a fun week

Each summer we go to the beach for the day with our friends the Shipleys.  We have lots of annual traditions with them.  This year we missed 4th of July, but not the beach!

We went to Jamestown Beach this year to ensure no jellyfish!

It was a fun day of floating and playing in the sand.  

Perfect book for a day on the beach!

This was the 8th annual Whitlock/Shipley beach trip!

Bryce is playing little league this summer/fall in addition to travel ball.  He had his first game this week.

We took a trip to the zoo this week.  The last time we went is was only open for drive thru because of covid.  It was a fun experience but not quite the same as in person.  

Feeding the animals is the best part!

We couldn't attract any birds the first time we went through but we had a little more luck later in the morning.  I can remember when the birds would flock to you as soon as you held a stick up.

The giraffes are always fun to feed.

I'm not sure we were supposed to feed the lemurs, but we managed to reach them and they were so gentle taking food out of our hands.

This baby camel was cute.

On Saturday morning we headed to Mount Airy, NC to meet Jason's family for a nostalgic trip to "Mayberry".  Jason's dad and family are big fans of the Andy Griffith Show so it was fun to explore Andy's hometown and see what the show was based on.

Andy's childhood home.  The Hampton Inn rents it to overnight guests. 

We went on squad car tours around the area and learned a little more history.

The little downtown was cute.  The highlight was the pet llama!

Kelly and I got a good chuckle when we arrived wearing the same shorts!

It was a quick trip but something fun to do with the family!

summer is winding down

Emmy and I have a lot of time together in the evenings while Jason and Bryce are at baseball practice.  This particular night we entertained ourselves with tie dye!  

One night we visited Nana and went for a golf cart ride.

Back in March when learn from home started it felt like the summer would never get here.  It got here and even with a slower paced lifestyle, the time has flown by.  We're trying to soak up the last few weeks.  The kids had a fun time with their cousins this week.

Our little league had a home run derby scheduled about a month ago.  It got rained out before Bryce's age group go to hit.  They rescheduled a couple of times but each one got rained out.  Bryce finally got to participate in the event this Friday (in the rain).  He hit three home runs!  And can we talk about how grown up he looks here?!

We loaded up our bikes on Saturday and drove to a small town and picked up the Capital Trail on our bikes and rode to a local restaurant we had been wanting to try.

We had hoped to go last weekend but it was quite rainy.  We thought we were going to have a repeat weather day this weekend but the rain held off, but we enjoyed the cloud cover.

We ate at Indian Fields Tavern and it was really good!

This love sign was close to where we parked so we stopped for a photo op!

Bryce's baseball team had an end of season pool party tonight! 

The boys enjoyed social time off the field to goof off and talk about fun stuff (fantasy baseball, fortnite, etc) that they're not allowed to talk about at practice, ha!  

We've got two weeks of summer left and we're going to try our best to make the best of it! 

sharks teeth

Neither of the kids have sports on Saturdays this summer so it's been nice to have the whole day to do whatever we want.  This morning we got up early and headed to the Potomac River to search for sharks teeth!

It's about a half mile hike down to the river.  

We brought all the necessary tools for hunting teeth.

The boys had more patience for hunting than Emmy so we spent some time on the beach.

We came here back in March and neither of the kids found any teeth.  Bryce was super pumped to find four on this trip.

Not a bad haul for a morning hunt!

anniversary getaway

Jason and I celebrated our 17th wedding anniversary this weekend.  We booked our trip to Cape Charles back in January before corona hit.  We were worried our trip may get canceled, but we were able to go with only one minor change.  The hotel we originally booked ended up not opening for the season but we were able to find a bed and breakfast at the last minute!

I've seen lots of people vacationing in Cape Charles on the Easter Shore of Virginia so we thought we'd check it out.  It is the cutest little seaside community.  It kind of had a Nantucket feel.

We arrived Friday around lunch time and found a fun place on the water called the Shanty.

After lunch we hit the beach.

We were able to get a couple of hours in before the storms rolled in.

Once the rain started we headed in to get ready for the evening.  We were excited to see Buskey on the Bay.  We've been to the Buskey here in Richmond so it was fun to try it at the beach.

We tasted 8 different ciders.  All very unique.

After a little happy hour we headed to dinner at Ambrogia.  The owner of our inn suggested it and it did not disappoint.  After dinner we needed dessert!  Brown Dog Ice Cream was what drew me to Cape Charles.  I've always heard people rave about it.

We chose a light breakfast rather than a warm sit down meal at our inn.  The owner was so sweet to add a cute little note for our anniversary.

Saturday morning was overcast and cooler so we walked around town and checked out the houses.  They are so cute and unique.  

I'd want this golf cart if I had a house there.

We spent most of Saturday on the beach before getting ready for our dinner reservation at The Oyster Farm.

LOVE signs are popular in Virginia and it's fun to find them throughout the sate.  This one was right on the beach.

I think I found the perfect anniversary activity this year.  We went on a "Paddle Your Glass Off"  kayaking and wine tasting trip.  This was a great combination of both of our interests.  We hopped in a canoe and paddled to Chatham Vineyards.  It was only about a 30 minute trip. 

The trip included the kayak, gear, a guide, a tasting and a bottle of wine.

We got a tandem kayak with the intent that Jason would do most of the work.  We were driving into the wind on the way there so I ended up helping a bit.  I was pleased with my abilities considering I've never been kayaking.  

We had such a great weekend.  With life looking so differently this year due to covid, it was nice to get away, relax and feel a little normal.