Pi Day 2015

Tags

3.14, Albert Einstein, CMNH, Dover, New Hampshire, nh, Pi, Pi Chain, Pi Day, Sarah Terry

Yesterday, March 14th, in addition to being Albert Einstein’s 136th birthday, was Pi Day. March 14th = 3.14 = Pi Day. Since Physicist Larry Shaw put together the first official Pi Day celebration in San Francisco back in 1988, the deliciously mathematical holiday has only grown exponentially in popularity.

Last year, we focused more on the delicious side of Pi Day festivities. This year? We got down to pi business. Because many of our visitors are still in elementary school, trying to explain pi exclusively with terms like “irrational number”, “mathematical constant” or “Madhava-Leibniz series” isn’t exactly the most fruitful plan of attack.

So how can you make the math fun? Multiplication? No problem. Geometrical shapes? Sure. But the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter? That’s a bit bigger of a fraction to follow!

Enter Museum Educator Sarah Terry. I asked Sarah, who returned to CMNH at the end of 2014 after first joining our team in October of 2011, how she approached a subject that seems, on the surface, to be rather dry and difficult to build a day of fun around.

“I’ve always thought math was a lot of fun,” Sarah said. “There’s something so satisfying about working with problems and equations that can be solved. In the humanities, you don’t come across too many situations where there is a definitive right answer. It tends to be based on opinion. Well-reasoned and supported opinions, but still debatable. The rationality of mathematics always seemed comforting in comparison.”

But can Rational = Interesting? Can Rational = Fun? Sarah was confident it could be both.

“When you come across something like pi, which is an infinite number with no apparent pattern or repetition, it’s pretty mind-blowing,” admits Sarah. “How can something as crazy and enormous of a number that’s been calculated out thus far to over 12 trillion digits also be considered a mathematical constant? Every circle that has been or ever will be created will find that its circumference divided by its diameter will be pi. It’s unwieldy and baffling and I looked forward to coming up with activities that could show our visitors that things as awesome as pi actually make math – yes, math – pretty cool!”

Using CMNH’s Colorful Classroom space as her home base, Sarah taught visitors young and old about pi. Some had never heard of it. Some had learned about it in school but had forgotten the specifics. Some were wearing Pi Day shirts. Using a variety of colorful craft activities coupled with the promise that if you located her over the course of Pi Day and recited a fact about Pi, Sarah would paint the pi symbol on your cheek, visitors left yesterday with a newfound appreciation – and hopefully, enthusiasm – for the wild, wacky, infinite constant that is pi!

We hope you and your family had a Happy Pi Day and look forward to you spending Pi Day 2016 with us here at CMNH!

Circles, circles, everywhere!

“Pi lets us show off the oddball side of math and lets us stretch our imaginations,” Sarah said.

What’s a Pi Chain? Good question! Here’s the answer: 0-9 are each represented by a color. Following the order of numbers in pi, can you make an accurate chain that is correctly represented by the 10 colors? Can you make a longer Pi Day Pi Chain than your friends and family?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Even the streamers never rested from the continual recitation of pi!

 

 

Daydreaming on a Winter Day

Tags

car raffle, Children's Museum of New Hampshire, Children's Museum of NH, CMNH, daydreams, fundraiser, Harley Davidson, Honda Ruckus, New Hampshire, nh, Nissan Quest, raffle, winning, winter

My snowy backyard in Kittery, Maine / February 2015

Looking past the snow piled outside my window on a cold February day, it is easy to daydream of warm breezes, family road trips and summer adventures that are many months in the future.

For the past three years, the Museum’s car raffle fundraiser has given people a reason to daydream the winter away, hoping to win a fun summer ride in the spring.

This year we’ve changed up the format a bit – our Joyride Raffle gives one lucky winner their choice of a new Nissan Quest S minivan, a Harley Davidson Glide motorcycle or $20,000 cash prize.* Our second prize winner will ride away on a 2015 Honda Ruckus scooter thanks to our friends at Nault’s Powersports.

With a maximum of 750 total tickets sold, the odds of winning are exponentially better than the Powerball (an estimated 1 out of 176 million)! We’ll be drawing the winning tickets at Port City Nissan on April 16th — and I can tell you from past drawings that it’s pretty exciting to be in a room with people anticipating that they will win a big prize!

If I won this year’s raffle, I would have difficulty deciding which prize to choose.

I can see myself driving the Nissan Quest to White Lake on a balmy summer day, with plenty of room for my kids, their friends, a picnic lunch and inflatable tubes.

