Coleman Collection: Portsmouth Cultural Museum

#ad Nostalgia hits hard this time of year, and no place makes me think of being a kid in Hampton Roads like thinking of the Winter Wonderland Coleman Collection at the Portsmouth Art & Cultural Center. As a kid, I remember both my grandparents taking me on several field trips across the tunnel to see the collection. The display began in 1965 after the owners, Junie and Millie Lancaster, were inspired by the animatronics in Disney's Small World at the New York World's State Fair. It started as a way to bring people into the Coleman Nursery during the winter months. In the 1980s the nursery suffered a horrible fire damaging parts of the collection, but the community rallied and raised donations of money and decorations to help bring it back. It ultimately closed in 2003 and the collection was bought by the City of Portsmouth Museums, where it has been on display every winter at the Portsmouth Art & Cultural Center since 2004. 

The display takes about six weeks to set up, featuring some of the original animatronics, Christmas decorations, beautifully adorned trees, sparkling lights, enchanting winter scenes, holiday music, and more. Keep an eye out for modern-day surprises hidden throughout (think Minions, How to Train Your Dragon, and other fun touches)! Each year brings new holiday scenes, and the staff creates a special scavenger hunt, which is always our favorite part.

One thing I love about Olde Towne Portsmouth is how easy it is to get there and to find ample free parking. The Winter Wonderland collection is on display now until December 28th, Thursdays 10-4, Fridays 12-8, Saturdays 12-8, and Sundays 10-4. Admission is $3.00 per person, children under 2 are free. Santa is on site Fridays from 5-8, Saturdays 3-8, Sundays 12-4 through December 21st. There are special programs every weekend including face painting, musical performances, art activities, and much more. The Portsmouth Art & Cultural Center is located at 400 High Street.

Daniel's Tiger Neighborhood: A GRR-IFIC Exhibit

Now open at the Children's Museum of Virginia, Daniel Tigers Neighborhood: A GRR-IFIC Exhibit brings themes from the show (which is a recreation of the beloved Mr. Rodgers' Neighborhood. The exhibit allows visitors to enter into Daniel's neighborhood. In the show Daniel is four, and this exhibit is great for that age and younger. 

The exhibit was created by the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh (where Mr. Rodgers was from!) and is here until July 7th. It includes Mr. Rodgers' original sweater, and a photo of him wearing it. 

Storyland: Children's Museum of Virginia

Open now until May 7th, you can visit Storyland at the Children's Museum of Virginia. The exhibit lets children play inside of popular story books such as If You Give a Mouse a Cookie and Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. 

Activities include matching, search and find, imaginative play, prereading strategies, letter recognition, rhyming, and more. 

As always, when visiting the Children's Museum, be sure to check out their planetarium shows, STEM lab, and make it take it art room. 

Splash and Bubbles: Dive In, Lend A Fin!

The Children's Museum of Virginia has a new exhibit based on the show Splash and Bubbles that serves as a hands-on, educational larger-than-life marine environment. I'm so pleased to share that this exhibit has lots of gross motor skills involved, meaning that kids will enjoy moving their bodies and that it is an exhibit you can hit more than once while it's here without boring them. My boys are very into marine life, in particular sharks, so I knew this would be a hit, but their favorite parts of the exhibit actually had nothing to do with the large shark wall. Instead, they loved the section on bioluminescence. Although black lights were commonplace for me growing up, now that I think about it, they are not around as much anymore. They loved seeing which items of theirs glowed, and they even colored pictures with glow in the dark crayons. They also loved playing on the "underwater pirate ship" and exploring the kelp forest. This was a fun exhibit! Catch it this summer; it's here until September 4th. 

While you're there, be sure to check out their ongoing programs. Make-N-Take and S.T.E.M. Studio are both in the upstairs classrooms from 10-12 and 1-3. The Planetarium has also reopened and has ongoing shows, free with admission. 

The Children's Museum is open Tuesdays-Sundays from 9-4. Tickets must be reserved and can be purchased for the hour you'd like to enter. Visitors can stay as long as they would like. Be sure to check out the AAA, military, and senior discount. Teachers get in for free with a teacher ID.

