Vacation 2007
We just returned from our summer (spring?) vacation. What a great time!
Saturday, June 9
When Greg got home from school, we all piled in the minivan and headed north-east. Our goal was to get to around Norfolk before staying overnight in a hotel. By 9 pm, we were about an hour west of Norfolk and decided to call it a night. Michael was very excited to see that the sofa opened up in to a bed! That was where he wanted to sleep! He just thought the concept of a sofabed was so cool. Don't all kids?
Sunday, June 10
Up nice and early, breakfast at the hotel, and on the road. We were hoping to visit my friend Erin in Norfolk, but that didn't work out. To get over to the Eastern Shore, we decided to take the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. It is a 20 mile long bridge and tunnel crossing where the Chesapeake Bay meets the Atlantic Ocean. Several man-made islands allow the switch from bridge to tunnel. We stopped on the visitor's island and took a good look around. What an engineering marvel!
We drove up the Eastern Shore of Virginia, and wondered what that area must have been like before the bridge-tunnel gave it easy access to the rest of the country. It was a pretty run-down area. I guess it's just lots of farms. There seemed to be a lot of migrant worker camps and immigration offices. It's amazing that most of the coastline (and anywhere near it) in this country has been developed in to each resorts. But this area seems to have avoided that.
We hit the Ocean City, MD area around lunchtime, and decided to stop and grab a bite to eat on the boardwalk. Greg spent some time working there, so it was interesting to see the area. And I think every teenager in the state of Maryland remembers vacations to Ocean City. It is definitely an experience! But we also remembered why we prefer to stay at other beaches. It is just so busy and crowded at Ocean City.
Senior Week was going on too, and it was a little scary seeing all these 17 year olds acting like... well... 17 year olds. Greg and I wound up with a long conversation about alternatives to Senior Week at the beach when our boys are older!
Finally we headed north up the coast to Rehoboth Beach, DE. This would be our stay for the next 4 days. We checked in to the Brighton Suites Hotel, a nice place just 1 1/2 blocks off the beach. We had a huge suite -- even had a separate bedroom with a door that closed! After checking in, we headed down to the beach....
... to meet up with my sister Kristine and her family! They were in town staying with her friends who have a home there. We all hung out on the beach, until a big rogue wave came. We all went running, our beach chairs went swimming, and when it was all done, we realized that in all the commotion, my digital camera had fallen out of my pocket and in to the surf. It was ruined.
We wrapped up the day with dinner from Greg's favorite boardwalk joint, Gus & Gus. And headed to sleep.
Monday, June 11
We met up with my sister's family at the beach again. Thankfully she still had her digital camera, so I was still able to take pictures. The kids all played together really well. (My sister has a daughter, 9, and a son, 7.) Michael was totally not interested in playing near the water. The big wave the day before was enough ocean for him. He liked watching it from a distance, but didn't want to go near. That's fine with me. The ocean can be so dangerous for a little kid (adults too!), and I've always thought the water was... well... kind of gross!
In the afternoon, we took all the kids to Funland, a little amusement area off the boardwalk. Dinner was at Jakes Seafood -- one of our favorites.
Tuesday, June 12
Again we met up with my sister's family at the beach. Pretty much the same thing as Monday -- time on the beach, time at Funland, and then out to dinner. Dinner was at Claws Crabhouse, a relatively new place in town. It was great! The staff was so wonderful with the boys too (which is important when you've got two tired boys at the end of the day!). Between Jakes and Claws, I definitely got the great crabcakes I've been missing in South Carolina!
We had a great offer today too. My sister's friend David had to go up to Dover to his office, and he offered to pick up our new camera for us! Otherwise we were just going to wait until we got to the DC area to buy one. But with David's help, we had a camera for the rest of our trip, and we got to save 5-6% since Delaware has no sales tax! Yeah! We bought a new Olympus that is waterproof, shockproof, stomp-proof, kid proof, ocean proof, dummy proof... Hopefully this one will last us a good long time!
