Yes, Virginia...

...you were fun to visit!

Last Saturday, we packed up the van and headed to Williamsburg, VA for what has become an annual December trek to the Great Wolf Lodge.

Using free Hilton points, we spent the first night at an Embassy Suites and the kids enjoyed the pool and hot tub while Scott and I enjoyed the free 2-hour happy hour!

On Sunday, we headed down the road a piece to downtown Williamsburg and checked out the sights.
The College of William & Mary campus area reminds me a lot of Old Salem and Salem College in my home town of Winston-Salem, albeit Williamsburg has a lot more shops to enjoy.
Scott's first stop was the Smithfield Ham store.
Where you can purchase way too many pork products, including this stuff:
Here was Eliza Grace's assessment of the sights and smells in the ham store.
Next, we stopped by the W&M book store to try on hats and generally annoy the clerks.
Eliza Grace has a desperate need to pet every dog she sees, including the topiary breeds.
The kids spent a few minutes with Founding Father, Thomas Jefferson, who paused in thought while drafting the Declaration of Independence.
Then it was time to head over and check into the lodge for indoor water park heaven.
They do a beautiful job decorating the lobby for Christmastime and even have "snow" in the evenings after the audio-animatronic show and before story time with Rowdy the Reindeer.
And now for that first dip into the lazy river!
This was Will's first time going down the tube slides all by himself. He made the long climb with his tube in tow.

"I did it and it was so fun!"

Will is there at the back of the pack waiting for the big bucket to tip over.
I would have had more pictures and video of Eliza Grace but I had a hard time finding her, and when I did, she was moving on to the next thing!

Here is a little live action of the fun: