We kept Anne's birthday celebration kind of small this year -- a family dinner the night before, and a special birthday lunch and visit to the aquarium the day of. Because our little foodie baby loves eating out, our list of potential birthday lunch locations was a long one. Finally, we decided to narrow our search to restaurants near the aquarium, for logistics'...
Two years ago today, I woke up feeling a little off. After a morning spent wondering whether we should call the doctor, J. decided he'd feel better if we went in and got things checked out. So we piled into the car. I wasn't due until May 10th, but I wasn't worried. My high-risk pregnancy had been marked with dozens of similar ER...
With all of the gardening prep going on at our house lately, Anne has started to get very interested in plants and seedlings. I thought we should try to grow something, to give her a sense of the process. It's still a little early to start our seedlings for our garden, and besides, I wanted something a little more toddler friendly (i.e., able...
In celebration of the first day of spring, I thought I'd post about one of our favorite outside spaces, which is the Fred Heutte Center in Ghent. The Heutte Center is located deep in a residential area, which means that unless you're a neighborhood resident, you probably haven't come across it before. I first discovered the center and its gardens as a student...
The Virginia Living Museum was one of my favorite places to go growing up, the absolute best field trip destination. While I always loved the zoo and the aquarium, there was something special about the VLM. The animals weren't exotic but native to my home state, ones I could, theoretically encounter in my backyard. And yet at the museum, I had a chance...
Our garden last year was a bit of a bust. We moved into our new house in July, and by the time we got our plot ready and put our plants in, it was too hot for anything to really take hold. Our squash and greens fizzled, and aside from a few root vegetables, we really didn't get much of a crop. This...
At long last, spring is beginning to spring in earnest, and Anouk and I are saying a temporary goodbye to some of our favorite indoor play spaces in favor of some old -- and new -- outdoor ones. Our goal for the warmer months this year is to try to hit up a new park at least once a week (hopefully we can...
Nothing's better than a steaming hot pizza pie on a cold winter's day. Click on over to My Active Child to read about our recent visit to Pungo Pizza! ...
The flu is stalking our household. It got me first, and then Anouk. (J., for the moment, has been spared.) We've been spending a lot of time indoors, naturally. One of the best ways we've found to pass the long hours is to sit in front of our picture window and watch the robin redbreasts who have started congregating in our front yard...
