who needs a bahamian cruise after all?

*note: i'm playing major catch-up now that it's summer and i have a moment to breathe.  below is the recap of our spring break trip from 2 1/2 months ago.  i started it soon after we returned, and then it sat in the drafts folder ever since.

"so, when do we leave for the bahamas?" susanna asked me one day a few weeks back.

i looked at her, feeling like i had been somehow transported back in time to a year ago when we actually were going to the bahamas.  "i'm not sure what you mean, sweetheart," i replied.

"well, spring break is coming up soon.  aren't we going back to the bahamas?  isn't that our spring break trip now?"

i had to laugh.  and then i had to let her down.  "i'm sorry, but we just can't do the bahamas every year," i explained.  "but you are in for a treat!  because we're going somewhere just as great -- williamsburg, virginia!"

but you want to know what's crazy?  fast forward to the end of our trip.  as we were gathering all of our bags to get into the car to drive home, both liam and susanna -- i kid you not -- declared williamsburg to be just about as fun as the bahamas were.  "if the bahamas were a perfect 100," susanna mused, "i think williamsburg was like a 99."

note to self: we can save a whole bunch of money armed with this revelation ...

 busch gardens.  39 degrees and pouring for most of the day.  the upside?  no lines

we stayed with dear friends from our asheville days, the hunts, who relocated to williamsburg shortly after we moved to raleigh.  jill (age 6) hit it off with susanna ...

... and liam and reagan (3 weeks his senior) were fast friends too

we opted for inside dining for lunch, complete with a show and really good beer

next day: colonial williamsburg, under thankfully sunny skies.   i kept waiting for the whining to commence because i know that's what i would have been doing at their ages (sorry, mom & daddy).  there was a ton of walking (in fact, chris's pedometer clocked in at over four miles) and educational, historical components to the day.  but they never once complained, even finding joy in trying on hats

 

their crime? being so stinkin' cute

our final destination: great wolf lodge.  such a huge hit that i foresee another trip in our future

practicing his jump shot ...

and his boogie-boarding skills  (we won't focus on the fact that he's supposed to be surfing)

susanna indulged us with one ride down one of the big water slides (a daredevil she is not) ... and then it was all about floating along the lazy river in a tube the rest of the time

the only time the kids bickered the entire trip was when we determined who got the top bunk in our cabing-themed great wolf lodge room for the one night we stayed there.  susanna won this time ... but we promised liam that he would prevail on our next visit.  (let this blog serve as a reminder, please)

how liam does putt-putt (notice the correct stance and grip)

how susanna does putt-putt (what? bending down to blow your ball into the hole isn't correct stance and grip?) 

and i've saved the best for last: MagiQuest.  imagine two children working together with a (borrowed) special wand to solve riddles and hunt down clues for HOURS and HOURS all over the hotel.  if only they had one of these in the bahamas ...