The Children's Museum REOPENS!

Big news! The Children's Museum of Virginia, located in Portsmouth, has reopened. The museum is open for two timed sessions a day, where tickets must be bought in advance. The sessions are Wednesday through Sunday 9:00-11:45 and 1:15-4:00. Each session has one planetarium show.

I felt very comfortable with all the safety steps they are taking. Cleaning was happening continuously during our trip.  Masks and social distancing are recommended. There are limits for how many families can be at each exhibit, and the grocery store exhibit is still closed. The current traveling exhibit is Some Assembly Required, put on by Build A Bear Workshop, and it will be on display until September 12th. 

Elizabeth River Ferry

During social distancing, we continue to look for ways to find adventures while staying away from people. This week we took a ride on the Elizabeth River Ferry with our closed loop family!

Over the past year there has been lots of work on the Elizabeth River ferry docks to rebuild them and they look great! The governing board of Hampton Roads Transit agreed to stop collecting fares until June 10th in order to limit the amount of contact by customers.

The ferry ride takes about 30 minutes. It leaves from three different places, High Street and North Landing in Portsmouth, and Waterside in Norfolk. (In normal times it runs to Harbor Park on game nights also.) The ferry begins running at 5:30 am and runs until 9:00 pm currently. Check the schedule here.

Some of y'all might be freaking out that we are not taking social distancing seriously. Our closed loop means that everyone in the loop is taking responsibility and distancing themselves. It also requires a lot of trust in one another. Also, we went during the day to avoid people going to/from work. On the way to Portsmouth we were joined by only one person who sat below while we sat up top. He got off in Portsmouth and two other people got on, but they also stayed below. So... we were basically alone for the whole trip.

Zumba Kids

When Covid stopped Morgan from teaching her regular YMCA Zumba classes, she knew she needed to do something different. Turning to Zoom, she started teaching her regular Zumba class, but knew that kids needed something to keep them up and moving. So after recently getting her Zumba Kids certification, she started up the classes. The response has been so overwhelming that she knows she can't stop even once isolation is over.

Zumba is an umbrella of classes directed at different ages and abilities. You might remember we did a post awhile back on Zumbini, which is for babies. Zumba Kids is for children ages 3-6, Zumba is for adults, and Zumba Gold is for seniors.  
Morgan was actually introduced to Zumba when she took a class with her mom, who promptly signed her up to get her license. (Us mamas are like that!) It began as an extra hobby, but she fell in love with the fact that it combined fitness, dance, and absolute joy in one workout. The kids in her Zoom classes have clung to that joy too and they have an infectious energy that allows everyone to have a blast, even from their living rooms. The choreography is super simple and introduces moves that might be seen in adult classes, but broken down at a lower level.

I met Morgan for the first time when, without knowing me or anything about me, she volunteered at our Team Hurwitz for Pancreatic Cancer Research Zumbathon. I love how she radiates light and love, and these classes are no exception. Find her youtube channel here to get sweating for you and join her Facebook Group here to find her classes for both adults and kids.  Thanks Morgan!

Tidewater Holiday Experience Guide

I know, I know. Every kid loves getting gifts on the holidays, and moms dream of the moment when their kid sees a mountain of wrapped gifts. This mama is tired though. Tired of cleaning up toys. Tired of stepping on toys. Tired of throwing toys away. For the last two years we have been asking for gift cards and experiences over toys and yet somehow my boys are not deprived.

We have been lucky enough to have been gifted a zoo membership from my mom and aunt who get together for their birthdays. That membership alone has given us the ability to participate in all that they offer plus their swaps. My cousin gave us a Children's Museum membership and we have used the reciprocity program in so many places to get in for free. Memberships are the way to go if you can swing it or if you can get a group to go in on them together.

