Things to Do - Duplicate the Last Birthday Party

My daughters are thirteen months (and two days) apart in age. Though my husband and I didn't exactly plan it this way, for the most part, their close proximity has ended up working out extremely well for our family. They really are best buds, whenever F has a school project where she has to list her best friend or favorite thing to do, the first person mentioned is always P. As an only child, this makes me so so happy (and a little jealous).

The one time of year that I do not love the fact that they're so close in age is birthday party season (October and November). Having to throw two children's birthday parties in two months just seems cruel. As documented in this post, in October we celebrated F's 5th birthday at Hidden Pond Nature Center. After which P INSISTED she wanted the exact same party for her 4th birthday. At first I fought this, I kept projecting ten years into the future when I will hear "even my birthday party was a hand me down?" But then I decided this was not the battle I wanted to pick, especially when it would be so easy to throw the same party twice. And all went well. Luckily, the weather held, so the kids could "fish" again. And this time everyone had the opportunity to try on a "snake sweater." P seemed a little overwhelmed by all the attention (unlike F who glammed it up for her party) - I think this may be a middle child thing? And, at P's insistence, we did order a different cake - we moved from princesses to Barbie, is this progress? I'm not sure, but at least Barbie usually works for a living.

Oh, and if you're wondering about the pinata. P INSISTED that she did not want one at her party. Even after I PROMISED it would work this time, she stated that pinatas are not to be trusted, "they're just too tricky."

HAPPY MONDAY EVERYONE!!

Things to Do - Put Candy in the Pinata

I don't know about everyone else but planning my kids' birthday parties really stresses me out. Children's birthday parties are sort of like the bar exam -if you do too well, you feel like a loser because you could have studied less; if you fail you feel like a loser because failing stinks. So the goal is to JUST PASS. Last year, we went a little crazy and booked the Great Zucchini (yup, that would be MY PICTURE on the first page of his website), who was AMAZING. But this year we wanted to scale down. So I planned a party at Hidden Pond Nature Center. All things considered, everything went well enough - live animals, fishing with nets, crappy pizza, and a princess cake. But NOBODY EVER TOLD ME THAT YOU HAVE TO PUT YOUR OWN CANDY IN THE PINATA. Truth be told, I did wonder why it was so light, but I chose to ignore any thoughts of concern. Oh well, watching all the children pull the strings and wait was sort of amusing. In a mean way. Luckily, it was at the end of the party, so someone started handing out goodie bags and the children all left in perplexed confusion. Now I know.

Have a great weekend everyone!!
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If you're looking for something funny this is making it's way around the web. If you've ever considered going to law school or if you're already a lawyer, you really have to see it.

If you're looking for something beautiful, I love the photographs from the 10/10/10 project.

If you're looking for something inspiring and positive and happy - this seems like such a great idea.

And, if you're looking for something to do (in the DC area), this blog always has great suggestions.

Places to Go - Hidden Pond Park & Nature Center (Springfield, VA)

On a nice day, there are few places as beautiful to visit as Hidden Pond. As soon as you pull into the parking lot, the first thing you'll encounter is a nice-sized playground. Full of ropes and chains and things to climb (probably best for children over three, though the baby likes the slides and the stairs). The only downside being that the playground is in full sun, so plan accordingly.

After the playground, Hidden Pond has a beautiful, but small nature center, staffed by teenage and college-age volunteers. Every time I go, I'm amazed at how helpful and friendly these kids are (which, I must admit, does help alleviate fears - and boy do I have fears - about the teenage years). And they're great with small kids. They helped teach my girls to use a magnifying glass (to look at tadpoles). And another time, when I went with a friend who has two young boys, the volunteers let the kids witness a snake being fed (my kids had no interest in this, but her boys were FASCINATED). The nature center also has binoculars (to birdwatch and look at the pond), tons of puzzles and lots of animals, many with steps and viewing platforms for small children. Plus, they sell candy and other various small knickknacks.

After the nature center, there's a stroller-friendly circular loop trail that goes around the pond. The trail is short (I'd guess less than 0.5 miles), but beautiful. Along the way there are tons of benches and quite a few docks and platforms. If you ask at the nature center, you can borrow "nets" for fishing/exploring the pond (which is bright green, I should warn you). There are also several longer trails, but we never get to go because if my kids still have energy, they want to head back to the playground.

All in all, this is one of my favorite "outside" places to go with kids - the playground, nature center, pond combination makes everyone happy, even the baby.

For more information, click here - http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/hiddenpond/ I know they also offer a variety of nature classes, but I'm not sure where Fairfax county publishes this information.