Pokey Smokey II at Portsmouth City Park

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?

Sand Clay

I've had a bag of sand hanging out in the garage since I planted my raspberry bushes a few months ago (they like a mix of sand and soil for good drainage). The hardware store where I bought my bag only carried sand in 50 lb increments, and I only used about 2 lbs in my planting, which means I have 48 left to use up somehow. Enter sand clay.

The texture of this clay is just like a grainy play-dough, but the real fun of it is that it will dry hard, meaning that you can use it to make summer treasures to keep.

Ingredients:

2 cups sand
1 cup cornstarch
1.5 cups water
2 tsps alum (found in the spice aisle)

Directions:

Combine the ingredients over medium-low heat, stirring constantly. Within a few minutes, the dough will begin to thicken up like playdough. Turn out onto a surface, kneading smooth when cool enough to touch. Shape and let dry overnight (or longer) to set. The clay can be stored in an airtight container for three or four days or so.

We made a sand castle, of course, and used our beach toys to cut out shapes and some shells from a recent beach trip to decorate them with. About halfway through I realized I could make Christmas tree ornaments and so I worked on that while A. made a few extremely scary sand snakes. We set our shapes outside in the sun to dry (it took about 12 hours) and put the rest away to play with over the next few days (by the end of day four it was gummy and pretty much finished). And only one piece broke, which is a higher success rate than we've had with either salt clay or baking soda clay.

I think this would be a great craft for when you want a little beachy fun but can't get to the beach, or a creative way to use up some of that sand you might bring back from a special beach vacation. I have a jar of sand somewhere that J. and I brought back from the red sand beaches of Prince Edward Island a few years ago -- if I can find it, I'm going to pull it out and make of ornaments out of it.

That last picture makes me think of this. Snake! A snaaaaake!

Tides are In

 A couple of weekends ago, my sister came into town from DC, and my uncle noticed that the Norfolk Tides, our local minor baseball league team, were offering a deal for Buy 5 tickets, Get 5 tickets free. Put them together and what do you have? Family baseball night. Hooray!

We set out to Harbor Park on a drizzly Saturday night hoping that the rain would hold off so that we could see the Tides play the Rochester Red Wings. It also happened to be Navy Appreciation Night, which meant that we got to listen to the Navy band, see a group of young men and women be inducted into the service, and cheer for a few military men and women (and military spouses) who were being recognized that evening. I feel like nothing says Norfolk like the Navy, and so I was extra proud of my hometown when I saw the crowd that had turned out that night.

Our seats were fantastic -- right behind home plate, which meant that A. got to see most of the action unfold only a few feet away. She was entranced by everything that was going on -- she kept up a pretty steady stream of commentary that could give the official Tides announcer a run for his money ("That man goes up there. He hits the ball. He running! Wow, he run!") For all that, I still think that she was more into the games in-between innings than she was the actual baseball game -- she cheered harder for the teams racing to build a giant hamburger than she did any time one of our players got a hit. (Although the hamburger race was very exciting that night, with one team running the wrong way and another forgetting the cheese).

We also introduced Anouk to cotton candy while we were at Harbor Park that fateful Saturday. She was definitely a fan of that, eating almost one whole bag by herself and then crashing hard from the sugar high. This coincided with the point at which the rain started in earnest, so we left at the top of the 7th inning. But we still felt like we got a good amount of excitement out of the evening -- we couldn't have asked for more.*

*Except maybe the Tides to not get shut out, but that's a small thing, right?

Go team! Have you ever been to a Tides game? What's your local minor league team called? (I still think Richmond has the best with the Flying Squirrels).

12 in 12 (August 2013)

It's August, and therefore time for another 12 photos in 12 hours. I feel like every time this project rolls around we have a really boring day and I long to be able to put my camera aside and wait to shoot when something more interesting is happening. It's hard to find the inspiration when you're just not feeling it. But I guess that's why this project is important -- it gives me a chance to search for something special in the little moments that don't seem very inspiring. And isn't that what most of life is?

I'm sure Rebecca and Darcy had far more interesting days, so be sure to check out their blogs today too. Here's to you, August 2013! Can you believe we're more than halfway through August already?

9:45 AM: It's a hot day that's only supposed to get hotter, so A. and I take our trip to the park as early as possible, right after breakfast. Despite our best-laid plans, it still feels like we're sitting in someone's armpit. Bleh. However, the chubby baby legs (climbing so high!) made me smile.

