out of the studio: Downtown Norfolk

Wow I feel that I have abandoned this blog, but I am totally ready to get back on track. So I thought I would start with an "out of the studio". Easy enough.
Today was an amazingly lovely sunny Saturday, the weather was perfect not too hot or too humid which is always pleasing to Daniel and his Pacific Northwest climate ideals. Definitely a feel of Autumn in the air.  After a morning of watching Busytown, doing chores and grocery shopping we decided to spend the rest of the day at a park and then walking around Downtown Norfolk. There have been a few places on my mind that we havent gone to in awhile and knowing Maddie's love of water fountains and weeping willows we decided to walk to the "Pagoda" .

The Pagoda is sort of a peculiar sight in Norfolk, kind of unsuspected. It was given to the city of Norfolk from the Taiwan Provincial Government and their website says it is supposedly a Marine Observation Tower, not really certain what that means but the garden is very nice and peaceful. I always wish that it is larger. One serious drawback to living in this area is that there is a lack of well planned out outdoor public space that appeals to the citizens of all ages.  As for Maddie she loved it and asked me if we could make our backyard like it, I really wish we could and after a heavy rain it looks quite similar minus the koi and lily pads.



Maddie and her willow trees, she loves them! We have a few in the neighbor and she loves to run through their long swaying branches.

After our peaceful walk through the asian garden of the pagoda we continued walking along the water to see the Battleship Wisconsin which is docked at a museum on the water. The battleship is now a tourist draw and one can tour it for a fee. I thought Madeline would enjoy seeing the ship more up close because she loves to see all of the ships that are docked at the shipyard on our commute home in the evenings. She even has a favorite that we call "number 7." I will have to admit that the ship is a stunning sight.