And finally, a big hello to everyone who came by our tent this weekend at the Steppin' Out festival in Blacksburg. I had so much fun handing out balloons to the kids and chatting with our viewers on Friday afternoon. And I was very grateful that the weather stayed dry while I was there!
Monday, August 1
Welcome to August! Unbelievable, I know.... Summer has flown by so quickly. I just printed out the back to school shopping list for my soon-to-be first grader! Speaking of back to school, we will be doing several stories in our Early Years segments on New 7 Mornin Thursdays this month to get families prepared for the upcoming school year. If you have any particular topics you would like to see us cover, drop me an email anytime at kmcbroom@wdbj7.com. I would love to hear from you!
And keep checking wdbj7.com, as well as our News 7 newscasts for updates on the debt ceiling negotiations. Congress is expected to vote on a deal today. Let's keep our fingers crossed that this matter is finally resolved, and our nation doesn't have to face default.
Monday, July 18
Hello there! Hope you have had a chance to watch my July travel series, "Family Freebies" airing on News 7 Mornin' every Monday this month. We have one more segment to go next week. So far, we have ventured to Mabry Mill in Meadows of Dan, the Peaks of Otter in Bedford and Foamhenge in Natural Bridge. All of our spots are free, fun places to take the family for a day trip. Our last segment for the month will be at the Smith Mountain Lake Community Park in Franklin County. It's a beautiful spot, but there are plenty of people who probably don't know it's there!
We enjoyed this weekend's cooler weather. Aside from getting yard work done, we did have the chance to goof off a bit on Saturday. We took the kids to Natural Bridge. Not to Foamhenge this time, but to the Monster Museum, Dinosaur Kingdom and Hunt for Bigfoot exhibit. So much fun!! The kids really enjoyed the guided stroll through the woods while searching for Bigfoot. I won't tell you exactly where he is, but we did find him! I would definitely recommend a trip up there to check it out.
All right, time to get back to work. Enjoy your work week!
Friday, June 24
Whew! It has felt like a long week. Monday was my first day back from vacation, and I am just now getting a chance to blog. My family and I had a great trip to Myrtle Beach last week. My mom and step-father joined us down there, so it was nice having all of us together at the beach. We did our usual stop at Ripley's Aquarium, something my two year old daughter got to enjoy more this time around. They have a new shark exhibit that both kids were very excited to see. This time, we also went on a dolphin watching cruise on the boat, Sea Screamer. We sailed out of the Little River Inlet, which was just beautiful. It was nice getting to see a different section of the area. We spotted a few dolphins, but didn't get any close-up pictures of them. They're pretty elusive creatures! The weather was sunny every day that we were down there. I believe that was the first time that we have ever gone to the beach anywhere and not seen a drop of rain. But as always, all good things must come to an end. We had some great memories, which I shared with you in a photo gallery. If you have a minute, check out our photos.
Several of us from Your Hometown Station will be out at the ballpark tomorrow night for the Salem RedSox game, which will get started at 6:05 p.m. They will be playing at home all weekend, and it looks like the weather will cooperate for the most part. Hope you have a great weekend!
Friday, June 10
Hi there! As you're reading this, I'm either counting down the hours until vacation, or am finally on vacation. I am soooo ready!! It's been a really busy time in the newsroom...actually, it's ALWAYS busy in the newsroom! I believe Bob Grebe will be filling in for me in the air chair next week while I am enjoying some sand and surf with my family. This is the time of year when you will see lots of us gone from time to time. It seems like everyone picks the same couple of weeks to be off. Just glad mine is next week!
Speaking of taking trips, I may bring back Travel Tuesdays on a recurring basis this summer on News 7 Mornin. Please feel free to email me your ideas at kmcbroom@wdbj7.com.
My son Christopher is now a rising first grader. I can't believe his last day as a Kindergartner was Wednesday. Time goes by so quickly. I just signed him up for the Summer Reading program at the library. We did an Early Years segment on it last week. All Roanoke Valley Libraries are offering an incentive program to get school agers to read at least 10 books over summer vacation. As you know, kids LOVE incentives!! Caitlin, meanwhile, is enjoying preschool. She just started about a month ago and is settling in nicely. It's amazing what they learn at such a young age. Her verbal skills are really good...knows her ABCs...colors...can count to 10 and thanks to her obsession with "Dora the Explorer," she can count to 8 in Spanish!
Yes, it will be nice to have some R and R with the family...you just want to freeze those special moments. Hope you have a great week, too!
Thursday, May 19
Hey there! Sorry I haven't had a chance to blog in a while, but I have been really busy working on my May Travel Tuesday series. It has been a lot of fun, spotlighting local destinations in our viewing area, as we get closer and closer to vacation season! I have toured the Bent Mountain Bed and Breakfast, the Fincastle Vineyard and Bed and Breakfast, as well as Infinity Acres Ranch and Petting Zoo in Ridgeway. I wanted to feature destinations both family-friendly and perfect for couple getaways. My last one for the month of May will air next Tuesday, and it's at Yogi Bear's Jellystone Park in Natural Bridge Station. Hope you like it! And as always, feel free to email me your opinions about any of the places we've shown you. If you have any suggestions for future travel segments, let me know at kmcbroom@wdbj7.com!
I also haven't been typing anymore than I have to because of my broken wrist. I fell here at work two weeks ago, and broke my right wrist. Of course, I am right-handed, so it's been tricky trying to learn how to do everything with my left hand. You really learn how flexible (or inflexible) you really are! I am just grateful that the orthopedic surgeon just put me in a splint, instead of a full cast. I am getting a checkup tomorrow, so hopefully, it's healing quickly and I can go back to being a "two-armed" person again! I'm just glad I didn't break my leg instead...that would have been far worse. That's it for now..."Lefty" out!
