Britton and I spent Labor Day weekend in Virginia Beach, visiting Cammy! I've never taken Britton to Virginia Beach because we either visited Cammy at Jessica's house or Cammy came to us. So we decided it was time to get Britton to the beach for the long weekend.
Upon getting back to Cammy's house from the airport, Britton was instantly in the pool. This girl loves the water, and having a pool all to herself was her heaven.
Then Cammy went to Taste Unlimited for sandwiches for lunch. I love Taste Unlimited, specifically the turkey and provolone on french bread, and when I think of the perfect sandwich, this is it. Jessica and I are Taste Unlimited junkies, and now Britton has experienced it as well!
I don't think Britton has taken a nap in months. But all the swimming and running after the dog and cats got her tuckered out quickly! She woke up just before the entire family came over for dinner. Cammy made all my seafood favorites - crab dip, crab cakes, broiled scallops and shrimp, ahhhhhhhhhh, I'm drooling remembering it!
Britton hadn't gotten to see my cousin Stephanie's kids since she was a baby, so it was a real treat to hang out with Alexandria and Gavin.
And I got to see Stephanie and her husband Kevin! These two are fantastic, and Kevin and the hubs get along splendidly too. Unfortunately, the hubs and Barrett stayed home for this visit, but next time we will all get to hang out.
My cousin Kristen. She just graduated from ODU and started her new job this week. I saw Kristen grow up, so it was a little jarring to realize that she's a full-fledged adult now. Or maybe it just made me feel old!
Cammy's sister, my aunt Jill, and Gavin. I was so excited they could all make it over, especially since it was a Thursday night and everyone had to work the next day. It's great when you get together with family, because you just pick up where you left off the last time you saw each other.
On Friday morning, Stephanie dropped of Alexandria so she could hang out with us. And our first stop was the beach! Chick's Beach, the bay, and Britton was in love at first sight.
It was windy, making the water a little choppy, but these girls braved the cold waves and got in.
The recent stormy weather had washed up a ton of horseshoe crabs on the beach, and Alexandria had no fear - she picked up each one to check and see if it was still alive. None were, and we were all disappointed we couldn't toss them back to their homes. Then we discovered some "moon jellies" (as Britton called them).
After going back home to get cleaned up and eat some BLTs (with Cammy's yummy tomatoes), we headed out to the Marine Science Museum. The Museum has gotten huge since I was last there, as they've added on so many new exhibits. The Museum was Britton's favorite activity, and she enjoyed every minute of it.
 |
| I believe my instruction here was, "Pretend we're in a shark's mouth!" |
Britton wasn't feeling as brave, and decided she didn't want to touch a sting ray. She was content to watch Cammy do it.
Then we found the horseshoe crabs (alive! finally!) and both girls loved touching them.
After a quick stop by the gift shop, Britton was the proud owner of a stuffed seal (named "Pokey-Dot") and Alexandria picked up a stuffed hedgehog (named "Hazel Turquoise"). Britton wanted to show the real seals outside her new stuffed animal.
And of course Pokey-Dot got some cuddling at bedtime. See those 101 Dalmation sheets? Yep, you guessed it - they were mine as a kid!
We treated ourselves to Krispy Kreme donuts Saturday morning (Britton's first!), then back to the beach. The clouds were pretending to go stormy, and they must have scared off the beach-goers because the beach was practically empty.
I spied some sailboats down the beach, and went to get a closer look. Britton made friends with a girl, and they went swimming and building sandcastles. I found some amazing shells on my walk.
I had promised the hubs I would get him some new shirts, so after lunch we went down to the oceanfront to go to 17th Street Surf Shop. We went past this hardware store, and I had to get a photo of this line of beach cruisers. A beautiful rainbow!
For dinner, we went out with Jill to Dockside. I've never been there before, so I followed Jill's lead and got the she crab soup and crab cake sandwich. Both were incredibly delicious, and if you're thinking I may have overdone the seafood, the truth is I could eat seafood for every meal. I just love fresh seafood. We sat outside, and the view was amazing, mostly because I grew up on this river. It really was like coming home again. And it more than made up for the perspiring mess I became out there in that sun!
Britton got some new sunglasses at 17th Street. The crab pinchers flip up!
After dinner, we sat on the deck to digest and enjoy the boats coming in.
A couple began singing in the bar area, and Britton was intrigued. She wandered over and watched them, and they even asked her what song she wanted. They asked her if she likes The Beatles and she said yes (not that she's ever heard The Beatles - she probably thought they meant the bug!) and they sang "If I Fell" to her.
We got back home this afternoon, and Britton is all out of sorts. She misses her Cammy, the pool, the beach, and Butters the cat. In fact, she's asked the hubs about 52 times by now if she can get a cat!
No comments:
Post a Comment