Williamsburg, Virginia

After exploring Washington DC for a few days we decided to give Ben and Emily a break and drove three hours to our next destination: Williamsburg, Virginia. We stayed in a hotel close to all the places we wanted to see and we had so much FUN!!! Our hotel stood on the ground where the Battle of Williamsburg took place in 1862 so they had some old war artifacts that were found on the property on display in the lobby. But the kids were most excited about the awesome swimming pool.

We had a great time exploring Colonial Williamsburg. It was really hot that day so we decided to just focus in on the highlights and skip the extras. That was a good plan because too much historical stuff seemed to get very wearing on the kids. And really, a lot of the tours catered to adults and older kids so alot of the info went right over their heads and their eyes kind of glazed over after awhile. Matt and I would have loved to spend all day there, but a trip with kids becomes a very different trip than a trip with just adults, so we took what we could get.

 Mom and Rylie in the garden maze.

 

Rylie and Ivy hanging out in front of the court house.

While in Williamsburg our sweet Ivy girl turned 6!

We spent the day water sliding and soaking up the sun at Water Country USA. Poor Ivy got the most horrible sunburn. We kept slathering on the SPF 50 ultra waterproof lotion, but it just wasn't enough and little Ivy's shoulders ended up blistering. She was in such pain, but said that Water Country USA was her very favorite day of all. We really did have the best time as a family there and I would have to agree that it was one of my favorite days as well. We also learned that Ivy is a little dare devil and wanted to go on all the scariest of slides.

Even with blistered shoulders she still felt like continuing the party at McDonald's for her birthday dessert. Ice Cream seemed to be the perfect medicine for her sunburned shoulders...until she had to get into her jammies later that night. That was not fun! Poor Ivy.

Matt and Eli showing off their muscles.

( how did you get so awesome, matt?)

Some how we ended up all having a flex show down in the middle of McDonald's. The employee who brought us our ice cream looked embarrassed and slightly amused as he delivered our treats to the table. We didn't know he had been spying while we were seeing who had the biggest muscles. I bet he was jealous. Oh, how hard that made us laugh!

And then if that wasn't enough Matt and Eli started wrestling. I'm sure McDonald's was not sad to see us go. But we had a blast! And just for the record, McDonald's chocolate shakes are really, really good.

  Late night swim at the hotel. These kids were nothing but go, go, go!

 Our little cowfolk at Busch Gardens Amusement Park.

Off with their heads!

Eli was so nervous for the big waterfall drop on Escape from Pompeii.

But he LOVED it when all was said and done.

This picture cracks me up. Eli looks like he's bored out of his mind. Maybe he's outgrown Elmo rides.

This is called the Griffon.

That drop is at a 90' angle and is for sure the most insane roller coaster we have ever been on.  And before the big drop they bring the car to the edge of the drop and hang you there facing down at certain death for about 10 seconds before you go screaming towards the earth. It was AWESOME!!!

And the most shocking was that Ivy cried whenever she was too small to go on any of the scariest roller coasters. We promised her that we will take her back for her 10th birthday. Then for sure she'll be big enough to go on every single ride. What a little dare devil!