Here's my list of top experiences for our area:

• Jump Giftcard 
• Funville Passes- $12.00 per kid per visit, $5.00 for toddler only area
• Skinny Dip/ Cold Stone / Rita's Giftcard
• Zoo passes or membership
• Aquarium passes or membership
• Cinema Cafe movie tickets
• Botanical Gardens day pass
• Busch Gardens membership 
• Chuck-E-Cheese/Dave and Busters/ Gameworks card
• Hunt Club Farm pass or membership 
• Kroc Center Passes ($12.00 per person for day pass)
• Ocean Breeze daily or season pass 
• Katie's Kickers Gift card for lessons
• Bowling prepaid games 
• A month at The Little Gym (they have Black Friday sales!)
• Hike-it-Baby Membership (only ten bucks!)
• Cookie Cutters Giftcard- they have a prepaid card where you get one free 
• Tickets to Ride the Tide (RT LOVES this. Neil takes him regularly. Kids are free, so only adults need a ticket.)
• Highlights magazine subscription
• A trip to Build a Bear
• Trip to Charles Dickens Christmastowne (open till New Years Eve)
• Trip to Great Wolf Lodge (check groupon!)
• Passes to The Pink Roller (new location since our post)

Here is a more extensive, more general Hampton Roads list for all toddlers, not so focused on our personal likes and here is a birthday list with experience ideas too. Check these places on Black Friday for deals! 

YMCA Splash Pads

This month's Virginia Zoo swap is with the YMCA. Locally the YMCA has 22 locations and 3 camps. Each location is a little different, but your membership can get you into any of them. Here's the ones best for kids based on readers' reviews!

Taylor Bend YMCA: Indoor and outdoor pools with an outdoor splash park.

Mount Trashmore: This location has both indoor and outdoor pools, an outdoor splash park, an infant wading pool, and a sauna. There is a playground too.

Suffolk Family YMCA: Both indoor and outdoor pools, an outdoor splash park, and a sauna.

Princess Anne: An indoor pool plus an outdoor 50 meter lap pool. Indoor water track and a splash park. The indoor pool also has two slides.

Great Bridge/Hickory: Indoor pool with a slide. Outdoor pool with an infant wading pool, splash park, and slides.

Greenbrier: Indoor pool, outdoor pool with infant wading pool and splash park.

The following YMCA's have pools:

• Albemarle
• Blocker 
• Currituck
• Eastern Shore
• Effingham (outdoor only)
• Great Bridge
• Greenbrier
• Hilltop
• Indian River
• James L Camp
• Mt. Trashmore
• Outer Banks
• Princess Anne
• Suffolk
• Taylor Bend
• The Y on Granby (outdoor only) 

We were members of the YMCA when I was younger and I loved going with my dad every Sunday. I would hang in the Stay n Play while he worked out and once I got old enough, I would bring a friend and we would head to the pool. I like having the extra eyes of a lifeguard and the splash pads and wading pools that are springing up are great for little kids. We plan to use this swap to get in several more pool days before summer ends.

Wegmens Food Market in the Children's Museum

With the opening of the new Virginia Beach Wegmens store comes the opening of the new Wegmens Market inside the Virginia Children's Museum. Wegmens came in to revamp the supermarket that was already in place.

The market mirrors an actual Wegmens. It has a juice bar, working checkout lanes, and coffee stations. There were lots of veggies to sort and name, a bakery to pick up a pie or two, and a little cafe table to eat it all up. Our favorite thing about this new set up was that it included meat free alternatives!

 

For tips on coming to The Children's Museum, check out our post here.

Healthyville: The Children's Museum

The latest traveling exhibit to come to the Virginia Children's Museum is Healthyville, a bilingual (Spanish/English) exhibit that teaches children and adults how to take care of their bodies. This exhibit, here until September 2nd, focuses on what to put in your body, how to keep it clean, and what exercising does to help it. It also highlights the different doctors that we should be going to regularly to help take care of our bodies.

The focus is for ages 5-12, but there is a good amount of sorting and physical play that kids of younger ages will enjoy. If you're looking for a good summertime reminder of why we should all add a few veggies to our plate, stop by and check it out. For tips on coming to the Children's Museum, check out our post here.

