Image Credit: quotesberry.com

The last weekend in July, Al and I road-tripped up to Doswell, Virginia, the home of Kings Dominion!

Neither of us had been back to KD for several summers, so we were looking forward to meeting up with Katie, Brian, Mike, Justin, and Heaven for a little weekend getaway.

We all stayed at the Best Western Kings Quarters, which was on the KD property. Justin and Heaven had gone on their own mini-vacation in June and recommended the KD package, which included the room reservations and tickets to the park. The hotel was awesome! There was a full-service Denny’s in the place, where we enjoyed a group dinner together on Saturday night. The food was excellent too, and all the staff were so nice and friendly.

Al and I arrived on Saturday afternoon, after a frustrating morning of several traffic jams. While planning this trip, Katie and Justin made a deal. Katie would wear a Ravens shirt, if Justin wore a Steelers shirt. So, naturally, I knew I had to show up in my new Packers shirt 🙂

L to R: Justin, Laura Beth, and Katie.

Even though we could walk to the park from the hotel lobby, Al and I decided to fork over the $15.00 for parking. As we pulled up to the attendant, $20 bill in hand, she looks me up and down. She smiles and says, “What is that on your shirt?”

“That happens to be a Green Bay Packers shirt, ma’am.”

She got so excited she could hardly speak.

“Wow … That’s so awesome … Wow! Well, you know what, you made my day … I’d show you my Packers tattoo if I could [on her leg/ankle] … But because of that shirt, no charge for you two!”

Al and I look at each other, dumbfounded

“Uhhhhh … Wow! Thank you, so much. Who are we to argue?”

She smiles and hands us the $20 back.

“Go Packers, and welcome to Kings Dominion! Have a great day!”

Saturday was full of great fun. The photo above was taken after we’d gotten completely soaked on White Water Canyon.

All of us rode Intimidator 305, except for Justin and Mike. After waiting a fairly long time, we all realized that we were actually in line for the first row. I’m not normally scared of any roller coasters or heights, but that realization made my stomach sink.

Brian rode by himself. Katie and Heaven rode together next. Al and I were last. I remember watching the lift cable come down to hook up to the train and I look at Al, feeling panicky, yelling, “This was NOT A GOOD IDEA!”

For the first time in my life, I closed my eyes on a roller coaster. Sure, it was only about 10 seconds of that first drop, but I was absolutely terrified. It was such a rush though! My hands didn’t stop shaking until about five minutes after we got off the ride though.

I was happy that we rode first row on one of the tallest and fastest roller coasters in the world, but I can’t say I’ll be doing that again.

The rest of Saturday was spent walking the park, catching up, and making our way to the newly-expanded Soak City water park. It was crazy crowded, but I was impressed. It felt like a mini-Water Country was dropped in the middle of Kings Dominion!

Paradise Plunge was one of the best decisions. You step into one of three chambers, either red, yellow, or orange, and cross your arms and ankles. Then, the floor suddenly drops out and you plunge feet-first. It was such an awesome ride!

Al and I both wore our FitBits for the majority of the weekend (We didn’t take our chances at Soak City – They’re not supposed to be submerged at all), and we both clocked around 25,000 steps by the end of Sunday!

We wrapped up at the park and headed back to the hotel for showers and relaxing. We all met up for dinner. Later on, we met up in the room that Katie, Brian, and Mike had reserved. Katie brought Cards Against Humanity, and Al and I brought Epic Spell Wars. We had a great time; we stayed up past 1:00 a.m. killing each other with amazing spells and laughter.

The other awesome thing that happened was Justin had a small gift for Al and I. He had found a frame with a bunch of vintage Star Wars cards online, and he gave us the cards. It’s so cool! I don’t have a picture at the moment, but being surprised with those, knowing that we are big Star Wars fans, was AWESOME!

Sunday was a slower day. We all met up for lunch at the Jukebox Diner – Delicious burgers!

