Every time we go to the Outer Banks we come home with a new favorite place to find eatable treats and for this past trip we took in June, the highlight was Zen Pops in Kitty Hawk. I have a milk allergy that makes it difficult to find a place where we can all enjoy (quality) frozen treats together (nobody wants the sad token sorbet. nobody). Luckily, the majority of Zen Pops' menu is dairy free and there are tons of vegan options, so there is something there for everyone. Hooray!

Oh, there's so much to love about this place and I am not just talking the salted caramel pops (my fave) or the coconut lime pzletas (Anouk's) or the made-right-there-in-the-back vegan ice cream cookie (James's). Zen Pops uses organic ingredients (including cane sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup) and oh, speaking of sugar, all of their recipes feature just 3-5 grams of sugar per serving, so you don't have to worry about the kids bouncing off the walls. All of the packaging is eco-friendly, and even the popsicle sticks are cleaned and recycled and donated to the nearby kids' museum to be used in crafts. Whew!

So yes: we ♥ Zen Pops, forever and ever, and can't wait to visit them again. If you're heading to OBX, stop by!

Road trip

James's family visited in June and we went on a road trip to the Eastern Shore of Virginia. Half our group went kayaking to Smith Island and half drove into Cape Charles for lunch and shopping.



Beach Day

We met up with friends and spent the day at Yorktown beach -- heaven! It might have even surpassed East Beach as my fave beach for kids: there's restrooms and restaurants nearby, and the river water is shallow and warm and gentle enough for the smallest baby (just watch out for the occasional jellyfish)



Homemade ice cream

We shared our mint-chocolate-chip coconut cream recipe last week. So yum.



Nature journal

This has been a fun way to spice up our daily walks and bike rides. While A. and I are out, we keep our eyes peeled for interesting animals and plants; when we get home she draws them and practices her writing while I look up fun facts about them on my phone. Did you know some ants can live for 30 years? Or that a dragonfly's larval stage can last up to two years?



Swimming lessons 

A. took swimming lessons at the local YMCA. Not only were they super cheap ($35 for 10 hours of lessons, for members), but she learned a lot and had a lot of fun.



Paint pottery

We headed down to Color Me Mine, in Ghent, on a rainy day last week. Can't wait to pick up our completed pieces, follow us on Instagram to see how they turned out (and for more summertime adventures).



Find our full not-bummer-summer list here and be sure to let us know what you are up to around #HRVA (and beyond) this summer! We're always up for new ideas.

When you think of summer reading, you usually imagine it happening by the side of the pool or under a beach umbrella. Sadly (but truly) most of mine this year has happened in the middle of the night as I struggle with insomnia. When I was pregnant with Anouk I feel like I did nothing but sleep, with this one, I feel like there is something new every night to keep me awake (heartburn is the latest and greatest).

So that's the bad news; the good news is that I've managed to get through a ton of books on my summer reading list even though summer is only just officially here. And if you can't get what you want (sleep glorious sleep) having a good book to keep you company is at least a comfort.


China Rich Girlfriend by Kevin Kwan: This is a sequel to two summers' ago Crazy Rich Asians, which was also a fave beach read of mine. There is something about reading about fabulous rich people and their drama and exploring a part of the world (Singapore/Hong Kong) that I usually don't read about that makes for a wonderful poolside (and I did actually read this one by the pool, over Memorial Day weekend) read. Just when you think things can't get more shocking (a character arrives by helicopter to crash a wedding) they do (poison!) Love it. NOTE: I was gifted a copy of this book by the publisher.

Disclaimer by Renee Knight: What The Girl on the Train was trying to be, a mystery with a twist I didn't see coming. Catherine receives a book with the "resemblance to real people and events" disclaimer crossed out, the story recounts a secret that she's been trying to keep hidden for 20 years. Plus this mysterious book has an ending in which the unnamed author gets a grisly revenge, so C. better find him before he finds her.

Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll: You would think that Ani (formerly Tiffani) would be gracious and generous after pulling herself up to join Manhattan's elite but she isn't, she's still bitchy and hardscrabble and that's why I love her. She's also determined to set the record straight regarding her pask but will these old events threaten to pull her back down again? I loved this book -- it was so much smarter and funnier and ultimately tenderer than I expected.

