List It Friday: Galavanting In Hampton Roads, VA

It seems like the time I spent in Virginia was so long ago.  Only it was just last week.  I love visiting my best friend, Bernice.  We had so much fun!  

I’d like to think the kids did too.  Every day we were there, Bernice and I tried to incorporate something fun for them to do.

There’s no surprise that the Hampton Roads area actually has some decent entertainment for a) very cheap or b) free.  What we did in one week was just a tiny bucket list of options available.  This area is pretty awesome for families.

In honor of my List It Friday series, I thought it would be fun to recap my week in Virginia with a list of things I learned.

Children’s museums become more and more fun the older the kids get.  We visited the Children’s Museum in Portsmouth.  I have an annual membership to a musuem at home, which allows us to go to other participating museums for a fairly cheap.  (We paid for 1 child)

We take pictures here whenever we visit this museum.  It’s a fun way to see how much the kids have grown, buy how high they can reach on that big purple chair.

Being the smallest thing in the room was not the change in perspective I needed on life.  But it sure was different.

L loves trains!  I’m starting to get the sense that it is programmed into the very fibers of little boys to love anything on wheels.  I’ve never seen any of my girls play with cars and trucks and trains the way he does.  Christmas shopping should be easier.

Traveling spice kits do exist.  Isn’t this the cutest idea for a gift?  Bernice showed this to me.  Great idea for a gourmet chef on a camping trip, no?

When a pitbull wants to cuddle, you do it.  She is the sweetest and tiniest pitbull I have ever met.  And she was so good with the kids.  A terrible running partner though. 😉

Cherry Coke Zero and Sailor Jerry is quite the marriage in flavor.  Not a big drinker these days, but I do like to taste different drinks.  Thanks to Bernice, she concocted 3 new drinks (to my taste buds anyway) and I had the pleasure of sharing these and some much needed adult time with her.  Not all on the same night, of course.   
Do you have a favorite go-to drink?

Visiting the Hampton Roads area makes me miss being in the Coast Guard something fierce.  Visiting a place that brings back so many memories is like digging through a box of old photos of your ex. Getting out of the military is really like a bad break-up.  
 

Taco night isn’t legit until you have all of the “fixins.”
The struggle is real!  I love my tacos stuffed with veggies and topped with condiments.  But I hardly have time to cut and prep.  Not anymore.  It’s so simple and easy to do.  No more excuses.  We shall have all the “fixins!”

What is your favorite topping? 

//giphy.com/embed/hS4Ko9gh71Y9q 
“Under The Dome” was not something I thought I would enjoy watching.  I watched a trailer for it last year and thought “This is going to be dumb.”  Then Bernice and I decided to watch it together.  My thoughts:  I’m pretty sure Mike Vogel was not part of that trailer. 🙂 
Hellooooooooo Nurse Barbie!

Sushi coma does exist.  Very rarely do I go out and get sushi.  There is a sushi place dangerously close to my house.  I suppose if I ate out more often, I might make it a habit.  It’s nice to have the space between each coma though.  Makes for a nice treat to indulge in, and a perfect way to pass out afterwards. 

Do you like sushi?

I still maintain a fear of sticking my hand into holes containing unknown objects.  There were these wooden boxes with holes cut into them, very much like the one above, at the zoo back where I’m from.  I absolutely hated sticking my hand into them.  Of course my imagination would run off a cliff and I’d stand there frozen, unable to do it.  I think I remember touching a snake skin, a turtle shell, and maybe a conch?  Something pointy.  Anyway, I had to do some serious pep talk in order to be a boss about this whole situation.  I mean, they wouldn’t really put a live scorpion or 1000 razors inside, would they?

Dill lip balm shouldn’t exist.   I couldn’t imagine rubbing a dill pickle on my lips.  This is something straight out of Harry Potter jelly beans.


Salvation Army only employs the most extremely nice people.
It’s always a pleasurable experience when we go treasure-hunting.

School is worse than a 9-5 job, but necessary evil for getting that 9-5 job. It is a vicious cycle that Bernice knows all too well.  She faces the grind week after week, working her tail off in Grad school (So proud of her!)  I’m pretty sure she’s getting dizzy going round and round, taking some punches and returning the blows.  School work that is.  And by blows I mean getting ish done.  I’ll be there this fall, Bernice.  We can cry together.

I am not a very good eagle once I’ve stayed up and hooted with the owls.  There is no denying my awesomeness at being a morning person.  I pop up out of bed like toast with an agenda in mind.  (Most of the time)  I can’t be the eagle I need to be when the owl (Bernice) was ensuring I was properly hydrated entertained.

“Why hoot with the owls when you can soar with the eagles?”

I think that’s how the saying goes…  Can I get a life line, Bernice?