Each year we like to take a little vacation as a family and sort of re-charge our batteries. {You may remember last year’s vacation to the Outer Banks in North Carolina.}

This year, thanks to the ongoing basement reno {you remember that, right?!}, our actual away from home time was shorter so we stuck a little closer to home.

We kicked our vacation with the annual block party that goes on out on our street.  We block the street off starting around 4pm and let the kids {and adults} go wild.  Each year, the local volunteer Fire Department also stops by with the their truck.

In return, we fill the boot with donations and feed them dinner.  Thanks to the Arcola Volunteer Fire Department for always being willing to support our little event.

Next up on our vacation list: Virginia Beach…well, first the 4 hour drive to get there.

We made really great time getting there.  So great, in fact, that we couldn’t check in to our hotel for 4+ hours 🙁  Not so great.  
We found some lunch and then took the kids to the beach for a little while as a way to kill some time

We spent 2.5 days there enjoying the sand, surf and boardwalk.  Having grown up so close, we never really went and stayed in Virginia Beach so it was a lot of fun to discover all it had to offer.

Hailey’s favorite thing might have been the Sweet Frog FroYo

Or maybe the family bike ride

It was definitely not the family picture time

Ethan’s favorite thing was definitely the sand…he took about a pound of it with him after each visit.  Oh, and sleeping in the stroller wasn’t too bad either.

I even managed to find a little home away from home at the historic Coast Guard station

On Friday, we headed out of Virginia Beach to meet my parents at the local Children’s Museum

If you are ever in the area (Portsmouth to be exact), it is a great place for kids!

The next day, we headed to our final stop: Busch Gardens. 

Well, I guess technically the ferry came first which was definitely an attraction/adventure for the kids {and Mathlete}

We had perfect weather for our trip to Busch Gardens.  We started in Sesame Street Forest and visited with a few friends

Followed by a lot of time in the water play area

And then lunch with a show in Germany

And finally…more sleeping in the stroller

And in the car

We finished out our vacation with a trip to the neighborhood pool

Oh, and Mathlete put together our new grill (purchased 2 months ago!)

Now, if only I could have another vacation full of sleep to recover from this one!