C&O canal boat ride

I've been wanting to take a ride on a C&O canal boat ever since I heard there was such a thing. It's nice that my kids are at an age (mostly) when I can do this cooler stuff with them. I invited tons of people to come with me and the group that ended up joining was just right. Lots of kids and great moms, even a dad. I have this to say:

*not a bad drive from my neck of the woods down through the ginormous Potomac homes into the National Park, took me maybe 35 minutes

*lots of parking, lots of picnic tables

*the visitors center is tiny, at least the part we got to go into. There are apparently 7 different visitor's centers along the C&O canal - the one we went to is called Great Falls Tavern. The part with most of the stuff to look at is being renovated right now, which is a crying shame.

*the tickets to ride were only $5 per person (and my kids were all old enough to cost money, darn it)*The junior ranger books were a total bust. The one for Sheely's age was all writing and she balked and would have nothing to do with it. Xavey too. Oh well. I'm glad we did the Clara Barton/Glen Echo one, it was so much more interactive.
*There was a giant mound of dirt for the kids to play on while we waited for our 11am boat ride - they announced it was time by blowing a giant bugle.

*Our "tour guide" was awesome - energetic and fun to listen to. The atmosphere was casual and yet attentive - Preston was by far the most outspoken, sometimes commenting or asking questions and sometimes just talking REALLY LOUD. You could get up out of your seat for a minute or two and walk a bit without getting in "trouble"*Sheely was freaked out that the sound of my camera taking pictures would spook the mules and she got really crabby at me but we worked it out

*the kids got a kick out of the whole "lock" system, when we floated up it was crazy - even I was impressed with how it worked. It reminded me of being in Germany on a boat with my friend Lis when we went around a canalway.*the mules pulled us FAST . It went way quicker and smoother than I'd anticipated. The whole set up with the ropes and harnesses is pretty ingenious, when you think about it. And a "tow path" where the mules walk with their handler - again, the kids got such a kick out of it and so did I.
*I thought when it was time to go back that they would just switch the mules to the other end and we'd float back, but I was wrong. They turned that boat right around, apparently it does have a front and a back :)

*At the end our guide started playing a concertina! get out of town! It was awesome! He even played The Red River Valley, which is the song my husband sings to my kids at night, they loved it! Then he handed out a bunch of old time instruments and we all played along and stomped our feet while he played a lively version of "Simple Gifts"*When our ride was over we had a lunch along the canal and then went for a walk down the canal, over it and up the tow path along the Potomac River. OH the fun! The kids found a path down to the river and we played and explored for a long time. That is one mighty river, certainly the biggest one I've ever stopped and explored around. Preston found a "rock hill" and Xavey and his friend found a hidden waterfall (that Preston found later and was convinced that he found it first and had a M-E-L-T-D-O-W-N because no one would get excited about looking at it except me and apparently I don't count)*Then we went to the overlook to see the "falls" which is not very overlook-worthy, in my opinion. I couldn't even bring myself to force my kids to be in a picture in front of it. I heard the Virgina side is amazing, so we'll do that someday. The kids chatted and pet the mules and then they found ANOTHER path, actually called the "River Trail" and we walked along the river some more until I got tired and hot and was ready to go home :)

*All in all: SO FUN.
Boat ride=fantastic
tow path=super fun
river exploring=superb
come again with husband=for sure, and with sturdier shoes :)

Glen Echo Park, the Clara Barton House, Clemyjontri Playground and Claude Moore Farm

I know - this is a lot of adventures in one post, but there you go:

Back when I was recovering from my surgery I stumbled upon a little jewel on the interweb - during the summer at the Clara Barton House they put on a free 2-day camp for kids! A FREE camp?? How could I resist? So I immediately called and got Sheely in the final session (Xavey was too young).

I arrived super early on Tuesday because, surprise - there was NO traffic. I forgot that Congress is having vacation. Better early than late, I guess. I hit enough traffic later on to make up for it :) ANYWAY.

