It Drives Us Crazy! (and we like it)

The Children's Museum of Portsmouth closed its doors at the end of June. We were kind of bummed about that because we moved to Kittery the beginning of June which meant that the museum was now only 5 minutes away, not 50. BUT, the closing was necessary so that they could unveil the new museum, so we didn't cry too much. The new museum - now known as The Children's Museum of NH - opened two weeks ago in Dover and this past Thursday we ventured to check it out!

As you can see from the photos the boys had an absolutely horrible time and wanted to leave immediately. Immediately = three hours after we arrived and only because I bribed them with a stop at the playground on the way to the car. The exhibits are all pretty much the same as they were in the old museum but the layout is a million times better. It's all one big open floor plan now with a ramp to the upstairs where there is a small infant & toddler area. Complete with a breastfeeding symbol proudly displayed on the wall! My little lactivist heart jumped in joy at the sight! Then my lactivist brain said "That's good, but they should put one on the front door too." Anyway, I digress. The exhibits are the same mostly, but expanded and even though the boys know the fun stuff by heart they still thoroughly enjoyed themselves. We'll be going back again once the other kids have gone back to school and it's not so crowded.

The pics above are of both boys playing in the new submarine (SOOOO much safer than the old one). And the ball and straw exhibits - both engineering exhibits and both boys played at these respective stations the most. Hmmm, interesting. Oh, and by the way, Nate isn't coughing up that golf ball, he made it roll down from the top ramp and was bent over laughing and in sincere awe over his accomplishment. I just suck at capturing the moment.

We highly recommend visiting the new museum if you're in the area. We plan on taking our cousins/nephews when they come to visit in a few weeks! (We can't wait!) If you'd like to check it out in the virtual world go to their site at:
www.childrens-museum.org/cmnh/