All good things must come to an end, and tragically, our Virginia Beach vacation was no exception.  We were so grateful to have had a week to decompress in a beautiful place, with some of the dearest people in our world.  I spent the last night of our vacation really living the excellent advice: “Don’t be sad because it’s over.  Smile because it happened.”

We were determined that our last night in Virginia Beach (for now – we will be back!) would be our best night.  First item on the agenda: another spin on Uncle Eric’s Water Truck.

Peanut was prepared with this beachin’ coozie.  Nugget was rocking a new life vest that Rebecca and I bought for him on one of our naptime Target runs.  (The puddle jumper works great, but we thought he’d be a bit more comfortable in something with a slimmer profile – and he was.)

The kids loved being out on the water!  I have to get them out on the Potomac soon.

There’s my handsome husband!  Vacations with him are always fun.

 

Nugget got the extreme joy of another turn behind the wheel.  We have a little sea captain on our hands!

Meanwhile, Peanut kept a sharp lookout for mermaids.  She said she saw a few.

Our destination was… well, I have no idea where this beach was, but it was beautiful.  Beautiful, and home to several jellyfish (the stinging kind!).  Which is why I look so excessively nervous, which you hopefully can’t tell from this picture because Steve kindly kept the camera zoomed out.

Away from the jellyfish, and speeding off toward our next destination (looks like someone didn’t want to stop swimming!).  We checked out the houses along the route home and had fun opening it up and really getting a good wake going for awhile – had to, because we didn’t want to miss out on Part II of the evening…

Expecting a particularly perfect sunset, we all trooped over to First Landing State Park to watch the show.  We made it just in time…

The sun was already going down when we got to the beach, and soon we saw…

THIS.  It was. an absolute. stunner.

The whole family trooped into the calm, peaceful water to enjoy a sunset swim.

 

Part of youuuuuuuuuur woooooooooorrrrrrrrrrrrrllllllllllllld…

It was a gorgeous night, and felt like a very fitting goodbye to a vacation that was exactly what we needed, exactly when we needed it.

We stayed on the beach past the kids’ bedtimes, and all headed home in the dark for a campfire with vegan s’mores.  As we sat roasting our marshmallows, watching the neighbors drift by on the canal – on their way home, no doubt, from their own sunset viewing parties – we felt very blessed.

Goodbye for now, but not forever, Virginia Beach.  Thanks for the sand between our toes, the salty splashes on our faces, and the gift of a perfect sunset.