Before I begin with this lengthy post, I just wanted to say thank you to those who left very encouraging, heart-felt comments about my brother's service overseas. He is truly making the brightest situation out of a difficult one, and he sends weekly journals about his experiences in Afghanistan. He is surrounded by many prayers and angels, and I have no doubt that God will protect him during his time there. Thanks again for supporting ALL of our troops!
So it's obviously been a long time, too long in fact, since I've contributed to our blog, so my apologies to those who were anxiously awaiting our return...totally kidding of course. But, of course, I have a great excuse...
SUMMER VACATION!
I'm telling you that the biggest perk of being a teacher is the endless number of vacations you get, so it's been truly awesome for Shawn and I to have a lot of "down time" together since we both teach, especially those 2 months in the summer. Don't let the perks fool you though...teaching is by far one of the hardest jobs in the world (and I'm not saying that because I am one, it's just true!). Anyways, back on topic...
Shawn and I finally had the chance to visit my parents in Smithfield, VA the last week and a half and it was fantastic! I just wanted to share some of the "highlights" and comedic happenings during the trip, so I hope you're not too bored.
(Pictures to follow)
To begin, we made it to and from Virginia with zero...I repeat, zero speeding tickets! It may seem like nothing to many of you, but for us (well, I should really say Shawn), it's a tremendous accomplishment. While I myself have never gotten a speeding ticket, Shawn is quite the expert in the area :^) (I love you babe!). We had quite a full schedule during this seemingly short amount of time, so we knew we had to get crackalackin' once we got there. We arrived to our parents' house prepared for a huge welcome - big hugs, nice kisses, a huge banner...no I'm kidding - but we were definitely excited to see our mom and dad. However, they were nowhere to be found. I was pretty disappointed because they knew what time we were going to arrive, yet they felt that shopping was a bit more important that day lol. Of course, I felt bad when I found out they were shopping for new life jackets for us since they planned on taking us out on their new boat that evening (oops...why does that always happen?!)
My parents live in a very beautiful house overlooking the Pagan River, so my dad was beaming to take us out on the river and show us what he's learned as a new "boatmaster." We had such a great time - taking in the sun, breeze, and fresh smells, fishing, chatting, laughing - it was such a nice treat. The next time boating was a bit more exciting as Shawn and I were pulled behind the boat on a pretty large tube. Shawn, again, was pretty experienced with this sport. I, however, was not so much! We had a lot of fun (although we probably gave my father an elevated heart beat and blood pressure) and we can't wait to see my parents take the plunge next time we visit (subtle hint mom & dad!).
Hmmm...next adventure...oh yes! So because my mom was still working and my father left later in the week for a Habitat for Humanity trip in New Orleans, Shawn and I decided to buy a 7-day pass to two pretty spectacular amusement parks -
Busch Gardens Williamsburg and
Water Country USA. Being that I was raised in the area, I was very familiar with the parks and I wanted so bad for Shawn to experience the thrill and fun that I had experienced so much as a little girl. My dad and I have always been "the riders" of the family - twists, turns, loops, backwards, sideways, forwards - nothing can turn our stomachs. Shawn, as I found out later, not so much lol. He'll hate me for saying this and airing his business, but I have never seen so much projectile...well you know...in my entire life! I know I should've been and should be much more concerned than I sound right now, but it was so funny to see this tough guy who was talking so much smack about how "little" these roller coasters appeared, throwing up his lungs in the parking lot at the end of the day. Poor guy. Needless to say, we spent most of our time at Water Country :^) I think we ended up going back to each park 3 times that week, and it was such a fun adventure for both of us. Our favorites, in case anyone decides to go in the future, are the Griffon at Busch Gardens and Nitro Racer at Water Country. The Griffon (see video below) seats 10 people per row and makes a 90 degree drop of 205 feet at 75 mph. It is insane, but surprisingly Shawn's favorite ride!
Nitro Racer is a 6-lane water ride that allows you to race your opponent(s) on a mat lying on your stomach. Needless to say, Shawn won every time...grrr! We're way to competitive.
The last day in Virginia, Shawn and I decided to check out our second baseball game of the visit in Norfolk, VA. We were pleasantly surprised to find out that the game was "flashback night," so all hot dogs, drinks, and popcorn were 25 cents! I'm serious for those who are still trying to figure this out...25 cents! Because we are a couple with two enormous appetites, we decided to take advantage of this steal of a deal...let's just say we dined sufficiently. The
Norfolk Tides played a great game and the atmosphere was highly entertaining. For those of you who don't know, either Shawn or I catch a baseball at nearly every Braves game we have attended, so of course Shawn was on the look out for a foul ball. We have this ridiculous collection of baseballs (one ball with Franceour, McCann, and a few others' autographs) in a kitchen drawer. If anyone has any ideas of what to do with these, please let me know and I'll see if I can convince Shawn to let them go lol. Anyways, Shawn caught a ball during the 7th inning of the game, so that made it all worth it to him I guess. The Tides ended up losing that night, but it was so much fun to experience a baseball game that didn't involve Braves game prices!
We had such a fun time with Mom and Dad Hill, and we certainly look forward to another visit soon. There is obviously so much more that we did together as a family during our visit, but that would take too long to write about and I'm just too lazy. We're still trying to get them to come and visit us here in Atlanta this summer, but according to my husband we have to pop out a kid before they visit as often as we want it to. He's probably right! Dad, thanks so much for the endless amount of food, boating, and CNN/WHRO/political television (hooray Obama for making history!!). Mom, thanks for the great movie, Farmer's Market, shopping (as always). We loved your company, and we look forward to seeing you soon! Love you guys!
Check out the pictures in the next post!!
Shawn posing for GQ magazine
