Oxon Hill Farm, Take Two

Oxon Hill Park, located just a few miles from Brian's work, was the setting for another birthday morning for Eli.  We actually came here on his second birthday, and took some of my favorite photos of him and I thought why not run up for the morning on his fourth birthday as well. 

The farm is a nice little oasis near National Harbor and DC proper.  It is a little tricky to find with google maps, so be sure to get good directions if you decide to visit.  This free park lets the kids run around visiting farm animals, milking the cow (10:00 most days), and riding on a hay ride (10:30 most days).  There are some fun activities in the Visitor Barn as well, and picnic tables and bathrooms to make a stay with pre-schoolers manageable. 

Cherry Blossom 5k: 21 Weeks Pregnant

When I registered for the lottery required to enter the Cherry Blossom 5k at the beginning of December, I knew I could be pregnant because we had just started trying, but I really doubted I would be over 20 week along when the race came along.  Things happened so much more quickly this time.  And though I ran throughout my first trimester, I started majorly slowing down in the second as the pressure during running was getting uncomfortable.  So I was sad to know I wouldn't be completely running this race, but I wasn't going to withdrawal since I have always loved the D.C. cherry blossoms and this could be our last year in the area (Brian's contract is up next March, who know's where we'll be after that).

I ended up being surprised at just how much I did run, and enjoyed the course starting near the Washington Monument, across the Arlington Memorial Bridge (near the Arlington Cemetery entrance) and back.  I psyched myself up to run back across the bridge without any walking, and then noticed the course was sloping down on the return making for an easier second half of the race.  I surprisingly was only about 8 minutes less than my normal time, even with walking quite a bit.  And having a 21 week old side kick running with me.  This was baby's second 5k race (see post on first one here).
 

My official time was 43:12.  And here are the fun little maps that go along with it.  My mileage here claimed 3.4, which wouldn't surprise me with all the swerving I ended up doing.  I started myself too far back in the coral and had to run around a lot of walkers.

 The boys all came with me, loving the train ride into the city, but ending up exhausted due to such an early start to the day.  We picnicked for lunch, thankfully as most of the food truck lines were endless.  Eli slept through almost all our hike around the tidal basin, but I managed to get a few pictures with him.  And the blossoms of course.

 We always stop by The Tulip Library.  Elijah loved them.

 So excited waiting for the train.

And then we stopped by our favorite pie shop in Occoquan on the way home, since my motivation and reward for finishing this 5k was a slice of cherry pie.

Christmas Trains in the City (DC)

My little one is now almost as obsessed with his older brother when it comes to "choo choos".  One of his first words was caboose, he'll always remind you that a tender is hot, and he'll notice every Thomas object that passes him by (backpacks, items on shelves, shoes, etc).  He's demanding choo choo books at night despite our Christmas book theme, and often falls asleep with a train book open on his lap.

So Elijah's especially excited that trains are so entangled with the Christmas holiday.  I wonder how these two things got so mixed up to begin with, but we don't question it around here we just try to enjoy it.  We decided to wait until Brian was off work to head into D.C. to see several train exhibits last Saturday.  Our itenerary:

We took advantage of the free parking metro stations always offer on the weekends, and decide to park and ride the train into the city.  Elijah was pretty excited the whole way:

We needed to get lunch pretty soon, so we started off by checking out Union Station's display.  As far as I've ever found, they only have one set up, but it's a nice one.  And there are plenty of places to eat or even shop nearby if you've still got some gifts to buy.

Next up, we jumped back onto the subway and took it a few stops to the Metro Center station and walked on to the area between the White House and the Washington Monument, known as the Ellipse.  Here you can view the White House's outside holiday decorations, the National Christmas Tree, and lots and lots of trains.  This is probably the most trains I have ever found in one location.  There are also the 50+ trees for each state and territory, adorned with specially made ornaments reflecting each of the states.  Elijah, unbelievably, chose this time to take a nap that he would not be woken up from.  He missed lots of trains, but the rest of us got to enjoy the scene.

We then headed indoors to get some ice cream (my family never passes up ice cream, even in 40 degree weather) and then to warm up in the trains exhibit of the National American history museum.  I've wrote about that exhibit before, here.

Finally, we walked on across the National Mall to the other end to find the U.S. Botanical Gardens.  There was actually a pretty substantial line to get in the train exhibit, but it moved pretty quickly.  The exhibit this year featured different lighthouses all made of plant materials, as well as other landmark buildings.  The exhibit was lit with colorful lighting, and was very magical and enjoyable for kids as well as adults.  We made it through just as the museum was closing.

We then hopped back on the metro at Le'Enfant Station, and headed out.  It was a great day with the boys, and now we are all anxious to head out for Christmas!

Advent Calendar for a Pre-Schooler: Week 2 and Week 1 Update

It's starting to get close!  The rainy weather around here is kind of putting a damper on our activities, but I guess it's better than deep, deep snow.  Here's what we're up to this week:

Week 2

Update on Week 1
ZooLights:  Despite the intermittent rain after a 70 degree day, we actually had a great time at the National Zoo's ZooLights.  We went during members free days, and got to use coupons and free parking worth about $44 plus a discount at the gift shop.  It's half the reason we pay for a yearly membership that allows free parking every visit.  We did get to ride the train this year, but despite Theo being past the 36 inch height requirement, we did not try the zoo tubing since it was so wet.  Elijah of course requested "more" of the carousel, and was requesting the "choo choo" all the way up the hill as we walked to the visitor center to see the indoor display of trains.  Our little builder, Theo, enjoyed evaluating all the gingerbread panda homes that were on display.  A tip for others visiting would just be to bring your own thermos of hot coffee and treats if you want them.  We paid $4.50 for ONE sugar cookie!  (Here's a link to when we went last year for more info on the event.)

