The Beach, 2012!

We like heading to VA Beach the first weekend in June.  It's a great way to kick off the summer because the locals aren't out of school yet and we practically have the beach to ourselves in the morning.  As the lifeguard told us, from July 4 through Labor Day, you can hardly see the beach for umbrellas and barely the water for the masses of people.  But not so this early. 

"Excited" does not even begin to explain Andrew's emotion about our quick trip.  He was already over the moon to be on the beach with his toes in the water, and then... the Blue Angels began practicing their show.  This weekend was the Patriotic Festival with hours of air show on Friday and Saturday. Lucky for us, they had to perfect it on Thursday!  Oh, to have captured the look on Andrew's face when they first started twirling above us would have been too much. 

The Blue Angels were something else, but Andrew was just as enamored with his "transforming bed" in the room:)  It's been a while since I've seen him so incredibly eager to hop into bed for naptime!  But provide him a sofa that "transforms" into a bed, and voila!  

The wagon is always Andrew's responsibility.

"Wait for me, guys!"

Here I come!

I will put on the hat myself, and then I will promptly take it off again myself.

Squinty "cheese"

Running on the beach in crocs is hard, but fun!

Wow - the ocean is pretty neat stuff.

Dancin' in the ocean!

"Daddy, I'm stuck!"

"Cheese", whether you ask for it or not.

Dipping toes in the water.

Playing football in my VT chair.

Daddy is fun to swim with in the ocean:)

Splashin' with Mommy

This grenade launcher is accurate up to 5 miles.  Unreal.

Lots of fun stuff on the Boardwalk during the Patriotic Festival.

The divers, reminding Andrew of Finding Nemo, were a big hit!

Movie star that was kindly posing for pics with folks was happy to hold Margaret. 

Margaret, on the other hand, was having no part of it.

"Uh, here ya go, Dad.  She's all yours!"

Still trying to cozy up to Miss Margaret.

Lunch on the deck.  Nice view.

Watching the Blue Angels show off.

Almost "toast"

They flew just over the hotels.

Can you tell that one is upside down???

They always had their landing gear down.

One up, one down.

Two up, two down!

Margaret during the real deal on Friday.  We got just as good of a show for Thursday's practice, but Friday was definitely louder as the jets performed at faster speeds.  Margaret (and even Andrew after a while) preferred to cozy up in our bed and watch TV.  Mom & Dad sat on the deck amazed at the jet's stunts.

Blue Angels right in front

Blue Angels Diving

Blue Angels Departing