Sunday, September 25, 2016

Sunset Walk at Fort Monroe

Today has been a beautiful day here in Virginia, sunny and cool the high was around 75 today.  Tonight I really wanted to go head out for a walk somewhere other than the neighborhood and thought this might be a fun place to check out for a stroll with the kids and Dexter too.
Sunset on the fishing pier at Fort Monroe

We had to cross the HRBT (Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel) which my kids love doing, won't lie it is pretty cool as long as traffic isn't horrendous.  It wasn't horrible tonight so that was a bonus for us. The kids had a fun time being lifted up and looking over at the giant rocks and the huge freighters going on their way through the bay, along with smaller sailboats and a couple speed boats.

Looking out over the water
Not thrilled that they had to look at the camera
I took advantage of a great sunset to get a couple pictures of the family and one of just the two of us.

A family picture!
There is a nicer edited one on instagram if you follow me
The best part of the evening was checking out the fishing pier and seeing a pair of dolphins swim by! Pete and Nora are both amazed by them and were excited that I got them on video. The sights here are definitely different than in Indiana! I've got a video of it that won't play on my blog so check out my blog facebook page to view it.
How to help save a hooked Sea Turtle

Thursday, September 22, 2016

After School Fun at the Zoo

Phil had to go to the DMV and had a meeting after school so he wasn't going to be coming home until very late,so it was just me with the kids.  It was a bit cooler and overcast so we headed to the zoo to see what was happening there.  Well let me tell you it was the best time to go!  It was mostly empty, but all the animals were actually out wandering around. It was great!
This is in the Asia exhibit.  They thing on the branch in front of the kids is a Red panda.

It was really really close.  And amazing!

mommy daughter selfie!

all of us together

Pete with the Rhinoceros Hornbill, it was flying all around and was really cool

still watching it.

Wednesday, September 21, 2016

LuLaRoe Review with Katrina Price and GIVEAWAY

Have you heard of LuLaRoe? If you are on Facebook, the chances are pretty high you probably have and you've been added to groups without your doing it. Don't hate LuLaRoe for it though - your friends just really want to win a pair of wonderfully soft leggings. A friend from college started selling and asked if I'd do a review for her so consider this the entrance into the rabbit hole....

LuLaRoe is a clothing line that has consultants, but instead of ordering from the same catalog, they each carry their own inventory of limited pieces. The company only makes about 2000 of each print of fabric spread through the different styles. It sounds like a ton, but considering they have a bunch of consultants, the items get spread around quite a bit and can be hard to find, especially if there's a particular print that you really want. Since each consultant carries their own inventory, they carry different styles and of course different prints. Tonight on on her page, Katrina is releasing a new item called the Perfect Tee, which is wonderful with leggings. The name speaks for itself on this one. It has an adorable side slit and swing shape that just begs for twirling. I like it because it has enough length to cover everything up for wearing with leggings without any worries. I wear a Large in Perfect Tee.  My sizes are normally size 18 pants and XL shirts at places like Kohls and Target.  Most pieces at LuLaRoe have their own size charts that are darn accurate!
Perfect Tee with leggings
There is the pattern - I bought this item off of Ebay because I couldn't find a consultant with it.


Another shirt is the Classic Tee.  It still has enough length to cover everything up with leggings, though it has more of a high-low fit so the back is extra long.  The sleeves are a bit looser and shorter than the Perfect, it makes me think of a t-shirt fit just long enough to wear with leggings.  I wear an extra large in this shirt.
first time wearing it

changing it up a bit with a scarf

Here is the same shirt with black LuLaRoe leggings and a bigger scarf
This next shirt is a Randy.  It makes me think of a pretty baseball style shirt with the 3/4 length sleeves and different pattern for the arms and torso.  They switch up which part of the shirt has a pattern or solid.  I fell in love with this one instantly and had to buy it.  Again, it's long enough to wear with leggings but shorter than the other styles.  I wore it to church the other day with a maxi and have paired it with jeans too.  Here it is with leggings, though, so you can see how it fits.  I bought an XXL for this one; I could have gotten by with the XL but decided to be on the careful side.  It is a little big in the armpits but fits just right through the rest of it.