The Clara Barton House is the home that darling Clara lived in during her later life, and for a long time it was actually the warehouse and headquarters for the Red Cross of America. I dropped Sheely off in the tender care of a park ranger and then the boys and I were on our own. I went to the GPS and looked for historical sites nearby and WAHOO! I found a multitude of choices. I opted for The Claude Moore Farm - just a short jaunt across the Potomac into Virginia (seriously, a 10 minute drive away). We arrived and things looked a little quiet. Turns out, it's not open on Monday or Tuesday. That figures :) Luckily, on the way (like, across the street) I noticed a playground I've been meaning to go to for ages: Clemyjontri Park!! I may have made a squeal of joy at my luck - I've never been sure of how to spell it so I could never find directions, I just had heard about it from friends. It is a fantastically huge all-abilities playground.

ANYWAY. We went to the playground in the very sweaty stickiness! The kids had such a blast. We ran around a maze and scared each other, I spun them on the tireswing (I've got a special move called "the tornado") and I took them for a ride on the merry-go-round. Xavey made some friends and played all kinds of running and climbing games while Preston stuck close to me and did his own thing on the huge climber. I realized I had a friend that lived nearby that I hadn't seen for ages, so I called her and sweet Michelle dragged her children to the playground for some funtimes and chatting.When it was time to be out of the sun and in the car we drove back over to Clara Barton which happens to share a parking lot with Glen Echo Park. I've been hearing about Glen Echo for ages also but have never made my way over there. I didn't know anything about it, though, so Xavey and I learned together as we did his own Junior Ranger Booklet. There was a sticker-bingo game (a scavenger hunt), he designed his own ride and we learned a lot about the history of the park. First it was a Chautauqua Center, then for a long time it was an amusement park (the first bumper cars in the world were build there!) and now it's like a giant artist colony/historic site/place to hang out. There's a playground where the sandy beach/swimming pool was back in the day. The bumper cars pavilion now hosts outdoor dances and shows. While we were there playing (both days) there was an Irish Dance school practicing on that floor and so Irish music floated throughout the grounds the entire time. There's a puppet theater and a children's theater as well as every kind of cultural arts class you could possibly imagine.

PLUS there is a giant carousel, the original from the time the park began to be an amusement park. We took a ride on Wednesday and I kept thinking about all the generations of people who had sat on those horses - it was built in 1921 or something. If you're a history nerd like me and want to know more, here's the lowdown. The ranger even took the camp kids on it!After our first day of hanging out there we went back to the Clara Barton House in time to catch the last tour through the house before camp was over for the day. Yes, I took my two sons. No, it was not the best idea on the planet but I had no idea of when I'd get the chance to go through it again and since there was only one other guy and his daughter that were going to do the tour, it seemed like as good a time as any.

Plus, the boys did great! They asked all kinds of questions (some relevant, others not so...) and were genuinely interested in the house and Clara herself. We watched a neat video about her life that actually made me a little misty-eyed at one point. What an AMAZING WOMAN. I never knew what an interesting life she led or even how famous she was while she was alive. I'm overflowing with information about her that for some reason feels really important. I hope I can come away from this earth doing for others even a tiny portion of what she did.The house itself is massive and we did a scavenger hunt in there also. The boys got a bandage put on their legs and they pretended to be wounded soldiers. We saw the giant red cross windows and learned about how even visitors to the Clara Barton House had to work during their stay (she had sewing machines in the guest rooms!) To save time and money, Clara nailed bandages to the walls instead of covering them with plaster :)

After camp that day the kids and I went up to my moms to spend an evening together and had a sleepover in the basement (first watching two episodes of Psych with my mom, of course).

Next day, more fun! Sheely's first day at camp was all about Clara Barton - they did behind the scenes stuff, some archeology, took a crack at plastering walls, had crazy obstacle course type games and generally got Sheely wanting to be a park ranger when she grows up. The second day for her was all about Glen Echo. The ranger booklet here is cool - it's actually both in one - one side is Clara Barton and if you turn it over and upside down, it's Glen Echo! How fabulous.

