What's there to do in Virginia anyway?

Well, our summer vacation consisted of a quick visit to Silverspring, MD and a few stops in Southwestern Virginia. We had several stops plotted and pretty much had everything in our favor for the week, except TRAFFIC!

Stop #1- Silverspring, MD to see my brother and sis-in-law just outside of DC. It unfortunately took us almost 6 hours to get there when it should have been a 3 hour drive. We stopped for lunch and stretched our legs for a spell before sitting in the car for another 3 hours. Note to self: leave super early in the morning next time we head that way on a Saturday. We had a fantastic time visiting with our family. Staying up late (kids included) talking, enjoying some wine and great company. We even got to tour their downtown area (totally envious that everything is in walking distance) and sample some of the local cuisine. The kids had their first trip on the metro and we visited a few of the museums in DC before heading back to lounge at the pool. I think this stop was one of my favorites, we just don't get to spend as much time with The Kiger's as we'd like.


Stop#2 - Dinosaurland in Woodstock. This was just about an hour from Silverspring and we discovered that Stella gets car sick. This was her first trip through hilly terrain, but she was a trooper. Dinosaurland was a pretty cool stop. It was connected to the back of a gift shop that had about 40 different kinds of prehistoric creature statues. It was a great break for the kids to run around and explore before driving another 1.5 hours to our next destination. Bro and I weren't paying attention to our surroundings and got attacked by a Pteranadon and a lizard type dinosaur.


After a quick check in to our hotel we ventured onto Stop #3, Luray Caverns. As a kid, I always wanted to visit this place and I think I enjoyed it more than the kids did. It's a pretty large compound with lots of things to do, but we just went to explore the caverns and gift shop and headed back to the hotel. Al carried Stella a good portion of the way and I carried Bro the whole time. The little guy fell asleep in the car and didn't wake up until the tour was almost over. When he woke up the first words out of his mouth were, "Eeeewww! Big rock! Cool!" He seemed a little more interested than Stella, she thought it was kind of spooky and creepy. She really loved the gift shop and all the trinkets. Our GPS took us through the mountains back to our hotel, we were really in the middle of nowhere. We were able to visit 2 restaurants and enjoyed some local fare. We really enjoyed the Italian restaurant we visited for dinner. The kids had spaghetti and meatballs and you could tell they loved it by looking at them (with their tomato stained faces). A nice breakfast at CrackerBarrel (the Sganga's on the road breakfast stop) and off we went to Roanoke.

Stop #4 - the Hotel Roanoke. I was very excited to get to the Hotel Roanoke. In all the years that I lived in Blacksburg, I passed that beautiful hotel many times. Driving up to the hotel, I almost felt like I was in a different country. It's very reminiscent of an Alpine mountain sky lodge or something you'd find in the mountains of Europe. The hotel was built in the late 1800's by the local railway line. It had all the old world charm and patina that I absolutely love. We were greeted with warm chocolate chip cookies and off to our room we went. The hotel is right in the heart of downtown and that gave us lots of opportunities to explore and check out some of the restaurants. We even got to see lots of trains passing, which the kids really enjoyed.

We headed to Corned Beef & Co. for lunch and then up the mountain to the Mill Mt. Zoo. The zoo was much smaller than the one at home, but it was very nice and shady and we saw everything they had to offer. We even ended our mountain trip with a visit to the Discovery Station. They had some pretty neat, hands on things for the kids and then back to the hotel for some pool time. We had dinner downtown at a bar and grill and then back to the hotel for baths and bedtime.

Stop #5 - No trip in SWVA would be complete without a stop in Blacksburg to visit our beloved VT campus. Al and I were excited to stroll through our old stomping grounds and show the kids where we went to school. We needed to load up on Hokie gear so we headed to the S.Main book store. It was a lot different from the last time I was there, nice and updated. We probably spent almost an hour in there looking at stuff. Most importantly, the kids walked out with things they really loved. Stella got a little stuffed animal kitty and my sweet little boy walked out with 2 VT pompoms. That's right folks, he wanted pompoms. As we walked through downtown, he proudly waved his Hokie pompoms in the air. We went to Macado's for lunch and the kids were thoroughly entertained by all the statues and tchotchkes. The grown ups were just happy to enjoy a delicious sandwich, they just don't make them like that around here. The Cowpoke and Bobagger were super yummy.

We headed to Pandapas Pond (our old fishing hole) after lunch and walked the perimeter of the lake. We saw a little of the wildlife, butterflies, minnows, frogs and geese. Bro was very sad to leave the pond. We stopped once more at VT's drill field to let the kids run wild and then headed back to the Hotel Roanoke.

It was our last night in Roanoke and we enjoyed some more pool time and then headed downtown to one of the best Thai places ever. The kids gobbled up their noodles in record time and Al and I were able to enjoy a delicious dinner. The owners were very gracious and accomodating and even entertained the kids with magic tricks. If we lived there, that totally would be our Thai place. After dinner, we walked down to their version of Skinny Dip called Frogurt and had a little dessert.

