Considering how much time the Anderson children had to spend in the car- they were typically happy enough to be cruising around:
This is part 2 of the vacation post. You can go to [part 1].
Driving from Little Rock to Virginia Beach, and then all over the place while in Virginia Beach, was made much easier by the wireless headphones and the in-car dvd. Thank you, Honda Pilot. You are a family truckster, but that is exactly what we needed.
The beach was wonderful, but we hit some other highlights, starting with the Norfolk Zoo:
Graydie is looking a little overheated and slightly glazed, but other wise she looks like she is sitting for a portrait:
Brother in law Danny White (aka D2) and daughter Hannah:
Brother in law Danny White (aka D2) putting the toddler charm to work on Graydie:
Sister/photographer Christine looking for a good shot:
Strolling the grounds at the Norfolk Zoo
Next stop on the Nature tour was the Virginia Aquarium:
Gabe took to Dylan like peas to carrots. Here the two boys are checking out one of the huge fish tanks:
And this is Graydie, sometimes checking out the fishies and sometimes traipsing around, poking Hannah and the like:
While I couldn’t get Gabe or Jennifer to do it, the Rays were a touch tank. I didn’t give Graydie and chance at letting her touch the rays, but more on the concern she’d grab hold and not let go:
More peas and carrots:
Gabe was a pretty big fan of the aquarium. I like this shot where he was trying to identify the turtles in the tank:
The fish all look like dream ghosts :
Norfolk
We also visited the ODU campus to pick up some official Monarch gear for the kids.
Then we visited the official Graydon sign. White truck in the background belongs to the guy who jumped out unasked and shot the pic for us so the three of us can be in the picture. Thanks a lot, friendly Ghent guy!
Here are the kiddos in a neighborhood park, playing while Jennifer popped over to UAMS to stop by the old school for some new alumni threads.
Down at Town Point Park
That is the Battleship USS Wisconsin:
I wish I had several days to try to get a perfect shot- there are several distinctive challenges here- the bow is very tall and very narrow, and the ship itself is very large- it is, or was, one of the biggest battleships ever built.
Eating Tour
Going back to Virginia meant trying to hit as many fave eats as possible. Some simply are impossible- the incomparable Wild Monkey was a thing of the past. We couldn’t fit Croakers on the dance card, much to our regret, and the [New Belmont] was a long shot dream that never came close to panning out.
We did manage to have lunch at eternal fave’s [Cogan’s], a punk pizza joint in the Ghent section. Eat there for “Spaceman Strength and Endurance”- dee-lish!! Gabe and I are stocking up on Spaceman Endurance here:
We also ate at Bubba’s with the Gravely clan. Bubba’s is located directly on the water and is right in the middle of very busy water traffic. Gabe loved watching the fishing boats and the Gravely clan:
Here Elizabeth is bravely herding all 5 kids for a close up look at the water:
We also manged to meet up with the Burge clan at the No Frill Bar and Grill, but there was no time for pictures as the Anderson kiddos acted as polar opposites of the older, angelic Burge kiddos. Sorry Burges, maybe we’ll get a corny blog photo-op next go round.
More visits
On the very last day of our too-short stay, we trucked it out through the Midtown tunnel (which is, hands down, one of the worse experiences Norfolk, Virginia has to offer. Even now, looking back, I can’t fathom why I chose to try to get through the tunnel on a Friday afternoon.) and over some bridges in the bay to visit Jennifer’s old classmate Brook.
More new kiddos and more new kiddo things to do. Jenner and Curie were excellent kiddo hosts:
One more of Dylan and Gabe, yukking it up at the Anderson/White estates:
For all the fun stuff the kiddos did do, there was a huge amount of this:
