Last weekend we hit the road for a quick road trip and over night in Chincoteague Island. It is our second road trip with 3 and I have to say the kids do pretty well. There are moments of pure insanity involved in each day balanced with pure bliss watching the kids soak up the beach and enjoy some family time away from home!
We decided a couple of months ago to plan a couple of getaways to places that are unique to this part of the country in the event that we are not here long term….Colonial Williamsburg made the list. Jackson is loving history in school and we knew it would be a fun way for him to learn more. We loaded up Friday and braved our first road trip with 3 kids. We spent a day in Williamsburg, a morning in Jamestown Settlement, and filled in the rest with swimming, shopping and eating out with me not having to cook! All in all the trip went off without a hitch. At this phase of life we can expect sibling squabbles, overtired children, at least one blow out diaper in public with few wipes in supply and too small backup clothes stocked in the diaper bag. We were surprised at how much the kids enjoyed the activities and how well they got along over all. And well, we won’t go into more detail about the blow out diaper. Here are some picture memories of our day in Williamsburg (sparing the pics of crying, tired feet, hungry tourists, and sleepy babies :)….
If you are traveling to Williamsburg with kids here are a few tips to share that we learned along the way…
A picnic blanket is a must! We bought our picnic from The Cheese Shop which we recommend if you get in line super early! We waited in line for 30 mins to get our order but it was delicious! They have a famous house sauce that you should try! Once you get your food or bust out your prepacked lunch there are many shady grassy spots but few benches…a picnic blanket would have been golden!
Make reservations if you want to eat at one of the old time restaurants. We got dinner reservations at Josiah Chownings Tavern which was very casual and had fun musicians walking throughout. The food was reasonably priced (about $12 for adults) and worth the experience. I will say that America had not yet had it’s gourmet rise so it was basic fare which the kids loved!
If you are from Virginia you can buy a yr pass for the cost of the day pass and return anytime in the year.
While there are tons of activities going on throughout the day our kids favorites were marching with army fife and drum, watching the canon practice, walking out in the field to “enlist” and march with the new soldiers and the active participation things. We went for a long morning, went back to the hotel for naps and then went back for the evening events. There are many activities geared towards adults and teens. I personally think they could do more family friendly activities for young children but all in all our kids enjoyed it and didn’t know what they were missing in the older activities.
This year there is a spy game going on. You can receive texts with clues and go on the hunt for people with more clues throughout the day. Seth and Jackson could have done this for days. I could see this being really fun with teenagers.
More on Jamestown Settlement soon…
We had a really nice Easter this year. We celebrated with the usual traditions of attending a special Easter service, going to an egg hunt, getting baskets of candy and delicious food. The most special thing this year for Seth and I was that both Jackson and Owen were really interested in the story of Easter. Throughout last week Seth read through the Easter story to them in pieces. They were all ears and had great questions. On Good Friday when Seth sat on their floor with the lights dim and boys heads on pillows ready for story time Seth told the boys he was going to read about Jesus dying on the cross. Owen exclaimed “ohhh I love that part of the story”. lol. Clearly he doesn’t love that Jesus died on the cross but he and Jackson were engaged and for the first time Owen was in on the action. Our church sang the song Christ is Risen, He is Risen Indeed by the Getty’s throughout the season leading up to Easter. It has become a favorite. I will attempt to add the link below…
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We hosted my brother and his family for brunch and it was SO refreshing for me to work on creative, hostessy things again after a hiatus since MaryAnne was born. I have so missed having people in our home. It was nice to try a couple of new recipes and sweep up old cheeries off the floor and wipe off crusted finger prints spruce up the table. We had lots of great food but this time around my criteria was a bit different…I made things that make great leftovers, easy prep, and kid-friendly for the most part with a few specials! My mom always jokes that as kids we knew it was a holiday when there was kiwi in the fruit salad. To this day I love the sight of a big fruit salad with kiwi to boot.
For those interested in the menu…
Easter Brunch Menu
Mimosas for the adults and Strawberry lemonade for the kiddos
Honey Ham with Pineapple Sauce
Fruit Salad
Spinach Salad with Strawberries, Blue Cheese, Walnuts and Poppyseed Dressing {Recipe Coming Soon}
Deviled Eggs (thanks to my SIL)
Blueberry Crumb Coffee Cake (thanks to my SIL)
~for dessert~
Cheesecake with berry sauce
Dirt dessert for kids
{you can get fancy about this but I just layered chocolate pudding with crushed Joe Joe cookies from TJ’s! Added a few gummy worms and flowers and the kids loved it!}
Before climbing out of bed this morning I told Seth I wasn’t sure I was ready to face Spring Break with the kids! He responded with something along the lines of…”no worries, just think of it as one really long snow day, you all loved your snow days together”. Not really the pep talk I was hoping for! Since the kids are happily playing outside in the Spring weather I figure it’s safe to recap the snow days that will go down in history! Up until now I have been scared to report them as a past event but I think Spring is officially upon us so it’s safe to go there!
Spring break will include lots of outside time, shorts, popsicles, friends, sibling arguments (keepin’ it real), extra cartoons and enjoyment of not rushing out in the mornings! We’ll end Spring break with a fun Easter celebration with cousins! Have a great week friends! If all goes well I’ll be back on here sooner rather than later with some recipes and garden swooning posts!
