Goodbye Virginia house…

hello time of transition.  Somewhere in between Philly and D.C. is where you’ll find us right now. If not physically, then mentally.  So, thought I’d take this opportunity to remember some of our fun times in the Virginia boondocks - most of which were thought of to compensate for not having a car to go exploring with.  Creativity is the result of necessity most of the time anyway…

Okay, so bike riding isn’t exactly creative, but Kai had to take it up a notch by pulling Taz along with him -

Not to be out done, Taz decided that he was over the whole being pulled thing - he could manage taking himself for a ride, thank you very much.

And yet another wise thing to come from Curious George - extreme hopscotch! Kai designed it himself and thought it was oh, so cool.  The wonders of sidewalk chalk are endless.

And one of my favorites - climbing - complete with the belt from his superman robe.  Today the porch rail, tomorrow, Mt. Tasman in New Zealand (hey, they have to get back to their roots at some point).

Of course, you can never go wrong with the old classics like bug catching…

and gardening.  Though I am a bit relieved that Kai hasn’t been down at the house to notice that, apparently,

deer do eat pumpkin plants after all… well, at least, we can leave Virginia without wondering how large our pumpkins grew - now they will only ever grow in our imaginations…

There were even a few things about VA that I hadn’t experienced before - being a bit of a city girl and all - like backyard bonfires…

and finding snake skins around the yard - this is the number one reason the kids weren’t allowed to rome around in the backyard by themselves.  Dangerous or not, they give me the weebiejeebies and I wouldn’t want Kai to run into one on his own…

And last, but not least, even with all the adventurous stuff, my favorite past time is still just enjoying some yummy summer food…

So, Virginia house, thanks for the good times.  But I have to say, I’m so glad not to be going back and forth anymore.  Now, we can just focus on exploring Maryland/D.C.   So, stay-tuned for the rest of our pre-Philly adventures.

Time for a change…

Okay, I really haven’t gone AWOL - Kaleo just had the computer with him when he went out of town and I couldn’t figure out my password on my mom’s computer. Pathetic - I know. Though not as pathetic as the fact that Kaleo also took the car with him so I have to ask my parent’s for rides everywhere.  Anyway… the whole reason Kaleo has been out of town is that he started a new job in Philadelphia. He can now officially call himself a professional furniture maker as he’s working for an oh-so-cool company called that recently from NYC.  So, I’ll be following him in a month or two once he’s settled there and I’ve finished my consultancy here.  In the meantime, I’ll be trying to fit in all the things I want to do in D.C. before we leave - and trying to get the lay of the land in Philly. If anyone has any advice, I’m open.  Otherwise, stay tuned for our Philly adventures!

Smith Mountain Lake

There comes a time in everyone’s busy life that you just need to leave it all behind and put yourself (and your family) first - even for a day.  And that’s just what we did last weekend. While there were plenty of things that needed to get done at the Virginia house - which we’re never at anymore - we chose instead to put it off for yet another week so that we could play with our friends at their Smith Mountain Lake house in Central Virginia - I mean, really, where was the choice - working indoors or playing outdoors - did you really question which one I’d choose? Though it is insane how long it took to get there - now I remember why we used to drive it in the middle of the night when Kai was a baby - we left at 2:15 Friday afternoon and got there after 9:30 that night - what should have taken about 4 1/2 hours ended up taking a lot longer with traffic and kid stops thrown it. But we made it and that’s what’s important.

So, we spent the weekend on the boat, in the water, and everywhere in between. Ah, life doesn’t get much better.  While this was Taz’s second trip to the lake - it was the first where it was warm enough to get in the water and he couldn’t have been happier - I’ve got another water baby on my hands, that’s for sure.

We took a long boat trip from our friend’s current lake house to the lot they’re going to build on - and gawked at all the humungo mansions along the way - seriously, there’s even a private island that we passed with a huge house on it - but, as we were told - that’s only the guest house, the main house has yet to be built… I stand all amazed at the size of vacation homes - I just can’t imagine and, honestly, don’t want to. I mean, the more house, the more there is to clean - not that you’re cleaning it yourself when you have that much money. Anyway, I digress.

Our friends have already built their dock at the new lot - I appreciate their priorities.

We showed Kai the little boat house on the dock - and what was his question - not, where’s the kitchen or the bathroom or any of the other basics that a house, however small, would include - but, where’s the TV. Ah, glad to know where his priorities lie. Regardless, he set up camp in there and was happy as a clam.

He spent the rest of his time fishing - well, casting as there wasn’t a hook on the end of the line. But he’s all ready for when a fish decides they want to eat a plastic Plankton.

Well, and what would the lake be without tubing - you can only have some much of leisurely boat rides - then you have to take it up a few notches and hope the kids are holding on tight - we did almost lose one, but she managed to grip the handle with one hand. It may put a bit of fear in them, but adrenaline is a good thing - it’s nice to feel fully alive once in a while.

Kaleo was the responsible parent who wouldn’t let me put Taz in the tube even for a little, gentle ride - but we couldn’t keep him out of it on the dock - definitely a future tuber in our midst. Maybe next summer, bub.

And beyond what we did, there’s heaps more to do in the area - hiking, camping, picknicking, jet skiing, wake boarding, and all that good stuff.  While it’s a bit of a drive from the District, at least it’s not majorally crowded like the beach or other nearby water escapes, so it allows you to really get away - and it combines water with mountains which is always a good thing in my opinion.

Anyway, perfect weather and utter relaxation - just makes the real world so much harder to face on a Monday morning…

The Guilt Trip…

Bring! Bring! (Actually imagine the loud rock music that is my cell phone ring)

Hello.

Hi Mommy.

Hi Buddy.

Will you bring me a surprise from work today?

If I brought you a surprise every day, it wouldn’t be a surprise.

