The Pinto Family: Virginia 2016

We spent a week in Virginia with Shawn's family this summer and what a fun packed week we had! With the exception of Elizabeth's family and Alex, Justin and Patrick, we were able to enjoy time with all the rest of Shawn's 6 siblings and their families. As always, his mom was such gracious host and we especially loved spending time with her. Here are just a few of the highlights of the trip….

Henry was so excited to see his godparents, Kelly and Todd. He loved spending time with them, especial when Uncle Todd showed him his tools and let him use his real leaf blower (I wish I had a picture!)…it was one of the highlights of the whole trip for Henry :-)

Kelly took us to Bluebird Gap Farm where we saw all kinds of animals up close, strolled through some lovely gardens, and even enjoyed a picnic and the playground. Shannon, Carla and Madison also joined us for the fun. What a great afternoon!

Sam was intrigued by the white peacock roaming around, and had a blast following it all over.

Shawn with his goddaughter Madison

Grace with Uncle "Boo"

Good night snuggles with Uncle Boo

We visited the Yorktown battlefields, including Surrender Field…all just minutes from Shawn's mom's house.

Fire the Cannons!!

On another day, while Grace spent special time with Nana, we took the boys to the Yorktown Victory Center

A revolutionary encampment there was very neat.

Nicholas, in particular, enjoyed learning a lot more about the Revolutionary War on this trip, event reading several books about it this summer so far.

3 men from the Continental Army and one women from their ally, the French army.

Surrender Field

We spent a day at Jamestown Settlement and loved it!

Here the kids are in a canoe as part of their way of learning how to barter and earn a peace medal, which they will later bring to the native american village to attempt to make a good trade.

Even Sam had fun here

Upon entering the village they traded for some bags of corn.

Powhatan Indian Wigwams

Inside the wigwam

Ready to have a pow-wow

Grinding corn

In the colonist's fort, the kids bartered with with their corn to get some beads.

They learned all about life in colonial Jamestown

There were many brave soldiers

And they wrote back to their homeland often.

They had to learn how to live off the land (with the help of the indians)

Their 4 1/2month voyage from England on these three ships was treacherous.

Sometimes they even needed to fire cannons to protect themselves.

One evening we had a lovely evening out at Fort Monroe with 5 of Shawn's siblings and their spouses (we missed you Elizabeth and Jon!)

6 out of 7 (Elizabeth couldn't make it to VA until later this summer)

A beautiful full moon on the summer solstice!

Heidi and Scott hosted us in their home for a delicious dinner and to swim at their neighborhood resort pool.

It was so nice hanging out with all of them. For some reason Henry kept calling Jude, Jennifer ???!!

Shawn with another goddaughter, Rory

Sam with Uncle Scott

Grace was particularly happy to spend time with her godmother.

And then we had a day at Busch Gardens…oh boy, what fun we had!!!! Shannon and Carla so graciously hosted us and their nephew Jackson as well as Mary Kathryn and Skye joined us for the fun!

Nicholas was super pumped that he was tall enough to ride one of the big coasters for the first time…the Loch Ness Monster! He loved it, but said it did make him feel like his stomach was in in his throat a little bit :-)

Nicholas loved riding all the big rides for the first time!

Grace and Henry on the other hand were very happy in Elmo land and on the smaller rides. Here Grace was happily riding the boat with Aunt Carla.

Henry rode his first roller coaster ever…the Grover Coaster….he loved it so much he ended up riding it 7 times that day and still couldn't get enough of it!