“We have been amazed by the turnout each year since the Expo began,” says RFM Publisher Margaret Thompson. “Parents love the one-stop place to get all of the information they need to plan their kids’ summer activities, and the kids absolutely love climbing the rock walls at Peak Experiences.” The Expo includes a free climb for the kids, live performances, and interactive games. “It is such a fun day for kids, and parents can learn about summer opportunities in sports, outdoor adventure, enrichment, music, and more from area camps and businesses,” Thompson says.

In addition to exhibits from a diverse group of summer camps, visitors will also be treated to a concert by local favorite The Diggity Dudes at 1:00 p.m., who have been busy promoting their latest CD, Presidential Physical Fitness Test, up and down the East Coast. Last year’s Expo featured 50 exhibitors, each with a fun activity for the kids.

The event is free and will be held rain or shine. Lunch will be available for purchase from the popular RVA food truck Boka Tako, and other concessions will be available, including treats from family-favorite Kona Ice. Peak Experiences Indoor Climbing Center is located near Robious Road and Huguenot Road, behind The Shoppes at Bellgrade, at 11421 Polo Circle in Midlothian. For more information, please call 804-241-7678.

2014 exhibitors include:

A Sabot Summer
Academy of Kung Fu
All Fired Up
Bricks 4 Kidz
Camp Friendship
Camp Hidden Meadows
Camp Piankatank
Collegiate School Summer Quest
Comedy Sportz Improv
Engineering For Kids of Central VA
Ferrum College Summer Enrichment Camp
Happy Family Superfoods
Mad Science
Martial Arts World Adventure Summer Camp
Maymont
Millwood School Summer Programs
Richmond Flying Squirrels Baseball Camps
SPARC
Steward School
The Chincotegue Bay Field Station
Tuckahoe Sports Training Camp
U-Turn Summer Sports Leadership Camp
Virginia Fishing Adventures/ Virginia Outside
Virginia Rep (Children’sTheatre)
Weinstein JCC Summer Camps
YMCA Camp Silver Beach
YMCA Camp Thunderbird
YMCA of Greater Richmond
Youth Digital

RFM Expo
Sunday, April 6, from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.,
Peak Experiences in Midlothian, behind The Shoppes at Bellgrade.

You might be a Richmond Mom if..

1) You have a strong opinion about which grocery store you prefer.  I know how almost every one of my new Richmonder friends and coworkers feels about the grocery stores here.  I think there is some historical issue with Martin’s that has something to do with Ukrops.  I’m still trying to figure out – is it a family feud?  A corporate takeover?  Martin’s still has Ukrops stuff in the bakery, so what’s up with that?  Me, I like Kroger but Martin’s is closest to us and we get great gas points!  YAY GAS POINTS!

2) You get bummed if you go to another city and there are no family-friendly parking spaces!  I have never lived anywhere with so many family-friendly parking spaces as Richmond has!  Perhaps it is part of the competition related to Item #1 above.  Long live the competition!  Other places I’ve lived, the special family-friendly parking was just for moms with babies.  Here, anybody with child in tow can use them.  Rock on with your inclusive self, Richmond!

3) You say you live Richmond but you actually may not.    OK so this may be a stretch, but only 200,000 people live in the city itself and everybody else lives in places like Henrico, Ashland, Chesterfield and Colonial Heights.  We’re ‘burb residents too and get mail at either Richmond or North Chesterfield but we say we live in Richmond unless we need to clarify.  By my calculations, only 1 out of 6 residents of the Richmond Metro Area actually live in Richmond…. likely 1 out of 6 moms too!

 

4) You sport that EZ Pass in your front window and your RVA sticker on the back window of your car!  Richmonders seem very unhappy about tolls, are kind of unsure what the tolls actually pay for, yet fork over cash for that EZ Pass.  It’s pretty impressive – cash gets magically wisked out of your bank accounts each month for the pleasure of shortcuts and speedy access to the city.  I am one of these.  Long live the EZ pass!  {Now will somebody please mail me an RVA sticker for my back window!!?}

 

 

5) You plan trips so that your route coincides with train paths.  Isn’t that part of the joy of driving around the city with your kids, the hope that they’ll actually see a moving train?  Our favorite spot is up the Powhite/I-195 towards the city in the left lane where you get a great glimpse of the huge train crossroads.  Now… if anybody can tell me how to get closer, my son would be much appreciative!

 

6) You can’t wait for the next issues of the free family magazines to arrive in the lobby of the grocery store!  {There’s that grocery store thing again!}  Let’s hear it for Richmond Parents Monthly, Richmond Family Magazine, GRID, Belle, Boomer, or… there are so many I can’t keep track and they are all great!

7) You hear about magical events and places like Pony Pasture, Brown’s Island, and the Folk Festival but haven’t done them yet.  OK this may be for the crowd of moms with younger kids or for us newbies who haven’t plugged them into our GPS yet… but don’t those things sound amazing?  They’re on our ‘to-discover’ list and I know my kids will love them when we go!  Until then, they love our regular haunts… CMOR, the Metro Richmond Zoo, our pick of bounce house places, a park or our own back yard.  So much to do!

8) Your kids enjoy regular spider sightings around your house!  I’m pretty sure I know why the University of Richmond chose to be called the spiders.  I mean, Richmond must have some kind of record for the variety and sheer number of spiders here!  Not to mention birds, bugs, and creatures of all sorts.  It’s like Animal Kingdom in our backyard!  Constant amazement for the kiddos.

9) You love being able to choose between the beach, the river or the mountains for a family weekend getaway.  Isn’t this the beauty of the east coast – and particularly the location of Richmond?  An hour or two to the Beach, to the Blue Ridge, to great historical sites, amusement parks and more.  We’re in the middle of it all.

10) You hang out on the Richmondmom.com and the FB page!  But of course!

So, my fellow Richmond moms, did this newbie get it right?  What would you add to the list?