Things to Do - 12 in 12, sort of (July 2014)

This month the 12th fell on a Saturday and even though I emailed Rebecca and Catherine earlier in the week, reminding them to participate, I still totally forgot to document our own day. And I forgot Sunday as well. But luckily, we took enough photos that I could salvage a post together, which is more fragmented than a true 12 in 12, but so goes summer vacation . . .



10:30 am - We have friends staying with us from out of town, but even with 5 kids (including a 3 month old) and 4 adults, we manage to make it to the zoo by 10:30, which is good because parking is already going fast.



11:15 am - After jumping on the bouncy pizza for awhile, we head to the rainforest and lament the fact that chytrid is killing off the world's frogs.



11:45 - The baby sloth bear makes a rare appearance. Coolio.



noon - F donates some of her allowance to saving elephants. Then P brags that she now has more money. And so the fighting begins . . .



1:00 pm - Misters are amazing. All the adults keep fighting the kids for room under the spray.



2:00 pm - T's new Bald Eagle "pet" likes to climb on things.

. . . [insert 4 hour break, during which: the guys watch Germany conquer the World Cup, the kids play wii, Jenny tries to convince H to sleep, and I take a (much appreciated) nap]



6:00 pm - Walk to Red Rocks for dinner. The girls insist on sitting at their own table.



6:15 pm - At least one of the three girls still thinks we're cool.



6:45 pm - T takes a break from the spray park to drink some lemonade and contemplate life.



7:00 pm - I find Red Rocks' food to be somewhat hit or miss, but their brussels sprout appetizer is consistently yummy.



7:05 pm - The baby wakes up while waiting for our dinner to arrive. Seriously, WHERE IS OUR DINNER?



7:45 pm - Last run through the spraypark before we head home.

All in all, a pretty great day (though somewhat exhausting), plus we managed to cross three categories off our summer bucket list - (1) fawn over baby animals (sloth bear); (2) tour a rainforest (Amazonia); and (3) eat dinner while your kids get wet (we love the Penrose Square splashpark/fountain).

Now click on over to Not-So-SAHM to see how her day went!!

Places to Go - The FANTASTIC Penrose Square Splash Park/Fountain (Arlington, VA)

As cliched as it sounds, the message of parenthood, as well as life itself, always seems to state: "be careful what you wish for."

As we know, I love a good spraypark (click here to check out my past review of the Rustico spraypark). So I was quite happy when Arlington county installed a brand-new spraypark/fountain in Penrose Square. First of all, since the splashpark also qualifies as an "interactive water feature", it runs constantly from 10 am to 8 pm (unlike Arlington's other splashparks which operate on a (somewhat confusing) schedule. Further, the spraypark is right next to Columbia Pike's newest dining destinations - Red Rocks, William Jeffrey's Tavern, Taqueria Poblano, etc. (we LOVE the revitalized Pike). And, best of all, the park is within seconds of my children's favorite place in the world - Menchie's frozen yogurt. Basically a huge win, right?

Well, not totally. Two weeks ago, I took P and T there, along with one of P's best friends. The girls ran into the spray and then ran out. And stayed out, proclaiming they were simply "too old for splashparks." Instead they spent the rest of the morning climbing the the weird egg sculptures and asking when we could go to Menchies. T, on the other hand, had the time of his life. The sprays are high, so you can really become quite wet and immersed. I think it's all rather wonderful. Five star. But the girls are not on board, so we haven't gone again.

For an extra special night out, on the third Thursday night of summer months, Penrose Square also hosts free movies and live music. August 15th is ET and September 19th you can see Toy Story live outside. Click here for more information.