Fall is right around the corner. Early last week she sent a calling card, delivered by chilly nights and blankets, to remind us of her inevitable arrival. In a few days, roads and streets will be filled with yellow buses busily transporting their cargo. Please remember to watch for schoolchildren. Our two daughters are ready for the academic year to start. They’ve got their clothes, they’ve got their backpacks, and they’ve got their schedules.

1. False. Mosquitoes tend to breed in small, temporary sources of water, such as puddles, birdbaths or kiddie pools—particularly Asian tigers, which breed in containers. Mosquitoes can breed in as little as a tablespoon of water. 2. True and false. “Certain times of day can play a role, depending on the species,“ said David N. Gaines, state public health entomologist for the Virginia Department of Health. “But most people bitten in Virginia are bitten by the Asian tiger mosquito, which bites during daylight hours.“

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. opened a hiring center in Chesterfield County to find people to work at its newest Richmond-area store The world’s largest retailer needs to hire about 420 people for the supercenter in the Hancock Village shopping center.

The National Park Service is looking to stimulate summer vacations at national parks. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced last week that entrance fees at 147 national parks and monuments—including the Grand Canyon and Yosemite—will be waived on three weekends this summer. The weekends are June 20-21, July 18-19 and Aug. 15-16.

Summer officially starts a month from now, but Memorial Day is when most people make that mental leap to summer. The things to look forward to seem endless: a juicy, home-grown, vine-ripened tomato, road trips, walking in warm sand at the beach at dawn or twilight, dining al fresco anywhere, butterflies, neighborhood block parties, the laughter of kids playing in the water from lawn sprinklers, the scent of freshly mowed grass.

Animated animals and pint-sized aliens. Museum relics that come to life at night. Magic rocks that make wishes come true. A bouquet of balloons big enough to lift a house into the sky. Fantasy and fun take center stage in summer’s crop of family films. It all begins Memorial Day weekend with “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian.“ Ben Stiller reprises his role as museum security guard Larry Daley, who faces off with exhibits that come to life at night. He’s joined by an all-star cast—Amy Adams, Robin Williams, Owen Wilson, Christopher Guest, Ricky Gervais, Jonah Hill, Hank Azaria and others—as he attempts to rescue a couple of relics shipped to the iconic museum by mistake.