Riding the Tide

It still amazes me every time I ride the Tide that we actually have light rail in Norfolk. If you're new to the area, to give you an idea of how long we've been waiting for it, the first time I remember hearing rumors of bringing light rail to Hampton Roads, I was a kid in elementary school (The Pilot ran a big article on it once, and I remember so well a bunch of us kids running around on the school playground singing the Monorail song from the Simpsons). Now I'm a J.D. with a kid of my own. That's a long, loooong time coming.

A few weeks ago, A. and I were downtown for lunch. We crossed the street near the Monticello station, and a train was pulling in. On a whim, we bought tickets and hopped on. Our car was half empty, and we had our pick of the seats. So we each chose a window seat on opposite sides of the aisle, and settled back to ride to the end of the line.

A. was super cool about it all. We rode the Metro a lot in DC, and I guess she considers herself an old hand at riding the train. She pressed the button to open the door all by herself, carefully clutched my ticket in her hand, stood like a little commuter holding on to the hand rail as the train pulled away from the station. She even knew somehow to line up on one side of the door while the passengers exited, a skill it took me about a year (and many dirty looks) to learn when I first moved to Washington.  I love my little cosmopolitan kid who won't ever remember a time before we had the Tide in Norfolk.

But I was feeling that old childlike wonder. The camera came out, and I pressed my face to the glass and soaked up my familiar city whizzing by the windows in a new and unfamiliar way. Usually, when I am driving downtown, I have one eye on the car in front of me and one eye on the pedestrians who are threatening to step out in front of my car. On the Tide, I had the chance to notice so many of the little details about the city that I haven't really seen in a long time -- the old brick and stone of the buildings, the stately Victorian houses ringing the Hague. The water, water everywhere. It was an inspiring way to spend a chunk of afternoon; the new perspective was well worth the $3 fare.

Some really exciting things are going on with future planning for the Tide right now -- this week Virginia Beach is holding public meetings to discuss ways to connect the Tide to the Oceanfront, and HRT has released some amazing maps that show how the Tide might connect up with Portsmouth, Chesapeake, and the Peninsula. I recommend friending Bring the Tide to Virginia Beach on Facebook to read more and find out how to have your say on the issue.

Salad People (and a recipe)

For most of her life, Anne has happily eaten whatever we put in front of her, but lately, she's has been a little picky, which I'm not used to. These days, there are only about four fruits and one vegetable I can count on her to eat without complaint (and no meat -- never a morsel shall pass her lips!) A couple of weeks ago, desperately in need of new ideas, I headed to the library to see if they had a copy of Moosewood Cookbook, the famous, award-winning vegetarian cookbook that, before it practically disintegrated from use, was a staple in our kitchen when J. and I moved into our first place.

Unfortunately, the library's copy of Moosewood was checked out, but I did come across Salad People, Katzen's cookbook written especially for preschoolers, and snapped it up, thinking it would be just the thing to brighten my toddler-food repertoire and to keep A. entertained (by something other than TV) in the afternoons when it's too cold to go outside.

Salad People has not disappointed. We're going to miss it when we have to take it back to the library next week, and will probably have to invest in a copy of it (and it's companion volume, Pretend Soup) for our own. A. and I have tested almost all of the recipes by now, but by far the one we like the best is the one for Raspberry Yogurt Swirl. She's had it for snack three times this week alone! It's equal parts yummy snack and art project, and it's easy to put together, which makes it pretty much the most perfect kid food ever. Here's the recipe, with a few tweaks.

Berry Yogurt Swirl (serves 4, or 2 if you like big portions)

You'll need:

• 1.5 cups berries (we'd eaten our way through the raspberries by the time this picture was taken, so we used frozen blueberries)
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice (you can also use apple or orange juice, but we like the kick of lemon)
• 2 cups vanilla-flavored Greek yogurt

Blend the berries, lemon juice, and honey together in a blender. Strain through a sieve if your berries have seeds, and decant the leftover liquid into a squeeze bottle (we used an empty honey bear for this; I think a [clean, obvs] medicine dropper could also work).

Spread 1/2 cup of yogurt on plate. Squirt dollops of berry puree into the yogurt, and swirl with a toothpick or spoon.

Eat and enjoy!

I can already tell that this is going to be a snacktime staple in our house. In the future (AKA after the next time I hit the grocery store), I'd really like to experiment with using several different berry mixtures for a tie-dye effect. The possibilities seem endless -- blended and swirled, the fruits/vegetables become colors rather than actual foods, and it seems like it would be pretty easy to sneak some of those verboten veggies in there without A. noticing. Maybe a green avocado and kale puree? Or orange carrot and sweet potato? What do you think?