The Juke Box Diner, seen from the Eiffel Tower observation deck.

We hung out for a few more hours, and then capped off the weekend by exploring the replica of the Eiffel Tower.

The base of the tower, waiting for the elevator to take us to the observation deck.

Best Western Kings Quarters, seen from the Eiffel Tower observation deck.

Partial panorama of the park, including Volcano and Intimidator 305.

Justin and Laura Beth.

Al and Laura Beth 🙂

Photo montage!

Re-creation of a photo that was taken in 2010.
L to R: Laura Beth, Brian, and Katie.

The whole gang!
L to R: Al, Laura Beth, Brian, Justin, Heaven, Katie, and Mike.

WindSeeker ascending – View from the Eiffel Tower observation deck.

The guys.
L to R: Al, Justin, Brian, and Mike.

The girls.
L to R: Laura Beth, Heaven, and Katie.

The Longwood crew! All five of us are Longwood University graduates 🙂

Heaven and Justin holding “Robin,” their prize from one of the arcades.

Thanks for the memories, KD!

The Kings Dominion 40th Anniversary sign.

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

Image Credit: amazingquot.blogspot.com

Lyndsey came to visit this weekend. She and I talk on the phone regularly, we try to talk at least once a month; but we haven’t seen each other since May 2014.

On Friday, Lyndsey arrived around 7:00. My mom made delicious pork kebabs with pineapple and peppers, yummy! We all shared stories and laughs for a good while, before Al, Lyndsey, and I left for Norfolk. Nick’s band, Without Lines, was headlining a show at Belmont House of Smoke.

Before heading to Norfolk, we dropped by Al’s house for him to get his camera and earplugs for Lyndsey. As we drove near the house, several neighbors were outside. There was a mama black bear and her three cubs, high up in a pine tree!

Bad Weather Birds played first – They were pretty good. All three of us had earplugs in, which was a good thing, considering we were sitting next to one of the speakers! Their cover of “Don’t You Forget About Me” was awesome!

Then, Without Lines took the stage and proceeded to rock out!

Check out the photos below:

Bad Weather Birds – Brent, John, Joe, and Padric.

Without Lines – Left to right: Dani, Nick, Dan, and John.

We didn’t get home until close to 1:30 a.m., but it was totally worth it.

On Saturday, we all slept in. It was wonderful!

Around noon, Lyndsey and I went to get lunch for the three of us at Zaxby’s. Yum!

At Al’s, we watched Penguins of Madagascar. It was cute 🙂

After lunch, we made a decision on seeing a movie. Earlier last week, Lyndsey had said she was interested in seeing either Spy or Ted 2.

Image Credit: http://www.caroljoynt.com

It was such a funny movie! Melissa McCarthy was a great choice. It was a good story too. We all laughed our asses off! All three of us would highly recommend it.

After the movie, we headed back toward Al’s. We stopped at Gianna’s Pizzeria on the way and picked up a white pizza and garlic knots. My car still smells amazing!

We ate dinner, and then Al and I introduced Lyndsey to Munchkin. So much fun 🙂

On Sunday, I got up early and got ready for church. Lyndsey and I enjoyed breakfast, before heading off to church. Yesterday was our new senior pastor’s first official Sunday. The church was almost full, which was a very pleasant sight to see. Pastor Randy gave a great message on prayer.

After the service, there was a “Welcome Home” brunch for Pastor Randy and his family. Pastor Randy is married to Robin, and they have three sons, Robbie, Ricky, and Ryan.

The food was delicious, and there was lively piano music from one of our talented women. Then there was a short set of welcome to the Duncans. Then the whole Duncan family stood around the piano and serenaded everyone with a beautiful song, “He Touched Me.” They all have great voices!

Lyndsey, Laura Beth, and Al 🙂

Lyndsey and I went back to my house, where we proceeded to talk and reminisce for several more hours. Finally, after 5:00, I directed Lyndsey to BJ’s so she could get the cheapest gas possible, and then she left for home. She had a safe trip and texted me last night to say she had gotten home safe.

