannah liked our knight, especially after he threw her a flower, our favorite ended up being the Green Knight who was the bad guy in the show. Maybe Xander is rubbing off on us.

Our Virginia Trip

We arrived home from our Outer Banks trip on a Saturday evening, rested Sunday, and then the kids and I took off on Monday morning with Dave and Jackie to visit the beautiful state of Virginia. We headed to Charlottesville, which is where Jackie was born and raised.

Our first stop on the trip, besides the above rest stop, was Montpelier, the home of our 4th president, James Madison. The home was really beautiful but they are in the process of restoring the home to what it would have been like during his time...thus, the house was completely empty. Absolutely no furniture other than a few pieces here and there. It was an incredible feeling, though, to stand in the room where most of our Constitution came into being; there are even ink stains still on the floor where his desk once was.


The grounds were beautiful and there were even a few little hands-on activities for the kids.


Tuesday we paid a visit to the home of our 3rd president, Thomas Jefferson - Monticello. Unlike Montpelier, Monticello has most of the original furniture and decorations in it. The home is truly beautiful and I wished that I could have gone through the whole house. It was a beautiful day and after touring the house, the kids and I wandered around the grounds, visiting Jefferson's grave as well as checking out the fish pond and his gardens.






After wandering around for awhile, we spent about an hour at the interactive museum for kids. Here is where the kids got to touch replicas of some of the items at Monticello. Savannah got to lay on Jefferson's bed which seemed pretty small for a man of his great stature. The boys enjoyed cooking just like Jefferson's slaves and Savannah did some weaving on a loom. She also got to use Jefferson's copy machine! Both Savannah and Xander enjoyed getting on the computer, though, and putting their architectual skills to work by designing their own homes just like Jefferson did.





Of course what trip isn't complete without swimming in the hotel pool. I was impressed the kids stayed in for an hour...the water was absolutely FREEZING!!!

We visited Jackie's old home (although the color has been changed from the original red brick), we saw the hospital where she was born, her grandmother's house, and her old elementary school.


On our drive home Wednesday we went through the Shenandoah National Park...it was gorgeous! We stopped at the Visitor's Center and saw some deer pretty close up.



They were pretty comfortable with us and didn't run away until Noah decided it was a petting zoo and tried to run up and give them a hug.

The Outer Banks

Ahhh, the Outer Banks. We were so lucky to spend a wonderful week there with David's parents as well as his sister Liz and her husband Jason. What a beautiful place! David and I are trying to figure out how we can move there, we loved it that much. Anyway, we arrived on a Saturday after an 8 hour drive through massive amounts of traffic. I count Sunday as our official first day of vacation and it didn't start out that well. Savannah woke up not feeling so well so she and I ended up spending the morning in the condo. It was definitely hard having the beach so close and yet not being able to go there. My poor little Savannah had a nasty stomach bug; Xander caught it as well later that afternoon. Thank goodness it didn't stick around very long. Despite a tough start the rest of the week was absolutely wonderful. In the next few entries I have posted some favorite photos as well as memories of each day.

Day 1 - Sunday
Weather - Sunny, hot, and very, VERY windy in the afternoon
My poor sick girl.

Xander attempted boogie-boarding with Uncle Jason...it didn't turn out so well.


Poor Uncle Jason...boy, was he patient.

I finally made it to the beach in the afternoon but a massive sandstorm hit and we were forced to head inside.
Xander completely wrapped up head to toe in a towel as he braved the stinging sand in the storm.
Quality time with my babe.

Celebrating Father's Day.
The kids singing "I'm So Glad When Daddy comes Home".

Day 2 - Yay! The Beach

Day 2 - Monday
Weather - Hot and beautiful
Spent most of the day at the beach
Initially Xander did not want to go to the beach but I was not going to miss another wonderful day so we made him go...in his pajamas!
I got massively sunburnt
Lots of shell collecting, dodging waves, and digging in the sand

Did I mention that Xander wore his pjs to the beach? We did get him to change eventually.






Noah LOVED boogie-boarding and he was actually quite good at it.



The Wright Brothers Memorial
Standing on the spot where the first flight took place



An evening stroll along the beach
A breathtaking sunset