Happy weekend, everyone!

The Reptile House at the Virginia Zoo

The reptile house is easy to miss at the Virginia Zoo. It's tucked away in the barnyard, which is currently closed for renovations, so it's not very a high-traffic area. However, Zoo Tales is often held during the winter in the barnyard classroom, and Anouk and I rediscovered the reptile house after storytime a few weeks ago. It has quickly become one of our favorite places to spend a rainy/chilly morning at the zoo.

The exhibit is pretty low-key, definitely not as flashy as the new tiger or orangutan habitat. It hasn't been renovated in a long time -- not since I was a kid, because I remember visiting it and things looked exactly the same, then. But it would be a shame to judge the reptile house on its outward appearance -- because the array of reptiles (and amphibians!) at the Virginia Zoo is pretty amazing. They have a wide collection of snakes and frogs, turtles and lizards (including a couple of fearsome iguanas), a few of which we've been lucky enough to be able to see up close (and pet!) at recent Zoo Tales. A. has been all about frogs ("woggies") lately, thanks to a little rubber frog she got at the pediatrician's office, and enjoys being held up for some face time with the frogs more than almost anything else the zoo has to offer.

The reptile house is attached to the nocturnal animal exhibit, and so when we tire of the creepy crawlies, we mosey on over to visit the the shrews, porcupines, and owls, and the animals in the small mammal house, including a teeny tiny red deer and the spider monkeys. The monkeys might just be our favorite animals at the zoo -- they are constantly in motion, tumbling and rolling, swinging from branches, and tossing each other food. It's worth a zoo trip just to see them -- Anne and I could watch the spider monkeys for hours. They're better than any movie, and far less predictable.

Don't forget about the reptiles and the small mammals on your next zoo visit! They just might surprise you, and turn out to be your favorites, too.

Cardboard box projects

Would you believe we are still working on getting rid of leftover cardboard boxes from Christmas? We did a ton of online shopping, plus we had gifts shipped in from family and friends, and on top of that, our recycling pickup only happens every other week. Which all leads to a little bit of a backlog when it comes to getting rid of things. When people come over to the house, I try my very best to dissuade them from going upstairs to the office lest they get lost in a sea of boxes.

In the meantime, before they go, we have been trying to put our cardboard boxes to good use. I have to admit, I love cardboard box activities. The boxes are a cheap, easy-to-work-with, forgivable material, and when the enthusiasm for the new toy wanes, you can get rid of it, guilt-free (after all...it is trash, right?)

I thought I would link to a few cardboard box crafts, in case you, too, find yourself same predicament as us. All in all, we've probably tried a dozen or more box activities, but the ones below are our tried and tested favorites.

• A. can spend hours practicing writing skills in her salt writing tray, tracing the letters and shapes I draw for her and making up a few of her own. I like this rainbow-paper option just because it's cheerful. 

• One: cut a hole in the box. Two: put your kid in that box. Three: dump some paint in the box. And throw the box away when you're done for mess-free toddler painting. 

• Hanging different-textured fabrics from the roof of a box makes an engaging sensory play tunnel.  Bonus: it gives you something to do with those lonely socks that lose their mates on the journey from the hamper to the dryer. 

• A string of Christmas lights + a large box + something sharp to make small holes with = a homemade planetarium. We made one after our visit to the Children's Museum last week. It's already gone out to the trash (thanks to an enthusiastic jumping incident), but while it lasted, it was the bomb. 

• If you've got a large, flat box (like the one James's grill grate came in), why not make a small world play scene? So far we've turned ours into a village backdrop for A.'s trains and a ball pit. In between times, it goes under the couch until we figure out what to do with it next. 

And a couple for the big kids...

• Creating an imaginary land: like our play scene idea, only with the child's own imagination let loose. I can't wait until A. is old enough for this one. 

• These cardboard box looms look really fun. (I might make one for myself.) 

• A homemade reflector can give seedlings a boost until they're ready to go out into the garden. 

We still have a few more boxes upstairs, so...what do you do with your leftover cardboard boxes? (Besides recycle them, of course?) Do you have any fun crafts or activities to share?