The Bookseller: This one's a bit like that old movie Sliding Doors: Kitty, a career-driven spinster (by 1960s) standards, begins to have vivid dreams of a second life in which she's a wife and mother. As her dreams become more and more real, you begin to wonder: which is actually her real life? And which is the dream? I felt this one was bittersweet in the end as Kitty was forced to choose one path over the other -- but isn't that what basically happens in every life? You give some things up to embrace others.

In the Unlikely Event by Judy Blume: Three plane crashes in three months in one town during the 1950s sounds pretty impossible but it really happened and it's the basis for Judy Blume's supposed last novel, which connects families and friends in various ways across four decades. It wasn't a perfect or even perfectly satisfying book ultimately but reading it did feel like visiting an old friend. Plus Judy Blume's Summer Sisters is the epitome of summer reading, how could I not pick up this one too?

The Life and Death of Sophie Stark by Anna North: I think the last book I read that so perfectly summed up a character without ever going into that character's head was The Great Gatsby and Sophie Stark is a little like that, as Sophie the avant garde filmmaker is basically her own creation and lives off of others' stories rather than her own. I never really sank into this book -- as I was reading I kept telling myself I would give up after the next chapter, but then kept picking it up again. Like Sophie herself, the book is unsettling.

Anouk and I have been making a lot of progress on our not-bummer-summer list over the past couple of weeks (stay tuned for an official update). One of our favorite projects so far has been making this recipe for homemade coconut ice cream! Not only is it dairy-free (good for me and my allergy), it's no churn and requires no cooking, which makes it definitely the easiest DIY ice cream recipe we've come across. You just combine all the ingredients and pop it in the freezer, you're done!

We made our ice cream mint chocolate chip flavored, because we're mint chocolate chip ice cream
fiends.

Ingredients:

• 1 can coconut cream (like this kind from Trader Joe's) 
• 6 tbsp sugar
• 3 tablespoons soy (or almond) milk
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp peppermint extract
• 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips 

Combine the coconut cream, sugar, milk, and extracts in a blender and blend until smooth. Add the chocolate chips and stir. Pour into a loaf pan or square baking pan and freeze for two hours, or until solid. Note: this recipe freezes kind of hard, so you might want to remove from the freezer and thaw for 5-10 minutes before serving.

Yum!

ARTS:

• Reading At the Waters Edge by Sara Gruen
• Reading Chinese Rich Girlfriend 
• Reading Fiercombe Manor
• Seeing Chihuly in the garden at the Chrysler Museum
• Enjoying this piece on Fresh Air on "life, sex, and elevators in space"

FOOD:

• Family ice cream date at Doumar's
• Harvesting the first produce of the year from our garden (some early green beans and strawberries)

PLACES:

• East Beach Farmer's Market opens for the season
• A beautiful day in Gloucester to celebrate Cathy M. (congrats again!!) 

STUFF:

• New Argan and Rosehip face cream from Flutterby Soap Company
• Our backyard hammock 
• Brand-new Birks for the summer
• Museum tickets won at the school auction!

ETC.:

• Mothers Day tea at A.'s school and James doing home repairs as my present (best ever)
• Ladybugs for our garden from our awesome neighbor
• Memorial day cookout x2, with a pool party on top
• Joining the huge lightsaber fight at Town Point Park for May the Fourth 
• Kitchen dance party to a random best of punk rock list we found on the internet
• Thrifting with M. and M.
• Sewing/playdate with Mylinh and Terri
• Spending weekday time with friends Angela and Baby T.
• Seeing the baby zebra and baby siamang at the zoo
• Anouk learning how to say no in French and having bilingual tantrums ("Non! I won't go to bed!!")
• "We celebrate mommies when it's St. Mother's Day." -A.
• Halfway through baking Baby #2 (wahoo!)

We visited the Wright Brothers National Memorial on our vacation a few weeks ago -- nobody in our group had ever been, and I had just days before listened to David McCullough talk about his new Wright Brothers book on NPR, so I was really excited to go. Most people associate the Wrights with Dayton, Ohio, were they were born and began their work, but the actual first flight that put them on the map happened in the Outer Banks in 1903 -- right where the memorial and museum are located now, in fact.