Wednesday, June 13
We were on our own at the beach today, as my sister's family headed towards DC. Michael and Matthew were such the little flirts. They kept going up to ladies at the beach and saying "hi". There were two groups they especially liked -- a couple ladies probably around 50, and a couple girls probably around 18. They were all so nice to the boys, and waved and said goodbye when we left.
The weather was a bit breezy, and it seemed that some storms were on their way in. We went to Funland in the afternoon, and then to dinner at Sammy's Kitchen. That was Michael's choice. He absolutely loved that place. We had breakfast there on Tuesday, and after that, every time we walked by, the staff and owner would come to the window and say hi to the boys.
Thursday, June 14
Breakfast at Sammy's again. The owner was so nice to the boys, yet again. Before we left, he gave both of the boys free t-shirts from the restaurant. It's great to meet such nice people on vacation!
After packing up the car, we drove to Mom Mom and Pop Pop's house in Maryland to start the next big part of the trip!
Pop Pop's 75th birthday party!
We all gathered for a catered meal at one of the buildings at the complex where my parents live. It was a great dinner and a great gathering! You can read about the slideshow and the tribute album below. The cousins all played together so well! It was wonderful having the whole family together at one time again.
Friday, June 15
We had breakfast with my sister's family before they headed to Richmond on the next leg of their trip. After saying our goodbyes, we drove over to Panera at a nearby shopping center to meet up with Greg's sister Sue and her daughter Kaiea. We went by their house last summer when we were up here too. Kaiea has grown so much -- she's almost one year old now! The kids all played together really well in the makeshift playpen we set up using chairs! It was wonderful catching up with Sue as well!
In the afternoon, Greg took off to go study (grad school does not take summer vacations!), while my mom and I took the boys to the Amish Market nearby. I always loved that place! I picked up my potpie noodles so that I can make real Amish chicken potpie one day. You just can't get that stuff down here!
We had dinner, and then Greg and I took off for a few hours of alone time while my parents put the boys to bed and took care of things at home.
Saturday, June 16
After breakfast of Pop Pop's Pancakes (always a favorite!), Greg headed off to study some more while mom and I went visiting. First we went to my cousin Linda's house. She and her daughter Bethany had come down to visit us over the winter. It was great seeing them again, and having the kids play. I think the boys especially liked seeing all the bunnies they have! After visiting with Linda's family, we went up the drive to visit Linda's mother (and my cousin) Flo. After that, we got in the car and went up one more generation -- to see Flo's mother (and my aunt) Flora. Aunt Flora is almost 93 years old, and still is spunky as ever when playing with the boys! Michael thought it was so neat to see "Mom Mom's sister, Aunt Florida". Too cute!
Sunday, June 17
4:00 am comes really early. But we hoped to get on the road while the boys were still sleeping so we could get in a few hours before they woke up. HA! They woke up when we took them to the car, and didn't really fall asleep again for hours!
The drive home was pretty uneventful, except for getting hit by a tire that blew off of a truck. It slammed the front of our minivan, and then went underneath our car. We've got lots of tire rubber on the front of our grill, some loose (broken?) things inside the grill, and who knows what underneath. But after a quick inspection, Greg figured it was safe to drive. We got the license plate of the truck, and we'll hopefully resolve and damage quickly.
We were home around 1:30 pm, and everyone crashed out for naps! Ordered pizza for Greg's Father's Day dinner, and then had a big Father's Day cookie for dessert.
I think we were all happy to have our heads hit the pillows at bedtime!
We had a wonderful vacation! It was great to be at the beach for a few days, especially with my sister's family there part of the time too. The birthday party was amazing! I'm so glad I got to see my sister and brother, and their families as well. We had a wonderful time meeting up with Sue and Kaiea and letting the kids play. And visiting with my cousins and aunt as well.
Of course now we feel like we need a vacation to recover from the vacation! I commented to Greg last night, "This is the 5th bed we've slept in in 9 nights." I don't remember anything after that, because I was off to la-la land!
I will try to post pictures on the website in a few days...
Update! You can see pictures at http://www.theleibys.com. Click on Vacation 2007!
