Winter Wonderland at the Portsmouth Art & Cultural Center

We've been out walking in a winter wonderland already this year and enjoyed it so much that we decided to visit the one at Portsmouth Art and Cultural Center, too. So we headed out last Wednesday with a big group of friends -- five moms, seven kids -- all bundled up against the blustery weather. It was the perfect kind of afternoon for sleigh bells and reindeer and maybe even a little snow, too.

The Portsmouth Center's Winter Wonderland is a bit of a local legend -- I remember visiting the installation at the Coleman Nursery as a kid and being enthralled at the panoramas of lights, decorated trees, and animatronic figures, dolls, and elves. It's a feeling that translated through the years. Our kids were rapt from the very first moment we saw the bright blue turrets set up outside the entrance and didn't stop oohing and ahhing as we made our way in and up the stairs to begin our tour.

A little later we were back on the ground floor again, having found all of the items on the scavenger hunt sheet that staff handed out, and we headed back outside again just in time for "snow" to start falling from the balcony overhead. All of our northern friends were bracing for the real thing and we were feeling a little left out, so a few frosty flakes were just what we needed.

The Winter Wonderland runs through December 31. Click here to read more about the history behind the Coleman Collection.