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Virginia Beach

A week at the beach-Ahhhh! What more can be said! We've been looking forward to this vacation all summer, and it was just about as great as we had hoped. There were a few setbacks, but one thing we were very grateful for was the weather. The only time it rained was Thurs. overnight, which was nice because it helped cool down the temperature on Fri. We didn't have any major sunburns either, which was amazing.

One of the most exciting things that happened this year was Hayden's breakthrough-discovering what fun it is to get in the ocean and jump the waves. He made this discovery on the first day too, so all week he wanted to get in. Connor wasn't as convinced this year, but he did okay.

By Weds., Connor just couldn't wait to get back to the cabin to take a nap. After a walk with Daddy along the beach, he came back drooling on Mike's chest and slept like that for almost two hours. What a good Daddy! Mike said he didn't mind though because he was able to read. They have some big fish sculptures that the boys liked to climb. They also put in a playground on the beach this year. We went in the morning before it got too hot.

Weds. was Hayden's birthday. What a great place to spend it! He and Daddy got up early that morning and walked along the beach to collect seashells. They found some good ones. I've enjoyed this tradition since I was little, but being pregnant I couldn't afford missing the sleep. Next year.

We had mini cupcakes for Hayden so that he could blow out a candle. He'll get his birthday cake at his party. It's a little hard to keep a cake while you'[re camping! We went out to dinner that night after Hayden opened his presents-Spider-Man of course! The restaurant we went to had a magician that did tricks with the kids and made balloons. You can't really tell by this picture, but he made a guy riding a motorcycle for Hayden. It was pretty impressive. The restaurant also gave Hayden a necklace and sang to him. He felt special.

One of the setbacks was the food wasn't very good. That was really disappointing for me because 1) I look forward to good seafood at the beach each year, and 2) we haven't gone out to eat since I got pregnant and sick, so this was supposed to be a fantastic meal.

Since we were camping, we had to roast marshmallow Peeps! How appropriate that Connor was wearing his Chick Magnet shirt! The other big setback happened early Fri. morning when I woke up to either food poisoning or a bad case of the stomach flu. The campground only has public restrooms, so each hour from 3 a.m. on, I had to walk in the rain to have another episode. By 8am I was pretty exhausted, and, after giving me a blessing, Mike took me to a Patient First clinic. They gave me two bags of IV fluids and some nausea medicine. I felt a bit better after that and ready to sleep on the trip home.

We had planned to go out to breakfast at IHOP Fri. morning, then stay at the beach for a few hours, get our traditional ice cream cones to say good-bye to the beach, then leave for the drive back late afternoon. Well, because of my illness, all they got to do was get ice cream and take a quick walk on the beach while I slept in the car. Then because we left around 1pm., the traffic was horrible and we didn't home until 9pm.

Knoebels

I think this picture of Hayden captures the joy in a child's face at an amusement park. I was thoroughly pleased with this picture since Hayden is starting to get an attitude towards getting his picture taken. We were all riding the Ferris Wheel for this picture. I was excited to see Connor riding a couple of rides with his big brother.

Hayden enjoyed playing the games more than the rides this year. I think that's because he likes getting prizes. This game Connor wanted to play too, and he won a big prize for getting the ball in a red cup. He's got a good arm! This is a picture of one of the cabins that you can rent out on the campground. I especially wanted other Brandt's to see this and wondered if we could look into renting a cabin next summer for the reunion? I'll send out an e-mail with more info.

Pool Friends

I guess it was about a week and a half now that we had Jamie and the boys with us at the pool. They had a lot of fun together and Harrison and Zane got Hayden excited about going under the water again, which ultimately has helped him swim better. He doesn't even use a floaty in the pool anymore! Zane and Harrison were brave enough to try the slide by themselves, but we just couldn't convince Hayden that it's a lot of fun. Connor liked feeding Ewan his snack. Let's hope he's as helpful with the baby!