We spent the second week of August with Tina's family in a vacation area south of Virginia Beach called Sandbridge. Nine years ago we took a similar vacation to the same area. This year was different 'cause over the last nine years we've added 3 kids to the mix. The first 4 days were VERY warm and we quickly settled into a nice little rhythm:
7-ish - wake up
8-ish - breakfast
9-10 - head to beach
12-ish - back to house (maybe equivalent of a 2 block walk) for lunch
1-ish - 3 boys out cold for naps
1-4ish - adults hang out in pool while kids sleep (anti-social Derek goes on a bike ride :)
5-ish - kids awake and join adults in pool
6-ish - dinner
7-ish - back to beach for a few hours
9-ish - kids back to house for baths, snack and bed
9-10 - adults play some games, chat and then realize how tire they are and go to bed
-repeat-
It was very nice. So far, the only lasting drawback from the vacation has been that Henry doesn't seem as excited with his sandbox as he used to be. I guess the 4ft x 4ft seems limiting.
Anyway, on with the show. One of the things I (Derek) learned from this vacation is that photographing multiple children ages 2-5 is challenging. At least if you expect them to all be looking at you at the same time. Below you will see Henry w/ his cousins posing in a sandcastle 'we' built.
Cute? Yes but wouldn't it be grand if they were all looking at me at the same time?
The next two pictures were taken in the pool behind our house. This is the only evidence we have that the three cousins sat on the airplane because soon after this picture was taken they quickly overturned (next picture). The result was that neither of the younger two were willing to go near the plane for the rest of the week. Notice the two being held aren't having a very good time. Oops.
Here Henry is enjoying the pool a little more. He was really getting into 'swimming' especially with goggles on. He really liked riding the 'boogey board'
One of the great things about the beach in Sandbridge was that it was not overly crowded. This meant that even our sand sculptures remained at the beach from one day to the next. As a result, we decided to take our 'castle' pictured above and convert it to what you see below. Notice that they are almost all looking at the camera.
Henry did like to frolic/dig in the sand. Here he is striking a pose with shovel in hand.
Now here he is after he decided to give up on the shovel and just use his forehead to dig in the sand.
Here Henry is learning from his cousins what it means to line up and 'race.' He sort of got the concept by the end of the trip but definitely needs to work on his leg speed before they race again in December.
Maybe you noticed (maybe you didn't) earlier that I said it was sunny/hot the first 4 days we were there. Well it was pretty rainy for the last 2.5-3.
Q: So what do you do with three little boys that are used to running around the beach when it's pouring down rain outside?
Answer 1: Arts & Crafts
Answer 2: Play Games
Answer 3: Go to the local Aquarium
Answer 4: Go out to eat and get the boys light-up plastic 'ice cubes.'
Answer 5: Put gel in their hair
Answer 6: Take all the cushions off of the couch and chairs and make a bus. According to Henry this is Route 68.
It was a great vacation. I'll finish with some shots that include more adults. We'll start with the whole group.
Then theirs our little family
And finally, a rare picture of just the two of us. Probably one of the better shots of the two of us in quite a while.
