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.

Things to Make - Cutting and Gluing with Pretty Paper

Since yesterday's post was on the National Gallery, I figured I'd stick with the art theme and blog about preschool art projects. Every fall (with winter LOOMING ahead), I decide that this is going to be the year of art projects. Then the baby cries or the girls whine or something else goes wrong and I think "well, maybe next year will be the year of art projects." My mom was a huge art project mom, so I want my kids to grow up the same way, but in real life I find art + three kids = tricky. Okay, enough complaining. This year things are going to be different, as I have decided to lower my ambition and start with REALLY EASY art projects, hence the pictures above.

Darcy's Easy Art Project - Round One

Both my girls are obsessed with scissors lately, so I went to a AC Moore and bought a ton of scrapbook paper for them (DCWV MS-003-00062 Mango Frost Mat Stack) to cut and glue (does paste even exist anymore or has the gluestick completely replaced it?). Plus, some scrapbooking tape to create with as well. (When I was a kid, I used to love wallpaper books, so I figured this was close to the same idea.)

Good news - it worked. They spent all afternoon cutting random shapes and pasting them onto different paper, with very little help from me (though my mom did get involved, hence the flowers). So far so good, hopefully more art projects will follow.

Regarding ideas and inspiration, the creme of the creme for GREAT kids' art projects is this blog - The Artful Parent. If you have a chance, check it out, there are years worth of archives so you're sure to find some sort of project that works for you.

Places to Go - The National Gallery of Art (Washington D.C)

All summer long, I've been wanting to see Allen Ginsberg's photography show at the National Gallery of Art (yes, I still like On the Road, despite being in my thirties). Further, I've read about the National Gallery's Stories in Art program (for children ages 4-7) and wanted to check it out. Well, summer being summer, time sort of slipped away from us. And before I knew it, the Ginsberg exhibit was about to close (it ended in early September) and the summer session of Stories in Art had ended (the winter series begins in January). So, during Ginsberg's final week, I packed up the children (all three) and drove the mini-van to the National Gallery (or, rather, the $22 parking lot next to National Gallery).

I was a little nervous as art museum's aren't exactly made for children. This fear was not alleviated as I entered the galleries and encountered several mean stares from the other patrons (and at this point in the morning my children were all exceptionally well-behaved). Still I persevered and watching F (my almost-five year old) and P (my almost-4 year old) react to the art was truly wonderful. I loved all their questions - "Mom, why's that lady sad? Why is that man purple? Why is that girl wearing such a fancy dress? What's that a picture of? Isn't this the most beautiful thing ever?" etc. The baby, however, was a different story. I was hoping he would relax in his stroller (as he often does) but all T wanted to do was attack the art. Full-scale attack. So we had to leave (sadly). Luckily, we did have a chance to check out the Ginsberg exhibit, but unfortunately (1) black and white photos bore my children. REALLY bore my children and (2) all of the photos had handwritten captions which my children would not let me read (see my picture above of the Neal Cassidy pic). On the upside, on the way out we stumbled across an Alex Katz painting, I'm a little obsessed with him lately so I was sort of awestruck for a moment.

Despite our need to escape the museum, the day was not lost, as the National Gallery has a lovely sculpture garden, complete with a cafe and a gigantic fountain. So we spent the rest of the day at the fountain eating ice cream and chasing ducks. And watching the baby attack the landscaping (much better than attacking art). All in all a lovely day.

How about everyone else? Has anyone ever tried the Stories in Art program? How is it?

Things to Do - Smell Flowers and Play in Rain

Even though I'm a stay-at-home mom, I'm actually quite awful at staying home with my kids. I'm always jealous of parents who can spend the whole day in the house and have a wonderful time (and a little awestruck by them). It's not that I don't try, but after a few hours the mess starts to drive me crazy, as does the destruction, the noise, and the inability to sit on a couch and read a book. Thus, we're always going places. Which is fun. But lately I'm trying to remind myself how fun it can be just to relax and look around and watch my children's minds at work - changing blocks into neighborhoods, throwing a birthday party for a stuffed animal, dancing to the Yo Gabba Gabba album. Or just smelling/attacking flowers and playing in the rain. Because some days you don't need to go anywhere. Really. Or so I keep trying to tell myself.

What about everyone else? What are the best ways to stay at home with kids and still relax? Any suggestions?

Have a great weekend! See you on Monday!

Things to Read - A simple life

So as of late I've become a little obsessed with living off the grid. This interest was moderately roused about a year ago, when I watched Food Inc and read Michael Pollan's FABULOUS book The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals. Both of which lead me (and millions of other people) to question many things about the food we buy in grocery stores - where it comes from, how it gets here, etc.

But the real off-the-grid obsession didn't actually kick in until I read the Jane Smiley novellas, Ordinary Love and Good Will, which are, by far, the best fictional accounts I've ever read on the topic of parenting. The first story deals with a mother's guilt over how an affair she had years ago still may effect her grown children's lives. The "may" is really what makes the story great, because you never really know how your mistakes effect your children as you can never witness how things would have turned out otherwise. Sort of like the whole lightness/heaviness dilema presented in the first few pages of The Unbearable Lightness of Being: A Novel but with less of a philosophical bent.

The second story, Good Will, focuses on a family trying to raise their only son COMPLETELY off the grid (they even make their own fabric, from a loom), with tragic consequences. I found it impossible not to empathize with the father's desire to seek out a completely different life for himself and his family. And, even though it was fictional, it provoked my interest in such a way of life.

Which lead me to this book - Twelve by Twelve: A One-Room Cabin Off the Grid and Beyond the American Dream, sort of a modern-day Walden (I've actually never read the real Walden, so I can't really compare the two). I found the writer a tad bit self-important at times, but all in all the story is insightful. Especially learning about a real-life woman named Jackie, who lives completely off the grid in a 12x12 cabin in North Carolina (plus, the fact that it's actually illegal to live in NC without electricity, so she is, in fact, breaking the law). Definitely worth checking out.

Another great book that deals with simple living and appreciating the world around us is Rick Bass's The Wild Marsh: Four Seasons at Home in Montana. In writing that can only be characterized as poetic, Bass takes the reader through a year, month by month, in the Yaak Valley of northwestern Montana. I actually haven't finished the book yet, but so far it is a beautiful read. Plus, Rick Bass's short story collection, In the Loyal Mountains, is one of my favorite books of all time, so I'm sure that the Wild Marsh won't disappoint.

Regarding myself, I obviously live NOWHERE close to off the grid. And I love modern day heating, plumbing, electricity and my iphone. and blogging. but that doesn't mean i shouldn't appreciate these things or understand where they come from. not like i'm anywhere near an expert, but I'm trying. With that in mind, I have one more recommendation, The Parent's Tao Te Ching: Ancient Advice for Modern Parents. My yoga instructor told me about this book when I was pregnant with number three and now I keep it on my desk and read it routinely. It makes me calm down and appreciate life, as is.

How about everyone else? Any interesting book recommendations? I'd love to hear them.