At the beginning of October we made a trip out to Virgina to visit my sister and her family. This visit was especially exciting because we were able to meet the newest member of their family. We were blessed to have a wonderful friends take us to and from the airport, watch our cats, and get our mail. We had a great flight to Newport News, with a layover in Charlotte, North Carolina. It was a frantic run through almost the entire airport of Charlotte because of an unexpected traffic jam in the sky. We had to circle the airport for about half an hour, which made our scheduled layover of about an hour almost disappear. Alex did so well keeping up with us and I thought that my arm would fall off from carrying Sarah running through the airport. Finally we made it there and got seated. We had a pleasant trip and only had one casualty. Right as we were going to land in Virgina, our plane did a sharp swerve and then we heard a thump. We found out later that the pilot swerved to miss hitting a bird, but the bird unfortunately did not miss us. We found out later that we hit a Bald Eagle. It was nice catching up with my sister on our way to her new home. All in all it was a pleasant trip out. Eric, unfortunately, was beginning to get sick with a head/chest cold so the plane ride was not the most pleasant for him.
It was fantastic weather, we could not ask for any nicer weather. Most days it was sunny with the highs in the low 70's. I knew that Alex would love it there at their home, because he had two built in playmates. His cousins, Brayden and Brianna, were so nice and loving. They included him in all of their hours of playing outside. There was so much to do there and Alex was in heaven. They had two swings hanging from a huge tree in their yard, a trampoline, sidewalk chalk, bubbles, sand box and a push lawn mower. I think that Alex "mowed" their entire back yard twice from all of the time he spent pushing that toy lawn mower around their yard. I also think that Alex got spoiled by all of that time playing outside and when we came home, he asks everyday to go to the park and swing.
We were not only excited to spend our time with my sister and her family, but we were also able to spend time with my parents, who drove out to visit them too, at the same time. It was nice being reunited as a family. I had a little glimpse of what heaven could be like, being surrounded by the ones you love forever. What a wonderful blessing the gospel is in our lives!
Ryan took most of the week off and we were able to visit together. We went to lots of different parks and the scenery was fabulous. I enjoyed seeing all of the different waterways and inlets that made up where they lived.
While we had lots of fun visiting and hanging out with family, we had some activities that we did while we were there. We went to the Virgina Beach Zoo. It was a very nice zoo and there weren't that many people there and the weather was perfect. It was an absolutely perfect experience... well, except for the part of loosing Alex at the zoo. We were all together there and were looking at the elephants and giraffes, and Alex was with us... we turned around for a few seconds and Alex had disappeared. I ran all the way down the raised platform and no one I was passing had seen him, so I ran all the way back up the platform and back down the other side, the way we had come. I was in a total panic and was very emotional. There he was walking down the path. At that moment I was so full of emotions that I couldn't contain myself any longer. I was just asking over and over, why did you go away. All he could say was, I want to see a giraffe. I immediately said a prayer of thanksgiving to Heavenly Father for protecting our son from danger. That was a learning experience, one that I hope to never repeat.
We also got to take family pictures while we were there. It was a frustrating experience for me, but one that I should have seen coming. Alex loves to have his picture taken, but taking his picture in a studio with big flashes, is a different story. We were all ready to take our pictures together, thankfully we decided to take the big group picture first. That was the smartest thing that we could have done because he flipped out and refused to take any more pictures. He was screaming and crying and saying "All done, all done!" At one point, he laid on the floor and was just sobbing. Well that means no more family pictures for our family. Thank goodness everyone was looking and smiling in the first one.
Another fun experience was having Alex's first shopping experience. Grandma and Papa Jung gave the grand kids 2 dollars to spend at the dollar store on something that they wanted. Alex picked out a squishy ball and some punch balloons. He was especially excited to put the items on the conveyor belt and hand the clerk the money. Thanks Grandma and Papa for that fun experience.
What vacation experience on the coast would be complete without a trip to the beach? We took about a thirty minute drive to the ocean and played at the playground on the beach before heading down to the water. It was fantastic, it wasn't crowded, the water was cool, and the kids had a great time. Sarah and Alex just chilled in some beach chairs for a while. Alex did finally make his way down to the beach and got into a little pool that the kids loved to play in. They would fill it up and then play in the sand. Even Brayden got buried in the sand. It was a lot of fun.
A few other hilights would include, Karen and my parents watching Sarah and Alex for us so that Eric and I could go on a date. We didn't do very much, but it was nice to just spend time together alone. Thanks Karen and family! We also celebrated Eric and my dad's birthday with a nice home cooked meal and some spice cake.
This was a great vacation. Thanks for all of the fun memories.We love you and are already looking forward to the next get together. Hopefully it is soon.