This was such an awesome weekend!

Definitely not waiting another year to get together.

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

Yesterday, Al and I drove up to Richmond to reunite with our friends Drew, Katie, Justin, and Heaven. The six of us hadn’t gotten together since January!

The main reason for the get-together was this:

Image Credit: http://www.denofgeek.us

All of us were excited to see Avengers: Age of Ultron. Drew, Justin, and I had bought the tickets online late last week.

I won’t spoil anything, but I will say this: If you like the Avengers, go see this movie in the theater. It’s totally worth the money!

The movie was at 5:15, so Al and I drove up in the morning. We hung out with Drew and Justin before Katie and Heaven arrived. We’re all big fans of John Oliver and his show Last Week Tonight, so the four of us watched his episode on Government Surveillance. I hadn’t watched it, and it was very compelling.

Watching that prompted Al to suggest the documentary Terms and Conditions May Apply. Al and I watched it together on Netflix a while ago, but neither Drew nor Justin had seen it, so we watched it. It’s startling.

Image Credit: imdb.com

We decided to head to the movie theater after that, and it was perfect timing. Katie was pulling into the driveway as we were walking to my car, so we all piled in my car and headed to the theater. We drove through downtown with the windows down – What a beautiful day! It was so nice to see the bright sunshine after two straight days of rain!

We got our tickets and hung out for a while, getting our popcorn, ICEEs, and sodas before settling in. Heaven met us there. Some of the previews were awesome, including Ant-Man and Jurassic World. There are a bunch of awesome movies slated for release this summer!!

After the movie, we all headed to Cheeburger Cheeburger, which is becoming a tradition with our group. We enjoyed burgers, fries, their crispy onion rings, and shakes. Delicious!

Once we were full, we headed back to Drew’s. Al and I had to drive back last night (I have my final exams this week!), but before we left, I had brought some gifts for everyone:

• Mini-Marvel bobbleheads for all six of us. The cool thing was that they were mystery boxes. I got the Green Goblin, Al and Katie got the Hulk, Justin got Thor, Heaven got the Silver Surfer, and Drew got Galactus.
• A Wolverine mug for Drew
• A Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles mug for Katie
• A stuffed owl named “Owliver” for Heaven
• A ceramic bank shaped like Pikachu for Justin

It was so much fun!

We also celebrated Heaven and Justin’s graduation from Longwood. Commencement is next weekend, so Drew and Katie gave them cards and gift cards to Game Stop and Domino’s.

Al and I had to leave after that, but we had an awesome time!

Can’t wait until we get together again!

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

I hate snow.

This adventure time was delayed for two weeks in a row because of the white stuff.

But, finally, spring decided to arrive in Chesapeake.

It may have been cloudy and spitting rain last weekend, but it didn’t prevent Justin from driving down to see Al and I.

We were finally reunited, almost two months to the day since we last met.

Justin pulled in front of my house about five minutes before I arrived from work. We went inside and he met my mom. I gave him a quick tour of the house, helped him put his stuff in his chosen room, and then we were off to meet Al for dinner.

Image Credit: hamptonroads.com

For dinner, Al and I took Justin to Gianna’s Pizzeria, in the Harbour View section of Suffolk. If you live in the 757 area and haven’t tried this place, it is one of the best! It’s not a chain. It’s Italian. And it’s amazing!

After we stuffed ourselves silly, we went to Al’s house to wind down Friday night. We explored YouTube and watched several episodes of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver before calling it a night.

Saturday was dubbed “Opposite Day” for Justin and I. You see, I am a Green Bay Packers fan, while Justin is a Denver Broncos fan. Months ago, Justin and I were talking online about our teams. I think it was Justin who said something to the effect of, “Wouldn’t it be funny if we bought each other shirts for the other’s team?”