Bath time and pj's and then a nice evening drive up Mill Mt. to see the Mill Mt. Star. Stella was the only kid awake so she and I went to see the star. She was in awe of how big it was and loved having her picture taken with it. She called it the 'North Star' and had fun playing peek-a-boo with the star on our ride back to the hotel. I couldn't believe that Bro slept through the car ride, a walk back to the hotel and an elevator ride! The boy slept all the way through to the next morning. Our last morning in Roanoke, we had a yummy hotel breakfast and then started our trek home via Rt. 460. The kids slept a few hours and then we made our last stop at the Virginia Diner for lunch.
It was a week filled with fun and and adventure, lots of great memories made. Who knew Virginia had so many great things to offer! I look forward to planning our next trip, but not for a while! :0)

One busy week...

Well this was one busy and HOT week. We headed out to Pungo Blueberry on Monday with some of our friends and Nanay. Good thing we went out early in the morning because it became a steamy day. It was our first blueberry/blackberry picking trip, ever and it was loads of fun. I especially enjoyed watching the kids play hide and seek through the aisles. I didn't enjoy having to chase them down the aisles as they drifted further away from me and the moms. Stella enjoyed picking until her basket got too heavy and Bro enjoyed eating the berries straight off the bushes. Nanay was left behind in the blueberry patch while we went to check out the blackberries. The blackberries weren't quite ready yet. The ones we did find were nice and sweet and juicy. Stella like to pick the sour ones and Bro liked to pick the red ones and eat them. We only got one basket of blackberries and they were gobbled up by the next day. When we went back to find Nanay, she was no where to be found so we circled both patches twice and found her hiding in the blueberry patch. When we took our pickings to the scale, we ended up picking almost 8lbs of blueberries. They were delicious! I made a blueberry cobbler and froze the rest of the berries.

Al's cousin was down from New England and we visited with them for a while at the beach. It was a perfect overcast day and the waves weren't too rough. The kids had lots of fun chasing and being chased by the water. It was nice to catch up for a while, but our trip was ended short because of a cranky little boy who was in desperate need of a nap.







That afternoon, we had enjoyed a family outing to the Tides game. Al's office had a client event at the park and we got to tailgate before the game and watched a few innings. We were able to watch a couple of trains go by the park up close. Bro was in awe of all the action going on once we were in our seats. I think his favorite thing was the music. Every time they played a song in between batters, he would dance a little jig. His favorite cheer was "Charge." Stella was just happy to have her own lemonade. We ended up leaving during the 3rd inning because the kids had ants in their pants.







Since it's been so hot this week, we haven't been to the pool or beach too much. I decided to take the kids to the beach one evening after dinner with my parents since Al had to work late. We drove down to Croatan beach and enjoyed an hour of playing in the sand and water. It was a beautiful night, light breeze on the beach and ocean was nice and calm. The kids got to dig a giant hole with Tatay and Bro tried to chase some waves.




The summer's almost gone, but we're going to enjoy every minute of what we have left before we get back to the routine of school.

Our mad science experiments...

Last night, after the kids were in bed, I went to a few of my favorite craft websites. I saved a few of the crafts and thought I'd do them with the kids this week. Today was day number one of crafts and we started the morning with bubbles out back. The kids love bubbles and they asked to play with bubbles first thing this morning. One of the crafts I found was to make your own bubble stick with a few straws taped together. I used 5 straws and taped them together with scotch tape. Then I filled the bubble cap with some bubble solution, dipped the stick in the solution and then let Bro blow through the straws. It made tons of little bubbles and Bro didn't suck up nearly as much solution as he normally did, and he had so much fun blowing bubbles. Normally, with a regular bubble stick he's lucky to blow one bubble. So, craft number one was a success and we'll use that idea again.

Our second craft was the 'goop.' A few months ago, Stella spent the day with her cousins and Aunt and they made 'goop.' I made two batches, one pink one for Stella and one blue one for Bro. The kids loved it and it was super easy to make. Everything you need should be easily found in your pantry. The recipe said it would take an hour to do, but it took about 5 minutes to mix up. The only downfall is if you use food coloring, it will temporarily stain your hands. Bro really enjoyed playing with it and wanted to eat it many times, I'm sure he snuck a taste when I wasn't looking. Clean up was pretty easy too.

Stella is all ready asking about what we're going to do next so I better get busy coming up with our 'to do's' for craft time. Below you'll find the recipes for the goop, volcano (great fun too), and straws.

Tell a
Friend: "http://familyfun.go.com/crafts/preschool-potions-860002/"

Tell a Friend: "http://familyfun.go.com/crafts/tiny-bubbles-668489/"

One woman's trash is another woman's treasure...

This past February, a girlfriend of mine and I went 'treasure hunting' in some thrift stores and antique shops (mainly in Norfolk). I had never had much luck finding any 'treasures' in my previous hunts, but hit the jackpot this day. I came home with 2 side tables (1950's-60's) and a gorgeous dresser/buffet (1920's-40's). I didn't even break the bank with my purchases. Great company, awesome deals and a new hobby filled my day.

