Monday, October 17, 2016

Virginia Beach Trip 2016

We decided to take a long weekend trip to Virginia Beach some Papa had the days off from work. We stayed at our timeshare on the Virginia Beach boardwalk and had an awesome time. On Thursday, we left right from school and got the the hotel (Oceanaire) a little before midnight.

We have a two bedroom, lock-off suite, so the kids technically have their own suite with two queen sized beds, a mini kitchen, bathroom, and we have a "master bedroom" with a king size bed, full kitchen, living room, dining area, bathroom, and then we lock open the connecting doors (from the top so the kids can't close them) to make it one big suite The older three shared a room and we kept Cuatro with us. There was a lot of goofing around in the kids room while we got the luggage put away and things set up.  

Friday
In the morning, Pudge ran into our room to tell us that they saw dolphins from their room. So we all went on the patio to watch them. Dolphins are my favorite so it was really cool to be able to watch them right from our room. 
 
Unsurprisingly, the kids didn't sleep in and were ready to go explore as soon as we were done watching the dolphins. So we walked to Pocahontas Pancake House for breakfast. The food was so good and the portions were huge so we were able to bring some back for leftovers. 
 

After dropping the food off in our room, we headed to the beach!
 
 
 
 
Later we rented one of the family bikes...It always seems like a great idea until we start peddling and realize that only two of the 6 of us can reach the petals without falling off the seat. The kids love it and again wanted to ride to the end of the boardwalk and back. At one point, Cuatro started crying because it was time for him to nurse so I hopped off with him at a bench and Papa chugged along with the other three to the end and then we waited for them to pick us up on their way back. When they go back, they had rearranged the seating because they had realized that Little Bear was able to help petal if he was sitting in one certain seat (because the seat part was bigger so he didn't fall off of it) so the ride back was much easier. 
 
After returning the bike, we played on the beach for a little while. The kids wanted to swim so we headed back to the hotel to check out one of the pools. It was too chilly for the outdoor pool which they had wanted to go in but the kids thought that the indoor one was awesome. They made some friends while they were there and splashed around with them for a while. 
 
Since Cuatro wasn't old enough to go in the pool, I read my book and nursed him on one of the couches and then he watched all of the kids play (and eventually fell asleep)
 
Around 9pm, Pequeño got out of the pool and laid down on the couch next to us "to take a break" and ended up falling asleep. So we let the older two (and Papa) play for a little while longer and then took everyone up for bed.

Saturday
The next morning, Papa and Little Bear walked to one of the local stores to grab a few things while the younger three played and lounged around in the room.
 
Once they got back, everyone was still tired so we stayed in the room until around 11. 
Then we spent the entire day on the beach and walking around the boardwalk.
 
 
 
They saw a piece of driftwood float in so they grabbed it and used it to "walk the plank" over the hole they had dug.
 
They spent a lot of time collecting shells and finding things
 
 
 
In the evening, we went back to the room to take baths and order dinner. While we were waiting for the food to arrive, the kids laid out all of their shells. 
 

Chinese food for dinner
 
The older two and Papa went swimming for a little while (Pequeño didn't want to go) and then came back and they all watched a movie in their room before falling asleep. 

Sunday
We spent the morning packing up and relaxing until we checked out. Then we walked to Duck Donuts.
 
 
The kids each ordered their own doughnut and were excited to watch them make them. They were a little messy so we ate them at one of the outside tables until we were attacked by bees. Then we brought the rest to our van and finished eating them there (thankfully we keep baby wipes in the van).
We had decided that we were going to spend the day hiking so we drove over to First Landing State Park. Unfortunately, the recent hurricane had caused a lot of flooding so there was a lot that was still inaccessible including the cabin with the historical information that the kids wanted to see. We weren't able to stay long because we were also being bit by mosquitoes despite having bug repellent on. So we decided that we'd need to come back another time.
 
 
 
Since we had extra time now, we decided to stop at the Chesapeake Bay bridge pull off. The kids and I had never been there before and they thought that it was really cool.
 
 
We stayed and had an early dinner at the restaurant and then made the drive home. 

Friday, October 14, 2016

Pequeño's Pumpkin Patch Field Trip

Pequeño's preschool class went to a pumpkin patch which was new to us. Since his school doesn't provide the transportation, Cuatro and I were able to go on the trip as well. 
It started with a hay ride around their Christmas trees, honey bees, and various gourd locations. Pequeño really liked it and was really interested in all of the information that the tractor driver stopped to tell us about each of the different things before taking the kids to pick their pumpkins. 



 

Finding his pumpkin:
He also liked looking for the baby pumpkins and ask if we could take this picture: 
After he found his pumpkin, he helped find one for Cuatro (it was included in my admission). For him, he picked a cute little green one.

One of the moms offered to take our picture but Pequeño decided that he didn't want his picture taken.
The kids were all having fun pretending to be the different animals in the large cutout while the parents put the pumpkins in their cars.
Then they got to feed some farm animals. Pequeño only wanted to feed the sheep. 
There were also pigs that the kids were able to watch but they were warned not to try to feed them or reach in to touch them. 




Then they got a chance to play in a big corn box (instead of a sandbox). I think that may have been his favorite part! 

Last, they listened to one of the farmers teach them about different kinds of pumpkins, gourds, and corn. 

We left then when it was starting to drizzle but many stayed and did a corn maze. 


Pudge's Pumpkin Patch Field Trip

Pudge's class went on their first field trip to a local pumpkin patch this week. He was so excited (and a little nervous) that they were going to ride a school bus there since it would be his first time (we drive the kids to and from school). The pumpkin patch ended up being the same one that Little Bear's preschool (and our mom's club also) went to years ago when we lived in Fleetwood even though there are a few closer farms. 

Each of the kids came home with a pumpkin that they get to decorate and bring back to school to show their class. The teacher also posted a cute class picture from the trip online.