Or maybe the Harley Street Glide is the way to go. I don’t have a motorcycle license, but my husband does, and driving down coastal roads with the scent of salt air and the sun warming my back would be pure joy.

Then there is always the cash prize. I could be practical and invest my winnings for the kids’ college or retirement OR I could splurge on a once-in-a-lifetime family vacation to Europe, home improvements or a combination of these options.

Even if I wasn’t the grand prize winner, the Honda Ruckus second prize would be a great way to zip around town for errands and fun trips to places where parking is at a premium. I would put a basket on the front of mine.

The great news is that one of these daydreams can come true for anyone who participates in the Joyride Raffle.

Now my question is: if you win the Joyride Raffle, which prize will you choose?

For more information or to purchase your own Joyride Raffle ticket(s), visit this link or call the Museum at 603-742-2002 during normal business hours. Proceeds benefit the Museum’s programs and exhibits.

* see website for full details, taxes not included

Celebrating the Highlights of Our 30th Year

Tags

accomplishments, children's museum, Children's Museum of NH, CMNH, creativity, education, exhibits, family learning, Henry Law Park, kids, Maker Faire, mission, New Hampshire, nh, review, successes, vision, year-end

At the end of each year, it’s human nature to reminisce over the events and milestones of the past 12 months. Sometimes we are so busy going about daily life that until we take a moment to reflect, we don’t really digest the moments that matter.

Here are some highlights of 2014 at the Children’s Museum of New Hampshire:

• Adopting a newly refreshed five-year Strategic Plan and charting our course for a strong future.

• Extending the Museum beyond our doors by bringing art to the park and our building’s façade. Who knew that recycled plastic bottles could be so beautiful?

• Starting a new EBT/SNAP admission program to extend our commitment to serving all families, leading the way before a national model was introduced for Children’s Museums around the country.

• Unveiling a new Museum logo and brand that celebrates open-ended creativity and experimentation.

• Hosting the 2^nd annual Dover Mini Maker Faire, bigger and better than ever with 60 makers and over 1,600 attendees!

• Celebrating the end of our 30^th year by re-launching our iconic Yellow Sub exhibit with exciting new features like a drivable deep-sea environment and interactive swimming fish. (And for adults, an evening of delicious food and live music at our September Shebang!)

• Collaborating with Dover Middle School Art Club students and our Artist in Residence Nate Walker to design new place-based bike racks for Henry Law Park right outside our doors. The Blue Crab welcomed his new friend – Steampunk Octopus!

• And most importantly, all of us at the Children’s Museum remember the one constant that hasn’t changed over the past 30 years: the joy, wonder and pure delight that children bring to their Museum experience every single day.

We can’t wait for 2015 and look forward to sharing with you all the wonderful things the new year will bring!

Dover Mini Maker Faire: Putting a Spotlight on NH Ingenuity

Tags

art, children's museum, creativity, Dover, Dover NH, exhibits, experimentation, families, Henry Law Park, learning, Maker Faire, making, New Hampshire, nh, problem solving, science, technology

New Hampshire is known for its “Yankee ingenuity, ” a place where generations have worked the land, manufactured goods and come up with creative solutions for reusing and repurposing materials. That spirit of making is alive today, and the Dover Mini Maker Faire is the place to find it. A hands-on festival for all ages, Maker Faire celebrates the thriving resourcefulness, innovation, creativity and forward-thinking technology that can be found in New Hampshire today.

On Saturday, August 23, the Dover Mini Maker Faire will take over downtown Dover, with four locations: upper and lower Henry Law Park, The Children’s Museum of New Hampshire, and One Washington Mill. Maker Faire attendees will be able to experience everything from quad-copter launches to spinning yarn from wool … 3-D printing to vertical gardening … driving an underwater submersible to learning how to tie flies … making a paper circuit pin to finding out how to make Star Wars costumes, and much more.

Over 50 makers and groups of makers will be on-hand hosting interactive demos, hands-on projects, small talks and workshops designed to inspire and educate attendees between the ages of 3 and 93 as to a sampling of “making” that is happening in New Hampshire businesses, schools & universities, organizations, and garage workbenches throughout the state and beyond. From engineering and product design, to arts, crafts, technology and homesteading, Maker Faire is the place to be inspired and connect with your inner maker!