I decided to tackle the side tables first. I thought they'd go in my bedroom, but they were a bit bigger than I thought so they found a new home in our tv room. I didn't want to go with a 'safe' color so I thought I'd have fun and paint them a turquoise blue. When I started the refinishing process, I discovered someone else started sanding one of the tables, but didn't get very far. After much sanding and many, many coats of turquoise the tables were finally finished. It took a few weeks to finish between nap times, school pickups and all the other endless everyday things. Once I moved them into the tv room, they looked like they belonged and it made my heart smile. Unfortunately, my favorite lamp didn't survive a battle with my little boy and made it's way into the trashcan instead of on top of one of the tables. Stella and I made a trip to our favorite home store (the name slips my mind right now) and got two spectacular lamps. Originally, I wanted a different lamp, but they didn't have any in stock. I think the ones we came home with look even better.

It was about 2 months after I finished the side tables when I decided to get to work on the dresser. I was really at a loss of where to start, I was afraid to mess it up. So, I logged onto DIY network and got some tips and also checked out "This Old House" and found everything I needed. I thought when I bought the piece I would paint it black, but the more I looked at it, the more I fell in love with the way the wood looked and knew that I couldn't paint over it. It was a pain staking process with all the removal of the shiny urethane finish and removal of some of the wood stain. After many pairs of gloves and steel wool, it was finally time to restain. I chose one of the darkest wood stains you can find, aside from black and I had such a hard time with the wood soaking up the stain. I had read that sometimes old wood just won't take stain as easily as new wood so I persisted with the continuous staining process. I realized that I wasn't going to get it as dark as I really wanted, but the work I did still looked really good. The end was near and all that was left was cleaning up the hardware on the dresser. I think that was the biggest pain of all, but the drawer pulls cleaned up nicely and within a few days, Al was able to help me move it into our room and move the old dresser out to the garage.

I'm really pleased with the way everything turned out, even if it wasn't the way I had originally envisioned it all. I have more plans of going 'treasure hunting' for more furniture pieces for my bedroom and eventually Stella's room as well. I think it's great if you can find something old that you really fall in love with and bring new life to it. I like that I can find stuff that's made well and re purpose it. It beats spending thousands of dollars on furniture that you can find in a show room and adds a little character to our home, not to mention a great story to tell.

Girl time anyone?

This week, Stella and I had a chance to have two days devoted to 'girl time.' On Friday, I took Stella to the Aquarium for a 'mommy & me' girl's outing. We put on our fancy dresses, a little makeup and toured the Ocean side of the Aquarium. Afterwards, she and I enjoyed a nice lunch at one of her favorite restaurants, Panera.

Stella also had her first sleepover at our house with her cousin. I took the girls to the zoo for the summer 'Zoo Grooves' evening. The zoo was open that evening and we had a chance to listen to some music, tour the zoo and play in the fountains. I think the girls enjoyed the fountains the most. My favorite was the new exhibit and seeing all the animals up close. It's funny how the animals are so different in the evening.

To end the weekend, Mommy had her own 'girl time' with some other mommy friends. It was a great week and we're looking forward to 'Farm Camp' this week, Stella had her first day today and fell asleep on the ride home. Sounds like it's going to be another exciting week!

Here they come...

This morning when the kids and I went to water our garden we found a wonderful surprise! We got to harvest our first veggie, a nice big cucumber. As we looked around, we found many little cucumbers growing. Stella's looking forward to watering again tomorrow to see if any others are ready to be eaten. (The top left picture is what our garden looked like when it was first planted).

So far, we're having lots of luck growing our little garden. Last month, I dug out a little 4x4 plot, made the garden box and put a little fence around it to keep the critters from eating the plants. We chose to grow squash, cucumbers, hot peppers, red bell peppers, tomatoes and Japanese eggplants. We also have herbs growing in planters that are really thriving.

Hopefully we can find some recipes to make yummy pickles and other goodies. I'm also looking forward to 'farming' again in the fall, maybe even plant another plot.

Night out with Tatay and Nanay

I had been procrastinating getting a new zoo membership for the family. The kids love going to the zoo so much I just had to do it and renew our membership. Yesterday, I went online and renewed it and happened to check the upcoming events. To my surprise, the zoo was having a member's only 'night out' at the zoo. Stella was so excited to go and she wanted to show our 'new zoo' to her Nanay and Tatay. The zoo was open later from 530p-8p and we were there the entire time! Hard to believe 2.5 hours was spent exploring the zoo. We were so excited that the animals were all so active and they were clearly visible from all viewing points. I think we were most excited to see the Tigers because last time we were there, they were hiding out in their 'cave.' It was probably one of the best times we've had at the zoo. Bro was so into everything and was amazed at all the big animals. He knew what they were and could tell me the names of just about every animal he saw. I was very surprised that the kids didn't fall asleep in the car because of all the walking they did plus it was way past their bedtime. Can't wait to go to the next event!