This past weekend was “Museums on Us” weekend by Bank of America. If you have a BoA or Merrill Lynch credit or debit card, you get free entry to any of the museums on their list. We decided to use our BoA debit card and headed to the Children’s Museum of Richmond, or “CMOR”.
CMOR has 3 different locations: (1) Central Location, (2) Short Pump, and (3) Chesterfield. We learned that they have plans to open a 4th location in Fredericksburg, VA sometime soon. Of these locations, the Central and Short Pump ones were closest to us. Each CMOR spot has different exhibits and, since we’ve never been before, we weren’t sure which one to check out first. In the end, it was Chris’ stomach that made the choice – he wanted to eat at The Cheesecake Factory, so we chose the one that was closest to that. I’d also driven past the Short Pump shopping center once before when meeting my brother-in-law and sister-in-law en route to their residency interview weekends, so I knew that it was a nice area with plenty of parking.
We showed our BoA cards and both Chris and I got in without paying any fee. Joe was $8 and Jack, being under 12 months old, was free. Four people for $8 seems pretty good, in my opinion.
Joe immediately ran straight for the vacuum-powered tubing system at the front of the museum. It was a simple but clever design – put a scarf in the entry, and watch it zip through the tubes. The scarf is then blown out of the system and floats to the ground…. or is chased maniacally by eager toddlers 🙂
Putting the scarf in the tubing
Racing to catch it
Got one!
All the boys were well behaved, including Joe, and took turns with only a few gentle reminders from parents 🙂
Jack had his share of fun, too. There’s an area for little ones with plenty of soft climbing pieces and fun toys. Here’s a photo of “Mother Goose’s Tot Spot”:
Jack found all sorts of things to do in there.
Meanwhile, Joe was playing in the pirate ship, “buying” groceries, testing out the train table, and so on and so forth.
Jack didn’t spend all of his time in the Tot Spot. We also listened to a story (“Smitten”) and checked out the indoor playground.
This was Jack’s first solo slide trip and it was a great success. I see many more trips down the slide in his future 🙂
One of Joe’s favorite aspects of the museum was the train ride. Rides are operated by museum employees and only at certain times of the day. Joe was having such fun that I couldn’t get a good photo of him, but I did my best.
The museum is stroller friendly and has plenty of family bathrooms. There’s even a special room for nursing mothers. I saw these frequently in NZ but I think that this is the first time I’ve seen one since being back in the USA. I had to get photographic evidence.
The museum was fun and the Short Pump location has shopping, restaurants, and is fairly pedestrian friendly. We did a bit of walking around while we were there. I got excited when I saw Burger Bach, a New Zealand inspired eatery, but Chris was pining for Cheesecake Factory. Since Burger Bach is so close to the museum, it’s just an excuse for us to come back to the area and visit again.
If you’re near Richmond, VA, I’d recommend checking out the museum. It has plenty to do for small children. I didn’t get any photos of the art area, as Joe didn’t have an interest in that, but that would be another fun thing to try out in the museum.