2014 marks the 2^nd annual Dover Mini Maker Faire. The first Maker Faire was hosted in the Bay Area of California in 2006 as a place for makers to show what they made and share what they learned. In 2013, 100 independently-produced Mini (one day events) and Featured (2 or more day events) occurred around the World. In fact, this year’s Dover Mini Maker Faire is scheduled on the weekend between Sydney, Australia’s and Trondheim, Norway’s Faires. A licensed event through Maker Media, the Children’s Museum of New Hampshire is the host and coordinator of the Granite State’s only Maker Faire at this time.

In early 2012, the Museum began the process of becoming licensed to plan and host what would become the Dover Mini Maker Faire. “The Maker Faire concept was a perfect fit with the Museum’s focus on developing creative problem-solving skills and building a strong community focused on learning and collaboration,” says Jane Bard, Museum President. “What better way to shine a light on the innovation and creativity happening in NH but through the people, businesses, organizations and schools that are making that happen.”

In our increasingly complex world, the objects and technology that surround us can be intimidating and hard to understand. “There’s a growing distance between us and the world,” says Chris O’Brien from the LA Times. “We don’t know where our food comes from, how the energy we use gets made, and how to take apart our computer and fix it…The Maker Faire dares us to reverse that trend. And it inspires us to do that by gathering together thousands of people who embody that simple joy of creating things every day.”

Here is a sampling of the 55+ makers and maker activities scheduled to happen at this year’s August 23^rd Faire in Dover:

TOOOL – The Open Organization of Lockpickers – Teaching people to pick locks and understand how they work and why.

TDB Monsters – Focused around making creatures and characters out of discarded items and junk laying around. They create all sorts of other items, from a slithering bicycle, to jewelry made from almost nothing. Recycling objects is a major factor in what they do.

Port City MakerSpace and Manchester Makers – Projects and demonstrations by both organization’s members

Reproduction Retro Computers – Reproductions of Apple 1 and the SCELBI 8H computers. The Apple 1 is the first product of Apple. The SCELBI is the first personal computer, released in 1974, a full 2 years before the Apple 1.   There were around 200 of each system originally built. There are around 70 original Apple 1’s remaining. Original SCELBI computers are even scarcer, as there are only about a dozen original SCELBI’s known to exist. Both will running vintage computer software games from the 1970s. Users will be able to operate both computers.

EPLIS Comics – An all ages sci-fi action adventure comic book series. We’ll have a vendor table for our comics, and we’ll be doing two workshops: learn to draw cartoon characters, and how to create your own comics

3-D Printed Coins – Come make a fun maker crab coin or pin. You will be able to create a fun DIY project with a few materials.

Air Rocket Glider – Featured in MAKE issue #39. With its wings folded back, it launches on a blast of compressed air, on our new v2.0 Compressed Air Rocket launcher (CAR v2.0). When the ARG reaches apogee, the wings pop out for a gentle glide back to the ground.

Vertical Gardening by KinneBotanicals – Using long-lasting and environmentally friendly materials, they will demonstrate how to grow plants on walls instead of the floor, be they edible or ornamental. This method drastically reduces space requirements. It also adds an interesting aesthetic to any indoor or outdoor space.

Darkhill Cemetery Haunted House – 14 year old George Farrow’s passion for the past six years has been creating the Darkhill Cemetery Haunted House. This small attraction held in his parents’ garage every year focuses on using high quality detailed sets/scenics as well as computer controlled animatronics and spectacular sound and lighting. George will share some of the methods used to make his event come alive, such as foam carving/sculpting, carpentry, lighting/sound design, casting, molding, and more!

NEMO Equipment – This Dover-based company designs and manufactures outdoor equipment, tents, and shelters. Founded in 2002 NEMO Equipment has won numerous awards for its designs. Sold nationally around the US and in numerous other countries around the world, NEMO is recognized as a leader in outdoor equipment.

Automotive Technology – See how modern vehicles work! There will be demonstrations on the anatomy of an automotive wheel bearing, how Tire Pressure Monitoring systems work, and how modern computer systems measure air flow into the engine. Look inside the operating system of a modern vehicle to see what all the electronics do!

Advance tickets are now on sale for $10 and tickets at the gate will be $12. Children ages 5 and under are admitted free. Tickets can be purchased online at www.makerfairedover.com. For more information on the Dover Mini Maker Faire, please call 603-742-2002 or visit www.makerfairedover.com

Six on the Sixth

Tags

Anniversaries, Children's Museum of New Hampshire, Children's Museum of Portsmouth, CMNH, CMOP, Dover, Garrison City, New Hampshire, nh, Portsmouth, Ribbon Cutting, Seacoast

We hope everyone is having a wonderful summer! July is a very special month in the history of the Children’s Museum of New Hampshire. It’s always been a month of beginnings and, because of that, cherished anniversaries.

