When we broke the news to the girls that we were leaving Norfolk for Richmond, Morgan was particularly vocal in her reluctance to leave.

She listed all of the reasons she didn’t want to leave Norfolk, why Richmond wouldn’t be any fun, and all possible scenarios that would render her post-kindergarten summer the worst on record.  Not easily swayed by the drama she puts forth, seeing as she does so on a regular basis, Craig and I heaped reason after reason why a move would in fact be a good thing.

She wasn’t buying it.

So Craig resorted the one, true trick tool every parent calls upon at one point or another: bribery.

And it worked.

We told the girls that with a move to a new house comes a new room for them to decorate.  Ever the skeptic, Morgan asked, “Decorate however we want?”

Within reason, we assured her, but certainly, think of the possibilities.  Craig enumerated all the ways they could make their new room their own.  He mentioned hanging up the Norfolk Mermaid poster we had framed, putting up canopy beds. Then he pulled out the big gun: a mermaid mural on the wall.

Whoa.

And of course, Morgan heard that and well, it was done deal.  For days thereafter, “When are we going to Richmond and when are we getting the mural painted on the wall?” became her constant call.

As we boxed up the Norfolk house day after day, as the movers came and carted stuff onto the truck, she kept reminding Coever, “. . and when we get to Richmond, we’re going to get a mural of mermaids on the wall! I’m so excited!” She’d clench her hands together up under her chin and bounce on her toes in anticipation.

When we rolled up to the new digs, you can imagine what she said. When she and Coever raced up the stairs to their room, you can imagine what she said, immediately followed by, “Well, where is it?”

Thankfully, Craig had been in touch with several artists, trying to obtain the best one for the project. We decided that when the girls spent a week with his parents this summer, we’d get it done while they were gone and it would be ready to surprise them when they came home.

Which is exactly what we did.

This whole turn of events — wanting to see more mermaids, finding out about another mermaid — got me to thinking.  What’ll happen if I say, “I really hope someone leaves a large bag of money (preferably twenties) on my front porch before we leave.”

If you need me, I’ll be sitting on the front porch.

All good things must come to an end, a phrase that dates back to 1374, and one that I am pretty sure applies to us and our quest to find the Mermaids on Parade. I have to admit, it’s been a good run. We’ve found 29 mermaids, not including the three that were missing, and the nine that we couldn’t reach due to their perch on the side of buildings. Altogether that makes 41 mermaids.

And then, I spotted one more today. I was conflicted for a brief second about whether or not to point it out to the girls because we were on a tight schedule today already. The mermaid was on the opposite side of the street from us and traffic was already slowing down, and clogging up due to some road work. Still, I said, “There’s a mermaid! Look out Co’s window!” and the girls squealed and giggled. Yet, neither one of them asked to stop. I guess the promise of the cool embrace of Target was far greater than any chipped, sun-faded mermaid in the blistering heat. Of course, I may in fact swing by them by there at another time because knowing me and my anal retentive personality, that mermaid will be my own personal great white whale. I can just see it now. . .me, handing the girls their own copies of our mermaid adventure book and having that niggling itch in the back of my mind about the one I just didn’t get.

Jealous Mistress in the Monticello Arcade
Go Diva (look at her tail) in the MacArthur Center

DH came home early this day and the family went on some errands. I have been looking for this particular mermaid on two other occasions as she used to be housed on the median of Granby Street across from the medical center. Anyway, we’re driving down Granby, headed downtown and something tells me to just scan the sidewalks as we approach. Nothing, nothing, nothing and then right as we pull up to the intersection, BAM! I see it. And I yell, “There it is! Pull over! Pull over!” and DH is like, “Huh? What?” We almost clip a Norfolk City Bus, and we definitely tangled up the lanes behind us, but hey! I promised my girls mermaids, as many as we can find. Guess that means we’ll be going back to VA Beach Boulevard after all. . .

Would you believe that we’ve found about 25 mermaids since starting this project just a few weeks ago. They seem to be multiplying as we go along. Either that or I just never knew how many were truly sprinkled around the city. Just when I think we’ve found as many as we have been able to, one more pops up. There are three more that I can snap photos of with the girls.

In addition to the ones I’ve posted, there are at least a dozen more that we’ve seen that we have been unable to photograph due to their precarious positions affixed to the sides of and roofs of buildings. When we were driving today, we passed by one mermaid that is situated on top of the rolling marquee of the Scope. Both Mo and Co shouted, “Mommy! There’s a mermaid!” and I was tempted to fish my camera out of my bag and snap a shot while we idled at the red light, but safety and better judgement won out. When Mo asked why we couldn’t see that one, I told her that there are some mermaids that are just out of reach and there wouldn’t be any place for her or Co to stand in order to see it. Not five minutes later, as we drove through town, Co called our attention to a mermaid sitting atop a consignment shop on 21st Street. “Mermaid, Mommy!” she called. Mo promptly replied, “We can’t see it Co, there’s no place for us to stand!” It’s like having my own little voice recorder. Hey, at least she’s paying attention.

Well, the girls are enjoying some quality time with the grands in Maryland this week, but before I packed them up and shipped them out, we had a banner day on our search for mermaids. We found seven of those sculptures!! Seven! I know, right?

I knew that there were at least four within a six block radius from our old apartment downtown. Now, I’m extremely competitive and I really wanted to see how many mermaids we could find and photograph before we were in the express lane for MeltDown City. Plus, we were planning to eat lunch — for the second time — at Costco with my mom, while we stocked up on Duggar Family sized bags of chicken nuggets, snacks and assorted sundries.

So, we’ve got about an hour to seek out these mermaids during what was arguably the hottest day of the week at the hottest time of day. My stomach is touching my back I’m so hungry and yet, I’m hot-footing it through downtown Norfolk pushing two stroller bound toddler that are cramming Goldfish into their mouths. Sadly, no one got a picture of that. But, here’s what we did see. . .

Flower Garden on Tazewell Street
(notice her broken hand)

Whew! It’s fitting that the last one we saw was the Flower Garden because it’s located in front of the apartment building we lived in when we first moved to Norfolk. And, the girls had just about had it when we reached this one, hence the somber faces. I really thought they were going to crash out in the car, but they stayed with me as we cruised on over to Costco. Once inside, they proceeded to inhale, imbibe, and ingest every free sample those little white-hair netted ladies pushed in their direction. And then, on the way out, they had the nerve to ask me for some snacks! Mo and Co, not the white haired ladies.

Anyway, while this is a record number for us, there are at least half a dozen more I know we can go paparazzi on. Plus, there are that are affixed to buildings that we can at least point out as we drive by. So, until our next foray, this should tide us over (see what I did there? mermaids, ocean, tide).

Yeah, I’ll sign off now.