While Sheely did her thing, the boys and I went BACK to Claude Moore Farm, since it was open on Wednesday :) The farm is set up as a poor tenant farm circa 1771. What I think of this place:

*easy to find and inexpensive ($7 for all three of us)
*woodsy and peaceful
*friendly costumed interpreters - when there was a two-handed saw Xavier wanted to try (a no-no), they led us over to a field where a tree had fallen down and demonstrated it for us*small, so not too much walking, it was just enough - but probably not big enough to drive down there just for that
*lots of animals walking around, entertaining Xavier and TERRIFYING Preston if they got close*some things to touch for the kids - a few old time toys, corn to grind*fun paths to walk (one takes you to a "spring" where there's fresh water and a tiny stream), sticks everywhere, a pasture with no cows that we could find but a glorious fence that entertained my kids for 20 minutes while they pretended to be soldiers*picnic tables in the shade, perfect for a snack and some work on the Junior Ranger book

Really, it was a great outing. Xavier probably took 60 pictures of random things and had a ball. We were probably there for an hour and fifteen minutes and we were all happy the entire time (except for Preston and his geese fear).

We spent the rest of the afternoon at Glen Echo, watching the Irish dancers, playing on the playground, watching my sons wrestle on a stage while other parents (or, really, I'm thinking nannies) watched them also, assuming I would stop them soon. Nope. I bought a cup of ice and was pleasantly surprised by how entertaining it was for my boys to eat big pieces of ice.When we got back to Clara's, the kids were presented with their Junior Ranger badges and I felt like it was two days worth of effort well spent. We learned a lot, we played hard, I had some quality time with my boys, Sheely got to be a VIP at a National Park site, I got a better appreciation for the history of that part of Maryland, I got four new NP passport stamps and marked four new outings off my list.

Tredegar Iron Works

We drive down to North Carolina from Maryland a lot. This summer I thought it was time to start exploring the city we've driven through about a thousand times: Richmond, Virginia! The first place we decided to try was part of Richmond National Battlefield Park and called Tredegar Iron Works. Unfortunately, HORRIBLE summer beach traffic limited our first visit to a mere 45 minutes. We barely had time to flip through the Junior Ranger booklets before they were closing the place. SO. We stopped again on the way home :)

The booklets have great scavenger hunts in them - with pictures of things to find, great for my non-and-new readers. One of them I really liked because there was a picture for the kids to find and then they had to match the picture with a word that went with it. There was a picture of a big sword with a spur attached to it, and after reading about it in the museum you found out it went with the word "Calvary," another one was a picture of some old-fashioned sun glasses and they went with the word "sharpshooter." Who knew? Xavey was VERY interested in that one :)

There are maps and guns and models and cannons and movies to watch. The vistor's center is really well done and the grounds are fun to explore. After finishing their booklets, Sheely wanted to turn them in to the ranger, who gave them REAL patches!! She was so excited and let's be honest, so was I :) Then we went outside and had a good explore around the grounds. We saw the old company store (now just storing a bunch of stuff - aren't those shelves crazy-old looking! The sun was so bright I had to hold my hand up to the window to get any kind of picture of them at all :)The kids looked through the viewfinder and fussed about taking turns:Seriously, that picture of Preston giving me the hand just slays me, how true-to-life that one is :)

Xavey wanted to look at everything - old railroad tracks, cannons, gigantic heavy chains - he's an explorer like his mama.Before we left we got a picture taken with Abraham Lincoln (he's VERY hot, in that southern heat, by the way - and can you see that I had to give my melting daughter my sunglasses to get her to be a good sport outside??) The inscription in the back says "To Bind Up the Nation's Wounds." Apparently it's from his second inaugural address. Did you know that Lincoln visited Richmond? With his son Tad? You can read about it here :) That's his son that he's sitting next to in the statue. I love that.
I feel like we got some good Civil War info, some iron-working info, some Abraham Linocln info, and a look around a really historical spot. We've already got plans for what we'll go see next :)

Hershey Park in Hershey, PA

Adventure #1 for the Summer Adventure Challenge

the story, as I remember :)

*We got there just after it opened but with our huge group, it took forever to actually get in the gates

*even with my $12 off per adult coupon (yes, Sheely was considered an adult!!) it still cost me $140 to get in with my kids. WOW. That's a lot of dollars.

*I made both of my boys wear red AND they had wristbands there where you could write your cellphone number and put them on your kids so they could call you if your kids get lost. I find this a fantastic idea, since I've just been writing my cell number on my kids' hands for years!