In July of 1983, the Children’s Museum of Portsmouth opened its doors at 280 Marcy Street in Portsmouth, New Hampshire in the old South Meeting House.

Children eagerly cut the ribbon(s) to open the Children’s Museum of Portsmouth

Twenty-five years later on July 23, 2008, CMOP transformed into CMNH, as the Children’s Museum of New Hampshire opened its doors in an old Armory Building – and former Butterfield Gym – in Henry Law Park at 6 Washington Street in Dover, New Hampshire.

The colorful ribbons come out again for a brand new chapter!

To celebrate six years of being CMNH, our move to Dover, and becoming an even bigger, vital part of the New Hampshire community, we’ve interviewed six staff members who were part of the process of moving, designing, creating and launching the Children’s Museum of New Hampshire.

Help us dive into the future! Our fundraising effort for the next phase of the famous Yellow Submarine is in full swing!

Independence

Tags

American Flag, art, CMNH, Dover, Fourth of July, Independence Day, New Hampshire, nh, Patriotism, USA

Happy 4th of July from the Children’s Museum of New Hampshire!

We hope you have a fun and safe holiday with friends and family.

Below, you will find a selection of patriotic drawings made by some of our museum visitors.

[Reminder: CMNH is closed on the 4th in observance of the holiday but will be open from 10-5 on Saturday the 5th and 12-5 on Sunday the 6th. The fireworks in Dover, NH have been rescheduled to Sunday night, July 6th.]

 

Around the World in 93 Days

Tags

art, Art Gallery, Australia, children's museum, Children's Museum of New Hampshire, CMNH, Culture, Dover, Dreamcatcher, Family Fun, Gallery 6, Greece, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Japan, Laurel Wreaths, Mexico, Morocco, Mosaic, Muse Studio, Native America, New Hampshire, nh, Sand Art, Sweden

At the Children’s Museum of New Hampshire, we’re lucky enough to have both a gallery and a studio. Sometimes those words are interchangeable. However, at CMNH, their purposes often and intentionally overlap.

Gallery 6 features four to six installations a year curated by Tess Feltes. For the last few years, every spring, Gallery 6 focuses on a theme we’ve named, “Mosaic: Our Multicultural Neighborhood”. Spotlighting art and culture from around the world, last year the focus was on clothing, toys, photographs and stories from many different countries. This year’s Mosaic installation tightened the focus to just photography from over a dozen different countries.

The Muse Studio is a place where children and their families can create take-home art projects, play games, conduct experiments, among myriad fun activities. Our Studio projects can change daily, weekly or monthly. However, written into the mission statement of Gallery 6 is the following: The Gallery space is designed to blend into the museum’s Studio space . . . connecting the playful creativity of children to the serious investigations of artists.

And what better way to blend, to complement, to unify the many pieces of the Mosaic gallery installation than to actually expose our visitors to art they can make and culture they can study right in our Muse Studio!

Starting in early March, we spotlit a different county each week. Not only did our visiting families learn about art and culture from all over the world, but so did our staff.

In the following twelve weeks, we explored the art, language, geography, folklore, and clothing of Mexico, Japan, Ireland, India, Sweden, Greece, Indonesia, Morocco, Native America, & Australia.

As we welcome our next Gallery opening and Muse Studio theme of “Enchanting Gardens” for the summer, I’ve asked our Museum Educators – those tireless people that you see engaging families with these projects while simultaneously refilling gallons of glue and boxes of popsicle sticks – what their favorite activity has been these last few months. Please enjoy a look back at the 2014 edition of, “Mosaic: Our Multicultural Neighborhood”.

Meghan

As much as I liked making and wearing the laurels with our visitors during our week of Greek art and culture, I’m going to have to pick the bandolier bag making as my absolute favorite activity! When we were setting up the projects for the Native American week in the Muse Studio, I realized I hadn’t even seen bandolier bags before and I certainly didn’t know that were connected to Native American tribes. We used a lot of textiles and fabrics that kids had already made at CMNH with our weaving looms. So the project also had a great sustainability and green angle to it. Plus, the bags were very fashionable which the kids and I very much appreciated!