Image Credit: endzonenews.com

So that’s exactly what we did.

The hilarious thing was that Justin was noticed at least twice during the day with his Packers shirt. When we went to mini-golf in the mall, the lady working the place said they were her team. So did our server at Red Robin! It was hysterical. Justin almost said something, but decided against it. The three of us had a great laugh though.

We started Saturday off early. Al was getting his car inspected, so Justin and I went over early to pick him up. Then we went out to O’doodleDoo’s Donuts in Suffolk. They have the best donuts!

Image Credit: http://www.yelp.com

After dropping off a half-dozen donuts to my parents, we went to Al’s.

We thoroughly enjoyed our donuts, including Twix, red velvet, chocolate Pi, mint chocolate chip, and more 🙂

We caught up with the Last Week Tonight with John Oliver episodes, then switched to TableTop with Wil Wheaton (Geek & Sundry). Al and I love this series!

We watched one of the most recent episodes, featuring Epic Spell Wars. It looked so awesome, that Al immediately went to Amazon and bought it!

Around lunchtime, we went up to the mall to check out Lunar Mini Golf. It was so much fun!

Image Credit: hamptonroads.com

Everything glowed in the blacklight. We had fun watching kids run around during a birthday party, and we played all 18 holes. You get three rounds of the course for the price of admission, which is only $8.00. The paintings on the walls were really epic too!

We enjoyed lunch at Red Robin before going back to Al’s for more fun.

One of the things that we were most looking forward to was playing Munchkin. Al bought the game several months ago, and then when we met in Richmond in January, Justin had given Al some extra cards.

We played two games. Before this, Al and I had only played once, just the two of us. It was awesome to have Justin play with us. It’s much better to play with at least three people, if not more.

The second game was better than the first. Justin still managed to win, even though Al and I killed him – twice!

Hoping to play with Drew, Katie, and Heaven the next time that the six of us can meet.

We went back out into the world to get dinner at Zaxby’s. When we returned, we watched a few things on Netflix and Amazon Prime while we ate, including the pilot episode of Fringe. Al was showing it to Justin, and it took me back to when Al and I watched the series together several years ago. It’s definitely a different show, but it is really cool.

On Sunday, Justin and I hung out at my house for a few hours before he drove home. He brought CSI: NY on DVD. That is the best of the CSI series, in our opinion.

This was one of the best weekends ever! I hope that Justin can come back to visit very soon.

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

Three words can accurately describe this past Saturday and Sunday for me:

Best. Weekend. Ever.

This weekend was MONTHS in the making, and it finally happened!!

There are six of us, three couples – Al and I, Drew and Katie, and Justin and Heaven.

Saturday shenanigans 🙂

Richmond is our usual meeting place, since there are three of us (Al and I, and then Katie) coming from the southeast and then the other two (Justin and Heaven) come from the north and west of the state.

Personally, I feel fortunate that all six of us currently live in the same state!

On Saturday, Al and I left early and made the drive up. I love driving to Richmond. It’s such a straightforward drive, and the traffic is super light on the weekends!

Justin greeted us in the driveway with some Nightwish blasting from his truck – What a great way to start!

After we’d all arrived, we spent a bit of time at the house getting settled.

One of the trickiest parts of the weekend was figuring out car arrangements. I had my Camry, but it only holds five people – And there were six of us.

So, we were trying to figure out the best way to divide the group into two vehicles.

Finally, Justin pulled out his Munchkin cards. Drew and I were off to the side, since we were the drivers. The other four drew a card, and it was divided based on the level on each card. The way it fell, Justin and Katie were with me, while Al and Heaven were with Drew. It worked out – One half of each couple in each vehicle!

We got in the cars and headed to CiCi’s Pizza!

Image Credit: clarksville.citysaver.com

Mmmm, their food is delicious! I got adventurous and tried the Apple Fanta. It was … interesting. It tasted like carbonated apple juice. Not bad!

