I wrote a while ago about Norfolk Botanical Garden's Mission Monarch -- a project designed to highlight the recent decrease in monarch butterfly populations and educate both kids and adults about ways to protect them. As part of Mission Monarch, NBG has erected a 600-ft Monarch Migration Flyway to illustrate the incredible journey that the butterflies undertake when they migrate to Mexico each...
We have been having a crazy time these past few weeks as our house undergoes some serious renovations. Remember all that rain we had back in the spring? It wreaked a fair amount of havoc on pretty much every room in our house, thanks to a faulty roof. We're fixing it now, and excited about how it will turn out, but our house...
One of my favorite things about Anne is how she loves mechanical things (wheels, horns, engines) just as much as she adores princesses, dolls, and pink. I wasn't prepared for how much exactly she would, but in the two years that we've lived in the Hampton Roads area, we have amassed quite the list of places to go to see planes, trains, and...
Anouk and I were super excited to find out the other day that the long-closed-for-renovations barnyard at the Virginia Zoo in Norfolk has partially reopened! We were even more excited when we trucked back there to discover that the main pen has been completely populated by adorable friendly goats. The new petting-zoo setup means that visitors are free to enter and roam around...
Here are a few snaps from one of our favorite adventures so far this summer -- blueberry picking at Beatson's Blueberry Farm in Virginia Beach. We went on a truly hot day (the temp was in the high 90s) and as a result, didn't get quite as many berries as we'd planned but we had a great time picking and talking and singing...
One of my favorite things to do in Hampton Roads is visit the many different historic houses that our area has to offer. From colonial times to the Civil War to 20th century glamour, this area has seen so many great events of US history. It's such a wonder to be able to step back and experience a taste of them by walking...
Lately, reading with Anne has gotten really fun. She not only can pick which books she wants but she has started to really understand the stories and we will talk about them long after we've finished reading, making up alternate endings and talking about other things the characters would do. Our list of favorite books is growing longer every day. One of my...
Just to switch things up a little, we've been trying to visit playgrounds lately that are outside our normal beat. This is what led us to Fort Fun in Newport News a few weekends ago. I'd heard great things about the recently renovated (in the last couple of years) playground, which is located in Huntington Park, on the James River. The renovations...