Crystal

Two projects I enjoyed immensely were during the time we devoted to Australia and Ireland. Teaching the kids how to write their names using the Ogham alphabet was using a subject – linguistics – that we don’t touch upon too often in the Muse Studio. Of course, my Irish heritage may make me a bit bias here! That said, I have to give the #1 spot to the Aboriginal Dot Art that we did while focusing on Australia. It was something accessible to all ages and it was a unique way of creating a picture, using guidelines, precision, and focus, but also allowing for imagination. No two were alike!

Meredith

I was definitely partial to the Viking Helmets we created while exploring Sweden! They were easy to make for a wide range of ages and even though the instructions were pretty clear cut, they left open room for interpretation that let the children expand their design if they felt inspired. Plus, I think it was one of the most popular projects with parents and grandparents during the entirety of the Mosaic theme. I saw quite a few adults walking the around the museum as vikings during Sweden week!

Emily

I really liked the dreamcatcher project from the week we spent learning about Native American art and culture. First, it was easy to make at home with simple materials (paper plates, yarn or string, beads, etc.) but the end product was three dimensional and could be continued to a much bigger and detailed level for older kids. Plus, it tied in the folklore of many Native American tribes so we were educating a lot of our younger visitors on this subject for the first time.

Jenaya

I was excited when we selected Morocco as one of our countries to spotlight this year, but was also a little nervous because I wasn’t very familiar with a lot of Moroccan art and culture. Which makes me even happier to say that my favorite project came from the week we spent creating Moroccan art! I LOVED the sand art projects. Were they messy? Sure. But when you’re working in a art studio inside of a children’s museum, it comes with the territory. The sand art consisted of us picking some bright paper as a background, placing down some fun designs or patterns in glue and then shaking brightly colored sand on the glue. Then we let it dry. Simple! But our visitors made so many different kinds of creations through the sand art activity. Toddlers to grandparents seemed to enjoy this activity and I can’t wait until we do it again.

Riley

I had a hard time deciding which craft project was my favorite and then I finally realized it wasn’t an active project that stayed with me the longest, but two of the displays that we made for the Studio during the Mosaic theme. The map of New Hampshire that Meghan made during the week we focused on Native American culture was really informative for kids and adults and showed them how many places throughout all of New Hampshire – towns, lakes, river, mountains – have their origins in the different Native American languages. I was also a big fan of the “Greek Gods in Pop Culture” poster that Crystal created during our Greek week. It helped take mythology, which might seem boring and uninteresting for some kids, and show them how much they likely already knew from movies, television, and advertising. It was an interesting angle to take and I saw quite a lot of families pointing at it and discussing it.

We’re so happy that the Mosaic gallery and studio pieces were such a big hit with our staff and our visiting families! The educators are already brainstorming what countries we’ll be focusing on next year.

We now look ahead to our summer theme in Gallery 6 / the Muse Studio: Enchanting Gardens. The studio has undergone quite a transformation from top-to-bottom to embrace this new wild theme and the Gallery 6 art pieces are so incredible for this installation that we did something that we’ve never done for any of our past installations. I’ve . . . said too much. Stay tuned to the blog to find out the magic we have in store for you this summer!

Make Your Own Watercolor Paint

Tags

art, Arts and Crafts, CMNH, Crayola, Dover, Magic Markers, Markers, Muse Studio, New Hampshire, nh, Recycling, Sustainability, Upcycling, Watercolor, Zayres

 

Over the years, you’ve likely accumulated some less than stellar magic markers. Caps are missing, colors have run dry, and you don’t even know where that random Zayres brand green marker came from!

So what to do? Instead of just chucking all those old markers, why not teach your family about sustainability and recycling by converting those old markers to brand new vibrant watercolor paint!

CMNH Educator Meredith teaches us how in this short how-to video!

CMNH 5K + 1

Tags

5K, Albert the Alligator, Cap Jr., Captain America, children's museum, Children's Museum of New Hampshire, CMNH, Dover, Fun Run, Henry Law Park, Lil' Cap, New Hampshire, nh

A few weeks ago, I ran the 29th Annual Children’s Museum of New Hampshire 5K Race & Fun Run. Full disclosure: I didn’t run the Fun Run. I’ve aged out of that bracket.

This was my sixth CMNH 5K and, unlike the first five that I ran, I approached the sixth much, much differently.