At lunch, Drew told us that he had a certificate for a FREE dozen Krispy Kreme glazed donuts – YUM!

We went to the nearest one, and it was awesome! The store showed you the whole process, from the beginning dough, to fryer, to the waterfall of glaze, to box!

Image Credit: businessweek.com

When we first decided to get together for this weekend, it was getting close to Christmas. I was going to a Christmas party that holds a gift exchange every year, so I was explaining that to the group. Everyone buys a $10 gift, and then numbers are drawn. Everyone gets a gift, but gifts can be stolen.

Round 1: Heaven opened Katie’s gift – It was a framed shadowbox that held wooden letters that spelled “LONGWOOD” along with a heart, that Katie painted in the school colors of blue and white. Katie also found a vintage picture of the Ruffner building. It was awesome!

Round 2: I opened Heaven’s gift – It was this awesome sign that said “Things to Do” with a chalkboard section, complete with colored chalk. I can’t wait to hang it up on a wall when Al and I get a house!

Round 3: Justin opened Drew’s gift – It was a puzzle that shows a panoramic view of the Las Vegas strip. Even cooler, it glows in the dark!!

Image Credit: yoyo.com

Round 4: Katie opened Justin’s gift – It was a Wilton cupcake/muffin display stand. Katie loves to bake, so it was perfect 🙂 It looks a lot like the image below:

Image Credit: overstock.com

Round 5: Al opened Katie’s gift – A copy of the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie on Blu-ray!

Round 6: Drew opened the gifts from Al and I. I found this wicked NERF gun, and Al gave a $10 Google Play card. Drew loved both. He immediately tore open the packaging for the gun and started shooting. Then he redeemed the gift card for a graphic novel that was on sale.

One of the prevalent themes this weekend was playing Cards Against Humanity (CAH). This was the official debut of handwritten cards from Justin and Drew, and it was wickedly ridiculous.

And that was just the first round!!

Drew showed us something awesome for Saturday night:

Image Credit: amazon.com

The one we had basically looked liked this one, except the marshmallow roaster was square. This was so cool!

Image Credit: cheeburger.com

Before we did that, we went to dinner at Cheeburger Cheeburger, one of our favorites places! This place makes me feel like I’m in a diner in the 1950s. Their food is awesome! We all had burgers. Their onion rings are to die for!

Saturday night, after s’mores, we settled in to watch Guardians of the Galaxy. One of the best movies!!!

Originally, we were all going to sleep on the floor, but we ended up in two rooms, which was fine.

On Sunday morning, we all woke up at different times.

Al and I went downstairs to see if anyone else was up, and we managed to scare Katie half to death!

The three of us were talking in the kitchen, and then Justin joined us, then Heaven. Al, Justin, and Heaven went into the living room after a while, and Katie and I stayed in the kitchen to start breakfast – I made blueberry muffins and then Katie put cinnamon rolls in the oven.

Drew was the last to rise, and then we had breakfast. Drew had made pigs in a blanket the night before – Yum!

After we ate, we went upstairs and put in The Fellowship of the Ring while we played more CAH. We played another round, and then we all went through the gigantic deck to find out the rest of the handwritten cards. Let’s just say that we all blushed at some point!

This video is further proof. Enjoy!

Drew also gave each of us a coloring book to take home. I brought an epic 400-page Avengers activity book that he loved!!

Before we all parted ways on Sunday, we took a bunch of pictures in front of the house. Enjoy!

Al and Laura Beth 🙂

Drew and Katie 🙂

Justin, Heaven, and Drew’s kitty 🙂

The Guys 🙂

The Girls 🙂

The gang’s all here 🙂

To Al, Drew, Katie, Justin, and Heaven — THANK YOU for an epic weekend!

Cannot wait to be reunited again, hopefully SOON!

You guys are the best. I feel so lucky to have such a great group of friends!

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