Planetarium Show at the Children's Museum of Virginia

Last Thursday, we went back to the Children's Museum in Portsmouth -- this time with some friends in tow! We had a fabulous time seeing some of the things we missed on our first visit (which was a lot -- don't be a hero and try to do everything in one day, this is my advice to you) But I think our favorite part of the visit and the most memorable by far was catching a show in the museum's planetarium theatre.

The show consisted of a short movie called Zula Patrol: Down to Earth, a cartoon that followed space explorers through time from the creation of the earth to the present day. The themes focused on recycling and caring for the planet, which honestly went right over Anouk's head but she enjoyed herself all the same, mostly because the experience of seeing a movie projected onto the high, domed planetarium ceiling was so new and novel in itself. It was a little incredible, watching a movie in surround view, even I have to admit. As our friend Miss Brenda said, it would have been nice if the seats reclined for a better look at what was going on overhead, but even with this small flaw, I have a feeling A's first movie theatre experience is going to be a hard one to top.

The movie was only about 25 minutes long -- the perfect time frame to hold a toddler's attention. And after all of the other exhibits, which are so interactive, it was nice to have a quiet break to reset and revive ourselves for the next one.

Tickets to the planetarium show are free with museum admission (you just have to request them at the admission desk). Zula Patrol runs twice a day, at 11 AM and 3 PM, Thursday through Saturday. In between times (at 2 PM), there's a show for slightly older kids, called Dynamic Earth, which uses real-life satellite data and images to explore the planet's changing weather. The next time we visit the museum, I might put J. on baby duty and catch that one myself. Because I'm a dork like that.

Photos weren't allowed in the planetarium, so the ones for this post were taken elsewhere in the museum. See this pic of the kids all together on the big purple chair? About a second after it was snapped Anouk tumbled right to the floor, got up without shedding a tear, and took off running toward the bubble room. "Bubbuhhhhhs!" Of course.

I'm thinking we'll have to pay a visit to the Chesapeake Planetarium soon. Have you been? What did you think?

Happy weekend, everybody!

Mixtape Valentines

Anne and I have a Valentines Day party tomorrow to look forward to! Over the weekend, we sat down to put together our Valentines. We thought just a simple card would do, no candy, nothing edible -- because there's going to be enough sweets to go around, we didn't want to add to the sugar rush. 

I broke out the stamps and we had a good time inking up our paper, but our Valentines just didn't seem as special as they could be. While digging through my craft box for extra glitter, I came across a stack of CDs and had a flashback to the 1990s. I thought: why not make each of A.'s friends a Valentines mixtape?*

Anouk was in charge of stamping the covers (and her face, and hands, and stomach, and the placemats...) while I was in charge of scrolling through our music library to pick the best kid-friendly Valentine-themed tracks. Anouk was surprisingly helpful on this point: for her favorites, she bobbed her head like crazy; if I picked a song she didn't like, she let me know with a resounding "NO, mama." 

Finally we had a playlist of the five head-bobbingest songs burned to disc** and it was time to put it all together. I used the CD cover insert as a template and cut our stamped cover papers to size. Then we slid them into the case and used a Sharpie to write "Love Anouk" on the CD itself.  

Et voila! A truly rocking Valentine for a truly rocking Valentines Day. 

*OK so, technically, they're mix-CDs, but that doesn't sound as cool as mixtape, does it?

**The songs on our CDs were purchased through iTunes and burned to disk on an external CD drive for noncommercial use. In summary, no recording artists were harmed in the making of these Valentines.

____________________

What are some of your favorite romantic, Valentines-worthy songs? I love pretty much anything from the WWII era, especially this song by the Kay Kyser Orchestra. 

SweetART at the Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art

Last Saturday evening, we went to the SweetART family night at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Virginia Beach and had a great time. In addition to amazing interactive art exhibits, there was food, crafts, live music, kiddie spa treatments (courtesy of the Klumsy Moose), and even an open bar for the parents (score!)

Anne and James and I attended the event with our friend Sarah and her Baby A. I think it's safe to say that we all had a blast. We decorated heart-shaped cookies, made Valentine's cards for friends, and then explored the art gallery a little. Some of the things we enjoyed seeing included some really cool avant garde jewelry, a custom Vans exhibit, and even a few of our old favorites from the Chrysler!

But best of all was probably the ArtLab, "a space of activity and exploration" for children of all ages. Anouk and A. spent a lot of time sticking felt shapes onto different surfaces, playing with chalk, and jumping onto the giant beanbags that littered the gallery.

After a while in the ArtLab, we were called back to the main courtyard by the strains of the C-Shells, who did a live performance that had most of the room up and dancing. At the end of the set the lights came up and we left with our goody bags. But I know we'll be back again soon.

