As sure as the sun rises in the East, July means one thing for Nana and Poppop: Their yearly trek to Virginia Beach. This year our whole clan, along with Uncle Jason, Aunt Debbie, and cousin Nick, was fortunate enough to be able to tag along.
After an interesting lunch at the Laurel Dairy Queen (not all DQ's are created equal), a 5 hour drive (peppered with the periodic potty break), Alex's inaugural crossing of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel (Can you guess how excited he was?), and the navigating of a hotel parking garage (clearly designed by trolls...trolls are bad) we found ourselves on the 8th floor of the Clarion overlooking the wide sands of Virginia Beach and the Atlantic.
We were blessed with beautiful weather the vast majority of the week which allowed for long days spent on the beach, playing in the sand and swimming in the water. After each day on the beach, all 11 of us would gather for dinner at a local eatery; good times!
Despite the sweltering heat and the late-afternoon thunderstorm, one of the highlights of the week was our Thursday trip into Williamsburg to visit Busch Gardens Europe. In attendance were Uncle Jason, Aunt Debbie, and our entire clan: Yes, even Aidan. It was his first time in an amusement park. Some points worth mentioning include Aidan's first time on rides (he was kind'a indifferent), Alex's tackling of the Big Bad Wolf (he loved it), and Amanda's and Abigail's ride through Escape from Pompeii (Yeah, they may have been a little young for this. Now we know...). Oh! And Uncle Jason did get his chance to ride Griffon.All in all, everyone had a great week and came away with all their internal organs intact.
