Enjoying Our First Week in Virginia

After arriving in Virginia, we had a little over a week before our trip to Disney World. During that time, our main task was to find a house so that we could stop living in hotel rooms. In between looking at houses, we found time to explore lots of fun places in our new home. Here are a few highlights:

 A friend in Hawaii recommended that we purchase a membership at the Norfolk Botanical Garden. It was one of the first places we went to explore.

 It was a beautiful place. Unfortunately, it was also colder than we expected it to be that day. We were freezing by the time we were done.

 One of the things we have missed most living in Hawaii and San Diego was the change of seasons. Arriving here at the beginning of spring was fantastic. The gardens were full of spring flowers.

 They have an awesome children's area with a splash pad, play houses, and gardens.

 There was a bowling alley right next to our hotel on base, so we went for date night. It was Sarah's first time bowling, and she was pretty excited. She got almost all strikes!

We tried a seafood restaurant right on the water. The view was beautiful. We have eaten at a crazy number of restaurants lately. Sarah has survived almost exclusively on bread.

One of the houses we considered was right next to a nature preserve on a lake. It was a beautiful place for a walk. We were sad the house wasn't exactly what we needed.

I couldn't wait to see some charming small towns here in Virginia. Kelson did a great job of tracking down this treasure just 20 minutes from our new home.  It is a town called Smithfield, and it was just what I was looking for. One interesting thing about the town is that there is a ham factory there, so the whole town smells rather like bacon.

Sarah got to meet Benjamin Franklin. 

 We had dinner at a sandwich shop/ice cream parlor.

 We could have driven the 3 or 4 hours to Washington D.C. for the cherry blossom festival, but I wasn't feeling up to more traveling, so we went to a local park instead.

 Hooray spring!

We went to Virginia Beach, and they had an awesome playground right next to the beach. Sarah showed off her Hawaiian surfing skills. 

 We spent a lot of time in the car. Sarah took a lot of car naps, and sometimes we found her in interesting positions. I promise she was alive under there.

We went to a Chinese buffet and tried frog legs. I must say, they actually do taste just like chicken.

The most exciting thing was that we found a house! It is so lovely not to be homeless any more!

We are having fun exploring our new home. Virginia is very different from other places we have lived, but that is what makes it exciting.