Growing up, vacations weren’t a big thing.  When possible, we’d drive to Florida to see my mom’s family for a week, but that wasn’t possible every year.  The first time I stayed in a hotel with my family was on my 13th birthday when my grandfather was inducted at the State Commander for the American Legion.  We’d go on day trips, but to take 5 kids anywhere isn’t an easy feat.

Even though we’re all adults now, it’s still weird to see my family go on vacation anywhere!  But thankfully, they make the trek to Virginia each year to see us.  It’s exciting now that we have a house with a spare bedroom for them to sleep in!  Much comfier than an air mattress that deflates at night.

While they were in town, I made a point to work as little as possible & enjoy the moments with them.  My nephew, Aiden, is just 6 weeks younger than Hazel so we planned most of our activities around keeping them busy!

These two munchkins hadn’t seen each other since Christmas, so we weren’t sure how much they remembered. They were hilarious together!  Tickle fights & hugs were rampant throughout the week.We have a great indoor carousel in downtown Hampton.  It was built in 1920, is completely restored and is one of only 200 antique carousels still in the US.  Despite the looks on their faces, the kids loved it!  We rode twice & then started to leave, but the kids begged to ride again, so we let them go for a third trip right before they closed for the evening.Yes, that’s what happens when we have to leave something fun.  One time I asked her what she was doing & she said, “I’m snuggling the floor!”  Well, kiddo, that’s pretty gross.Fun with Paw in downtown Hampton!Ahh- these two are just too adorable!  I tell you, you never know what kids are capable of when it comes to posing unless you try.  I showed them where to stand and asked them to put their arms around each other and smile for a picture… and they did!  This is in front of the Virginia Air & Space Center.  I can’t wait until they’re older and we can explore this with them (& they’ll actually get it & enjoy it).And they had the LOVE letters out front, too!  I’ve been seeing these go around to different cities in Virginia and was glad it was finally Hampton’s turn!Smiling with the grandparents!These two…Every time they come to Virginia I make them smile for ONE picture together.  I mean, it’s my job, right?  So I should make sure to have pictures of my own parents!  You would have thought I was asking them to swim across the bay!  🙂  But I don’t mind… pictures are important to me.After all the fun we headed to get some ice cream at Old Hampton Ice Cream Parlor.  I mean, who needs dinner, right?  It totally made Hazel’s day to see Josh walk in the door after he got off work!To round out the day, Josh picked up some shrimp & scallops from The Hampton Seafood Market to cook on his brand new grill!  It was a birthday present from my parents, and I lost count as to how many pounds of meat and seafood we grilled on that baby in the first week!Meanwhile, the kids were still going full force…I’m pretty sure Hazel took this picture!Let’s talk about things that make my heart burst with joy… Seeing this little one take an interest in photography at two years old got me so excited, I gave her a $700 camera to play with.  We haven’t used it in years, so it didn’t seem like a big deal to me until Josh mentioned it!  Perhaps I’ll be more careful when handing a two year old equipment, but I am so excited that she’s starting to show interest!Up next: The Virginia Living Museum, toddler style!  Wait… are they still toddlers, or are they preschoolers now?