Benjamin's Trip to the Beach!

 

One of Ben's favorite memories is playing on the beach on this awesome Pirate Ship play ground! Ben loved it so much that he wants one of his own!

On the first day of his vacation, Ben loved picking up shells that had washed to the shore. He also loved feeling the cool sand on his hands and between his toes!  The air was so fresh and clean, even though it was 40 degrees outside, he still played in the sand!

These are Ben's sisters.
Brianna (in the purple jacket.)
Maddy (in the pink jacket.)

Oh YES! Ben has rolled up his pants and is ready to feel the VERY COLD Ocean on his legs and feet! 

Ben is trying to sneak up on a seagull! The seagulls were everywhere looking for friends who had food!

These are Ben's cousins.
Matt (in the red jacket)
Evan (in the dark blue jacket)

Matt and Ben waiting for a wave to wash over their little legs!

Awesome!  But the wave was also strong and could knock you down if you aren't careful.  But what an incredible feeling!

As a family, we rented a big family bike and went up and down the shore line. Daddy is taking our picture, it was fun! Even Benjamin helped peddle the bike!

One of the coolest views from Ben's hotel room. You could see the Navy Ships out at sea!

More Seagulls! Mommy gave Ben and his sisters crackers to feed to the seagulls from our balcony at the hotel. The seagulls were funny and caught the treats in mid air! They loved it!

Ben watching the ocean and the seagulls!

Building Sand Castles! Ben's aunt and uncle gave Ben and his sisters buckets and shovels to build a sand castle! Oh that was so much fun!

Ben's family took a trip to Virgina Beach Aquarium,  There was a lot too see, especially this Komodo Dragon! There was a special bubble were you could go to be with the dragon! It's a good thing too, Komodo Dragons are dangerous!

Ben got to explore and room that is ONE Large fish tank! The walls and ceiling everything was a big tank! You had fishes and Sharks swimming all over! It was super cool!

We also got to touch the sting rays! The aquarium has a big tank where we all stuck our hands in and felt the soft smooth skin of the rays! Ben really liked this a lot!

 



A dolphin statue! Ben sat on top of the statue to get a great picture!

Another big tank! This was the size of a movie theater! They had BIG sea turtles who were very friendly and loved playing with the new friends that came to see them each day! 

OH NO!! Ben has been eaten by a shark!!!! Just kidding!  It's a pretend shark! You can climb inside its mouth and take pictures. However, this shark is one of Ben's favorites, can you guess what kind of shark this is?

That's right! it's a Great White Shark!

This was Ben's most favorite parts of the whole trip! He got to see REAL LIVE SHARKS! Big ones! Ben got to see their teeth and be super close to them!  Also, our tour guild let Ben touch shark skin, it felt like sand paper when it is dry and smooth when it is wet.  Ben also got to hold a jaw bone of a shark and touch it's super sharp teeth!

A close picture of on of the Sharks!!

 One of the reasons we went on vacation was to see Ben's Aunt Gail get married! Benjamin and his sisters were being so polite and good at the rehearsal dinner!

This is Ben's view from our hotel room. Ben's family got to see the sunrise each morning coming from the Ocean! It was so beautiful. And usually in the morning, you'd be able to see dolphins playing in the ocean below! We didn't get any pictures, but we have memories to last us!

Ben and his Aunt Gail and New Uncle Brian!

Ben was the ring bearer. (Well, he carried a sign that read, "Here comes the Bride!" 

Ben's sisters were flower girls.

After the wedding, Ben was tired and hungry, here he is waiting so patiently for our pizza dinner! 

YAY! PIZZA!!!

After Pizza, Ben, his sisters and cousins relaxed at our  hotel lobby and watched TV! We had an awesome trip!

Before Ben left Virginia Beach, we drove onto a Navy Base and took some awesome pictures of Naval Ships! They were so big and awesome! We had such a fun trip!