Phillies Phans: Virginia Beach

We just returned from our FABULOUS summer vacation in Virginia Beach! We had been looking forward to this trip for months and we couldn't have had a more perfect week! I also referred to it as my "schedule-free week". I can think of only one time during the entire week when we actually had to be somewhere at a scheduled time - and that was for surfing lessons. (More on that below.)

So here we go! This was how we spent our week in Virginia Beach:

1. Lots of beach time!

This is the epitome of vacation!

Zach tried out some skim boarding! Way to go!

Matt couldn't decide what he loved more - the beach or the ocean!

Matt caught a sand crab!

Allie had such a great time!

Cant' you tell?

Sara's first trip to the beach was a blast!

She loved everything about it!

2. Playing in the ocean!

We all LOVE playing in the ocean! The kids love boogie boarding, jumping waves, running away from the water as it comes to shore, and this:

Zach and Matt loved being tossed out to sea! They wanted to do it over and over and over!

Allie learned how to boogie board!

It took Sara a few times to have fun jumping waves, but as you can see she had lots of fun!

3. Cousin Time!

What would a family vacation be without having lots and lots and lots of cousin time? It was so great to see them play together and have tons of fun!

4. Surfin' USA!

Zach, Matt and Ellie got an INCREDIBLE gift from Grandma and Grandpa: Surfing lessons! While the rest of the Joachim party watched from the beach, these three brave souls toughed it out in unusually freezing water to ride the waves! While the goal was to make it to shore by the end of the lesson, all 3 popped up on their FIRST try!

Zach was quite serious about his rides! I finally had to tell him to relax and SMILE!

Matt just couldn't stop SMILING!

Official surfing dudes and dudette!

5. Games!

A Joachim family vacation would definitely not be complete without games. Maddy and Kathleen did a great job organizing "Minute to Win It!". Some of the games included moving an Oreo cookie from your forehead to your mouth without using your hands:

Flipping pencils into glasses:

And stacking and unstacking plastic cups:

We even threw in some "Duck, Duck, Goose" and "Red Rover" on the beach:

6. Trip to Insta-Care!

We even had a trip to the Insta-Care! One morning I found a HUGE sliver in Allie's big toe. It wasn't bothering her but I knew it had to come out. We tried our own version of surgery at the house but it was too deep. Little did she know what was about to happen!

She was definitely not all smiles after the doctor had to numb the area with a lidocaine injection to then slice her toe open to remove the sliver. We then found another one that also had to be removed from the other foot. She sure was a trooper!

7. Bets from Grandma!

Grandma Michelle bet the kids $20 to do headstands in the sand. With a little help from aunt Maddy, Zach, Matt and Allie had a blast doing headstands on the beach. And I had a blast getting sand out their hair. But it was TOTALLY worth it!