THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, January 3, 1995 TAG: 9412310047
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E7 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: MOM, I'M BORED
SOURCE: Sherrie Boyer
LENGTH: Medium: 67 lines
OUR FAVORITE construction site had plenty of off-street parking and a sturdy fence we could entwine our little fingers in while we held our breath, our eyes as round as saucers. It was a wonderfully busy place with lots of bulldozers, several cranes and one dump truck after another. We even saw a grader, at least that's what I think it was. Two-year-old Sam was certain it was an elevating scraper.
But the good times came to an end. The dirt was soon replaced by a toy store. Some might call that boy heaven, but Sam missed the cranes.
It's been hard finding a replacement.
We've viewed the road work on Hampton Boulevard from the comfort of a McDonald's, and we've watched trains run the line from the green lawn of a soccer field near 21st Street in Norfolk. The marvelous construction on Virginia Beach Boulevard we've enjoyed only during red lights, because the street is too busy to risk stopping.
It's hard to do construction sites easily. Many have limited or inaccessible safe parking; usually you are forced to park on a busy street or in a muddy lot. Neither is a good place for children.
Perhaps the best place to view construction is at the Virginia Zoological Park at 3500 Granby St., where crews are busily building a tiger enclosure. Gary Ochsenbein, zoo superintendent, says all the heavy-equipment work is mostly done; however, there are lots of workers mixing concrete and such. A very neat thing to watch will be the construction of artificial rocks, perhaps in March.
Meanwhile, the 25-ton cherry picker just resting there is something to gawk at. The zoo is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. Admission is $2 for adults and $1 for children. For information, call 441-2706.
If construction-site hopping is not high on your list of doable children's activities, you could borrow a video on the same thing from the Virginia Beach Central Library. To get a library card, you need a picture ID and proof (such as a utility bill) that you live in the state.
Look for ``Road Construction Ahead,'' a fabulous video full of the construction noises and moving cranes and bulldozers. Because this video is classified as education, it's available for a 21-day loan.
Another option is ``Choo Choo Trains: Close Up and Very Personal,'' which includes marvelous footage of real trains and their very big wheels and loud whistles. This video puts you and your children right next to the modern diesels - so close that you just might take a step back. Classified as entertainment, this video is available for a three-day loan.
The Central Library is at 4100 Virginia Beach Blvd. and is open daily. Call 431-3000 for hours.
All area libraries also have piles of children's books on trains and trucks. Our favorites include ``Dig, Drill, Dump, Fill'' by Tana Hoban, with black-and-white pictures of construction, and ``The Truck Book,'' by Harry McNaught, through which Sam gleaned the fine differences of types of graders.
Two other sources of truck and train videos and books include our all-time favorite children's book catalog, Chinaberry (phone 800-776-2242). They carry several Frederick Levine videos, including ``Road Construction Ahead,'' ``Fire and Rescue'' and ``Cleared for Takeoff.'' The blurbs on ``I Love Toy Trains,'' parts one and two, make these sound terrific as well.
From both Chinaberry and Music for Little People (800-727-2233), you'll find ``Choo Choo Trains.'' by CNB