Joslyn and Ellie

                                      This is what happens when I lay down for a quick nap!  The girls are pretty creative aren't they?  I think Joslyn looks lovely!  It is also good to know that they know how to use the camera all by themselves. I have a feeling that it was all Ellie's idea.

Trafalga!

Justin and I took the kids to Trafalga a few weeks ago and they loved it.  Andrew loved the airplane ride and pirate ship.  He didn't quite understand that you just can't ride them over and over.  He was really upset when we had to get him off the rides.  The girls had fun on the water boats and Noah and Justin loved the go-carts.  We also played a round of miniature golf.  After a couple of hours Justin and I were pretty worn out, but the kids didn't want to leave.  That's the best thing about having season passes, you don't feel like you have to stay all day!

Last vacation post!

We decided to go back to Willamsburg for another afternoon, because you really can't see it all in one day. This day I had much better shoes, so it was much more enjoyable.  We toured more homes and stores, ate, shopped, relaxed.  It was so nice to have a week to spread out all of our activities.  Finally on Friday we decided to drive to Virgina Beach, it had been so long since I had been to the ocean and I couldn't wait.  It was about an hour and half drive, but well worth it.  The weather was perfect and the beach was beautiful!  We walked along the shops on the boardwalk and had a really yummy lunch at a place called Rock Fish.  I heard it had the biggest collection of Beatles stuff!  The food was so good too.  There is nothing like fresh seafood on the beach.  I am so glad we took the time to go, it was so fun!

This little guy was hanging out at the bakery in Willamsburg.  It was so used to people, that it would eat right out of your hand.  I didn't share any of my lunch with it though, because it was too good!  The homemade apple cider was the best!

Justin in jail again.

Justin making sure that the prisoners could use the toilet while they were chained to the wall.

A pretty stream that was right outside the wood shop. 

Virgina Beach, so fun!

I really miss living close to the ocean, I could visit this everyday, couldn't you?

Jamestown, Berkley plantation and Yorktown

Here are pictures from three more places we visited on our vacation.  We didn't do this all in one day, but I am trying to condense all the pictures!  All of these places have really awesome museums, but you can't take any pictures in them.  I learned so much history that by the end, I wasn't able to retain all of the information I was told, so sorry if I write something that isn't really true.  I can't believe we did so much, it makes me tired just looking at these pictures. 

Inside a pocohantas hut.  Thats not the real name of the tribe, but I don't remember what it was.  This was where Pocohantas would have lived though.  Did you know she didn't really marry John Smith, he was much older than her and they were never romanitically involved.  Her husbands name was John Rolfe. She did go with him back to England, where she died before she could return to Jamestown.  She only lived to be 23 or so. 

Justin was picked to be the preacher in a re-enactment of a chuch service in Jamestown.  I think he did a geat job.

This is one of the three ships that came to Virgina and carried the people that stayed and colonized in Jamestown.  Obviously these aren't the real ships,  but exact replicas.

I wasn't feeling too well that day so I just watched Justin explore the ship.  He said it was actually a lot nicer than he thought it would be.

The ghost of the Berkley Plantation.

This is a site of the first thanksgiving, they claim it happend here in Virgina. This is the James River, all of the plantations are along it.  It was so pretty and peaceful there.

Justin in front of the side of the house.  The circle plaque gives the date is was build.  1762, I think?  I can't remember the exact year, but it was REALLY old.  This was one of my favorite places because everything was original, not a remake.  You wouldn't believe the history that has happend here.  I also asked the guide about ghosts that might be at the house.  She told me all kinds of things that had happend to her there.  She has woked there for more than 30 years and had lots of experiences to share. 

I think I look good in front of this home.  I think that means I should live in a house like this.

This one speaks for itself.

Did you know that you can keep meat like this for years and years. Justin was pretty hungry, but I don't think he actually took a bite.

I got a little silly and bored......

They shoot a cannon off at the camp in Yorktown, it was loud.

Golden Corral twice in one day!