My preparation for my first five museum races broke down something like this:

2009-2013 Race Prep

– Don’t eat or drink something stupid the night before

– Go to bed early and get plenty of sleep the eve of the race

– Eat some dry toast and maybe a few bites of banana for breakfast

– Load up my ipod or cell phone with a good race tracklist for the run (usually heavy on songs with strong, steady beats, like Daft Punk and Talking Heads) – something I find essential to a good running experience

– Walk down to Henry Law Park early enough to get in plenty of stretching time (say, 30 minutes or so) pre-race

– Find a place among the racers that keeps me as far away from the parents with strollers as possible. It’s great that they’re running with their kids, but they’ll just get in my way

– Get ready for the starting gun and focus on the goal of beating my time from the previous year

Simple enough, no?

This year’s list was going to need a little tweaking – some voluntary, some involuntary. Why? Well . . . I wasn’t racing alone this year.

2014 Race Prep

– Go to bed after I finally eat dinner which won’t happen until we finally get the 7 month old baby – who happens to be teething – down for the night

– Wake up every few hours and trade-off with my wife to see who can try to calm said teething baby down and get him back to sleep

– Wake up at 5:30 AM because that’s what time the baby has decided he’s going to be awake

– Stand at the stove half-asleep and make eggs for breakfast because the baby has decided that he wants Daddy and he to race in matching Captain America shirts and that we should use our Captain America spatula while making breakfast. Therefore, eggs

– Let the baby talk to himself in a baby mirror to psyche himself up for his first 5K

– Pose with the baby to show off our matching outfits

– Decorate our racing bibs in special Captain America stickers that the baby insisted Daddy buy for the race

– Walk down to Henry Law Park the long way so Mommy can get a coffee at Adelle’s and Daddy can stress out about potentially not getting to the race on time

– Meet up with the baby’s Nana, Memere, two cousins, Aunt, and Grandfather at Henry Law Park – all of whom are either running, walking or volunteering at the event

– Give everyone time to pose for pictures with the baby on his first race day

– Devote a grand total of 2-4 minutes to stretching before you realize they’re making the final announcement for racers to assemble

– Rush, with the baby in the stroller, to get in line

– Try to avoid the looks of some runners as you elbow your way in with your cumbersome stroller

– Check on the baby to make sure he’s ok for the 47th time in the last half hour

– Forgo any headphones or music because I’ll obviously need to be listening for every sigh, gasp, squeak and titter that the baby makes

– 1 minute before the start of the race, realize that they’re – obviously – going to be a shooting a gun off and start to panic that the baby will freak out

– 30 seconds before the gun goes off, have a mother with a stroller next to me ask me if I’m going to buckle the stroller strap into my running belt

– 25 seconds before the gun goes off, realize I have no idea what a running belt is, that I have nothing on my person to strap my son’s stroller belt into, that this is all some sort of horrible mistake and will likely end with me on the side of the road with a sprained ankle, two full diapers, and lots of crying

– 20 seconds before the gun goes off, panic. A lot

– 15 seconds before the gun goes off, remember that your race time doesn’t matter and that you’re just in this for you and the baby to have a good time

– 10 seconds before the gun goes off, hear your baby start laughing at the fact that he just stuck his whole fist in his mouth

– 5 seconds before the gun goes off, smile and remember that this is the last time you’ll be able to take your baby on his first race

The Race

It wasn’t my easiest race. But, my goodness, it was the most fun race I’ve ever run. Our volunteer staff is always awesome when it comes to cheering the racers on and this year was no different – but, for me, it felt different. The cheers seemed louder. The adrenaline seemed stronger.  In addition to the volunteers, you also have many citizens of Dover who come out to watch the race. Yes, it stops traffic for a bit. Yes, there’s detours. Yes, it can be a brief inconvenience. But all the bystanders have huge smiles on their faces and – especially in the last mile – they’re yelling out encouragement, they’re telling you it’s not that much longer and they’re yelling at the top of their lungs that you – yes, YOU – are going to make it! They’re having fun and whether we runners and walkers look like it, I promise you, we’re having fun too! But this year? This year was different.

The biggest difference? The talking. Oh, the talking. Listen, I was voted Most Talkative so many years in a row in middle and high school that they retired my jersey. And my baby and I? We talk. A lot. All the time. Heck, I even talk to pictures of my baby when he’s at daycare. Is that normal? I don’t know. Maybe. Despite working with children for over a decade, this is my first time at the Dad Rodeo.*  But the talking! The talking! I’m not referring to the baby. I’m referring to me! It’s one thing to regulate your breathing during a race. But it’s another thing to try to regulate your breathing while you’re talking to your tiny little son for 3.1 miles. Despite my verbose nature, I’m not used to uttering one word during a race. Maybe a cough or a vocalized wince, but certainly not sentences. Certainly not elaborate conversations.

