Flasback to Warmer Days

It has snowed more this year than it has in years!  And I love it!  I am a firm believer that if it is going to be freezing temperatures, it might as well be snowing.  I mean, let's at least make the frigid temperatures worth it!  But now that it has been so cold for such a while, and with such a long time left to go, I am going to be delusional and think back to warmer days.  So, on that note, I thought I would share about our adventures to Virigina Beach this past summer.

For the last three years, my bestest friends - Piet and Janae, and I take the kids and go for some special outing.  We kind of lucked out because Piet has three boys (Jaydon 7, Tylan 6, and Baby Sylas 1.5), Janae has two girls (Alyssa 5 and Ava 3), and then I, of course, Jacob who is 6.  So besides Baby Sylas, the kids are all pretty close in age.  It makes it relatively easy to take them all somewhere, because for the most part, they all stay together and look after each other.  And the bonus is that Piet, and Janae, and I get to spend the some days together with some girl time!  We only have one specific prequisite for deciding on a location....it HAS to be near a Chili's  .

The first time we decided to take this adventure we went to Sesame Place in Langhorne, PA.  The kids had a blast, as for three years ago, it was totally age appropriate.  Sesame Place was a great idea for the kids - they had parades, a water park, live shows, characters, and tons of rides that were perfect for their age.  Definitely worth checking out.  It was pretty average price wise for an amusement park, but one thing we really like is they offered a Elmo 2-Day Pass which was the same price as one day pass.  So we stayed at a local hotel, which had a pool, and the kids had a blast for a couple of days!

The second year, we decided to go somewhere a little closer since Sesame Place was about a 3+ hour drive, which is a little much for four kids and three adults one day after work - we got in later than I think we would have like since we hit rush hour, etc.  And if you ask them, they remember about the time we hit the paper mill area of PA cause they all called it Stinky Feet, PA.  :-)  That year we went to Dutch Wonderland, which is in Lancaster, PA.  This was only like an hour and a half to two hour drive.  This park is definitely geared toward families.  Its setup like an old dutch town like with older named rides, etc.  This trip was only two days.  We drove up after work, ate dinner and spent the night in a local hotel room and then spent the next day at the park and then drove home that evening.  Since we all have multiple tickets to purchase (them more than me), we try to find ways to cut costs whenever possible.  One way we keep it manageable, is to all squeeze into one room.  Usually we try to find a suite or something that has a little extra room, but the kids are still at the age that they think its cool to sleep on the floor - so it works quite well.  Well, except when they need help falling asleep and Janae gets stuck between two hotel beds with Ava and Alyssa!

The best part of this park was the water park area called Duke's Lagoon.  The kids spent almost all of the day here!  They had this great area right beside the lagoon with cabanas you could rent.  The price wasn't too bad, about $75 for the entire day.  It was shaded, had plenty of seats for all of us, and a table.  It had a ceiling fan that helped with the air flow and we even had a waitress that served us food while we were there.  It worked really well and gave us a central location for the kids, while they were playing. 

And finally, this past summer, we decided to try and cut costs even more, as we were all strained even more than in the past years.  Damn economy!  We decided to drive to my sister, Kristy's house in Virginia Beach.  We stayed at her house, so we didn't have to pay for a hotel - thanks, Kris!  We kept the events low key, but still a ton of fun.  Kristy has this great mall right near her that has a fantastic playland area that is like a foamy material.  The kids have a blast playing on it and it was a perfect distraction while we waited to eat at the Chili's there!  We stayed for three days, I think, so we got to do a lot of local activities.  We went to the beach - FREE, we rode on the ferry - $1.50/pp, the local firehouse - FREE, and we went to the Children's Museum of Virginia - $3/pp.

The beach was fun - although I got burnt like crazy (that's what I get for being Irish, I guess).  The boys and Alyssa jumped waves, and Ava worked very hard to save our stuff from eminent danger.  She toiled away digging a trench to keep the water away that was slowing but surely creeping towards our towels, and clothes.  We had no idea that she was a secret hero until it was almost too late!  Thanks, Ava! 

The museum was pretty stinkin' cool too.  They have all kinds of interactive exhibits.  They had this awesome bubble exhibit where the kids could get inside a ring and pull a bubble up around the.  The kids got to dig for fossils, play in a pretend store, sit in a HUGE chair, and play with a bunch of cool musical instruments. 

The firehouse was great too!  Kristy has a friend that goes to her church that is a firefighter.  He gave us a tour of the firehouse including the gym, the firetrucks, and even let the kids try on the firefighter uniform.  The kids had a blast!

So now the question is merely....what adventures will this summer have in store?  And will we be thawed out by then???   :-D