Play Me, I'm Yours! In the last few days, pianos with this written on them have started popping up all over downtown Norfolk. Each one decorated and painted in a different way. The piano in the food court of MacArthur Center is done in bold blocks of color. The one in front of the Moses Myers House is decorated to look like a small replica of the house, complete with a mirrored fanlight in the roof.

Play Me, I'm Yours is also the name of Luke Jerram's public art project. This traveling exhibit has visited 55 other cities around the world, including London, Paris, Boston, and Munich. The purpose of the project is to encourage people to "take ownership of their urban environment" and encourage people to connect with each other.

We took the kids downtown this weekend to hunt out a few of the pianos. By parking at MacArthur Center we could walk and visit the ones at Slover Library, Moses Myers House, and MacArthur Square. The kids enjoyed picking out melodies and making up their own songs, and also listening to the talented other pianists waiting to perform. Some people had brought guitars to play along and some were singing along. Others were lifting up the lid of the piano to see the inner strings and hammers. Even the babies enjoyed taking their turn at the keys.

I think this was a wonderful project. Not only did it get us out and about on a beautiful day, chatting to strangers, but it got our older kids interested in piano. Anouk has asked for lessons and ever since we have been listening to a lot of piano music and talking about it. Being able to sit and play whatever you want in a special space is empowering -- not only for kids but for anybody!

The pianos will be in their spots through June 4. Click here for a map of where to find them all.

Right after Gus was born Molly told me about a wonderful music class that meets at the Fred Heutte Center and I feel like I have been waiting for him to be old enough for it since then. Now at 18 months Gussie likes all things musical (AKA noisy) and loves to dance. So we were off to Little Rockstars, finally.
Little Rockstars is run by Miss Holly, of Mountaintide fame. For the first half of the class she plays the guitar and everybody sings. Some of the songs are old favorites, some are rewordings of old favorites and some are her very own creations! They are all very interactive and require the listeners to help moo, stomp, clap, etc. Then comes the dancing, and after that, a giant bin of instruments to root through and experiment with.

The Heutte Center is a wonderful place for the class, its cozy and friendly but still has plenty of light and space for babies to run. Plus with all the flowers blooming around its the perfect place to play after the class is over, too.

The video below is not only Gus's favorite of Miss Holly's songs but shows a little big of how fun the classes can be. The Little Rockstars classes are $8 per session, $5 for each additional sibling. Or else you can purchase a special pass, 8 classes for $40.

Hello, everyone! Today we're going to kick off our return to regular blogging with a recap of the 28th Annual Virginia Children's Festival in Town Point Park that we went to early in October. The festival is not only a wonderful experience in itself but a great way to sample the many kid-friendly vendors and programs around the HRVA area. We have really added to our to-do list after making our way around the many vendor booths and displays that were set up for us to visit.

Some favorites that we're still talking about weeks later: Mad Science and their demonstrations (friction! gravity! hypotheses!), Symphonicity and their instrument petting zoo, and the Hurrah Players singing hits from The School of Rock. We also painted pumpkin ornaments at the Color Me Mine table, crafted with SensoryAbled Kids, and arrrrr-ed with Pirates from the Moody Crewe. We toured the ODU Physics department's real-life science lab, visited the Norfolk Public Library's book mobile, and listened to the Virginia Opera performing Grimm's Fairy Tales.

Sometimes it takes seeing everything your home has to offer all together to make you realize how lucky you are to get to experience it all. We're looking forward to new explorations and adventures.

What have you discovered around these parts lately?

Things have been pretty quiet around here lately, but recently we came across something so stupendous that we just had to share: sweet, soulful children's music by local group Mountaintide. Mountaintide is duo Jim Newsom and Holly Bishop, a fiddle and a flute, and their songs for kids (they also do music for grownups) are about going outside, having adventures, and imagining the silliest things.

We saw them at  in Virginia Beach one rainy afternoon a month or so ago and within thirty seconds of them taking the stage Anouk had abandoned her scone and was up and dancing with a crowd of kids. Of course we had to go home with the CD and have listened to it every day since.

To listen to Away We Go (Mountaintide's children's album), click here. Our favorite is Outside on a Saturday but they are all so much fun.

Lately, I've been enjoying housework and driving around from errand to errand more than usual and this is because Anouk has been requesting "mama music" lately instead of her usual kids' music. Hooray! I am only too happy to hook up my iPhone and oblige her. One because there are only so many times you can listen to Dan Zanes before you want to throttle him.

Two, because one of my favorite memories from growing up is going through a big stack of records with my dad and listening to his favorite songs, which became favorites for me, too -- Pure Prairie League's "Amie," Stephen Stills' "Four and Twenty," even some Hall and Oates ("I Can't Go for That" is a quality song, I don't care what you haters think). So it's especially nice to share some of my favorites with Anouk.

I made a Spotify playlist of some of the songs A. and I have listened to the most over the past few weeks/months, the ones that will always bring me right back to Summer 2013 whenever I hear them in the future. I left off "Blurred Lines" which is probably THE official song of this summer in our house because I am actually really sick of it (I'm sorry Robin! I still love you!) But the rest I could listen to over and over -- in fact, I am now, as I write this. :)

Please note that as these are not songs FOR kids, only songs liked by my one particular kid, I can't verify that they don't have some inappropriate lyrics. Luckily my kid doesn't understand ALL THE WORDS yet and so it hasn't been an issue in our house. But be forewarned. 
Pix are from our walk around the Hague yesterday with friends. I love one with the gaggle of girly ducks all together so much. I like to think they were gossiping and really letting loose while their mallards had the ducklings for the day. 
Have a great weekend!

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?

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!

This past Friday, Anouk and I were lucky enough to be able to spend some time with the Fischer Sundae Puppets at the Virginia Beach Central Library. The FSP is a nonprofit organization run by a fabulous husband-and-wife team, based out of Chesterfield, who put on shows at libraries, schools, and other locations throughout the community to promote a love of reading. The theme the day we visited was "Amazing Dreams," and with the help of Noah Goodbook, the Billy Goats Gruff, and Strega Nona, Mr. and Mrs. Fischer encouraged all of the kids in the audience to use their imaginations to make their dreams come to life.



You can read more about the Fischer Sundae Puppets here or follow them on Facebook for a list of upcoming events.

To reward ourselves after a long, hot day of unpacking and settling in to our new house, James, Baby Anne and I picked our tired bones up and went to Big Bands on the Bay at Ocean View Beach Park on Sunday night.

The series runs all summer long, featuring a different band every week. This week it was The Continentals, who offered an upbeat mishmash of big band interspersed with beach music, oldies, and classic country western. The pavilion was crowded with dancers, ranging from beginner to advanced, folks were barbecuing on the boardwalk, and the setting sun and the bay made a picturesque backdrop to the festivities. 



Baby Anne was a little overwhelmed at first by how loud it was, and protested every time we tried to set her down. I think she was a little afraid she'd be run over by some of the jitterbugging couples. (To be fair, it wasn't an irrational fear--I did have to bob and weave a little to get that shot, above, with my camera). She did deign to dance with her daddy--but once we moved away a bit from the hubbub--she let loose. That girl can cut a rug for sure.



It was just right.