Virginia {Days 1 & 2}

Three years ago, 9 year old Braylen flew with me to Monterey, CA. You can read about it here. We met my mom there, and spent a long weekend with family attending my cousin's wedding. Mom and I realized how much fun that was, so we thought--what can we do with Kaleb when he's 9? We decided on 3 requirements our location must meet in order for this to be a parallel--yet different--experience for Kaleb. First: there must be an ocean. Second: it should be reasonably close to another family member, so Kaleb can meet more of his relatives. Third: it needs to have fun places to visit. :)

We decided on Norfolk, Virginia! We also decided to include my dad this time. What a TREAT! I wish my parents lived close to us and could share our everyday moments. But since they can't--this is how we've chosen to strengthen our family ties and create memories that will last. I feel so blessed to go along on these trips!

Kaleb and I flew out on Thursday, connected with my parents in Chicago, and flew together to Norfolk. Oh, how much fun we had! Kaleb doesn't remember flying when he was 1 and 3, so this was all brand new to him. Some things he said on that first plane ride:
"Do we have a game trail yet?" (He meant to say "contrail.")
"We're climbing in altitude!"
"Absolutely amazing!"

We rented a maroon Nissan Altima, which Kaleb started for my dad every single time. The push-button start was a huge hit with him. :) We let Kaleb choose our supper that first night. If you know Kaleb well, you'll know what he picked. Pancakes! We found an IHOP close to our hotel, and he was in heaven. I thought the hot tub back at the hotel felt heavenly.

our first night, checking out downtown Norfolk and the USS Wisconsin

Day 2 of our trip took us to Norfolk Botanical Gardens. For 3 years we've been watching an eagle nest online. Wouldn't you know, the nest is located in these gardens? (one of the many reasons why we chose Norfolk.) Kaleb LOVES eagles. He always has. This past spring, the female eagle in this nest we like to watch was hit and killed by a plane. :( It was so sad, especially since she left 3 young eaglets behind. While touring the gardens on Friday, we found the tree with THE nest in it. How cool to see it with our own eyes, after watching it online for 3 years! The male eagle has been recently spotted with a new female, so maybe there will be eggs in the nest next year after all.

the eagle nest

Mom & Dad at the base of the tree

Kaleb and me standing at the eagle's tree

We saw much more than the nest. Crepe Myrtle trees, flowers, fountains, sculptures, waterfowl, and even some palm trees. I didn't know Virginia has palm trees? We rode a boat and a tram, but mostly we walked. And walked. :)



Kaleb and Grampy on the tram

some trees were beginning to turn colors

We had the best sandwich ever...Carolina BBQ pulled pork and slaw. It was so good it didn't even come with sauce.

here's one of those palm trees

my mom and me standing by some pink azaleas :)

Kaleb, deep in thought

After the gardens, we drove to Virginia Beach for Kaleb's ocean experience! He loves playing in waves, so I was pretty sure he'd love the ocean. He loved it all right! We planned on wading, since I thought the water would be too cold to swim in. Well...Kaleb had other ideas. He loved splashing in the waves so much that I let him take his shirt off and swim in his shorts! If we knew it would be that warm on Friday we would've brought our suits! Oh well. When he was done, Mom bought him a towel and a pair of shorts. Ironically, they were swim shorts. :)

Feeling good in his dry clothes, we had supper at the boardwalk and then went back to our hotel. Kaleb went swimming in his new suit and the rest of us soaked in the hot tub. It felt like our own personal pool room, since nobody else ever used it when we were there. We all agreed that if we were able to order the events of our day, we would have ordered them to be just as they were. It was a perfect day.

And that's all for now. Days 3, 4, and 5 will be for my next post.