Well, one day you can bring me a toy surprise, the next day you can bring me a food surprise.

I don’t work near a toy store.

Just drive to one after work.

But I’d rather come home and be with you.

If you don’t bring me a surprise, I’ll feel left out.

How about a donut?

One with sprinkles this time.

Okay buddy, I love you.

Love you too, Mommy.

Oh the guilt of being a working mom. I’ve worked 9 whole days… how did I do this full-time just 11 weeks after Kai was born - thankfully he doesn’t remember that or he’d have been working his guilt trip magic for years now.

So, to spend some quality time with my kids on a day off last week, I decided it was time for an adventure. I was thinking more along the lines of exploring the Bethesda Trolley Trail right outside out front door, but Kai waned to check out the Rockville Civic Center Park which he’d seen me looking at on line - mainly, the climbing wall - though, never having been there, we didn’t know if it was a kid-friendly wall or not.  So, packed up, made it to the car and then… sat in traffic… for ages. Finally got passed by an ambulance and decided to call it quits. Luckily, we were right near Trader Joe’s and, cliche or not, I love Trader Joe’s - it’s one of the few things that I’m happy to have back in my US life since leaving Australia. So, it wasn’t a total bust - for me at least - but I had a disappointed 4-year-old.

Not all exploring expiditions pan out.

Discovering Discovery Creek…

Over the weekend, Kaleo, good guy that he is, busied himself working on some bedroom furniture - not anything custom - just helping out the in-laws (his, not mine). So, under the guise of getting the kids (and mother-in-law) out of the way, I had the excuse to head out on a bit of an adventure. I’ve been wanting to check out the Discovery Creek Children’s Museum at Glen Echo Park for a while, but as they’re only open on the weekend (weekdays are dedicated to special programs, summer camps, etc.) and we’re usually in Virginia, I haven’t had the chance.  So, I was glad to finally be able to - and was thrilled to find it was only about 10 minutes from the Maryland condo - and about 5 minutes off the beltway on the Maryland side of the American Legion Bridge along the Clara Barton Parkway - very accessible!

Glen Echo Park itself was a huge surprise - I imagined a wilderness sort of park, but it was actually an art sort of park. As described on the website:

“GLEN ECHO PARK is a magical place situated on the Potomac palisades near Bethesda, Maryland. Originally a Chautauqua retreat, then an amusement park, this National Park is now host to a variety of arts, environmental and history programs.

Take a class in pottery, painting, photography, or glass art. Enjoy a puppet show or theater performance with your family and ride the carousel. Dance in our exquisite ballroom or refine your steps in one of our dance classes. Learn more about the environment while you play, or take a ranger-guided historic tour. It’s all here at the Park.”

So, with all that, there’s heaps to do - one of the best parts was feeling like we’d gone back in time. All of the buildings were in the art deco style and I felt like we were walking through the 1920s and 30s.  We poked around and saw the old ballroom, bumper car pavillion and where the Tunnel of Love used to be.  The carousel was circa 1921 and had an old player organ on the side.  Taz was very curious about why we kept going around in circles, but Kai loved every minute.  There’s a great playground there that Kai checked out, but the signboard and accompanying photo informed us that it used to be a public pool and beach back in the 30s.  So much of it reminded me of the Cataract Gorge in Launceston, Tasmania - public pool, grassy field, cafes, art exhibits… of course nothing can compare to the Gorge, but it was nice to be reminded of it.  Where the old amusement park stood, there are now permanent yurts that house pottery, calligraphy and glass studios - you can take classes or just browse the shops.

Beyond the carousel and playground, there’s plenty for kids to do - there’s the Adventure Theater, which is geared total towards kids, and a puppet company.

And, of course, the Discovery Creek Children’s Museum, which is in the whole reason we were there in the first place. The museum is found inside an overgrown garden (I did hear word that it used to be an awesome children’s garden, but due to funding issues, it’s gone a bit downhill). The museum has a $5 entry fee - babies are free, adults are not.  While it’s small, there’s still lots to explore and everything is focused on nature.  Kai and I crawled through the tunnels and even took Taz down the slide which winds through the inside of a (fake) tree.

We met the local box turtle…

(Kai wouldn’t touch it - but Taz couldn’t get enough - I’m sure he would have happily put it straight in his mouth) and checked out the hands-on science area.

We even went on a nature walk led by a museum staffer.

It was short, but interesting - pointing out poison ivy (leaves of three, let it be)…

and letting us hold a worm. The best part was climbing over the rocks and splashing in the creek (safe to play in, not to drink as we were informed).

I think Kai had the most fun on the climbing wall - while he’s still getting the hang of going up, he loves the coming down.

And Matt, the climbing guide, was more than patient with his numerous attempts.

From my perspective, the best part was meeting a couple of other like-minded parents.  The aforementioned Matt, a parent as well as a climbing guide, runs an outdoor education program for kids in the D.C. area.  His organization, Outdoors with Friends, takes kids around the local national parks to explore, learn about the ecosystem and rock climb, of course.  He offers private and group programs at very reasonable rates - and even offers free classes periodically when he’s trying out new programs.  So, I’m hoping to check a program or two out and will be sure to let you know how it goes.

The other like-minded parent, who was also at the climbing wall, was Molly Teas, who has a company which designs residential children’s gardens - what a cool idea.  Her website isn’t up and running quite yet, but I’ve provided the link for when it is.  She had a good tip about hiking with kids that I thought I’d pass on - all national parks are required by law to have handicapped accessible hiking trails - so for that age between fitting in a backpack and being able to hike a long way, stick to the flat trails where you can bring a stroller along for when your child gets worn out.  Good advice - I’m sure Kai would appreciate a stroller to just kick back in when he’s all tuckered out… we’ll see if I’m ever that thoughtful…