The Atlantic Coast Kite Festival is one of the things that makes the Virginia Beach area so special! It's a two-day event in early May each year (for 13 years running), the first day at the Oceanfront being the one that appeals to most of the professionals and the biggest crowds. But the second day, at Portsmouth City Park, is the one we like as it's smaller and more kid-friendly (and easier to find parking, which is a big factor with kids, let's be honest.) We went last weekend with friends and the kids in our group are still talking about it almost two weeks later.

There are several different areas at the Portsmouth festival: one for amateurs with their homemade and store-bought kites, and one for the pros, with their giant sky-dancing creations. There's a judging ring: for the kite competition, with prizes for beginners all the way up, and a spot for kids to compete in the parachute race. There's a kiosk where you can learn to make your own kite from master kite-builder Archie Stewart. And in between there's all the fun that Portsmouth City Park has to offer.

But you don't need to wait for May to fly a kite in Hampton Roads! We love any beach or Mt. Trashmore for flying ours. Where are your favorite kite-flying spaces?

My friend and fellow local blogger Brittany introduced me to Baby Talk Cafe in the Churchland area of Portsmouth and I'm so glad she did! It's difficult sometimes to find a place where, as a parent, you can go with your child and not feel like you have to spend your whole time there wrangling your child to act like an adult. Baby Talk Cafe is a coffee house that is set up specifically to let kids and adults coexist happily in the same place, and the result is wonderfully welcoming and comfortable, the kind of place you want to go back to again and again. The cafe's motto is "more than a cafe -- a community" and it really truly is.

We met up there a week or so ago for an impromptu play date and had a great time. The kids ran around in the (generously sized) play area. The moms sat on comfy couches and talked and drank coffee (which is actually GOOD) while the owner, Tanya, chatted with us about some of the upcoming events Baby Talk has hosted (including craft nights and game nights, vendor marketplaces and story times).



I posted something on Facebook last week about feeling overwhelmed since Gus was born and I get acquainted with the task of managing two children. Since then, I've heard from people telling me that they struggle with this, too.  I appreciate places like Baby Talk that let us relax and unwind WITH our kids (since it's hard to carve out time away from them). Remember to do something nice for yourself today, everyone!

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.

A lot of the finer points on sustainability were lost on our young crowd but it was interesting for us to see how many ways we use (eat, drink, even!) trees in our day to day life. This exhibit is a perfect (temporary) addition to the museum for the elementary school set, but the littlest ones will still enjoy a romp through the trees before hitting the bubble room.

Look Who Lives in Trees will be at the Children's Museum through May 17.

We've been out walking in a winter wonderland already this year and enjoyed it so much that we decided to visit the one at Portsmouth Art and Cultural Center, too. So we headed out last Wednesday with a big group of friends -- five moms, seven kids -- all bundled up against the blustery weather. It was the perfect kind of afternoon for sleigh bells and reindeer and maybe even a little snow, too.

The Portsmouth Center's Winter Wonderland is a bit of a local legend -- I remember visiting the installation at the Coleman Nursery as a kid and being enthralled at the panoramas of lights, decorated trees, and animatronic figures, dolls, and elves. It's a feeling that translated through the years. Our kids were rapt from the very first moment we saw the bright blue turrets set up outside the entrance and didn't stop oohing and ahhing as we made our way in and up the stairs to begin our tour.






A little later we were back on the ground floor again, having found all of the items on the scavenger hunt sheet that staff handed out, and we headed back outside again just in time for "snow" to start falling from the balcony overhead. All of our northern friends were bracing for the real thing and we were feeling a little left out, so a few frosty flakes were just what we needed.

The Winter Wonderland runs through December 31. Click here to read more about the history behind the Coleman Collection.

Last year, around Christmas, I posted that Anne was going through a phase in which she was excessively fond of trains. Update, this phase shows no signs of being over anytime soon. At this point, I don't ever expect it to be, I fully believe that one day I'll be driving in the car with 45-year-old Anouk and she will flip out when she hears a train whistle. Mom, a train! Can you see it, Mom? Can you?

Norfolk is a good city for trains (we were stopped by three while we were out driving last week), but sometimes you just have to get a little more up close and personal with one, and when that happens, you visit Portsmouth City Park, to ride the Pokey Smokey II, a miniature red train that chugs around the park on a 3/4-mile loop. The original Pokey Smokey began operating in 1964, but closed in 2005 due to safety concerns. The track was fixed, a new train was commissioned, and the second Pokey Smokey was put back in service in 2011 (and parents everywhere rejoiced).


Anouk loved riding on the train, especially the little stretch of the track that creeps along by the Elizabeth River and waving like crazy at the kids playing on the playground, adjacent. And there were a lot of them this sunny Saturday afternoon. The Portsmouth City Park is really a stellar park, with incredibly well-kept playground equipment, lots of shady trees to relax under, a snack bar, a friendship garden, and even a golf course with a driving range and putting green.
Did you know there's a word for love of trains and rail travel? There is: siderodromophilia. I am raising a siderodromophiliac child, how about you?