4 Toddler Approved Things to Do at Waterside District

If you haven't been down to the Waterside District yet, you need to check it out. Waterside is an open concept with restaurants, music, bars, and dancing. You may be like me and think that because it's a bar atmosphere at night, that it isn't the best place for kids. Great for a date night or a ladies' night out, but kids? Wrong. Here's four things to check out.

01. Grab a snack at The Fudgery and Carolina Cupcakery
When you walk into Waterside if your mouth starts to water, it's from the smell of these two places. The Fudgery was part of the original Waterside and is back in action making fudge. Peanut Butter fudge- YES! My students (who I know sometimes read this blog.. Hi Madisyn!) can speak for my love of all things peanut butter. They have free samples and are some of the most energetic people I've ever met. They have an entire repertoire of fudge songs that they sing. It's almost like a little show. Carolina Cupcakery has actually been featured on Food Network and is a family run business out of Camden, N.C. not too far from us. They have free samples too, and use 100 percent natural ingredients. We used them for my bridal shower too. We tried the lemon drop and the carrot cake. As you can see, we waisted no time!

02. Ride the Skystar Wheel
I'll admit I was worried about R being scared, but he wasn't at all. Each car is a fully enclosed, air conditioned gondola that holds up to six people. From the top of the 12 story view you can see boats, people, cars, the Tides stadium, and even a rooftop dance class! The wheel will travel around four times for a total of about 12 minutes. They sell Jody's popcorn right outside. Check out the Nauticus combo ticket, Military Mondays, or the two pack ticket for a deal. You can purchase tickets here or at the wheel.

Here we go!! 

03. Catch a Movie
This summer Waterside has a free outdoor movie series. They are offering a free kid's meal for every adult entrée purchased at Blue Moon and Guy Fieri's Smokehouse. On June 20th they are showing Boss Baby, which my students at school have talked about all year. Bring a lawn chair and a blanket.

(Totally stole this pic from their website!) 

04. Watch the boats
"Toot, toot!" is what R yells when he sees a boat. That was constant while we walked along the waterway. Boats are coming and going. There is live music outside regularly, and lots more to do outside. The crush bar outside has a giant connect four game and several ping pong tables.

Some upcoming events at Waterside:

• Burgers on the Beach- Every Thursday from 11-3 they offer 1/2 price burgers and drink specials 
• Yappy Hour- A monthly event where you can bring your pup! All those with their dogs will get drink specials and 10% off their meal. 
• Norfolk Run Club- meets the second Thursday of every month 
• June 20: Family movie night: Free!  
• June 22-23- Amish Outlaws concert: Free! 
• June 29: Sir Sly concert: Free! 
• July 14: Taco festival 
• July 18: Family movie night: Ferdinand 

Father's Day Without a Father

I've been anticipating (dreading) this day for months. This weekend I was in Old Navy trying on clothes listening to two girls talk about what a pain Father's Day was. They had to stop their lives for a day and spend time with their dads. They never knew what to talk about. Their dads were boring. Poor them, right? They must not know how lucky they are to still have their dads. I left pissed off. 

(Father's Day 2016)

I'll be honest and say that until today, I shamefully hadn't been to the cemetery since my dad died. I never know what to do when I go. It's awkward for me. Some people feel connected at a cemetery. Others talk to their loved ones. I feel connected by doing things he loved, listening to songs he liked, and seeing people he cared about. So this Father's Day, we did the most "my dad" thing that there could be. We went to a Tides game, and we played catch on the field before hand. 

Neil's parents came too, and while we ate dinner at The Hits, R watched the boats outside. Looks to me like the ferry will be an adventure soon.

I want to thank all of the people who reached out to me this year for Father's Day. It's always nice to know that I have my village of people behind me. If you haven't already reached out to your dad, do so, because you never know how much time you'll have. If you haven't reached out to your friend without a dad, send them a message too. Today is wonderful and full of memories, but also hard for many. I hope everyone enjoyed their day with all their dads, step dads, granddads, and dad to be's. Squeeze them extra tight tonight. 

Toddler Tuesday: ROCKabye Baby Shower

One of the things I've been asked about posting is my baby shower, and having attended one for a friend recently, I've been thinking back to my own. I'm not going to lie; my family probably went a little bit overboard. We had over 70 people there, and it was "rockin" from start to finish. The theme was "Rockabye baby," which fits our family asthetic perfectly. We were lucky to have friends who were members of the Chesapeake Athletic Club, and they allowed us to host the party there at no cost to us. (We did make a donation, however.)

For decorations we had diaper cakes, a string of rock n' roll onesies, cut outs of stars and guitars, and a series of vinyl.  Because my friend Chelsea is awesome at photobooths, she set up a rock star inspired one.

We had enough food to feed an army (and we kinda did) and quite a few different drinks. I always wonder if it is taboo to serve alcohol at a baby shower, but it's fun for the guests too.

