My birthday was July 14th, and Dan took us for a long weekend in Virginia Beach. We stayed at a great family-friendly hotel that Jax really enjoyed. We were at the end of the 2.5 mile boardwalk, so we were able to take a lot of long walks with Jax snoozing in the stroller. They had several playgrounds on the beach, so he even overcame his fear of sand to go play. He was never totally comfortable on the sand, though – you can see his little fingers and toes curled up in many photos.
I had a great time! It was really way too short…
Here’s a photo diary of our trip! Click an image then use the arrows or thumbnails to navigate.
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- There was a cool LOVE photo op at the rest stop.
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- Jax loved it and it made waking up from a nap in the car seat more bearable to him.
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- The hotel was so pretty! My favorite color aqua with lime green.
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- Jax liked the bench at the foot of the bed because the bed was so high.
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- The view from our room!
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- We walked to dinner at a great taco joint.
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- After dinner, we took a walk on the boardwalk and tried to get Jax on the sand.
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- He was not pleased.
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- We had to switch to carrying him.
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- It was sunny and hot!
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- We stopped to get the little one some strawberry sorbet. It was just under $5 for a kid size with sprinkles!!
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- The next morning was my birthday. I slipped out of bed to watch the sun rise.
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- It was so, so pretty…
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- The sky kept changing every minute!
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- Totally worth less sleep.
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- It was over too soon!
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- My birthday breakfast was a strawberry Belgian waffle from Pocahontas Pancakes. We walked everywhere we went the whole weekend.
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- At the opposite end of the 2.5 mile boardwalk, there was a huge playground on the beach.
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- It was SO hot when we were there, but Jax loved it and didn’t want to leave.
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- I liked the little surfer photo op there.
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- It was starting to get cloudy…
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- We got changed for the pool, but the water was too cold and Jax just wanted to eat a snack. My camera fogged up when I took it out because it was crazy humid.
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- We tried to go to the beach instead, but right then the lifeguards kicked us off due to a coming storm.
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- We hung out in the room and Jax went down for a nap. The storm never came.
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- I working on some sewing while my boys both napped.
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- For dinner we walked to a tapas place. It was really good!
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- The bathroom at the hotel had no tub, but Jax had fun sitting on the counter having “sink baths”.
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- Sunrise the next day… I missed the beginning of it while getting nursing Jax.
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- He decided to join me on the balcony.
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- My grumpy little sleepyhead!
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- We tried again to go to the beach that day, and finally had success! I carried Jax to a good spot then we immediately started making a sandcastle.
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- He fussed a bit, but really wanted a sandcastle to appear.
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- We got Jax to go to the water by writing his name in the sand. Later, he had fun picking up dead crabs (ew) and throwing them in the ocean.
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- This is how the castle building went. I did all the work! Jax eventually used a shovel to knock it down. And, yes, I am pale!
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- Beach boy…
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- He did not like sand on his hands AT ALL.
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- After the beach and lunch, we wet down to the hotel’s playroom to wear Jax out for naptime.
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- Kids age 4 and up can be checked in to the playroom, but we had to stay with Jax.
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- He had a lot of fun and didn’t want to go up to nap.
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- The beach and play time wears you out!
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- Naptime self-portait.
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- We took a walk on the boardwalk after dinner.
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- Dan took Jax out onto the sand and Jax spotted a playground 4 blocks away. He started walking for it!
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- I was stuck on the boardwalk with the stroller, but Jax made it and played until bedtime. We left the next morning for home.