11:00 AM: A quick stop by the Virginia Tech Agricultural Research and Extension Center, a site that I'm thinking of reviewing for the blog based on a recommendation by my friend E. It looks interesting so A. and I make plans to come back later in the week when we have a little more time to explore (and when it will hopefully be cooler).

12:00 PM: Anouk's lunch: chicken nuggets, cucumber, goat cheese, and ketchup. Lots of ketchup. Anouk likes everything with a side of ketchup these days. Mama's lunch: a second latte and a few handfuls of Captain Crunch (not pictured because it was eaten hurriedly while A.'s back was turned, I want to keep her from a horrible lifelong Crunch addiction).

1:30 PM: While Anouk naps, I try on the bridesmaid dress I'm wearing in K. & D.'s wedding to see if I need to alter it at all. I can't believe I'm going to be wearing this beautiful dress in less than two months! I can't wait to see two of the best people that I know get married to each other. It's going to be rad.

2:15 PM: I reached for this magnetic Disney Princess set when we were in the thrift store a week or two ago to distract a very whiny Anouk from trying to jump out of the cart. It worked and she basically hasn't stopped playing with it since. Totally worth the $1.50 I paid for it.

3:30 PM: Kroger! Grocery shopping goes six times faster when the car-cart is available.

4:45 PM: The Josie-cat watches the squirrels in our yard. She got a clean bill of health at her checkup at the vet last week, not one issue for our 14-year-old girl. I hope this means we'll have her for 14 more.

6:00 PM: It's too hot to cook so we go out for dinner at Guad's at Granby. Our waitress was nice enough to bring A. her own bowl of  salsa because she understands that sometimes, you just have to double-dip your chip.



7:30 PM: On the way home, we stopped for a family portrait in the window of the H&R block. If I was still a humanities undergrad, I could write a fifteen page paper on how this photo is a commentary on the attitudinal changes between the American family in today's recession versus the Great Depression of the 1930s, and I would draw allusions to Grant Wood and Dorothea Lange and Sinclair Lewis. But luckily I'm not and so I don't have to do that kind of thing ever again.

8:30 PM: Bedtime cuddles with Daddy.

"Mama's Music"

Lately, I've been enjoying housework and driving around from errand to errand more than usual and this is because Anouk has been requesting "mama music" lately instead of her usual kids' music. Hooray! I am only too happy to hook up my iPhone and oblige her. One because there are only so many times you can listen to Dan Zanes before you want to throttle him.

Two, because one of my favorite memories from growing up is going through a big stack of records with my dad and listening to his favorite songs, which became favorites for me, too -- Pure Prairie League's "Amie," Stephen Stills' "Four and Twenty," even some Hall and Oates ("I Can't Go for That" is a quality song, I don't care what you haters think). So it's especially nice to share some of my favorites with Anouk.

I made a Spotify playlist of some of the songs A. and I have listened to the most over the past few weeks/months, the ones that will always bring me right back to Summer 2013 whenever I hear them in the future. I left off "Blurred Lines" which is probably THE official song of this summer in our house because I am actually really sick of it (I'm sorry Robin! I still love you!) But the rest I could listen to over and over -- in fact, I am now, as I write this. :)

Please note that as these are not songs FOR kids, only songs liked by my one particular kid, I can't verify that they don't have some inappropriate lyrics. Luckily my kid doesn't understand ALL THE WORDS yet and so it hasn't been an issue in our house. But be forewarned. 
Pix are from our walk around the Hague yesterday with friends. I love one with the gaggle of girly ducks all together so much. I like to think they were gossiping and really letting loose while their mallards had the ducklings for the day. 
Have a great weekend!

5 Places to Have a Picnic (in Norfolk)

Did you know that July was National Picnic Month? Neither did I -- until July was almost over. (National Picnic People, make sure you publicize this a little better next year!) However, we did manage to have two picnics in the last week of July -- one with friends at Bacon's Castle in Surry (post on that forthcoming) and one in our very own backyard.

There are so many wonderful parks and beaches around the area that are ideal picnic destinations, but I thought I would share five of our favorite off-the-beaten-path places around town that are just perfect to visit with a blanket and a basket of goodies.

1. Pagoda and Oriental Garden: This spot is so secluded (usually) that it's easy to pretend you're all by yourself right in the middle of the downtown waterfront. There's also a lot to do -- from watching the ships on the river to making friends with the fish in the carp ponds and a million places nearby to walk to. A really convenient place to stop for lunch if you're out and about of an afternoon.