* – (At the Dad Rodeo, you win if you can change a diaper in the dark without waking up the baby in under 8 seconds. But you’re still likely going to be a clown.)

Things I verbalize to Cap Jr. during the CMNH 5K

– How we doin’ down there?

– Believe it or not, we haven’t even officially gone over the Starting Line yet.

– We don’t have to wait for the walk sign this time. Just trust me.

– Say hi to the ladies at Harvey’s!

– Whoa. Pal, look at that guy over there. I think he’s still out from last night. No. Don’t stare.

– Yeah. It’s slow moving at first. But we’ll break away once we get to Portland Ave.

– Hmmmm . . . maybe Dad should have investigated sun screen?

– But seriously, you’re fine? Because I can’t really see you that well.

– Yup, he’s mine! What? Oh. Yeah – the one from all the pictures.

– He actually prefers Cap Jr. or Lil’ Cap! (in response to someone yelling, “Go Baby Cap!”)

– Whew. That first mile gets longer and longer each year.

– Stu! Don’t throw water at my baby! (in response to the water station volunteers’ exuberance)

– Daddy’s going to say a bad word. The other side of this cul-de-sac is &%#$@!

– If you want to yell, “Wheeeeee!” as we go down the hill, Dad totally signs off on that.

– Wheeeeeeeeeeee! (in response to Cap Jr’s failure to do so as we go down the Cocheco St. hill to hit Mile Marker 2)

– I think that’s your cousin Garrett up ahead. No . . . we’re not catching up to him. Because Daddy’s more than 20 years older than your cousin, that’s why.

– Yup. That’s what horses do sometimes, pal. Yup. Sometimes right in the street.

– Don’t yell “on your left” to Nana! It’s rude!

– Yes, those guys are running in the opposite direction. Because . . . they  . . . already finished and . . . are circling back to run . . . a 10K.

– Stop asking so many questions. Daddy can’t see in color anymore.

– There’s Grampa! Wave to Grampa!

– No, Grampa! We can’t stop for a picture! Meet us at the finish line!

– We know it’s blurry, Grampa! That’s because we’re running while you’re walking next to us trying to take a picture!

– Yes, that volunteer is on a unicycle.

– No, I don’t know why that volunteer is on a unicycle.

– Aarrrrgh! (Translated: “I can’t believe your Aunt Kate just snaked by us in the last 2 seconds of the race!”)

Post-Race 

The first thing I used to do after a race (once my vision came back, my inhaler patched my lungs over, and I wrung the sweat out of my eyebrows) was to stretch. And I made sure to stretch this time too. Once I checked on the baby and finally looked in his eyes for the first time in over a half hour and made sure he was fine. He was actually exhausted and pretty much out cold. Wouldn’t you be after flying all around Dover and listening to your Dad endlessly spout at you? And if you woke up and watched your mom cross the finish line and then she brought you to meet a giant alligator named Albert, wouldn’t that just be the best day ever?

One of the most magical things that happens at the CMNH 5K & Fun Run each year is the sense of community. Former and current employees and board members and long time volunteers return to help or participate in the event. Families run together. Elementary school classes run together. Scout groups run together. Co-workers, trivia teams, running groups – they’re all represented.

There was a runner there that told me that morning that this was his 100th race. Cap Jr. still has a bit more mileage to hit before he enters the triple digits. But I won’t care what his race times are. Or if he ate the right protein bar beforehand. Or what music he listens to when he runs. As long as he has fun.

At 32 minutes and 44 seconds, it was my worst 5K time ever. But who cares? I wouldn’t change a thing. (Well, maybe next year, we’ll aim for a bit more sleep the night before. I’m going to assume Cap Jr.’s teeth will finally be in by then.)

“I Watched It a Million Times!” – CMNH Staff Picks Their Favorite Childhood Movies

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An American Tail, Babes in Toyland, Bambi, Childhood, Children's Museum of New Hampshire, CMNH, Colonial Theater, Dover, Dover NH, E.T., Favorite Movies, George Lucas, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Jim Henson, Jumanji, Kermit the Frog, Laconia, Little Monsters, Movies, Movin' Right Along, Muppets Most Wanted, nh, Pee Wee's Big Adventure, Snowball Express, Star Wars, Steven Spielberg, Stuart Little, Swiss Family Robinson, The Dark Crystal, The Goonies, The Jungle Book, The Little Mermaid, The Muppet Movie, The Muppet Show, The Muppets, The Neverending Story, The Sound of Music, The Wizard of Oz, Walt Disney

The film “Muppets Most Wanted” opens nationwide in theaters this weekend.

