Va. Beach, Va..

Last week we spent a few nights away with the grand girls in Virginia Beach.
Besides the beach, Genevieve and Adalyn had so much fun in the hotel pool.    Little fish they are.
When we first took them for swimming lessons last year, neither one and especially Adalyn wanted to get their heads wet.  Now we can't keep either from getting their heads wet. 
 The beach, we mostly just ran with them near shore and looked for shells that may wash in.

This post is longer than posts I usually do.

After checking out the beach soon after check in and a quick dip in the pool

 dinner was taken early, children were hungry.

You would think they were starving to death by the looks of that huge spaghetti dinner.  What they didn't eat was taken in  a box back to the hotel fridge and heated up in the microwave for a snack the next day .  Was a ton of food.

late evening

I made a point to rise early Friday morning, have a cup of coffee and peacefully take in the sunrise over the ocean.

What a beautiful sight as the waves were gently rolling to the shore.

zoomed in a little closer

Beautiful glorious sunrise.

Every night, Adalyn puts Russ and puppy to bed.  Both are lying on my sunglass cases and covered with a beach wrap.

We looked forward to fireworks that  were set off nightly over the ocean at 10:00.
   Several nights we walked the boardwalk with ice cream cones and enjoyed them from there.
The sky was lit up with  shimmering bursts of color that looked like a huge floral display at times.


From our balcony we watched this one evening. 

A short clip.

Loving her ice cream on the boardwalk

I know she is loving her scoop of vanilla.

Genevieve looks for the tiniest shells.

She found these shells ever so carefully sifting the sand with her fingers and then taking each one and rinsing in the ocean.

How tiny they are

Perfect, delicate and so tiny describes them, and she handled each one so carefully.

Adalyn making a castle

While children are playing and finding sea treasures, Opa is jumping in.

Where'd he go?  I see feet

Adalyn's shells were purchased at the little shop on the dock close to the beach.  She filled her little paper bag ever so gently with these tiny beauties.

Her favorites.  We are going to make an ornament with some of them

This little beauty she found in Myrtle Beach S.C..

A walk along the dock with Opa.

A visit to the Aquarium in Va. Beach just up the road from where we stayed. 

Adalyn touched a stingray

Genevieve was having nothing of that, and I do not blame her.

They were so in awe of the huge aquarium with sea life swimming right over head.  

I believe they were a little leary of getting too close.

A trolley ride on Thursday to Christmas Mouse.  A reflection in the giant windows of a hotel across the street is what Adalyn is looking at.

They enjoy the open air, sitting in the very back.

She doesn't miss a thing, little Genevieve.

Pretty jelly fish ornaments adorn this tree along with other sea creatures and shells

The elf is what they like the best about this one.

Dinner at the Lighthouse restaurant on the boardwalk.  Adalyn said her burger was simply the juiciest and best.
Check out that little pinkie finger she is holding out.

Not sure of this look but she did enjoy her seafood dinner

fish sandwich

We had a lovely summer with the children.  Derek and Miranda treated us to Myrtle beach with them where we stayed a few days before off to Savannah. 
This was a good time for us to spend a few days at the beach with girls before Adalyn starts school in September.

Heading home through the Hampton Roads
Bridge Tunnel.
 Children became very quiet as we started through.
A very interesting history→ here ←of the construction of the tunnel.

They were wondering if sharks and fish were on top of us and of course many more questions.  I love it!!!