Daytripper, yeah

It's been raining alot here lately. According to the calendar, spring is here, but the thermostat in my house tells another story. I see signs of it beginning. The red buds are blooming (which by the way, are actually purple). I feel a touch of free-spirit wanderlust coming on and I'm gathering ideas for a few well-deserved daytrips.

High on my list is a visit to the Vietri outlet in Hillsborough, NC. This one's been on my wishlist for years now. I have long been a fan of Italian pottery and I think it would be a kick. Looks like a the spring sale is just around the corner...maybe this will finally be the year that I break away to North Carolina to do some shopping.

Next up, a trip to the Va Beach Aquarium followed up by a day in Jamestown. This will give Blake a jump start on next years state history studies. We're hoping to find a few hours to spend on the beach too while we're in the tidewater area.

We had also been planning a trip to DC to meet up and explore the city with an old friend. But her travel plans have changed so I'm not sure what we'll do with that now. We were planning to take the train into DC and from there ride the metro. Obviously my kids are really disappointed at the idea of missing out on such a big adventure, so we'll have to see what we can do about that.

I suspect we'll head to Pennsylvania to visit family in June once school is out. I know we're planning on hitting Idlewild at some point. I truly love that place, alot of memories for me - it's a treasure in the forest. My favorite part (as seen in the photo above) is the beautiful carousel in the center of the tree-lined park, which is also an historic landmark. I have a feeling this summer will be filled with lots of little adventures in our own backyard and beyond. I hope yours is too :-)