Vacation Part 2

Pictures
http://stephwhittington.shutterfly.com/2848

Vacation Part 1: Where we stayed

We stayed at the Marriott Residence Inn on the Virginia Beach Oceanfront. It is on 33rd street, 2 blocks down from the big new Hilton/Neptune statue. It was a nice place. We had a suite with a kitchen/living area and separate bedroom. Having a kitchen was wonderful, we could eat lunch in our room instead of going out. There was a nice (included) breakfast with waffles, eggs, biscuits, sausage, muffins, french toast, yogurt, cereals, etc. Abby particularly enjoyed the fruit loops (which I told her to savor while she could, we would not be eating those at home!).

The hotel from the beach.

The "sleeping room" as Abby called it.
There was a floor to ceiling window looking out on the beach!

The living area.

The dining area.

The kitchen.

Busch Gardens

My parents and I took the kids to Busch Gardens last Saturday (thanks for the tickets, Lindsey!). We mainly went to check out the new Sesame Street "Forest of Fun", which was a big hit. Abby was a little shy about the rides and characters at first, but as the day went on that got better. Of course the first thing she saw was the water play area and she immediately wanted to get in. I had brought a change of clothes but not a bathing suit, so we made her wait until the end of the day. If you are taking your kids...bring a bathing suit and towel. They get soaked in the sprinklers :)

Abby (Andrew too, actually) enjoyed seeing the characters come out and dance and sing. We went to "Dining with Elmo" which was great. You make reservations beforehand so there is no wait. They have a kid and adult-friendly buffet (that day they had mac and cheese, nuggets, pizza sticks, pork tenderloin, fajitas, and grilled veggies). The characters come out and sing, then they call everyone up by table to have pictures with Elmo and Big Bird. Bert, Ernie, and Cookie Monster walk around the tables. At one point Ernie and Bert did a little musical number. You can take as much time as you want meeting the characters and they serve cute Elmo and Cookie cupcakes for dessert.

We also enjoyed the "Land of Dragons" kids area, the carousel, skylift, and train. We went to the Sesame Street 3-D movie, which I thought was cute but Abby got a little scared of the stuff coming out at her.

All in all, a great day and I highly recommend it!

On Grover's roller coaster

Andrew LOVED Cookie Monster.

I have more pictures posted on the shutterfly site....link is on the right.

Spring Break at Maymont

Wednesday afternoon we decided to head over to Maymont. They were having all kinds of extra stuff for spring break.

We saw animals.....
Abby didn't get too close to the goat.

She did a little better with the duck.

We went on a hayride.

This is what pulled us along.

Abby and Daddy enjoying the beautiful weather.

Andrew and Mama having fun.

Finally, it's time for the Moonbounce.