Summer Vacation - Part 2 - We Are Leaving On A Train

Our second part of vacation started out early and with a train ride.  Instead of driving from Connecticut to Virginia, Arabella and I avoided all the New York/New Jersey traffic and hopped aboard an Amtrak train for the ride.  Arabella was so excited - she has been on trains before, but this one was bigger and better - it had a cafe car and lots of room, bathrooms and she loved it! 

We had a fun time and it was nice to just relax and get up whenever we wanted to.  Arabella was great, even though we were delayed a bit getting into Newport News.  We had fun checking out the sights along the way,  watching movies, reading and Arabella even napped!

Arabella couldn't wait to get there.  She was so excited to see Uncle Mike at the train station.  And then to see Uncle Jeff when we got back to their house!!  It was so hot for the almost 2 weeks that we spent with them - we mostly hung out at the pool, which was a lot of fun.  We didn't really need or want to do too much except spend time with Uncle Mike & Uncle Jeff so it didn't really matter what we did! 

Arabella loved that the pool was so close - she could have spent all day in the water.  She loved being able to swim and splash around - such a little fish!

Arabella also loved riding in Uncle Jeff's new convertible!  So much so that one night she fell asleep when we went out to get dinner!  She thought it was so much fun...except for when it was so hot and we were stuck in traffic.  She even said that I should get one!

We spent a day at Virginia Beach!  It was so much fun and we all had a great time.  It was very, very hot so we spent a lot of time in the water.  Once again, my little fish couldn't stay out of the water.  She also had a fun time building and playing in the sand. 

Arabella loved just hanging out and playing with Macy and Rocco.  She and Macy had a lot of fun with bubbles one night.

There were a few pretty wild storms during our visit.  It was amazing how much rain would come down and then how quick the sky would turn beautiful.

And then there was always more time for pool time!

I feel in love with the crepe myrtle trees and Arabella fell in love with Leo, Grandma Shirley's puppy!

We spent a day at the Virginia Zoological Park.  It was a great zoo and not too big.  Since it was a very, hot day, a few of the animals were in hiding.  We had a lot of fun and Arabella loved seeing a few new animals that we had never seen before.  Although, I think her favorites were the giraffe and elephants.  But then again, I think she really liked the splash pad at the end!

One night we took the ferry from Hampton Roads to Newport News.  It was a lot of fun and it was nice to see the lights on the water.  We were able to get a good look at some of the boats that are in dry dock being repaired.  We also checked out a few boats that were docked in the marina.  It was nice to be out in the balmy evening air.  We all had a great time.

And there was always time for jumping games at the pool with Uncle Mike!

But before we knew it, it was time to go home.  We had a great time, but it was very hard to say goodbye.

 Can you tell, Arabella didn't want to leave, she wouldn't even look at the camera.

Thanks Uncle Mike & Uncle Jeff for a great Summer vacation!!