On the last day of summer vacation Auntie Chelsea (who you'll notice is in a ton of our adventure pictures) accompanied R and myself to a day at the Children's Museum of Virginia, which is in Portsmouth. I hadn't been there since I was a child, when my grandparents used to take me, but Chelsea recently took a class field trip there. I wasn't sure if R would be too young to enjoy himself, but he had a blast. They have a model train room, fire trucks and police motorcycles, toy supermarkets, a vet office... tons of professions that kids might work in.
R's favorite room was easily the bubble room. (Chelsea's too!) Because we went so early, it wasn't crowded and we were able to stand inside the bubbles, blow our fair share of bubbles, and sit and watch the bubble wall. The look below is one of pure excitement about a bubble.
There is also a 0-3 room where R played for a while, but mostly everything downstairs caught his attention. I do think that next summer when he's a little older he will enjoy it even more. Upstairs is for older kids and is made to match the Virginia SOLs. (That's the teacher coming out of me.) The exhibits include simple machines, the water cycle, a space exhibit, and more.
Some tips:
- There is free parking on nights and weekends in a garage near the museum. If you're there during the week, circle the block to look for two hour street parking.
- The museum has discounts for seniors, military, and AAA customers. Teachers get in FREE although it is not advertised. There is also reciprocity with the Association of Science and Technology Centers.
- Get there early. The museum opens at nine; once the field trips arrive, it can get crowded.
- The museum also has a planetarium. If your child is a little older, he/she may like that.
- There is a wonderful little bakery down the street called Delightful Deserts where everything is made from scratch and you can buy a little of this, and a little of that. The man working behind the counter is friendly and helpful. We stopped in for a treat on the way back to the car... I'll let R's face tell you what he thought. If you go.... try the lemon cupcake.