PJ Donation:  As I've mentioned, I LOVE Scholastic book orders, and this year our pre-school partnered with them to collect pajamas and books for needy kids with their annual Great Bedtime Story Pajama Drive.  We donate new pajamas and Scholastic matches it with a book.  It is a good program, and Theo struggles with the idea of giving things away (he worries that then we won't have those things to use), so I'm trying to involve him in this in different ways.  He collected food at a local grocery store with our church before Thanksgiving, and he's starting to get the idea that we can be generous and still have what we need.

Tiny Tots Concert:  Brian took the morning off to take Theodore to his field trip to the annual concert put on for pre-schoolers.  Theodore is still talking about the Superman song, and seeing Elsa sing.  (Here's a link to when we went last year for more info on the event.)

Angel Tree Shopping:  Our church is donating gifts to local foster kids as part of an angel tree project.  We picked a two year old boy who wanted anything train related.  I figured we are kind of experts on that, and hope our little guy loves his gift. 

Reindeer Run and Winterfest:  See link for the Reindeer Run & Romp

Puppet Show:  We all went to the library for another puppet show, featuring classical toys on strings.  The boys always crack up at these performances (though I'd rather be reading a book :).

Week 1 Calendar Link

Advent Calendar for a Pre-Schooler: Week One

My son really loves calendars.  Whenever we've got a lot going on, I make one up for him to help him keep track of things.  He was one that has struggled with transitions, and having the calendar helped him navigate when he would have things to do and when he could make up his own mind.  When the last one I made him for the week of Thanksgiving was such a hit, I knew I'd have to make him one for the busy month of December.  This year I really tried to cull some of our activities for the month and make sure we had a good balance of things going on so Theo won't think Christmas is just about presents.  With that in mind, I quizzed him for what Christmas is all about and basically, he explained that it is "to remember God/Jesus."

I'm only printing out a week at a time, as I know our advent activities will change based on weather, sicknesses, etc.  Here's our first week of advent!

Tomorrow we will also start our annual Christmas stories at bedtime routine, so I'll try to get our list of books up then.

And if you want more info on zoo lights and the tiny tot concert, you can see my post from last year on these events here.

Off Georgetown Pike

I have been slacking lately on this old digital scrapbook/blog...  I think May is just a hard month to have any motivation after so many years of school when May just dragged along as we counted down to the end of summer.  But now that it's June I'll try to muster a little motivation to record a trip from a few weeks back.

After dropping Brian off at work, we took an interesting drive through the city along one of my more favorite streets, the George Washington Memorial Parkway.  This drive alone is nice, as the parkway runs right along the Potomac through the beautiful capital.  But then, you get to Georgetown Pike.  I have always heard McLean was nice, but I was blown away by all the beautiful estates we passed on this pike, which signs proclaimed to be Virginia's First Scenic Byway.  Anyone who appreciates architecture would love driving through these streets.

We originally stopped at Riverbend Park, a Fairfax County park, to hike a little bit on the Potomac Heritage Trail, but we didn't get too far as the trails were just too muddy for Eli (though Theo loved it in his rain boots).  We'll have to try again when their visitor center is open (not on Tuesdays!). 

Next up, we headed to the main attraction for me which was the Great Falls park.  There were three different overlooks, two stroller friendly and one not.  We took our time checking out each of them, with overlook #1 being the favorite for the boys as you must climb through the rocks to get to the overlook.   The falls were gorgeous.

 After checking out the falls, we headed to the visitor center which had a pretty nice children's room with games, coloring activities, and puzzles, as well as a please-touch table, where the boys could get their hands on the nature artifacts.  There was also a video explaining the falls' history and connection to George Washington and additional exhibits (Theo loved learning about how locks and canals work).  There was a small bookstore, and after we stamped our national parks passport we were good to go (until we got to the car and realized the cars keys had dropped off my key chain lanyard, luckily we found them in the bookstore after I about had a heart attack).

Finally, we stopped to grab a quick lunch and then went to a local playground nearby to enjoy more of the perfect spring day.  Clemyjontri, another Fairfax county parks,  is a huge playground that circles a carousel, with nice clean bathrooms and play equipment for all ages.  Of course the boys loved it, and we'll have to stop by again if we're ever that far northwest again. 

Overall, a perfect day out with the boys.

Washington's River Farm

Sometimes the hustle and bustle (and traffic and masses of people) in DC can be a little too much to handle for a full day out with my two boys.  So I was very pleased to find a quiet little oasis where we can spend some time out in the fresh air just a few minutes from my husband's work.  It made for a good place to end the day before we pick him back up.  

River Farm is apparently a property that belonged to George Washington at some point, and can be found off the beautiful George Washington Memorial Parkway between Mt. Vernon and Alexandria.  Home of the American Horticultural Society, it has several gardens and a beautiful estate house that can be toured free of cost (or by donation). 

While we were chatting about the gardens, I told Theodore to try to remember the flowers I liked in case he wanted to pick out some for me for a gift for Mother's Day.  He told me that he had a special gift for me already, that "Love is the best gift!"  He is such a loving little guy (but his dad had him pick out flowers anyway, plus he made a beautiful bracelet and jewelry box at school).

The best part of the farm for us was the children's garden, with plenty of things for the boys to climb in, on, or around.  And they even had enough "houses" for us to re-enact the three little pigs (yes, he is still doing this!). 

We'll definitely be back and pull out the picnic blanket to have lunch or a snack there overlooking the beautiful Potomac River.  Perhaps we'll even make a stop when we finally hike the Mt. Vernon trail which passes nearby as well.

Visiting Tips:

There is an indoor, public bathroom.

Like nearby Alexandria, the farm is pet-friendly.

There is a book-store you can shop, but with limited hours (T & TH 11-2).