Vacationing in Virginia - Saying Goodbye

On our final morning, everyone was gone doing a variety of things by the time we were ready to leave.....everyone but cousin Andrew!!!! We all had such a wonderful week visiting Jon's family, but I think the kids had the most fun chasing Andrew! Thank you to everyone for making this week so fun and memorable! We will miss you guys, but hopefully we will be seeing you all again soon!

Vacationing in Virginia - Water Country

Our time in Virginia is nearing an end, but we have one more full day of fun in store.....Water Country USA!!!! I left my camera in the locker most of the day, but let me just tell you, the kids had a blast!!! They both rode everything they were tall enough to go down! For Kate, that meant she was able to ride all but three slides...and she loved it! Gabe also wanted to go down the big slides with Kate, but he and I enjoyed all the tube slides instead!

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I grabbed my camera out of the locker to at least get a picture of Kate coming down one of the big slides. She held on tightly to her board and flew down the slide right after her Daddy. In case you can't tell, Kate is on the right in these pictures.

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She LOVED it!!!

Since I rode all the same slides as Gabe, I don't have any pictures of him. :(

But, I thought this picture was cute and shows all the fun on his face!

We took a small break from the water to watch a Dive Show.

These guys were incredible!!!

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The final dive was a high dive from over 75 feet....amazing!

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After the show, all the divers were lined up for pictures and autographs....

Vacationing in Virginia - Busch Gardens

This morning we got up extra early and drove over to Williamsburg to spend the day at Busch Gardens!!!! It also happens to be Jon and my 8th Anniversary, but since today is going to be the coolest day all week (with highs only around 94), we decided it would be the best day to spend outside in the heat. Anyway, it turned out to be a great day with the family....and Jon and I will still get to celebrate tomorrow night at dinner!

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Here are the cousins....waiting on the train!

After all the adults went off to ride roller coasters,

Kate was excited to finally get to ride a sort of wild ride with her Daddy!

The "Big Kids" went off...again...to ride roller coasters,

so the kids and I headed over to the little kid area for some fun with the dragons.

We also rode the Merry-Go-Round!

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A favorite ride...bumper cars!

Gabe couldn't ride on the regular cars, but thankfully they had little kid cars right next door!

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We all loved the swings!

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Well, also everyone......a few wouldn't get on. :(

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Gabe was also too short for the big swings,

but this time he was NOT so happy with the baby version.

Sadly, I didn't have my camera with me to capture Kate coming over the giant waterfall. But, I did have it later to get a picture of her getting SOAKED by another boat while watching from the bridge! She is standing at the far right side of the green rail.

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After getting soaked, time to jump into the "Family Dryer."

We saw a few interesting creatures throughout the day....

Including this Leprechaun!

Time for the 4D Pirate Movie!

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Elmo & Grover were greeting kids in Sesame Street Land!

Kate felt a little too old for this area, but she agreed to take a picture with them for Gabe...

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As the sunlight was just starting to set, the kids and I jumped on the sky box tram

and headed across the park to meet up with the rest of the family for dinner.

We weren't sure if Gabe would be able to ride this one,

but look how excited he was when they let him through the gate!

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One more water ride!!!!

Finally, what better way to end the night than with fireworks!!!!

Carrie & Kate

We had such a fun day today!!!!

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Vacationing in Virginia - The Beach

Today we are headed to the beach!!! Usually the kids and I would have, by this point in the summer, been to our Florida beaches many times by now. But due to an unusually busy summer schedule we only gone once or twice! So, I was very excited to get to take the kids...and to have Jon and his family along to help keep them from drowning! ;) The only thing about going to the beach that I always forget though is that it really is alot of work! Nevertheless, we were all excited!

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Kate spent most of her time out in the deep waters with the family while Gabe and I stayed up closer to the shore. But, Gabe did also enjoy going out deep a few times too!

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Time for a snack!

Kate & Gabe were both proud of their creations. Kate drew her name in the sand and Gabe helped his daddy create a pool with a "river" that led his little little boat from the river to the pool. You can sort of see the dark center of the pool where Gabe's tiny boat is covered in white foam.

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The Cousins: Kate, Carrie, Andrew, & Gabe