*I chose not to drag around my expensive camera - so my pictures turned out kinda lame, but that's what I get. I knew there would be much chucking of the backpack and I didn't want it to
get trashed (I was right, lots of chucking of the bag)

*we convinced my mom to rent one of those awesome electric wheelchairs - and thank heavens, that is a hilly park! it would've been a nightmare on her crutches!

*as soon as we got to the first set of "kiddie" rides, I realized my problem: I had no husband and two big kids and one little kid. I had not thought logistically about how to help everyone get what they needed (i.e. - big rides for big kids, little rides for the Tuft). I started feeling really stressed next to the little dragon ride when my sister Erin hooked up Sheely with Chris and off they went to the huge roller coasters and Xavier was content to stay and do some younger stuff with Tuft. Sigh of relief

*Jordan and I took Emma and Xavey on a spaceship ride that went up pretty high, they liked that

*So many rides for little kids! That was fun - Preston was so thrilled to run from one to the other and back again, OVER AND OVER. His favorites: the Ladybug, the little swings, the little pirate ship, but especially the little kid SCRAMBLER - LOVED it and begged for us to keep walking back over there :) On the ladybug you just keep going around in a loop but there are a couple little bumps along the way, and every time we'd hit a bump, Preston would do his closed-eyes-manic-laugh that slays me.*It got really hot but not really humid, so if you stood in the shade, it was quite pleasant

*Two hours after getting in there, we left again to have a peaceful picnic lunch outside, and after food, bathroom, and more sunscreen, we were ready to head out again

*half way through the day, Chris brought to my attention to the fact that Xavey's shoe broke, like, the entire sole was almost completely detached, fun huh? He was really patient with it, since I was not about to buy some Hershey Park shoes - he just flapped around with it the entire day!*Until about 3pm, I hadn't been on a single adult ride, it was just the way it went. I wasn't feeling frustrated, just a bit bummed, but when we found a shady spot with three great kid rides and a few bigger adult rides nearby, it worked out for me to go on one by myself and one with Lauren before she had to leave, so that was fun - thanks to all my helpful family that made that possible

*it was really fun to see Preston hanging out with his littler cousins - especially the ones closest to his age. He usually just sticks with his big brother, but when Jordan and Chris had both my big kids off on big rides, Preston was so cute with the younger ones, I really liked that

*Emma spiked a fever and Mary was lethargic too, so after lunch Erin ended up renting a double stroller, which worked out awesome and the nice first aid people gave Emma some motrin (after she took a long nap) which perked her right up*Sheely really liked taking Ava on the Frog Hopper over and over more

*around 5, my sisters with really little kids were ready to crash, so we headed to the front of the park for dinner together. We just lucked out that we picked a restaurant where the seats are right in front of a drum show performance. Xavier was SO INTO it, he stood there like a statue and watched the whole thing! Then, when they started doing the limbo, he totally joined in :) THRILLED this mama, let me tell you! I got some video of that, I have no idea if I'll ever get around to posting it :)*Also, Xavey was so cute and helpful with Alex, he wanted to sit by her at dinner

*Since Erin's kids seemed to be good to go, she and I stayed after everyone else left! This was the season of "divide and conquer." To start off, Erin took Emma, Sheely and Xavier on the Comet, a pretty fun wooden roller coaster. While she did that, I took Preston and Mary on the Tilt a Whirl. Then we swapped kids again and I took Sheely and Xavier on the Super Looper something or another roller coaster (Xavey LOVED going upside down!!). Then we just kept swapping in such a fashion so that Erin and I both got to actually go on all the roller coasters! How is THAT for finally getting your moneys worth? My favorite roller coaster was probably the Wildcat - CRAZY PSYCHO fast and long wooden roller coaster. Preston told me that his favorite part with the big ferris wheel with me. I loved that too - the view was incredible! So strange to have big huge amusement park and then farmland :) Sheely loved the Mouse Trap, which I hated because I always think I am going to fly right off that horrible thing. Xavey loved The Claw, which is what we went on last.