2. Norfolk International Airport Overlook: There are so many other wonderful things to see at the Norfolk Botanical Gardens that the airport overlook (where you can watch planes take off and land and listen to chatter from the control towers) is often overlooked (see what I did there?) You'll have to pay admission to the garden for the chance to climb the hill but for an airplane-obsessed kid, this is pretty much heaven.

3. St. Paul's Church: For this spot, you'll need to be able to disassociate yourself from the whole graveyard thing a little, but if you can, the churchyard is the perfect place for lunch, beauty and history wrapped up in one (free) package.

4. Moses Myers House: We reviewed the MM house last week. While there, I couldn't help noticing the wide sweeping lawn to the side of the house and imaging a blanket spread out there, under the trees.

5. The Hague: A lot of people in Norfolk don't know about the Hague as anything other than the body of water they pass as they drive over the Brambleton Avenue bridge west of downtown, but around the Hague are extensive areas for running, biking, or just plain lounging and taking in some of the best architecture in the city (we love looking at the Queen Anne homes that line the seawall). Our favorite picnic spot is the crescent-shaped memorial pavilion near the Chrysler Museum (which might be closed off due to construction right now) but there are luckily plenty of other spots to choose from.

What's your favorite thing to pack in your picnic basket? Our family isn't really into sandwiches but we can whip up a mean pasta salad quick as a wink. ;) This also gives us the chance to use the dishes and silverware that came with our picnic basket -- somehow things always taste better when you're eating it off of miniature plates.

Happy weekend!

Horchata

This drink was a staple in the Peruvian restaurants in our old neighborhood in Arlington. At first I looked at it kind of askance, but it turns out that cold, sweetened rice milk and cinnamon is actually the perfect thirst quencher on a hot day. I always forget about horchata in the cooler months, but when the temperature climbs into the nineties, I remember and check to see whether we have all of the ingredients to mix up a pitcher. Our favorite recipe is adapted from this one.

Ingredients:

1 cup uncooked white rice 

3 cups warm water

1 cinnamon stick

2 cups rice milk 

2/3 cup agave nectar 

ground cinnamon 

Directions:

Grind the rice in a blender or food processor until it looks like fine-ground polenta. In a bowl, combine the ground rice, cinnamon stick, and warm water. Cover and refrigerate overnight. In the morning, remove the cinnamon stick, and puree the rice/water mixture. Strain through a sieve, pressing to get as much liquid out as possible. Add the rice milk and agave, and stir well. Serve over ice with a little ground cinnamon sprinkled on top. 

Just like being back in the old neighborhood. Happy weekend! 

The Beach at First Landing State Park

I realized a short while ago that although I lived in the area for the first 17 years of my life, I'd never before gone to the beach at First Landing State Park (though I have spent quite a bit of time on the park's hiking and biking trails). A few weekends ago, we met up with a group of friends -- and their kids of varying ages -- to rectify this oversight. We spent the day getting mildly sunburned and extremely sandy and overall wondering -- what took us so long?

The beach at First Landing is located between the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel and Cape Henry, which marks the start of the Atlantic beaches of Virginia Beach. However, the First Landing beach is a quintessential bay beach -- sheltered, protected, with very little surf and almost no waves. This makes it a great place to launch kayaks and also pretty much perfect for little kids (and also for floating in the shallows in a giant inflatable raft, which I mean to do a lot of the next time we go).

Still, the waves that were there were enough to deter Anouk from going near the water -- we're working on undoing some of the trauma that was inflicted from a rogue swell in the face during our Hatteras trip. Her friend A., though, was more than happy to spend as much time as possible wading and watching schools of tiny fish near the shore. Luckily there was more than enough sand to keep our A. occupied, and she enjoyed watching the ships waiting to go through the shipping lanes so much that she did consent (verrrrry warily) to going out for a brief jaunt in Dada's boat.

Best of all from a parent's perspective, First Landing has SHOWERS and RESTROOMS, which bumped it up into the #1 Kid-Friendly Beach Spot in the area in my opinion, surpassing East Beach (which has neither). There's also a wheelchair ramp that goes right down onto the sand, great for strollers, beach carts, or wheelchair-bound beachgoers. A few things to keep in mind if you go -- parking costs $5 on Saturday and Sunday ($4 on the weekdays), and I'm pretty-but-not-totally sure they want that in cash. Also, the lot fills up quickly on the weekends -- we arrived at 11 and got the last parking spot. So get there early or else you'll have to hike over to the beach from across the street.

Seriously -- what did take us so long?