Last Swim Meet

We were finally wrapping up the swim season, and Collins and I were not sad about it. :) It's a lot of time at the pool the first six weeks of summer- especially since the girls were not on the same practice schedule this year. BUT Addie got really into it, and watching her learn to swim and get excited about being on the swim team will no doubt go down as a highlight of summer 2019 for me. It was that cool of a transformation to watch!

But, as we walked into our sixth swim meet of the season, I think we did so with a sigh of relief because we were finally done. Luckily, it was at the North Hills club, which is a beautiful facility and where we have friends so that made it more fun. Our girls' eyes were opened when they walked into onto the pool deck- they were like, "Can we PLEASE join this pool?!?!" They were wowed by three pools, a water slide, and a nice food area- none of which Northbrook has. Too bad girls, no chance that's going to be happening! Enjoy hanging out there tonight. :)

Addie almost won her heat in backstroke! Love how confident she got over the season in this stroke. 

Collins was sad that Reeves didn't do swim team at Northbrook this summer, but I think her favorite part of the swim season was making some new friends. The 7-8 girls were a fun (and silly) group. 

Here she is hitting the wall from her final relay swim. Collins finished the season with good times, but we learned it was hard for her to compete with the year-round swimmers. Although she was right on the cusp of beating them, it was hard to do when they are in the pool so much more than she was. She got frustrated at times not getting ribbons and finishing at the top. But when I asked her if she wanted to be a year-round swimmer, she quickly answered, "No!". Whew...me either, but just thought I should check. :)

With this final race, swim team was officially over. On to the end of year banquet....

So proud of our dolphin daughters and all they accomplished this season! Brian let the girls stay for the late-night swim after the banquet and when they got home, Collins gave Addie a sweet gift. She had made her a choker (with a puffer she wanted me to add) for doing such a good job on swim team. She wrote a note to her and wrapped up the necklace, and pretty much made Addie's year! A neat way to wrap things up. 

Colonial Williamsburg

Don't ask me why I wanted to take a family road trip to Colonial Williamsburg so badly. But I did- in the heat of July. I got it in my head that we really needed to take the kids to a new place and experience something different during their summer off. Williamsburg was in driving distance and in the budget- plus I had never been before. So off we went! It was only a two and a half hour drive from Raleigh, and the ride into Virginia was so pretty.

We stayed at one of the properties in Colonial Williamsburg- it was within walking distance of everything. These three were pretty excited rolling their suitcases in to The Griffin- they love a good hotel!

This is the Williamsburg Inn- a beautiful hotel right next to ours. Luckily, we had access to their pool.

We got started on our colonial adventure right away with a scenic walk into town...

Everywhere you looked you saw something charming...

We learned about the colonial judicial system which Brian had lots of questions about.

Then, the girls performed an archaeological dig where they dug deep beneath an old general store to find pieces of animal bones, pottery, buttons, wine bottles, and anything else that might have been buried years ago. Pretty cool!

Luke worked diligently digging in the sand box. :)

The kids were amazed by people traveling by horse and carriage (and also by the size of the horse's business! 👃 ).

Next on the itinerary was a tour of the Governor's Palace...

It had some pretty neat items inside, but we were most impressed by the gardens outside of it specifically the boxwood maze!

Collins ran through it multiple times. There was a neat hill you could climb right next to the maze that would allow you to get an aerial view of it. We watched Collins's little head bop around until she finally found her way out.

Upon leaving, we heard the sounds of the fife and drum parade in the distance so we ran to see it. Another cool thing!

At this point, it was almost 2 p.m. and the kids were DONE. They were hot, thirsty, and hungry. We had learned how to bind books, how to make colonial underwear (interesting note- it takes longer to make one pair of underwear than it does a ball gown), how to sew wigs, how to dig for fossils, and we had seen the inside of countless buildings including the beautiful old church. We pushed these kids to their limit- it was time to EAT!

Luckily, we found a cool tavern that served punch for the table. The kids were thrilled, and man did that cold berry punch taste good (as did the hamburgers that we woofed down). 