Babywearing of Hampton Roads

If you've been following this blog for a while, it's likely that you've seen pictures of this lovely mama Cayte and her two sons who are part of our tribe. (coincidentally she was featured in the most recent She Works Hard for the Mommy!) 

She and I have known each other since I was two. We had our first babies at the same time, and her second son is 9 months older than mine. She and I have been able pass things back and forth and have gone through all of the mom stuff together. It's indirectly thanks to her that I found myself at a babywearing meeting this past weekend. With RT I had a carrier, but didn't love it for the infant stage. Cayte came over and gave me her wrap which lead to a series of "what the heck. Do it again?!" texts while standing in the Tides stadium later that night. Honestly... these wraps can be confusing as hell. There are a million different kinds of wraps and carriers and they are all different. 

The mission of Babywearing of Hampton Roads is to promote babywearing as a universally accepted practice, with benefits for both child and caregiver, through education and support. They host monthly meetings and meet ups where they teach any attendees how to use the different kinds of wraps and have a lending program for members. Membership is $30.00 a year and you can use a different carrier each month. I love that this is a resource in our area for moms. If you're looking for some help or education, this group could be for you. They could also be for you if you're looking for some babywearing mom friends in the area. The meetings are free, and you can find their schedule on their facebook here. They move around to different locations around Hampton Roads.

I know that babywearing is seen as a "crunchy mom" thing. I went to the meeting not for the bonding or the benefits but the practicality. Having a toddler and a newborn makes things a little more complicated. I need to be able to have my hands free to chase RT, pick up toys, or hold dripping ice cream cones. But I would be lying if I didn't admit that having a little newborn snuggled up on me makes me feel great too.

Bumps to Babes: Birth Stories V:1

In talking to some of my favorite mamas at recent Fit4mom classes, I learned that so many mamas like reading birth stories. I knew I wanted to start this feature, but I wasn't sure where to start. But since I am excited to announce that our newest little guy has arrived, I figured I would start with myself!

This pregnancy was so incredibly different than my last. I was still sick, but for the most part I felt really good the whole time except for some pain around the left hip. I continued Zumba and moved from Body Back to Fit4Baby classes and tried to stay active chasing around RT. I worried (and still do!) about how in the world I was going to keep up with him with a newborn, but we still completed the Purple Stride 5k, traipsed around Busch Gardens, and adventured around everywhere else.

With RT I had what some refer to as a stalled pregnancy. I'd get regular, painful, and real contractions and then they would stop. I waited for three days to dilate enough to be admitted even after my doctor herself told me to head to the hospital after seeing me. Once I got the epidural, they told me that it would be a matter of hours, but RT still didn't come until the next night! Not this time! Neil and I checked into the ER at Leigh at 1 am, we walked the halls for two hours before they gave us the all clear to stay and by then I had dilated from 2.5 to 4.  We headed to our room, got the epidural settled quickly and took a few dozes.. That morning, they checked me at 8 cm and 12 minutes later, my water broke. When I called the nurse to tell her, she came rushing in, checked me, and told me we were ready. I literally said - "ready for what?!". RT had taken SO long that it didn't even occur to me that in that short amount of time we would be ready to push. The room flooded with people, nurses helped me do two rounds of pushing and his head was out. The doctor had to be grabbed from starting a C section down the hall for the final push- and he was out.

Turns out, the C section down the hall is a girl we know! We literally pushed her baby's birth out of line and the babies were born 36 minutes apart. Our nurses were great. The hospital was wonderful. We couldn't have asked for a better experience.

Watching RT come in and meet his baby brother has been one of the highlights of my life. So far he has wanted to do everything with his little brother, hold him, feed him, look at his little fingers. Sometimes this is awesome and super helpful... other times not so much. But seeing him take pride in becoming a big brother has been amazing to watch. I was, and am, still so worried about how I can be a good mama to two boys, but I am so excited to see them grow and change together. I am so thankful to everyone who helped bring both of our little guys into the world to make our family complete!

Want to feature your own birth story? Send me an email!