Ah Virginia, summer vacation with Grandma and Grandpa to the east coast again.  This trip was one we will not forget, not so much for all the fun we had, but for all the HEAT there was.  It was a hot one the whole week.  We started this one off with a bang and it wasn’t a car accident.  It was a great Milwaukee Brewers 8-2 win against the Reds at the Great American Ballpark followed by Friday night fireworks.  We drove straight to Virginia Beach after the ballgame and stayed at the Wingate just about 10 minutes from the Beach.  We headed to the beach Saturday and wow was it packed.  There were hardly any places to even put your towel down.   The water was super refreshing and the boys had a great time boogie  boarding on the waves.  We walked the streets to find a restroom and ended up at the Bestwestern hotel, but we needed a key to get into the hotel lobby restrooms.  Luckily someone came out of the men’s and Heather grabbed the door quick before it closed.  It was quite the event when everyone has to go and there is no bathroom close by.  Did I mention Heather went too.  After our bathroom fiasco we head to the amusement park were Dad and Evan rode the swings.  We ate at Jumpin Shrimp for dinner.  It was good, but not the best seafood we’ve ever had.  After dinner we stopped at the DQ for some ice cream before heading back to the hotel.

Time to check-in to the Wyndham Governor’s Green in Williamsburg.  We arrived on Sunday at the resort and after we got settled in we went swimming and tried to stay cool.  The next day we headed downtown Williamsburg to check-out the old settlement.  We had a great time seeing all the old shops, houses, the capital, and even a parade.

On the 3^rd we decided we need to cool off.  We all went to Country USA Waterpark.  The water was a little on the warm side for us.  The boys went on every ride at least one and some a few times more.  We had a great time and so did Grandpa on the toilet flush ride.  It was impressive to see him make it all the way up the steps to the top.  He learned one thing from that ride, “plug your nose”.  Once the floor drops out from under you you’re headed down the enclosed tube at a pretty good speed.

For the 4^th of July we ended up going to Jamestown in the morning and Yorktown in the afternoon.  We toured the museum in Jamestown and saw the old fort.  We met the blacksmith, the solider, and even an Indian there.  We learn how they used deer antlers to carve arrowheads for hunting.  We all got to try on the old armour that they wore in battle.  We went aboard 3 replica ships they had in the harbor and learned how they sailed to Jamestown.

After Jamestown we headed up to Yorktown to watch the canon fire.  It was quite the site to see.  At Yorktown we learned how they made their clothes back in those days and also how they used the land for all their food.  The boys were in for a real shocker that there was no McDonald’s back then.  We were even told that the young boys back then worked from 5am until dusk every day.  Evan and dad got to hold an old musket and Evan put on a colonel’s jacket too.

The next day we headed back to Yorktown to check-out the old battlefields.  We walked out on the famous battlefields that won our independence on Oct 19^th 1781.   We saw the field were Cornwallis surrender and the famous redoubt bunkers 9 and 10 we took over to secure our victory.  After our battlefield tour we ate lunch and went swimming in the York River before heading back to the resort for one last night.    All in all our Virginia trip was fun, but also a neat step back in history to see how far we’ve grown and how we got where we are today.

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