Saturday, June 9
When Greg got home from school, we all piled in the minivan and headed north-east. Our goal was to get to around Norfolk before staying overnight in a hotel. By 9 pm, we were about an hour west of Norfolk and decided to call it a night. Michael was very excited to see that the sofa opened up in to a bed! That was where he wanted to sleep! He just thought the concept of a sofabed was so cool. Don't all kids?
Sunday, June 10
Up nice and early, breakfast at the hotel, and on the road. We were hoping to visit my friend Erin in Norfolk, but that didn't work out. To get over to the Eastern Shore, we decided to take the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. It is a 20 mile long bridge and tunnel crossing where the Chesapeake Bay meets the Atlantic Ocean. Several man-made islands allow the switch from bridge to tunnel. We stopped on the visitor's island and took a good look around. What an engineering marvel!
We drove up the Eastern Shore of Virginia, and wondered what that area must have been like before the bridge-tunnel gave it easy access to the rest of the country. It was a pretty run-down area. I guess it's just lots of farms. There seemed to be a lot of migrant worker camps and immigration offices. It's amazing that most of the coastline (and anywhere near it) in this country has been developed in to each resorts. But this area seems to have avoided that.
We hit the Ocean City, MD area around lunchtime, and decided to stop and grab a bite to eat on the boardwalk. Greg spent some time working there, so it was interesting to see the area. And I think every teenager in the state of Maryland remembers vacations to Ocean City. It is definitely an experience! But we also remembered why we prefer to stay at other beaches. It is just so busy and crowded at Ocean City.
Senior Week was going on too, and it was a little scary seeing all these 17 year olds acting like... well... 17 year olds. Greg and I wound up with a long conversation about alternatives to Senior Week at the beach when our boys are older!
Finally we headed north up the coast to Rehoboth Beach, DE. This would be our stay for the next 4 days. We checked in to the Brighton Suites Hotel, a nice place just 1 1/2 blocks off the beach. We had a huge suite -- even had a separate bedroom with a door that closed! After checking in, we headed down to the beach....
... to meet up with my sister Kristine and her family! They were in town staying with her friends who have a home there. We all hung out on the beach, until a big rogue wave came. We all went running, our beach chairs went swimming, and when it was all done, we realized that in all the commotion, my digital camera had fallen out of my pocket and in to the surf. It was ruined.
We wrapped up the day with dinner from Greg's favorite boardwalk joint, Gus & Gus. And headed to sleep.
Monday, June 11
We met up with my sister's family at the beach again. Thankfully she still had her digital camera, so I was still able to take pictures. The kids all played together really well. (My sister has a daughter, 9, and a son, 7.) Michael was totally not interested in playing near the water. The big wave the day before was enough ocean for him. He liked watching it from a distance, but didn't want to go near. That's fine with me. The ocean can be so dangerous for a little kid (adults too!), and I've always thought the water was... well... kind of gross!
In the afternoon, we took all the kids to Funland, a little amusement area off the boardwalk. Dinner was at Jakes Seafood -- one of our favorites.
Tuesday, June 12
Again we met up with my sister's family at the beach. Pretty much the same thing as Monday -- time on the beach, time at Funland, and then out to dinner. Dinner was at Claws Crabhouse, a relatively new place in town. It was great! The staff was so wonderful with the boys too (which is important when you've got two tired boys at the end of the day!). Between Jakes and Claws, I definitely got the great crabcakes I've been missing in South Carolina!
We had a great offer today too. My sister's friend David had to go up to Dover to his office, and he offered to pick up our new camera for us! Otherwise we were just going to wait until we got to the DC area to buy one. But with David's help, we had a camera for the rest of our trip, and we got to save 5-6% since Delaware has no sales tax! Yeah! We bought a new Olympus that is waterproof, shockproof, stomp-proof, kid proof, ocean proof, dummy proof... Hopefully this one will last us a good long time!