Refreshed, we hit the Capitol building which fascinated Brian...

and cooled off Luke.

I missed most of the tour because I was chasing this boy from air vent to air vent. :)

We had seen so much at this point, we decided to go back to the hotel to relax. Which turned into this...

Remember this is vacation, people. Bathing suit dance parties and eating chips in bed is pretty much a requirement.

Next, we headed to the Williamsburg Inn to cool off in the pool.

Beautiful pool, but not so cool pool. Everything was hot that weekend!

We swam and let the girls try out the jacuzzi before quickly getting dressed for our ghost tour and dinner. 

I was excited to hear spooky stories as the sun was setting, but this ghost tour was lame. The stories were silly, and the tour guide was long-winded so the highlight was sitting beneath this cool and massive tree. 

We hit up another tavern for dinner, and this time enjoyed beers, a cheese spread, shepherds pie, and blueberry crisp. It was delicious!

We walked back in the pretty quiet night way past bedtime. Everyone was dirty and tired, but happy from such a fun and different type of day. I love that the kids stayed up till 9:30 p.m. and no one cried or melted, and that we experienced so many new things together in one day. It was just what I had hoped for in the trip.

We woke up Sunday morning, and Luke and I enjoyed our breakfast outside beside the pond.

The Wimbledon final was on that day so the girls were inspired to play some tennis...

while Luke and I just watched from the balcony (and air-conditioned hotel room!).

Back in town, we learned how to play colonial games...

and then how to make bricks! This was the coolest activity we did (in my opinion). Back in colonial times, they literally dug out clay from the ground and worked it into something pliable with their feet. Addie was totally grossed out by how the clay felt squishing between her toes, and Collins didn't last much longer. They were shocked that they were allowed to do this!

After the clay was soft and spreadable, they would fill up the molds and take it out into the sun to dry and harden.

 

The demonstrators told the girls if they did the work the colonial kids would have been assigned back in the day, they would get a special treat...

to write their names in the bricks! In Colonial Williamsburg, they fire the bricks twice a year and then later use the bricks somewhere in town. It's neat to think Collins and Addie's names will be there for years to come!

 

Later, we met John Adams (and more importantly his horse), and he gave us a neat history of who he was and what he was doing in VA.

We watched the blacksmith make nails and watched a furniture maker make cabinets. We also visited this building called the magazine- where ammunition was stored. Addie couldn't believe the size of the guns.

We saw it all! I couldn't believe how much we saw and learned in one day's time. I would totally recommend taking a trip to Colonial Williamsburg- maybe not in the middle of July- but it's a really interesting and pretty place.

Since the college of William & Mary is located in town, we rode through campus and stopped to check out the football stadium. Because my husband loves nothing more than to compare and contrast collegiate football facilities. Apparently, this stadium was pretty impressive.

We had lunch at this fantastic place on main street called Paul's Deli and watched a tight Wimbledon final between Federer and Djokovic. The match was never-ending so we gave up, and headed for our final stop before heading home- historic Jamestown. This living history museum tells the story of America's first permanent English colony.

The Native American huts were so impressive...as was the fact that the demonstrators were roasting an actual snake they had caught earlier that day because that's what happened back in the day. Addie was pretty sure it was sausage on the fire until we told her otherwise. 👀

We checked out the tall ships- recreations of the three ships that brought the first English settlers to the New World in 1607.

And finally, we saw the first English homes built in Jamestown.

The church was the most impressive structure in the village.

Addie couldn't believe how heavy this little suit was...but it didn't help that it was 94 degrees out. It was officially time to head home!

Brian had the fun idea to travel home a more scenic way- by ferry boat! We drove our car onto the ferry and crossed the wide James River. Luke had LOTS of questions. :)

Our Virginia adventure was over, but what fun we had. We won't need to go back to Colonial Williamsburg or Jamestown for a long time, but I'm so glad we decided to make the trip. We made some special memories, learned a lot, and proved to our kids that they are lucky to live in modern times!