Last year over the Fourth of July we flew out to North Carolina to visit my dad and stepmother Lisa. This year we did the very same thing, the same week. So to mix things up a bit, we went to Virginia to visit colonial Williamsburg, Yorktown, Jamestown and Monticello.
I'd been to Williamsburg before about 10 years ago. It's a lot of fun; the town is well preserved and looks very similar to the way it did around the American Revolution. People are dressed in period clothing and there are lots of things going on. I think Eric and Aspen were watching some soldiers do a reenactment here. Anyway since Eric and I love this part of American history I knew he would enjoy the trip out there.
Okay, of course we had to take this picture of us in the stocks! Although I'm not sure if I'm frowning because I'm in the stocks or if it's because my legs are so white.
How quaint is this? We passed by this pasture every day and all Aspen wanted to do was touch the sheep. Honestly if Virginia wasn't so humid I would move there this instant.
Every morning we ate lunch at the College of William and Mary's Starbuck's-ish cafe. We could trust it, that's why :) Eric and I took the opportunity of running around the campus one morning and it is so beautiful! I saw my very first firefly and it was really exciting. I mean learning about them is one thing, but actually seeing one....quite another.
After Williamsburg we headed over to Yorktown to see some battlegrounds.

Then we were off to Jamestown. Unfortunately we got rained out while we were there so we didn't get to see the villiage, but we did see this church - a replica of the original built in the 17th century when the first colonists landed. They also had several archaeological sites they were working on so that was interesting.
When we got back we went to the North Carolina Aquarium and it was fantastic; it was a really neat aquarium. Since being in North Carolina my dad has really enjoying shark teeth hunting. He's found some teeth belonging to this ancient shark called a Megalodon which I got to see. It was nice to be inside for a day instead of outside in the 95 degree weather + high humidity so it felt a lot hotter.


Okay my photos are jumping around. This is Monticello; Thomas Jefferson's home in Charlottesville, Virginia. The grounds are amazing; here's Aspen making friends, which she did the entire trip. "What's your name? I'm Aspen...." Everybody was her friend :)

Jefferson's garden. Envious.
When we got back to Hampstead (where Dad and Lisa live) we spent a couple days at the beach. I love this photo; there's me attempting to body surf (which was a real stretch for me because I'm just not a water person!), Eric holding Oakley, Aspen and Lisa walking on the sand, and of course the photo would not be complete without a million seagulls.
I love this photo of Lisa and Oakley.
Eric and Dad went fishing again this year, and Eric brought home a Red Drum which we enjoyed for dinner a few nights later. Thanks to Lisa's fantastic cooking it was a real treat.

We got to celebrate Dad's birthday again this year and enjoy some delicious cake that Lisa made. Every year she makes my dad my grandmother's recipe that I'm a fan of myself.
Just a thanks to Dad for letting me use his photos in this post; unfortunately we need a new camera cord so I haven't been able to upload our photos. We had such a great time and who knows; maybe we'll find ourselves in North Carolina again next Fourth of July!