Because we had so many people there, we just did the game with the "water breaking" and had a scrapbook for people to sign, but other than that we didn't play a lot of games. We did have a diaper raffle which I just used the last diaper from this week, and they lasted for two years.

I love any reason to get my friends and family together. We had also previously done a smaller gender reveal brunch for immediate family where our "only here for the sex" cake showed us that R was a boy. I was SURE he was a girl, and wasn't ready, but now I can't imagine anything else. I'm certainly lucky to have so many people who wanted to celebrate, and lucky to have had so many of them there. I remember feeling so happy, full of love, and grateful to have so many people there. We are still using so many of the gifts that we were given, but more importantly I know how many of our village loves R and cares about him. They showed that even before he was born and they continue to show up over and over again to just watch him grow.

 

Fit4Mom 8 Week Transformation

If you follow me on Instagram, you've seen that for the past 8 weeks I've been working out with Fit4Mom Norfolk. Fit4Mom is a national organization that promotes fitness for all levels of mommyhood. Their Fit4Baby classes are for pregnant women, their Stroller Strides and Stroller Barre classes are for moms who want to bring their babies with them and their Body Back class is for mamas to do alone. Check out my posts on those here and here.

The transformation includes each mama working out two times a week at a high intensity interval class, although you can go to more if you want. The instructors take pre and post assessments and measurements of each participant. I'll be honest. I didn't see the scale moving, but what I did see were inches decreasing. My clothes fit better. I'm able to hold a plank longer. I'm able to do push ups. I'm able to run farther. Check out the results below.

Also included in the eight weeks is a meal plan coach. My coach Kendra would check in with me daily to see what I was eating and tell me how to improve and make better choices. If I'm being honest and sappy, she and my friend Cayte talked me into trying this transformation, and I'm so glad that they did. Kendra encouraged me. She pushed me to do things that I never thought my body could do. The community built by the Fit4Mom community is awesome too. There is a private transformation group to encourage one another and I've even made some friends from this group. There is also a Fit4Mom village online that is awesome. More than once when I've needed advice or to borrow something they have come to my rescue.

Each class ends in a meditation, and there is also a focus on mental health and how strong mamas are. I feel supported by this community. There is even a monthly mom's night out get together. I'm so happy that I did this, and I'm actually going to continue taking the classes.

There are a lot of options for Fit4Mom classes:
Monday:

• 5:30 a.m. Body Back (ODU) 
• 9:30 a.m. Stroller Strides 
• 7:00 p.m. Body Back (East Beach) 
• 7:00 p.m. Fit 4 Baby (MacArthur Mall) 

Tuesday: 

• 5:30 a.m. Body Back (ODU) 
• 9:30 a.m. Stroller Strides (Raleigh Ave Park) 
• 9:15 a.m. Body Back (Ghent) 

Wednesday: 

• 9:30 a.m. Stroller Barre 
• 10:30 a.m. Playgroup 
• 5:30 p.m. Stroller Strides  
• 7:00 p.m. Body Back (East Beach)
• 7:00 p.m. Fit 4 Baby (MacArthur Mall) 

Thursday: 

• 5:30 a.m. Body Back (ODU) 
• 9:15 a.m. Body Back (ghent) 
• 9:30 Stroller Strides 

Friday:

• 9:30 a.m. Stroller Strides 

Saturday:

• 8:00 a.m. Body Back (ODU) 
• 9:30 Stroller Strides 

And... here's the results! 

Chest: 1/2 inch lost

Waist: 3.25 inches lost 

Hips: 2.25 inches lost

Thigh: 1in lost

Overall: Seven inches lost! 

Assessment: 

1/2 mile run: :43 seconds FASTER!

Bicep Curls: 18 more 

Squats: 21 more

Push Ups: 11 more

Plank: :47 seconds more 

Side Plank: Meh, this one went down a few seconds, dunno what happened!? 

Also, let it be known that I can't get this song out of my head! 

Airplane Overlook: NBG

I was amazed to have people respond to our Norfolk Botanical Gardens post with questions about the Norfolk Airport runway overlook. So, this summer I've decided to elaborate more specifically on some of our favorite places at the gardens. The overlook is on the far side of the main parking lot. If you travel away from the rose gardens you'll come across a path. There are steps, or you can walk around to the ramp.

There is a radio tower where you can actually hear what the pilots are saying. If you look up the incoming and outgoing flight schedule you can time it right to be there when lots of planes are coming and going. 

I love this stop as a mom for a few reasons. It's safe and secluded from lots of other people. There is a fence around the platform. There is only one way in, and one way out. There are benches to sit on. Another great thing, you can bring a picnic and snacks for everyone. Most of all, it's easy to keep kids entertained because there is lots going on. 

We were even so close that the pilots waved goodbye to us, and people coming in waved hello! Pretty cool.