I have to admit that I was a little bummed that we wouldn’t be going to the beach this year for vacation because we’ve been going to the Outer Banks every year since I was in middle school. However, I was also very ready for something different! I have to admit too that after all of the shark attacks on the NC coast, I was actually a little relieved that we weren’t going. Either way we had a great staycation and we kept 100% of our money in VA! If you’re going to stay close to home this year and need a few ideas you can visit my previous blog post for lots of great ideas.

Here’s a review of what we did last week.

1) We kicked it off by going to the movie, Inside Out. What a great family movie and if you have a daughter you’ll really identify with this movie. Yes, I did cry, but it’s not sad. Kind of. 🙂

2) Monday we decided to go to Massanutten Water Park b/c we’d never been there before. It’s an indoor/outdoor water park a lot like Great Wolf Lodge in Williamsburg, but it’s closer for us about an hour and 1/2 away in Harrisonburg. We had a great time and got some great exercise climbing all those steps to go on the really tall slides. I actually caught some air on the outdoor slide b/c I was on the end. Just a tip if you like to stay on the ground, do the inside lanes on that outdoor slide. 🙂

3) Wednesday we actually decided to go away for one night because we wanted to visit Williamsburg, so we grabbed a hotel room and visited the Ripley’s Believe It or Not Odditorium. We’ve been there before, but that was a long time ago and the kids wanted to go again. You can spend hours in that museum just reading the history of the unique items that Robert Ripley brought home from his travels. He was a neat guy. The kids loved it!

While we were in Williamsburg we decided to try a “ghost tour”. We’d never been on one and always wanted to go, so my friend Kelly recommended the Powhatan Resort Ghost Tour. It was perfect for the whole family and you got a history lesson that the kids would actually listen too. 🙂

4) July 4th we spent time with family, cookouts and fireworks right here in C’ville.

Overall, we got several things done around the house and we got to have some fun too. The best part is that I’m not stressed at all today! Usually my first day back at work from vacation is a hard one b/c I’m tired and cranky from our usual long trip and a long week away from home. That wasn’t the case this time and I had plenty of time to rest and there wasn’t a lot to unpack! I highly recommend a staycation if you haven’t done one in a while.

Below are a few of the pictures from our time of local family fun! 🙂

Sherry