Local Adventures Archives - Page 3 of 4

Four Places Your Kids Can Run Wild in DC

August 5, 2012 by momindcity 8 Comments

My experiment as a mother of three has ended, now that my lovely niece is on her way home. It has been an intense and high-energy week. As one mom remarked, “I thought only boys acted that wild. You sure have your hands full.”

After some trial and error (and a few important lessons), I discovered some perfect places to take kids in DC. These aren’t new in our family rotation, but we rediscovered them this week, and I’m so glad that we did.

1. National Building Museum.
If you’re not a member, become one. Trust me. This place is far less crowded than the free museums nearby. Plus, it caters to younger children. Ever since Lira had a birthday party here a few years back, it has been a family-fave. The great hall is a huge open space where kids can run free. There’s a Lego exhibit where your little ones can build things and make a mess that you don’t have to clean up! And there’s indoor min-golf here through Labor Day.

Tip: Sign up for a spot in The Building Zone (for kids ages 2-6) as soon as you get there; you’ll usually have to wait at least an hour. [Read more…]

Lessons in Life With Three Kids in the City

July 30, 2012 by momindcity 2 Comments

My niece is visiting from Houston, and she and my girls have been tearing up the house, changing into priness dresses, coloring with Sharpies and fighting about Barbies (even though we have at least 30 of them). After sitting on my couch watching them whirl around me, I decided to quit acting like a tornado victim and leave the house.

The plan was to go visit one of the Smithsonians that stays open late during the summer. Not a big deal, right? Ha! Going from 2 kids to 3 isn’t what I thought it was. I forgot about the fact that they feed off of each other’s energy and get progressively wilder as they multiply.

I also forgot about a few other things:

A Stroller
When I take the metro, I never want to bring a stroller. It’s a pain; when you metro with a stroller, you either have to walk extra blocks to find an elevator or risk your child’s life by taking the stroller up and down the escalators. However, not bringing a stroller is worse.

Metro Ride — Don’t we look sweet and innocent?

Zana either sprints from block to block, forcing me to chase her so she doesn’t run into traffic or sits down to pick flowers every few steps. I always end up carrying her, which is especially fun when it’s 90+ degrees out. Then she screams because she wants to get down, and sometimes (on lucky days like today) she throws a fit and smacks me in the face. Then she gets her way because I have to put her down in an effort not to smack her right back (man, that takes a lot of restraint). After a “saw-wee Mommy,” the cycle begins again—sprint, flower picking, scoop her up. [Read more…]

First Family Putt-Putt: a Questionable Success

July 22, 2012 by momindcity 6 Comments

Earlier this week, I was looking for things to help fill the rest of our time at Bethany Beach. I shared my top 10 beach ideas list and received some great suggestions from MomInDCity readers. But the most entertaining one came from Dave; he decided it was time that we all channel our inner Tiger Woods (minus the cheating and inappropriate texts) and go play mini golf.

Things started out pretty well… Dave coaching on the Practice Green and the girls getting their game faces on.

putt putt sisters — Don’t they look excited?!

We made it through the first few holes without much drama, but there was a family in front of us, which means we had some down time before each turn. That gave the girls time to realize that a putt-putt course is like a playground on steroids. We could barely find them after the fifth hole– especially the 2-year-old.

Our most effective threat, “do you want to go sit with the lifeguard?”, which usually sends chills down her spine, did nothing. During those few times that we managed to keep her on the course, she’d sit in the middle of the green.

When we’d ignore her, she’d find something else she wasn’t supposed to touch.

toes in water — Big Sis thinks this is a great idea

Despite my pleas, Dave was determined to finish the course. We somehow managed not to get kicked out, which probably had something to do with the fact that we were the only people there who weren’t drunk. I obviously beat Dave, (this may or may not be true, but it’s my blog so I get to say whatever I want), and Lira perfected her swing. Also, those golf clubs are weapons, and nobody got hurt; I call that a success right there.

I hear there’s currently a mini golf course at the National Building Museum in DC. Dare we try again?

Baltimore: Why Do People Piss On Such a Charming City?