*Sheely harassed me about treats for a long time until I finally said - at 7pm, it's treat time - one treat for everyone, talk to me about it before then and NO TREAT FOR YOU :)

*Tufty wanted ice cream (a cone, with sprinkles, of course). When we got there, I saw they made blizzard type confectionery delights so I ordered myself a peanut butter cup one. THE MINUTE that they handed me his cone, he had to go #2 - STAT. OF COURSE. So he did the twinkle dance while I paid and waited to grab my cup and then we sprinted all the way up the hill to the bathroom. Phew, we barely made it. Then I could get Sheely and Xavey their ICEE things and everyone could have treat happiness.

*THEN, more and more and more rides. Rides everywhere and with no waiting and SO MUCH FUN. I am just such a huge fan of the fast roller coasters that it thrills me that at least two of my children are right by my side in that love. This park really does have some good coasters.

*At the end of the day, Erin and I took turns going solo on the wildest rollercoaster of all - the storm chaser or something. It's one that goes from 0-60 in 1 second or something - HOLY COW that ride took my breath away it was so fast! I'm glad I told Sheely she wasn't allowed (even though she was tall enough). It was on the verge of scary for me! While Erin got her turn, Sheely took Xavier Preston and Emma on the frog hopper (a little free fall for kids) over and over and over. They would go on it, laugh hysterically, then run around and get on again - for at least the 20 minutes that I was in charge of them.

*The final ride (after yet ANOTHER sprint to the bathroom for someone) was the aforementioned Claw ride. Picture one of those giant pirate ship type rides that swing like a pendulum back and forth until they are pretty much vertical, but instead of a ship, you're sitting in a big circle in chairs where your feet dangle down and it spins you around WHILE you swing back and forth. WOWEE WOW. We just barely didn't make it on, so we stood in front and watched the one before us go. I could see Sheely and Xavey getting nervous, but they stood their ground and we all had a good laugh when BOTH of some one's flip flops flew off the ride and into the woods beyond the fence :)

*As we got settled into our seats, I asked Xavey if he wanted me to keep my hand on his knee. He said, "yes, so I don't fly away like a lost flip flop." and gave me that silly Xavey smile. I love that boy. We LOVED the ride - Sheely told me she was going to close her eyes the whole time, but she never did once, we laughed our guts out and screamed and while we were riding, the whistle blew for the park to close. A perfect way to close out the day.

*On the walk back, my boys held my hands. Sheely said a spontaneous, "THANKS MOM!!" and Xavey said, "This was a GREAT day." Sounds silly, but those words are what really made the 12 hours and $140 dollars worth it.

*both boys fell asleep, heads leaning against each other, on the tram

*arrived back at the caboose at 11:30, got everyone in bed and took a shower before soothing my poor blistered feet. An incredible and overwhelming and riotous day with my sweet children. Can I recommend Hershey Park? ABSOLUTELY. Wonderfully clean. Great rides. Lots for all ages. It was expensive, but as I've looked around, it seems to be comparable to other big amusement parks. Plus, there are giant chocolate bars that walk around and take pictures with you. It's a winner in my book.

North Beach

My great friend Mendy told me about this beach out on the Chesapeake Bay. While I've been to beaches on both sides of it, I've never tried this one.

First off, it's only an hour from my house. That's awesome. The drive went great and the weather was PERFECT. I recruited several friends to come along, which helped a LOT. Unfortunately, no one who had children any where near Sheely's age was able to come, which bummed her out quite a bit. She found a great 4 year old girl to play with, though :)

One annoying thing: since it's a municipal beach and not a regional park, you do have to pay. $5 per person. However, here are the good things: bathrooms RIGHT there, nice sand, fun pier to play on, a huge wooden pirate ship to play on, they have the beach NETTED OFF so I did not see ONE JELLYFISH the entire time. IN AUGUST! That's worth $5 a person, for my crew. Sheely's got jellyfish-phobia. The water is super shallow, although the mud/sand is pretty slimy once you get past the rocks. There are hardly any waves (which can be good or bad, depending on whatcha like).

We had a fantastic time, I'd definitely go again.

A view of the beach where we played, from out on the pier:

How Sheely spent much of our day: in time out

all the kids!!

the mommies (and an aunt)

my three sweet ones in their floaties

the mud was a big draw for my boys

there are two sides to the beach - after you pay you can go right or left of the pier. On the left is the pirate ship, so it was more crowded. We chose the less crowded right side.

see the nets keeping those jellies away??

my sand-lover

on the pirate ship