Things I Love Thursday v.7

Yup, been there!

A cross between two of my favorite things, Parks and Rec and Harry Potter. This is Neil. I've forced him to the midnight movies too. 

Brand New lyrics that make you think of high school. 

Credit
This is a picture of the Dead Sea in Israel. I've been twice and loved it both times. It's certainly an experience. 

Thought provoking poem of the day. 

Your weekly dose of Gilmore Girls perfection and honesty.

Source

This song on a winter day which feels nice and summery. 

http://toddlinaroundtidewater.blogspot.com/2017/09/babygarten.html

Throwback Thursday: Here is our post for babygarten, an awesome class for babies at Norfolk Public Library. 

Imagination Island and Coaster Coffee

A nice fall afternoon calls for a run through the leaves. R, Auntie Chelsea, and I headed over to the Imagination Island, part of Northside Park. Before hitting the park, we went to Coaster Coffee, directly across the street. They have a small collection of toys, books, and puzzles for kids. The shop is local to Norfolk, and it operates as non-profit and gives back to the community by feeding the hungry, building community gardens, teaching art classes, and helping the unemployed. There is currently a toy drive going on. I wish that they were open on Sundays, but it is run by a church, so I get why it isn't. The toys were on a raised platform, which worried me a little bit for falling reasons, but it made me wonder if they ever have live music.

R LOVES smoothies. Like, he can drink a big one by himself. I got mango and Chels got lemonade.... R drank both. We sat for a little bit and let R play while we chatted. 

Coaster Coffee was nice enough to give our readers a coupon code! Use code TODDLINTW for 15% off from now until the end of the month. After a few minutes we headed over to the park to let R really run. The 62 acre park has playground areas, outdoor basketball courts, an indoor pool, a skateboard park, softball fields, tennis courts, picnic shelters, and hills that people ride bikes on and sled on when it snows. 

I actually lifeguarded at Northside Pool all through high school and college, so I've spent a lot of time on this property. For a weekday afternoon, the park had a good amount of families. The skate park was also pretty full. I like that the park has the ages kind of sectioned off with the different play structures too. There are three main play structures and two sets of swings. There is also a large pirate ship sandbox saved from the original park. 

The park was clean, and benches and trashcans were easily accessible. There are picnic tables in addition to the shelters, so a picnic lunch would have been awesome. Another perk of this park is that there is lots of shade, which is great in the summer. 

There are a few little walking trails around the park and fields where I've seen people playing games  like flag football or frisbee. It's a nice park to visit, and I like that it has a little coffee shop across the street to warm up on a cold day or get a cold drink.

Some FREE upcoming Norfolk Parks and Rec events for toddlers:

GUARDIANS OF THE GREENERY - FOR TODDLERS
        December 21, Bees in the Winter
        January 18, Chesapeake Bay
        February 15, Ducks in the River
Time: 10:00 a.m. - 10:45 a.m.     
Location:  Lakewood Athletic Building, 1612 Willow Wood Drive
This is the perfect program for toddlers age 3-5 years old who are curious about nature and enjoy the outdoors. A specially selected nature-themed book, nature craft and adventure awaits! Adults must remain with their children. Call 757-441-5834 or email  parkrangers@norfolk.gov to register.

FREE! Model Train Exhibit

We found this place accidentally actually, while walking to Charles Dickens' Christmas Towne. See that post here. It's a totally free train show, located in the Sun Trust building at 150 W. Main Street, of downtown Norfolk.

We walked in to a group of men who love trains, and love to see kids get excited about trains. They were so warm and welcoming. This is put on by the Atlantic Coast "S" Gaugers and is free and open to the public. Be sure to check out the free phone rides. You can put your phone in a car and record a ride around. Several of these cars were funny, like a (veggie in our case) hot dog and condiments train. Some were classic trains, like Peanuts and Thomas. 

One highlight was the train you could sit in and "drive." (pictured above) From here you could ring a bell, blow the whistle, and control several items in the train display in front of you. R was content to sit here all day, and wasn't thrilled when we pulled him out.

Hours: 

Wednesday- Friday 11-2

Saturday- 10-5

Mon-Sat Dec 18-23 11-7

Just around the corner is the Maine. It has an awesome rooftop bar if you're ever looking for one for date night. But for the kids it's got this really cute gingerbread house that's worth stopping by to see if you're downtown. 

 

There is another FREE train show at the Avalon Church of Christ lated at 844 Woodstock Rd in Virginia Beach. They are open until the 9th. Santa will be there at various times and they will be selling raffle tickets for a G Scale Train complete set. Call 490-2155 or click here for more info. 

Hope you are enjoying this holiday season and taking time to check out all of the awesome things going on around Tidewater! 

Charles Dickens' Christmas Towne

Scroll to the bottom and press play for music! 

We recently had a Dickens' Christmas Towne giveaway on our Facebook, and Chelsea and I decided to check it out for ourselves. It's located in the Half Moon Cruise Center, next to Waterside in downtown Norfolk. We parked in the garage across the street which was $5.00 cash. When you walk into Christmas Towne, it's as if you've been transported back in time and landed in a victorian London village. There are street performers, push cart peddlers, jugglers, and old time shops. Our favorite of the shops was Hears the Scoop where we shared a large ice cream. 

