Girls Weekeend

Our family friend Linda so generously invited Claire, Mom, and myself to another Girls Weekend at her house in Va beach and I certainly would not say no to that offer!  Claire and I were so excited to get away and spend some time together.  It happened to be the weekend of the Patriotic Festival which included some country music concerts each night.  Friday night after we arrived, we walked over to the boardwalk to check things out.  Claire wasn't super interested in the concerts, but it was neat to see their tour buses and trucks lined up on the boardwalk.  She at least got a chance to get her feet in the water and then we walked back to Linda's for ice cream.  (We had heard the rumor that Linda wasn't eating sweets anymore, but luckily she had a little ice cream stashed away for us!)

 The next morning I got up early to check off the #1 item on my to-do list, which was a run on the boardwalk.  I love running there when it's quiet and not so many people out.  I got to catch a little bit of the sunrise and then made it down to the King Neptune statue. 

I also got to see this crazy looking hovercraft thing on the beach.  There were all kinds of military things set up for the festival.  I texted Rob a picture and it turns out he has been on one of these a few times in the Navy.

After breakfast, Mom treated us all to a Dophin cruise!  We saw them last year on our weekend trip and thought it would be fun.  

 It was a beautiful morning and so pretty to see the beach from the water.  You really can't see in my pictures, but there were people parachuting onto the beach all morning for the festival.  Really neat to see from the boat!

We cruised down to the lighthouse where there were a bunch of dolphin.  We also learned some interesting facts about dolphin, including how they sleep with only half of their brain at a time so that the other half can get them to come up for air!  We also learned that dolphin evolved from land living mammals and went to live in the sea millions of years ago.

 After our cruise, we came home and immediately packed our things for a trip to the beach.  We were trying to beat the rain!  We spent a couple hours at the beach (so crowded!!) and then came home for lunch and a rest. 
Claire loves Linda's house and her animal friends that come to visit.  She has some ducks that seem to have made their home in Linda's back yard and she also has squirrels and birds that stop by for peanuts.

We had a delicious shrimp dinner and then tried to go check out the concert events on the boardwalk, but the rain did arrive and caused some delays.  It was  a crazy scene and after strolling around a little in the rain, we headed home.

 Morning #2 I made it out for a shorter run, then went for a bike ride with Claire, and a trip to the Aquarium!  We fit in as much as possible in a short weekend!!

 Claire LOVES the otters and couldn't wait to go back to see them.

 We thought this was too funny.  Especially because she had decided her animal project at school would be called a "Snotter" (snake and otter combined)

We did the aquarium at just the right time.  It had started to rain and everyone in Va Beach decided to come to the aquarium.  We went home for lunch and then it was time to hit the road.  I had so much fun spending quality time with Claire (and Mom and Linda too!) and I'm so thankful for the weekend away!

Of course, while we were gone, the boys had fun too :-)  Rob kept this kiddo busy with a trip to Sweet Frog, a birthday party, a workshop at Home Depot, the Star Wars movie, and a rainy day at Kings Dominion!!