Williamsburg with the Crook cousins!

This was such a fun trip...I wish we could do it again!

Hanging at the hotel

We drove down Tuesday morning to Williamsburg, VA to meet up with my sister Michelle and her family. We arrived a little before check-in time, so we made a pit stop at the Yankee Candle Factory outlet and sampled some fudge, popcorn, and candle fragrances :). Cute place to spend 45 minutes. At 3 pm we checked into the Colonial Williamsburg "Governer's Inn"- definitely a budget hotel, but not bad for the price - and met up with the Crooks. The cousins were so happy to see each other. It had been a year since we had seen them last.

The weather was super hot the whole week we were there. We decided for Tuesday night we would go to Busch Gardens. Being Tuesday, there were hardly any lines and we were able to get on almost every ride in the park. We made sure we rode a few water rides to keep cool. Of course, Eliza loved the roller coasters and wanted to go again and again. Unfortunately, she was a little short to go on the two best roller coasters, Griffon and Apollo's Chariot - I even loved those.

Big thumbs up for Griffon

The big plunge of Griffon

Michelle and I hanging out in the Italian gardens

Wednesday morning, we went to Water Country USA. Because the weather was so hot, it was the perfect place to be. The lines weren't too bad for the tube rides, so we had a ball going around and hitting them all. The girl cousins liked hanging out in the wave pool and the moms liked

lounging next to the wave pool :). The dads liked napping next to the wave pool.

The girls posing with the dive team

That night, we decided to head back over to Busch gardens and hit a couple of the shows we hadn't seen plus the fun roller coasters again. The "Celtic Fyre" show was very good.

Thursday morning, the Crooks went off to Yorktown while we hit the shops of Colonial Williamsburg. I actually saw a wooden top game I hadn't seen since I was a little girls. Such nostalgia. Thursday was, by far, the hottest day of the week. I think the outside temperature was 105 with a heat index much hotter. We walked around the historic homes for a bit and the girls played some old fashioned games, but by noon, we were ready to go back to the water park!

When the Crooks got back to the hotel, that is exactly what we did. Later that night, we went to the Olive Garden for dinner. I think that was the highlight of the day for my children :). They

still talk about the breadsticks.

Friday was Colonial Williamsburg day. We saw a reenactment of the reading of the Declaration of Independence as well as the invasion of the "Red Coats". All the actors really got into their roles, so it was fun to watch. We saw a few more shops and historic homes as well.

Posing with the redcoats

In the afternoon we took a break and the kids swam in the hotel pool before we headed back to colonial Williamsburg to do a "Ghost Tour". The narrators were quite convincing with their ghost stories. Eliza had fun carrying the lantern as we would walk from house to house.

Tickle, tickle

Walking on the ghost tour

Saturday morning, after breakfast, we said our goodbyes to the Crooks. We headed back to Busch Gardens for a couple of more rides (and ice cream) while they headed down the highway to Virginia Beach. It was sad to know we wouldn't see our cousins for a while again :(. We were so glad we got this time to spend with them.

Eliza is picking a winner Anna is flying high

Julia is loving her ice cream!!