Virginia Zoo

Harper's birthday was earlier this week. Luke and I went to the zoo with her, Mairin, and Charissa to celebrate. 

Uncle Kevin, this tortoise is 88 years old and weighs over 500 pounds.

Preschool Buddies

We met Jack's sweet friends from preschool yesterday at the park. Chase, Kendall, Colton, and Jack are the four kids on the right who were buddies in Mrs. Walters' class, and the kid brothers are the two boys on the left. Somehow my kids got the dirtiest, but dirt is the first sign of fun. 

Virginia Bucket List

With our days of living in Virginia down to the single digits, our family is trying to cross some things off our Virginia Bucket List.

On Jack's list was to ride bikes to school and home, which we checked off this morning.

On Luke's bucket list was to return to City Park and show me where he played the day Charissa took him without me. I didn't think to snap any pictures there, but we also played at the mall with the girls last week, so that pic will have to do. 

On my bucket list was to show the boys the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, a History Channel Modern Marvel, and for the boys to see the Eastern Shore.

As I scrolled through the last two years of blog posts, the number of adventures we enjoyed here is staggering even if I didn't make it through the entire bucket list. 

Cousin Rich at Fort Monroe

One of the nice things about living here has been that my cousin, Rich, and his wife, Dacia, live here too. We have not had very many opportunities to spend time with them because life is busy, but we've had so much fun when we have had the chance to be with them. Rich is in the Navy band, and every few months he has let me know about kid friendly events he was playing in. A couple of weeks ago, the kids and I finally made it to a performance out on the lawn of Fort Monroe. 

Off To Kindergarten!

Jack is off to kindergarten! He was so excited that I felt a lot of joy for him along with some nervousness about the independence expected of him. That anxiety won't ease until 3:00 when I get to pick him up! I still think of him as that little baby with his first backpack in the last picture.