Places to Go - Fishing and Floating Down the Shenandoah River for Fathers' Day (Bentonville, VA)

Yesterday morning, we all woke up at 6:30 am and drove 1.5 hours to Bentonville, VA for a Fathers' Day fishing/rafting trip down the Shenandoah River. We rented our "family raft" through the Downriver Canoe Company, who also provided paddles/life preservers and shuttle service. The company offers a variety of trips to choose from, we opted for the moderate 7.5 mile Burners Bottom route and it proved a lovely way to spend a Sunday morning.

At first the kids couldn't wait to paddle, but then the novelty wore off and they opted for reading books and dipping their feet in the water. The river is pretty calm, so except for a few very mild "rapids", we floated along, while Dan fly fished off the raft's side. I'm pretty much the world's worst paddler, but eventually I started to find a rhythm.

We came across tons of birds, including an egret, along with cows and campgrounds along the banks (though, sadly, not many fish). A light breeze kept us from becoming too hot and every time we hit a faster section T yelled "oh, yeah, this is my JAM!" as we cheered the water along.

The trip took about 4.5 hours total (by the end, the kids became restless, but in their defense they were pretty tired). Downriver Canoe Company also offers overnight camping trips, which look fantastic. We're hoping to try one soon. If you're interested, click here for more info about the trips offered. All children must be at least 5 years old.

Happy Monday everyone!! How was your Fathers' Day??

Places to Go - Fishing at Hains Pt (Washington D.C.)

We spent Father's Day morning fishing at Hains Point, which ended up being the perfect location for spending a few hours together. Tons of parking and lots of shaded picnic tables made it easy for us to "set of camp." The park was FULL of joggers and bikers, which gave the day an athletic-feel, even though I really wasn't doing much of anything. And watching airplanes fly in and out of Regan National kept everyone from becoming bored while waiting for the fish to bite (they never did). When the kids tired of fishing a huge playground (with two structures, one for older kids and one for toddlers) entertained them for the rest of the morning. We need to come here more often.



Monkeybars = happiness.



P didn't last very long fishing. Instead she decided to "adopt" two new "worm pets" - Skirmy Wormy and Lazy Bazy now live in the backyard. We don't see them often, but I like to think they're happy there.

Places to Go - Riverbend Park (Great Falls, VA)

My husband likes to fish. A lot. Unfortunately, he also works a lot. So, a few weeks ago, we decided to combine family time and fishing time with an excursion to Riverbend Park. For the fisherperson, Riverbend park has a lovely pier next to the visitor's center and for the kids it also has picnic tables and sandy trails bordering the Potomac (unfortunately, the ground is sandy, so strollers don't move very well), plus a large field full of room to run and geese to chase. The girls love to walk the trails until they find a small hamlet where they can "play beach." Playing beach involves "pretending we're at a real beach but we don't want to go in the water. So let's look for sea shells instead." This can last four at least an hour. The park is rarely crowded and there's no entry fee, making it a nice alternative to either side of Great Falls, especially on warm weekends when the falls (both sides) tend to be rather crowded.
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If the rain is causing you to search for something inside to do this week - Public Workshop is hosting a special event at the Building Museum all week that looks awesome, click here for the info (scoop courtesy of at KidFriendlyDC).


Finally, after two years, F decided (on her own accord) to wear jeans, making me a very happy mom (not that I don't enjoy buying a zillion pairs of tights each winter, but pants can be nice too).