Tuesday :  Don't feel bad if you don't have any desire to read this or look at the pictures, I don't blame you.  I am just posting it so it can go in our family blog book.  When we got to Willamsburg we noticed that our resort offered a guided tour of Washington D.C.  We wanted to go, but were scared about doing it on our own.  We didn't know where to go or park etc...  So we we thought a bus tour would be great, and it was.  We saw so many things!  We traveled on a chartered bus, and had a very knowledgeable tour guide take us around.  I am so glad we did it.  We started out our day looking at several memorials, many of which I hadn't seen before.  They are amazing and make you so grateful for all of the people who serve this great country.  The White house was closed because of some kind of event, but we did see it from a distance.  We passed the capitol building too, but it was raining so we didn't get out.  Did I mention it was raining the entire time?  That is why I look so great in all of the pictures.  For a few hours in the afternoon we were on our own to look around.  Justin and I went to the first post office to eat lunch and accidently got seperated.  Thank goodness for cell phones.  There were a ton of people that day and it was kind of crazy.  After we found each other we checked out some of the Smithsonian museums.  The Natural history one was really cool, but there were about a million kids there too. We quickly got out of there and went over to the American history museum which was also crowded.  But, we decided to stick around and we saw a lot of neat stuff there.  We met back up with our bus group, who by the way were mostly older people, but super nice and friendly.  Then we headed up to Arlington Cemetery, which was so incredible.  We watched the changing of the gaurd of the tomb of the unkowns.  By then we (I) was so tired and  ready to go back to the resort.  But, half way back to Virgina we stopped again at Golden Corral for dinner.  When we signed up we were excited to see that the price of the tour included both breakfast and dinner, but we were even more excited when we found out were it would be!  To make dinner even more gross, a kid threw up on me while I was in line.  (Maybe the chocolate fountain and the all you can eat cotton candy isn't such a good idea.)  Other than the food, the trip was perfect! 

This is the Marine corp memorial, it was really impressive.  Justin would always forget to tell me when he was actually going to take the picture, so I was never ready for them.

Jefferson memorial

This is a view from the FDR memorial which was actually more like a park.  It was so great, with sculpures, quotes, waterfalls.  I guess it was so interesting that I forgot to take any pictures of it?

Martin Luther King Jr. Monument, I think this one is fairly new.

Korean War Monument, it was very cool. It was even more dramatic with the rain falling down.

This is such a great picture, (YUCK)  Anyway obviously the Lincoln memorial.  The refletion pool directly accross from it was under constuction, so we didn't get any pics of it.

Wow, I look so happy,  This is a memorial for all the women (nurses).

The view of the Capitol building from the bus, it was raining so much we decided to just do a drive by.

One of my favorite pictures, it about sums up how I feel.  Who is bigger?

A picture Justin took right before the tiger attack.

The original ruby slippers from the wizard of oz.  Ellie loved this one, she couldn't believe they were the real deal.

Arlington Cemetery.  Just as spectacular as I remembered it.  It really is so neat, so much to take in, so grateful for all the lives that have been dedicated to protecting this country. 

JFK's gravesite with the eternal flame, Robert E. Lee house in the background.  The house was closed for renovation, wich was sad because I remember it being really interesting.

Colonial Willamsburg

We got to Virgina late Saturday night.  We decided to get groceries so that we didn't have to shop on Sunday.  While we were at the Food Lion, we were stopped and asked if we were LDS and if we knew where and when church was the next day.  We thought this was funny because I guess we just look like Mormons. Sunday was a beautiful day, we went to church and met a lot of really great people in Willamsburg.  It is so great that you can travel accross the country and have the same Sunday school lesson in Virgina that you would at home.  We just hung out the rest of the day and enjoyed a peaceful Sunday.  Monday morning we headed over to colonial Willamsburg.  It was only about 10 minutes from where we were staying.  We had a full day, with lots of walking.  The buildings are so interesting, we also went on a tour of the museum and learned a ton about George Washington.  For lunch we ate a the cheese shop, so good!  You know how much I love cheese. At first we kept thinking about how weird it was not to have any of the kids with us, but we got over it pretty quickly.   I wore what I thought were comfortable shoes, but by the end of the day my feet wouldn't even fit into them.  I was so swollen, but walked through the pain.  That night we went on a ghost tour of some of the homes, which wasn't scary at all, but entertaining.  By that time I was ready to take my elephant hands and feet home and soak in the tub!

Justin and I at the start of the day.

Justin decided to take a spiritual moment in a very old church .

This is inside the Palace.

The gardens at the Palace were my favorite part.  Love all the Magnolia trees, everything is so green.

More of the gardens.

Our one regret on this vacation, spending $100+ on an authentic colonial dinner at King's tavern.  It wasn't very good.  Here is Justin eating pickled watermelon rine.  We also had some yummy bread that reminded me of the cushion of a school bus seat.  The main course wasn't too bad, but not worth the money.  Dessert was the best part, homeade peppermint ice cream and hot fudge. 

Yummy!