June 30, 2012 by momindcity 2 Comments

You may wonder if all I do is leave my family and party with my friends (since I just did that last weekend and am doing it again this weekend), but I actually think I did a pretty good job of balancing it out this time.

After picking up the girls after work and dropping them off at Nana’s house, I hopped on a MARC train to Baltimore. This is a very unimportant part of the story except for 2 points:

My experience on MARC was about 100 times better than my ride on Amtrak last weekend–the one that turned into a sweaty, 9-hour ordeal.
A stranger gave me $5, because I didn’t know I needed cash to ride the train, and told me not to worry about paying her back. Did you know that kind of thing still happened?! I didn’t.

I was in Baltimore to meet an old friend from college and go to Kaskade’s Freaks of Nature show. Don’t worry if you don’t know who Kaskade is. Most of my readers aren’t 18 wearing neon bootie shorts and half shirts, so you’re really not in the right demographic.

concert — 1. Don’t know this girl
2. Check out the half shirt behind us

Angela and I grabbed a quick bite at Alewife Public House (truffle mac ‘n cheese? yes, please!) and proceeded to 1st Mariner Marina for the show.

After a 3 hour techno trance, that left us covered in other people’s sweat and beer, we headed back to the hotel, forgot we were in our 30s, and decided that we needed to go out.

We took a cab to Fells Point and ended up at a sketchy club called The Get Down (‘nuf said). We weren’t there long because it was late, but I managed to learn some important things before going to sleep:

cab drivers in Baltimore come up with their prices based on how they’re feeling that moment
regardless of how classy B-more is starting to look, it’s still very sketchy in most areas (thus the nicknames Bodymore and Murderland)
bathrooms aren’t really all that necessary when you have alleys and trees (I’ve never witnessed so many people urinating in public in my life)
my hair does not look good after sweating, getting rained on, and then sweating again (who knew?!) [Read more…]

Gone Postal: The National Postal Museum

June 12, 2012 by momindcity 2 Comments

I’m not sure what day it is anymore, thanks to a sick 2 year old, but I’m pretty sure it’s not Sunday. That’s when we went to the National Postal Museum, and it seems like weeks ago. Since then, I’ve changed Zana’s sheets at least 3 times, spent a couple of sleepless nights, and made it to work (physically, but definitely not mentally) once or twice.

In celebration of things getting back to “normal” around here, let’s revisit our last normal day: Sunday Funday!

We started at our favorite coffee shop, only this time we brought friends. That means there were six people in the coffee shop basement instead of the usual four– packed house! They had so much fun, they’re going to make it a weekly thing too. Trust me people, I don’t lie about awesomeness.

We enjoyed our lattes and planned our walk past Union Station to the Postal Museum, another favorite of ours that’s never busy.

I love it because it’s small enough that I (usually) don’t lose my kids, but big enough for them to wear themselves out.

Highlights include:

airmail planes hanging from the ceiling
a railway car used to transport mail (the old toilet in the corner of the car is a big hit in our family)
a tractor trailer cab (it’s meant for kids, but since it’s Dave’s dream to be a trucker, he usually monopolizes that exhibit)
the “spooky forest” that leads to a stage coach where you can pretend you’re in the Pony Express
the newest exhibit called “Systems at Work.” It takes you through what happens when you drop a letter in the mailbox (the kids couldn’t get enough mail sorting)

You can see all of these things and feel very safe at the same time. Why? Because this museum has the highest security guard-to-museum patron ratio of any place I’ve ever been. As long as you’re not a crying one year old who refuses to walk through the metal detector alone, or a seven year old who turns around on the escalator, you probably won’t be bothered. Oh, and don’t walk away from your stroller either. They will find you.

I’m guessing the security guards are just bored, because the museum is always empty. Surprisingly, people aren’t beating down the doors to get into the philatelic palace. But hey, their loss is our gain!

We ended the date with lunch and gelato at Union Station, followed by playtime in Nana’s front yard.

If someone would have warned me about Zana’s impending sinus infection, we probably could have skipped some of this and rested up for the all-nighter. Did you know sinus infections can cause vomiting? Me neither…