An Autumn Weekend at the Beach

A few weeks ago we woke up on a weekend and the weather was beautiful! So naturally, I loaded up Big Al (our new family vehicle--named after the Bear in the Walt Disney World Country Bear Jamboree) and we went toe Virginia Beach. 

We spent two days just playing at the beach. No plans, no rushing, just digging in the sand and racing waves in and out. It was perfect. We all loved it. 

Virginia Beach is the first beach that Lucky Dragon ever went to. We went for a short trip when he was a newborn. They do really well keeping the beach clean. I guess maybe we are just used to being in India where the beaches were full of garbage. The town itself feels a bit sad--maybe due to it being the end of the tourist season? But since we were there for the water and the sand, we did not mind! 

Lucky Dragon built a sand marble run that was massive. Koala Bear and I dug a pit to supply him with the sand for his construction. I used umbrellas to keep me shaded from from the sun! 

The Atlantic is not the Pacific, but it is still the calming sound of the beach. It is not quite home in Hawaii, but we will take it! 

Koala Bear wanted to be buried and was loving it until her mum made her into a mermaid and she started to panic when her mum gave her boobs! hahahaha That spurred on a frantic effort or dig herself out. 

Not sure what the attraction to throwing sand up in the air and trying to dodge it as it falls is, but these two seemed to think it was fun. 

 We were so happy that the hotel had a indoor pool that was heated. It was a perfect way to warm back up after the chilly autumn air as the sun went down. 

The only time we left the beach the whole weekend was to go try out one of the Hawaii food places. The kids were so excited to get their Chicken Katsu plates and Lady Hiva wanted her BBQ meat plate. 

Lady Hiva woke up to see the sunrise while we slept.  Then while we were out in the sand playing she slept hahaha. 

I am so glad that we went to enjoy the nature. The beach truly is a happy place for us (well, at least three of us would say that...) haha

Finally a Trip to Goa!

Ever since we had our assignment to India we knew that we wanted to make a trip to Goa. One of our really good friends in Utah was adopted as a toddler from India and her home town was in Goa. We knew it would be easy to go because the Goa is just south of Mumbai. But we never seemed to find the time to go. 

When we first moved to India we explored Mumbai and surrounding areas. Then we were waiting for our friend to come to India and go to Goa with us. We also explored so many other countries around India. Then we had to cancer debacle and Lady Hiva's training and those dictated our travel for the time being. So here we are at the end of our time in India and still had not gone! 

We had a long weekend and decided that we would make a quick trip down to Goa. We wanted to take photos for our friend to see where she was born, We also wanted to see where everyone was raving about their time in Goa. Many of our expat friends will go down from Mumbai at least once a month. 

We landed at the new airport (we did not know we were at the new airport until the day before). The airport was beautiful! But it was also out in the middle of no-where! We made our trek to our hotel. The first impression as we drove was how many bars and liquor stores there were along the way! It seemed like it was nearly every other store. 

Goa has an interesting history. It was a Portuguese colony until the mid-1960s, so it has a very Latin vibe to it. Many of the residents still hold a Portuguese passport. You can see the Portuguese influence in the food, the clothing, the architecture, the culture, and the religion. It felt like we were in India, but not really in India. 

It rained a lot while we were there. So that meant we spent a lot of time in the resort pool. (once you are wet, you might as well swim). We were glad that we booked a really nice resort to enjoy! 

We took a couple day trips around the state. This included some of the old chapels and basilicas that were built during the Portuguese eras. 

We went into the Latin quarter and loved walking around the narrow streets lined by brightly colored buildings. We felt like we were dodging becoming photo bombers in all the selfie taking social media addicts. HAH 

We made it to the neighborhood where our friend was born. It is a small quiet village that rests between the beach and the city. The orphanage is long gone, but we were able to drive through and take some photos with signs that had the town name on them. 

Lady Hiva wanted to get her a sari and some other handicraft items from her hometown. 

Of course the Muggles wanted to go to the beach. So we found a beach that was supposed to have a lot of shells. However, when we arrived we found only rocky sand and LOTS of trash. It was so sad to see. The water was muddy and dark and the shore was lined with rubbish. Actually, even down by our hotel the rubbish was bad. I went out to take a look and stopped at the line of rubbish that was left wen the tide went out. I looked down and there were syringes. Yikes!! So we just stayed at the pool for the remainder of the trip. 

Goa was a short experience. We can say that we did it! Not sure that I would ever do it again. It is not really our style of place. If you like to drink alcohol, gamble, or swim with rubbish, Goa may be your place to go...for us, it was a one-and-done.