It was about a hundred degrees (literally) but that didn't stop the kids from zooming around on Wilbur and Orville's original flight path pretending to be airplanes (with the help of a glider from the gift shop Anne got to try a little flight of her own). When it got too hot for that, we went back inside to look at all of the portraits lining the walls of the main room, of important figures in aeronautics history (so cool).

But by far the best part was the talk the park guide gave, on the Wright Brothers, their lives, their work, and the history of the Outer Banks and what it was like when they worked there. It was about a half hour long, all together, and our speaker was so knowledgeable and passionate about the topic that his words made me tear up. There is something about the "death of impossibility" that the Wright Brothers made come about that is inspiring even all these years later. It was also pretty shocking to put it all together and realize that only 66 years after that first 12-second flight man walked on the moon. Crazy!

Anyway, that was MY favorite part of the visit, the four and one year olds we brought were not so into it and got tired pretty quickly. But for older kids, especially aviation buffs, this is an OBX must-see.

Do you know the concept of a not-bummer-summer list? It's from the Judy Moody movie that came out a couple of years ago, a list of things to do to make an ordinary summer super special. Since we're not doing camp this year, and in the interest of keeping Anouk occupied somehow during these long hot days, I suggested that we make a not-bummer-summer list of our own (our friends at Not-So-SAHM inspired us with their awesome summer bucket list). After some thought, here's what A. and I came up with to make our summer vaca extra awesome:



I'm wondering how far we'll get (being pregnant in the summer kinda zaps your energy) but we're going to give it our best attempt. We'll keep you updated!

What are you and your kids doing for the summer? Any plans?

Just a quick midweek note to say...we know everybody loves to play in the zoo fountains up front by the entrance, but don't forget the smaller ones over by the tigers/otters. We spent some time there on a hot day last week with friends and had an absolute blast (and it was much less crowded).



There's a lot going on at the zoo these days, some highlights: a new Masai giraffe has arrived (Noelly) and we heard from a keeper that Imana, the resident female, is expecting her second calf? foal? in late summer. Speaking of baby animals, the baby zebra (Emilie!) is out and about in the enclosure and on our most recent visits, we've spied her running and jumping like crazy. There's also the new cassowary exhibit, over by the binturongs, worth a look. Oh, and the goats are back for the season.

We love our zoo!

The Elizabeth River Park reopened this past weekend, after being closed for extensive renovations, and we were there to check it out! The park is a unique one in the area, with a special focus on boating and outdoor watersports -- the boat landing there on the Elizabeth River is famous because it leads right to the Hot Ditch, a famous fishing spot in the HRVA area. Besides the improved landing, there's now a snack shack, large picnic area, playground, and small fishing/crabbing pier.

Probably the coolest thing about the park though is that it sits right in the shadow of the new South Norfolk Jordan Bridge. The bridge, which is almost 170 feet tall, allows the huge ships from the shipyard across the river to pass right under, providing a really spectacular sight. The old vertical-life bridge still stands, which is also pretty neat to see. The new bridge features a pedestrian walkway and I have plans to walk it in the future sometime -- it's supposed to provide some of the best views in the area!

We spent the day playing and fishing from the pier -- James and A. caught crab or two apiece (but we tossed them back, too small). I can already tell this is going to be a good summertime destination for us!
 

A few weeks ago I received a review copy of The Picnic: Recipes and Inspiration from Basket to Blanket and was super excited, since picnics are a regular thing around here and we are always looking for new ways to liven them up. The book turned out to be a treasure trove of tips for making outdoor meals more convenient and picturesque and recipes for putting together the perfect array of food and drink for a well-balanced meal.

This fruit salad recipe was our favorite recipe we found. We've already tested it on a recent playground lunch and we made it again over the holiday weekend to take to one of the many BBQs we attended. It was a hit! Everybody in the world seems to love cherries, pistachios, and mint separately and when you put them together they seem exotic and extra-special. The tartness of the cherries matches well with the mint and the pistachios are a perfect added crunch.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb Bing or Ranier cherries (stemmed, pitted, and halved)
• 1/2 cup shelled, roasted and salted pistachios
• 1/4 cup fresh mint leaves, thinly sliced

Toss together ingredients and serve in your prettiest bowl. Pro tip: use a chopstick to easily pit the cherries. I read that in The Picnic, too! I told you this book was handy.

Happy Monday!