ShannonAlbert.com - June 2009

Day 1 - on our way and pizza party. We had a good flight, arrived in Richmond and then drove 2 1/2 hours to Lynchburg on the beautiful drive. Once we got there, there was a pizza party being held at the hotel that we joined and had fun chatting, drinking, and eventually playing poker that night. Many of us ended up on the patio by the swimming pool and since nobody else was out there, we kind of took over.

Day 2 - luncheon and rehearsal. The next day, the boys went to a softball game and some of the ladies went to a luncheon. The house is owned by the mother of the maid-of-honor and it was really beautiful and really unique architecturally. The gardens were also really amazing - not sure how they find time to keep it all up! Later in the day, we had the rehearsal at the church and the rehearsal dinner where all of the Albert siblings and some add-ons roasted David. It went well and was a lot of fun.

Day 3 - children's museum and wedding. We started off wedding day with a trip to the children's museum in Lynchburg which is right next to the river and the big geyser looking thing that spurts out there. This may be the most fun we've ever had at a children's museum. It's rare to find something that interests both kids at the same time and this place was fun for all of us. Wedding was that evening and Blake did well due to a bribe from me. Wedding party arrived in a trolley which Blake still talks about. Reception ended at 10:30 and then most of the wedding party and out-of-town guests went to the bar at the hotel and closed the place down! Karaoke and drinks all night = very fun.

Day 4 - Appomattox and driving to Williamsburg. Phase 1 of our Virginia trip was over and we were off on the 3 1/2 hour drive to Williamsburg for part 2. We stopped by Appomattox and although it was extremely hot, it was interesting and I was fascinated by Payton's interest during the week. It was like history coming to life for her - and she's one of those who likes history just by reading it so imagine how much she loved it in real life. :-)

Day 5 - Yorktown. We started the week off with a visit to Yorktown and it was once again very hot. Blake wasn't behaving well so he stayed at the hotel with Andy and it seemed to fix him - he never acted up the rest of the week. We saw some interesting things at the Yorktown Victory Center including remnants of a sunken ship from the British fleet which was really interesting. They also had an outdoor village setup and re-enacted tasks like cooking while we were there. We then went back to the motel and swam and fed the ducks. The pics of the kids at the duck pond are my favorite of the trip. :)

Day 6 - July 4. Everybody was decked out in red, white, and blue and we set off for Colonial Williamsburg. I hate to be repetitive but it can't be said enough that it was so HOT and Colonial Williamsburg is a tough place to be when it's hot. We managed to walk around a bit, eat lunch at a tavern and tour the Capitol before heading back to cool off. That night, we were all back at Colonial Williamsburg for a July 4 picnic at the Governor's Palace where they provided the food (LOTS of food!), entertainment and we got priority seating for the fireworks show. They had a fife and drum corps that marched around the seating area and it was really exciting. What an interesting and fun way to spend the 4th! Oh, and happy 8th anniversary to me and Andy. :)

Day 7 - Colonial Williamsburg. We were back at Colonial Williamsburg the next morning with Bob taking Mia and Blake to an apprentice program where they got to see how various trades were done in the past. It was once again very hot and Bob was exhausted alternating between carrying each of the kids. While they were doing that, we rented a costume for Payton and when you rent, they give you some tasks you can do that are authentic for the times. Unfortunately, most of the places on the list were closed but she did manage to pickup a letter at the post office and then go to the printer and place an ad. Also in this set of pictures are pictures of us sitting on our motel porch. We had 6 rooms right next to each other on an end where nobody could be bothered by the noise of our kids. We pulled the porch chairs together and sat out and talked each night while the kids would run around or watch TV or whatever. Also, the vacation fairy paid visits to the 8 kids each night using little cloth bags that had their names on them.

Day 8 - Busch Gardens. Finally - temps cooled way down! There was a little bit of a drizzle and the temps were in the 70s and all of us were off to Busch Gardens. We had a great time and since we were swapping kids, we all were able to ride things that we wanted to.

Day 9 - Jamestowns and water park. Most everybody was leaving today but Katrina and her gang were still there as well as us. Our family of 4 headed for both Jamestowns and since it was very mild temps now, it was a very pleasant time. We saw archaeologists digging, artifacts, ships, etc. Highly recommend both of these locations. We had been looking forward to the water park all week since we were so hot but today we may have just gotten up to 80 so we were actually shivering between rides but it was fun nonetheless. We closed the place down and then headed out to a steak restaurant for some really good food!

We left Saturday morning and had a good flight back. Traveling with a lot of people was actually really fun and it was nice to be able to see nephews and nieces since we don't get to do that very often. Looks like we might be doing a trip next summer together if everyone can make it - looking forward to it!