Mini vacay wrap up

Thursday morning we walked around the Norfolk waterfront waiting for Matt to get off work. We saw the most touching Letters to Loved Ones Armed Forces Memorial. They had every war represented, and all the sculpted letters were from people who lost their lives in their conflict. Frankie and I walked around and read them together and cried. Oh my momma heart. 

We walked past this amazingly huge destroyer - the Wisconsin. 

What does that little silver thing in the water look like? Well it’s a scuba diver. A human being. I 100% thought it was a robot. 🤷‍♀️ The girls called it. 

D got this shot. It’s amazing to me that this thing can float!

We walked all around the Chinese pagoda. 

It was so pretty!

It was finally time for the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-tunnel! We were so excited! And then were a little underwhelmed. They’re doing work on it and the places to stop for pictures were closed, and it was raining when we drove over, even though we waited for Thursday to have better weather. 

It was still neat and I’m glad we did it. And random kid pics are the best. 

We stopped at the welcome center and came up with a plan. 

Cape Charles! It has a lot of potential as a cute beach town,   and there were very cute parts like this ice cream place, and of course adi checked out the library. 

It’s a little Bay beach town with lots of rental houses. The ocean side has tons of little islands and we didn’t want to drive too far up the eastern shore, so Cape Charles it was. 

We sat on the beach and watched the girls play. 

😍

The dark clouds rolled in, but thankfully we never got rained on!

They love to bury each other. 

16 years minus 1 day. 

I love giant words. I can’t resist them. And unbenounced to me, D was dancing up there the whole time. I guess the E kind of looks like a pole. 😂

We stayed for several hours until the traffic was sure to have died down and then made our way back. When we came upon this cute water tower, I thought it was a sign and Matt thought it was an actual lighthouse. The girls called it a “fools lighthouse.” Whatever it is, it’s one of the cutest water towers I’ve ever seen. 

Then we went out to the animal preserve to get as close to the real lighthouse as possible. Our Google map took us down a road that then had “private, no trespassing” signs. We didn’t turn around till the one that said “your gps is wrong, turn around!” That one seemed pretty legit, so we followed the directions. And then we found this, so all’s well that ends well.  She’s all the way out past the first closest island. 

This crazy crew!

And then we drove back. 17.5 miles each way. I wish we could get a bridge like this in SMC or Calvert! We could be at the beach all the time!

Friday was our last day in Norfolk. Matt wanted to head to Charlottesville early to beat traffic, but I really wanted more beach time. We compromised and the girls and I stayed at the beach till noon, showered there, then met him by the new temple in Richmond. This is the only picture I took, when I went for a little walk as the girls buried each other. Just pure happiness. 

We parked a car in richmond and headed to C-ville. We ate pizza with the Virginia Rays and it was fun to see Evan while he was home for a few days. This picture cracked me up! They surrounded him like he was a king or something. 😂

I made them do a normal pic. 

And then we laughed because Dan and Matt were dressed alike. We always have a good time together and I love talking deep gospel, politics, and life with this crew. 

We hung out till early Saturday afternoon and then headed out. It was an easy drive home. We started listening to a new book series - The Shadow Children. We’re on book 3 and it’s interesting and makes you think, so that made the drive pretty sweet. 

Christian was  so close to 100,000 and I was so nervous I’d miss the shot, but I got it! It happened right before home, in Leonardtown. I put my phone on the odometer and clicked like 30 pictures so I didn’t miss it. 🙌🏼

We got home, unpacked, started laundry, and cleaned the car out within an hour. I used to see neighbors do that and think they were crazy, but this is who we are now and I kind of love it. 

Today we had virtual stake council and then I went to the White Plains ward. All but one of their presidency was out of town, so I was glad I could be there to support her. Every time I visit a ward I get to know more people and I love getting the different feel in each unit. Our girls went to church with the Aina’s and I’m so proud of them for getting themselves ready and to the Ainas on time. 

Then Frankie taught her first ever YW lesson today too! It was on chastity, which this 12-year-old thought was a “super weird” thing to talk about, but we assured her she’d have adults all around her that love her and that are there to help explain or help her if she got stuck. She started working on her lesson a few weeks ago, so she was ready, but her first response was that it went terrible. After getting more details she said it went fine. And adi said that too, so I’m sure it was ok. I managed to make it in time for our wards RS, so that was nice. After, we popped over to Charlene’s for a bit, and then spent a quiet Sunday afternoon. 

Just some adorableness as we watched a conference talk. These two have been super silly together lately. 🙄

All 3 girls are ready for camp tomorrow- A and F to YW camp, D to Camp Hoot Owl. We’re ready!