With all of these beautiful mild days this winter we've had to really search for new places to go for family "hikes" (I use quotes because it's virtually impossible to actually hike in the Hampton Roads area, the best you can hope for is a nice flat pretty walk). But one of the prettiest nice flat walking places we've found on our travels is Hoffler Creek Wildlife Preserve, in the Western Branch area of Portsmouth.

Right in the middle of Hoffler Creek revolves is Lake Ballard. A trail that winds around the lake, with littler trails peek off from the main one like spokes. To explore each one would take the better part of an afternoon. During our last visit, we visited the kids trail, where A. had fun looking out for the yellow blazes that marked the path, a bird blind overlooking the river, and the Oyster Pier, where we saw baby oysters resting in protective baskets as part of a restoration project. There's also the homestead trail, leading to the site where the Ballard family used to live, and a Bluebird Trail, which is popular with birders.



Hoffler Creek is set up to get kids excited about nature, offering guides that point out native plants and giving kids the chance to look out for wildlife and mark them on a wildlife sighting map. An interactive play area is in the works. For bigger kids (with adult supervision), kayaks can be rented for a fee.

There are some exciting events coming up at Hoffler Creek this spring, including a volunteer work day (keep our area beautiful!) and a Spring Tasting Tour which will teach you to identify and cook with edible plants around the preserve. Read more and register here.

While we love the Children's Museum of Virginia, sometimes it's nice to change things up and that's what we did back in November, with a day trip to visit the Children's Museum of Richmond. We started the day with a "sunrise" visit to see Santa and decided that we'd better check out the rest of the offerings while we had the chance.

The Richmond Children's museum is a lot like our local one in Portsmouth, but with some fun differences. We loved the television studio, where we could do the weather report and practice reading the news on camera. The schoolroom was a hit with Anouk. And the carousel! With some of the most whimsical carved animals I've ever seen. We could have ridden it all day.






And then there was the art room. Oh, the art room! It was kind a paradise, I could have spent all day there even without my kids. You had boxes and bins of art supplies and big tables at which to sit and create free-form art, or else to follow one of the instruction sheets to make a craft (a picture frame, magnet, small flag).

Outside there were more offerings, with an al fresco artist's hut and sandbox, but it was raining (boo) and we didn't get to see everything there. I guess that means we'll have to go back soon!

The verdict: worth a day trip, pair with Oreo pancakes for lunch at Galaxy Hut and Maymont Park after lunch and you've got a perfect way to spend a school vacation day. Spring break ideas anyone?