Here is the print on the sleeves
 The leggings are the BIG thing with LuLaRoe, though really through this review I've totally fallen in love with the shirts.  They are known for the prints and crazy patterns; I just haven't had the guts to go for it. Maybe sometime I will be brave, but today is not the day. I've got 2 pairs solid black and 1 red.  I've had the black ones since January and got the red ones for this review.  I regularly wear the black ones, and they have held up really well.  No pilling, runs, or thin spots.  That's pretty impressive to me really considering how thin and soft they are. I also wash on gentle and hang dry so that probably extends their life compared to other clothing that I have. I can trash a pair of jeans within 6 months so this is really good for me. They come in two sizes for adults: one size (OS) and Tall and Curvy (TC). I wear Tall and Curvy.  The Tall and Curvy are supposed to fit up to about a 22 I believe, but I've been wearing them and started out in about a size 20 when I bought them. They are super soft. A lot of people describe them as "buttery," which seemed really odd before I felt them, but they really are!  These are the softest pair of leggings I own, and I've got a whole dresser drawer devoted to nothing but leggings and yoga pants anymore.


Now, I'm going to highly suggest going and joining Katrina's page. Here's the link.  She has giveaways that don't require you to add friends to the group. She suggests you turn off notifications for those giveaways, but she sends you a message if you win.  That means there's no annoying constant beeping on your phone!  That is a big deal personally.  Her listing pictures are great with a detail shot of every pattern (like I did of the flowers on my shirt) but better with great lighting so you can see the true colors.  She also has free shipping!  I'm a complete sucker for free shipping; I hate shipping and handling charges.  She has a weekly shopping time, and she does private Facebook parties, too, so only you and your friends can have dibs on her inventory.  

GIVEAWAY!  
For the chance to win a surprise pair of leggings in your size

Go to LuLaRoe Katrina Price.  Join the group. Come back here and comment that you did. Let me know your facebook name so we can contact you if you comment anonymously. 
We will notify the winner with a facebook message. Giveaway ends at noon on September 28th.  Winner will be choosen via random.org.



 This review was sponsored, and I received one free shirt and leggings for it, but the thoughts and comments on the products are my own.  I have also bought some of these on my own without discount.

Pete's First Day of Kindergarten

Pete had his first day of school the day after Labor Day, school starts much later here than in Indiana. It also starts much earlier in the morning, he gets dropped off at 7.50!  

I asked for a silly face.
 Here's what we did after school!  The joys of living just minutes from the beach, and having a successful first day.  A couple weeks later he is still doing fine, he goes through spurts where he doesn't want to go and he has already discovered the joys of Saturday!


Tuesday, September 20, 2016

Visitors in Virginia

My parents came to visit us the first week of September for about a week.  It was a fun filled time we went to the local park for a Sunday afternoon walk. It is a decent park, it needs cleaned up a bit I keep meaning to just bring a bag and rack and take care of some of it, but the equipment is in great shape and everyone seems really nice.

Its a big boat sandbox.


Monday was Labor Day so we had another day to hang out.  We went to check out a local lighthouse in Virginia Beach, this is the Old Cape Henry Lighthouse it was built in 1792.  We didn't get to go inside of it because Nora is too small and because the price of $8 a person seemed a little steep especially since Pete wasn't all that interested in it. It is located on a military base so that was an interesting experience that none of us had done before, except Phil.  We had to all give our ids and get out open all the doors and hood of the van, very interesting.


 Grandma and Grandpa stayed in a hotel on Monday night so Pete could have a good first day of school.  (that will be its very own blogpost) The kids had a blast playing in the pool and having a pizza party in their room for dinner.
 They did their own thing this day but after we picked Pete up from school we went to the beach!  Nora begs for her swimsuit all the time...but only plays in the sand and refuses to get in the water.  She not a fan of the salt and waves.  Pete on the other hand loves the waves!




breakfast with grandpa

While the boys were in school one day we went to Virginia Beach and walked the boardwalk to the pier

Playing on the Beach at Virginia Beach

I was there too.

It was great fun to have them visit us at our new house and state.  We have a futon, like a really nice queen sized futon, for any guest that wants to come visit us....though just a word of warning Pete and Nora like to sneak into it so you might get company at 6am...at least they do with grandmas and grandpas...