I’ve had this weekend circled on my calendar for a long time. I am a Muppet lover. A Muppet freak. A Muppophile. Not that I need to prove my Muppet cred, but let me share with you a few incontrovertible facts:

#1. I use Muppet band-aids exclusively.

#2. The vows I spoke to my wife on the day of our wedding were the lyrics from “Movin’ Right Along“.

#3. Kermit the Frog and The Muppets are the theme of my infant son’s nursery.

#4. I’m currently listening to Muppet songs while I write this blog.

I won’t bore you with numbers 5-100.

But how does such an o̶b̶s̶e̶s̶s̶i̶o̶n̶ appreciation of all things Muppets begin? Quite easily. 1979’s “The Muppet Movie” was my favorite movie as a small child. And as an older child. And as a teenager. And as a young adult. And as an adult. I didn’t know who the majority of the humans were in Jim Henson and company’s debut film, but I knew what I loved: Kermit, Fozzie, Gonzo – heck, everyone from Bunsen Honeydew & Beaker to each member of The Electric Mayhem, house band of “The Muppet Show” (1976-1981). I already knew and loved these characters from the television show and seeing my felted best friends get in to bigger budgeted adventures (Frogs and Bears don’t drive studebakers on the cheap, you know) only sweetened the pot.

Was it the first movie I ever saw in a theater?* No. I was only 10 months old for the original release of the film. I likely saw it either on a film projector at the local community center, on VHS or on television. Once the technology made it possible, my parents recorded the movie – commercials and all – off of WLVI 56 (Channel 10 where I grew up). One day, the tape stopped working. I brought it to my mother. She explained to me that the tape had become rundown and asked me if I had any idea how that might have happened.

“I watched it a million times,” was my matter-of-fact answer.**

At five months old, my son is too young for me to bring him to see the Muppets eighth cinematic foray while it’s playing at theaters. (No matter what I might say to convince my wife otherwise.) But I’m confident he’ll fall in love with it in time. But it might not be his favorite childhood film. That honor may likely go to a movie that hasn’t even been dreamed up yet. And who knows? Maybe his love of that future film will end up being the theme of my grandchild’s nursery.

* – The honor for first movie I ever saw at the theater goes to “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” at the Colonial Theater in Laconia, NH when I was 4-years-old.

** – The only other movie I came close to watching as many times as “The Muppet Movie” was 1987’s “The Chipmunk Adventure”.

We polled the staff at the Children’s Museum of New Hampshire to find out what their favorites were when they were kids. Do any of their picks match yours?

(1939) – Doug & Caitlynne’s pick

(1942) – Carol’s pick

(1960) – Katie’s pick

(1964) – Heidi’s pick

(1965) – Sarah & Meredith’s pick

(1967) – Heidi’s second pick

(1972) – Katie’s second pick

(1977) – Jane’s pick

(1979) – Zach’s pick

(1982) – Jenaya’s pick

(1984) – Mark’s pick

(1984) – Crystal’s pick

(1985) – Riley’s pick

(1985) – Crystal’s second pick

(1986) – Meghan’s pick

(1986) – Caitlynne’s second pick

(1989) – Beth’s pick

(1989) – Sam’s pick

(1995) – Riley’s second pick

(1999) – Annie’s pick

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some quick observations about the Staff Picks:

– Nine of the twenty films were based on children’s books or fables.

– The Walt Disney Company is responsible for six films on the list.

– Steven Spielberg is associated with three of the films. (Spielberg directed “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom”, contributed the story for, “The Goonies” and produced, “An American Tail”.)

– George Lucas is associated with two of the films. (Lucas wrote and directed “Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope” and wrote “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom”)

– Jim Henson is associated with two of the films. (Henson produced and starred in “The Muppet Movie” and produced, co-directed and wrote the original story of “The Dark Crystal”)

– The most popular years for favorite childhood films of the CMNH staff were 1984, 1985, 1986, and 1989 – each year boasting two films.

What film did you watch a million times? What were some of the oft-watched family favorites growing up in your home? Brag about the movie that had the honor of being the favorite of your childhood in the comments section below!