Wednesday, June 13
We were on our own at the beach today, as my sister's family headed towards DC. Michael and Matthew were such the little flirts. They kept going up to ladies at the beach and saying "hi". There were two groups they especially liked -- a couple ladies probably around 50, and a couple girls probably around 18. They were all so nice to the boys, and waved and said goodbye when we left.
The weather was a bit breezy, and it seemed that some storms were on their way in. We went to Funland in the afternoon, and then to dinner at Sammy's Kitchen. That was Michael's choice. He absolutely loved that place. We had breakfast there on Tuesday, and after that, every time we walked by, the staff and owner would come to the window and say hi to the boys.
Thursday, June 14
Breakfast at Sammy's again. The owner was so nice to the boys, yet again. Before we left, he gave both of the boys free t-shirts from the restaurant. It's great to meet such nice people on vacation!
After packing up the car, we drove to Mom Mom and Pop Pop's house in Maryland to start the next big part of the trip!
Pop Pop's 75th birthday party!
We all gathered for a catered meal at one of the buildings at the complex where my parents live. It was a great dinner and a great gathering! You can read about the slideshow and the tribute album below. The cousins all played together so well! It was wonderful having the whole family together at one time again.
Friday, June 15
We had breakfast with my sister's family before they headed to Richmond on the next leg of their trip. After saying our goodbyes, we drove over to Panera at a nearby shopping center to meet up with Greg's sister Sue and her daughter Kaiea. We went by their house last summer when we were up here too. Kaiea has grown so much -- she's almost one year old now! The kids all played together really well in the makeshift playpen we set up using chairs! It was wonderful catching up with Sue as well!
In the afternoon, Greg took off to go study (grad school does not take summer vacations!), while my mom and I took the boys to the Amish Market nearby. I always loved that place! I picked up my potpie noodles so that I can make real Amish chicken potpie one day. You just can't get that stuff down here!
We had dinner, and then Greg and I took off for a few hours of alone time while my parents put the boys to bed and took care of things at home.
Saturday, June 16
After breakfast of Pop Pop's Pancakes (always a favorite!), Greg headed off to study some more while mom and I went visiting. First we went to my cousin Linda's house. She and her daughter Bethany had come down to visit us over the winter. It was great seeing them again, and having the kids play. I think the boys especially liked seeing all the bunnies they have! After visiting with Linda's family, we went up the drive to visit Linda's mother (and my cousin) Flo. After that, we got in the car and went up one more generation -- to see Flo's mother (and my aunt) Flora. Aunt Flora is almost 93 years old, and still is spunky as ever when playing with the boys! Michael thought it was so neat to see "Mom Mom's sister, Aunt Florida". Too cute!
Sunday, June 17
4:00 am comes really early. But we hoped to get on the road while the boys were still sleeping so we could get in a few hours before they woke up. HA! They woke up when we took them to the car, and didn't really fall asleep again for hours!
The drive home was pretty uneventful, except for getting hit by a tire that blew off of a truck. It slammed the front of our minivan, and then went underneath our car. We've got lots of tire rubber on the front of our grill, some loose (broken?) things inside the grill, and who knows what underneath. But after a quick inspection, Greg figured it was safe to drive. We got the license plate of the truck, and we'll hopefully resolve and damage quickly.
We were home around 1:30 pm, and everyone crashed out for naps! Ordered pizza for Greg's Father's Day dinner, and then had a big Father's Day cookie for dessert.
I think we were all happy to have our heads hit the pillows at bedtime!
We had a wonderful vacation! It was great to be at the beach for a few days, especially with my sister's family there part of the time too. The birthday party was amazing! I'm so glad I got to see my sister and brother, and their families as well. We had a wonderful time meeting up with Sue and Kaiea and letting the kids play. And visiting with my cousins and aunt as well.
Of course now we feel like we need a vacation to recover from the vacation! I commented to Greg last night, "This is the 5th bed we've slept in in 9 nights." I don't remember anything after that, because I was off to la-la land!
I will try to post pictures on the website in a few days...
Update! You can see pictures at http://www.theleibys.com. Click on Vacation 2007!
posted by Susan | 8:48 AM
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