The next Family Fest at MOCA will be held on Feb. 24. And Feb. 21 is Pre-K Art Day! Will you be there?

Rise Up Singing

Anouk has loved listening to music almost from the beginning (and I do mean all the way back to the beginning -- when I was pregnant with her, she would kick and roll in my belly every time I listened to music.) Lately, she's become a fan of singing, too. So almost every day now I find myself breaking out either the guitar or ukulele for an impromptu sing-a-long. In true toddler fashion, A. wants to hear the same songs over and over and over again. She could happily sit and listen to "So Long, Farewell" and "I Wanna Be Like You" on repeat for hours. 

But me...not so much. In fact, both of those songs are starting to make me want to pull my hair out though I do love them deep down. Yesterday, I'd finally had enough and thought we should try and freshen up our repertoire, so I went to the bookshelf and pulled down one of our old-standbys, Rise Up Singing. 

Rise Up Singing is a must-have resource for any musical family. It's a famous group-sing songbook dating back to the 1970s -- if you ever went to Scout camp or Bible School you might remember a copy being passed around from hand to hand. Over 1,200 songs ar efeatured in the book, which is devided into categories like, "America," "Hope," "Rounds," "Gospel" (and even "Ecology"). The songs are mostly folk songs, sea chanties, and old ballads, but there are some hymns as well as pop songs of the 1950's and '60s -- the only criterion for inclusion that the authors had when putting together the book was that all of the songs must represent "a world where everybody shares and no one is ostracized." 

Best of all, a chord chart is provided for each song, and by and large, they are easy enough for even a beginner musician to master. 

We have found so many beloved songs in Rise Up Singing. Every time we page through it, we find another gem. Yesterday afternoon we spent the afternoon singing almost every song in the "Sea Chanties" section. 

Rise Up Singing runs about $30 on Amazon, even used, but it's worth every penny, in my opinion. (The Norfolk and Chesapeake public libraries have copies if you want to take it for a test drive before buying.) In the meantime, here is a playlist of some of our favorite songs we've found in the book voer the years (you'll need to download Spotify to listen, if you don't already have it).

Enjoy, and HAPPY WEEKEND!

The Virginia Legends Walk

A few weeks ago, Anouk and I explored the Virginia Legends Walk in Virginia Beach -- one of those little kid-friendly gems off of the Oceanfront boardwalk. There are so many of them and we have such fun discovering them all. Click over to My Active Child to read more about our visit! 

Air Power Park

We were big fans of the Air and Space museum when we lived in DC, and we're big fans of the Virginia Air and Space Museum, as well. But they just don't compare to Hampton's Air Power Park in terms of accessibility and pure magic -- because there is something magical about being able to get up close and personal with the fighter jets and rockets, to have so many in one place, and to even be able to reach out and touch them.

Anouk's love of airplanes seems to grow and grow, and so we made a special trip to Air Power Park last weekend. The park, located on fifteen acres off of Mercury Boulevard is hard to miss. You're driving along and then bam: rockets against the trees. The park features vintage aircraft and space exploration vehicles from the 1950s and '60s as well as an indoor museum filled with model planes and nautical vessels in exhibits dedicated to each of the armed services. There's a small playground behind the museum building, too.

A time capsule, interred at the park in 1965, to be opened in 2065. 

We followed the map around the rocket garden and saw the sights: a Thunderchief fighter jet, a massive Polaris missile, and best of all, a Mercury capsule used in the first manned spaceflight (along with the Little Joe rocket that launched it). The capsule was way smaller than either J. or I thought it would be...here's a photo of A. standing next to it, to give you some idea of how little it was. Because of it's cramped size, the astronauts used to say that it was "worn" rather than flown in!

Inside the museum, we had fun looking up at all of the vintage model planes made by a local donor starting in the 1940s. The NASA room also features small-scale models of the Challenger shuttle and the Mars rover, and of course we had to spend some time checking them out. The Cold War Era Room gave J. and me a weird kind of nostalgia -- it's strange to think how big and scary the Cold War stuff seemed to us back when we were kids, and how long ago and far away it all seems now.

Best of all, Air Power Park (because it's a public city park) is free -- a great bargain, considering that admission at the VA Air and Space museum can cost up to $20 per person! And considering that Anouk learned a new word while she was there -- she's still toddling around talking about "wockets." Priceless, you know?

To the moon! Let's go!