There is a stage in the back where there are magic shows, musical artists, and puppet shows. We walked into an older couple performing who seemed to know how to play every instrument there is. Impressive in itself. They did a good job of involving the kids in the crowd. The next thing we saw was a magic act, where I had to physically restrain R from the stage. 

Scattered around throughout were little things to do for kids (and adults!). There was a snowball toss that was particularly popular, hopscotch, ring toss, and so on. There were also people walking around singing and entertaining. There was also a booth to take old timey photos for a fee. 

 

We also stopped into Abby's Craft Corner where they had coloring pages, ornament making, and some felt trees to decorate up on the wall. R was much more interested in emptying out the basket of felt decorations. Yay toddlers! 

Our favorite part of the whole experience was the Once Upon a Time Room. This room is set up like a child's bedroom and has a talking book, bookworm, and a storyteller. These stories run pretty consistently. We saw Peter Pan, and the storyteller did a good job of involving the kids. We had to be the crockodile and chomp with our arms and make ticking noises. We had to clap for Tinkerbell to help her get her light back. 

Don't skip the outside area where there is a maze and views of the water. 

Tips: 

• Check your child's school around this time. They send out a coloring sheet where a child can get in free. 
• NPS teachers- if you call, you can get TWO FREE tickets! 
• Be on the lookout for military and city employee weekends. On these days you can get into Nauticus and Christmas Towne for the price of one. 
• Take a camera or make sure your phone is charged. There are lots of photo opportunities. 
• Check across the street for the FREE train show. Here is the post on this! 
• Grab a Who Done It sheet coming in. Figure out who did the crime and you can win a prize.
• Check out the talking Christmas tree. Creepy, haha. 
• There are some after Christmas events, such as an Ice Party, and Princess and Pirate Party. On December 27th children 12 and under are free if they come dressed as a princess or pirate. There is also a New Year's Eve balloon drop at 3 p.m. We hope to blog this event also. 
• On your way out ask for a free appetizer coupon for Waterside! 

Special shout out to Chelsea. Sometimes it's hard when you have a baby and your best friend doesn't. I know that lots of moms have complained about losing friends. Being a mom is awesome, but it can sometimes feel isolating if you're the first of your friends to join this sisterhood. I actually think that Chelsea likes our friendship MORE now that I have a kid.  I'll leave you with my favorite Christmas song of all time! 

MacArthur Center

Cold or rainy weather often means less to do when you're a toddler. This can be lame both for the kiddos and parents. We were recently downtown at the Slover Library for Toddler time, (if you have not checked out this library- do it NOW!) and decided to go over to the MacArthur Center play area.

  

Of the mall play areas around, I think that this one is the best. It is the largest and it has a closed perimeter fence with a security guard. I've heard lots of people complain about kids larger than the rules allow at other malls, but here it doesn't happen. It also has a cute Looney Tunes theme. There are many things to climb onto, over, down and through. Most important, it's a padded floor so tumblers are a little protected. The play area is all the way upstairs on the third floor next to the food court. A reminder-kids have to take their shoes off here, so you may want to bring socks.

If you decide to have lunch while you're here, there are several sit down restaurants throughout the mall including Johnny Rockets, California Pizza Kitchen, Chili's, and Texas De Brazil. ( I don't see you playing much after eating there. I get the vegetarian offerings from their salad bar for a discounted price and I'm still so full I feel like rolling out of there!) Be aware- if you eat from the food court, the high chairs can be hard to locate. We found them under a counter up by the Burger King. You can find a list of all of the stores here. 

While you're at the mall be sure to check out:

01. Barns and Noble- On Tuesdays and Wednesdays they have a FREE story time with a craft. (Check my B&N post here for more information.)

02. Friday Food Truck Rodeo- as good as it sounds! On some Fridays the mall has food trucks outside. 

03. Sunday Farmers Markets- outside on the green lawn.

04. Ice skating in the winter! Check out our contest going on for a family four pack of tickets!

05. Junior Cooking Series- On the second Saturday of the month California Pizza Kitchen has a class for juniors who are looking to learn how to cook. 

06. Pop up yoga for adults, chalk art displays, terrarium workshops, the list goes on. Be sure to check with their website to see the full descriptions of upcoming events. 

07. Check out the Live 360 studio. Post here. It's got books, arts and crafts, and different activities for children. 

08. While at MacArthur you do have to pay for parking, but the fee is normally $1.00-$2.00. The library, Nauticus, Waterside, and the MacArthur Memorial are all in close walking distance to the mall, so if you pay to park, there is lots to do! They now take cards too. 

Upcoming events:

Breakfast with Santa and MacArthur Mall.  Pancakes, Pizza, and Santa! Sunday, December 2nd and 9th, 8:00 a.m.-9:30 a.m. Children are $7.00, adults are $8.00. Takes place inside of CPK. Register online.

Pet photos with Santa, the purr-fect photo op. Sunday, December 3rd, 6:30-8:30 p.m. Photo packages range from $24.99-$49.00. Located inside center court.

Contest time! Comment below with your favorite holiday tradition to be entered to win a family four pack of tickets to MacArthur on Ice! Tag your friends on Facebook and instagram- we have two sets! Don't forget to LIKE Toddlin' Around Tidewater on Facebook, and FOLLOW on Instagram to get all of our updates!
*This song is for you if you plan on staying warm this winter!