My Weekend is in Your Hands

Dear ladies of the internet, I need your help. My little family is in a little bit of a rut and I would like to break us out of it. Our weekends are usually pretty much the same and pretty quiet. We mostly hang around the house, Mia holds court for the grandparents, and, since it is summer, we have been trying to hit the pool quite a bit. There are also errands and some laundry and I try to vacuum since if I do it when Chris isn’t home I have to carry Mia with me so she doesn’t try to lick the vacuum cleaner and that is a bit harder than I like to work for housework.

This weekend however, I would like to do something a little different. We have no obligations and no visitors coming and I want to find something fun and different for the three of us to do together and, ideally, enjoy together. The problem is that I don’t have a very good feel for what kind of special outing a one-year-old child will enjoy. That’s where you all come in. I need some help from the experienced moms out there. What can we do that will entertain one toddler and two thirty-somethings for an hour or two?

I do have a couple of guidelines. First of all, it’s July in Washington D.C., which means hot and humid like you would not believe, which makes Mia (and me!) cranky. Whatever we do, I would like to not spend too much time outside. Second, with nap schedules and lunch schedules we will have at most three hours to get wherever we go, do whatever we do, and get home.

Um, that’s it. I live within easy driving distance of almost anything you could think of, so that makes it easy, right? Any ideas? I promise to give a full report next week on whatever we do, accompanied by pictures of my exceptionally beautiful child (second only to your own, of course).

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Also, hey. If you leave me a comment and enter your email address but do not enter a website, Typepad will display your email address to the internet at large. This is awful and stupid and Typepad needs to fix it immediately, but it seems that I cannot do anything to stop it from happening. However! I can tell you to stop it from happening! All you need to do is enter a url in the url field, and then Typepad will display that and nobody will see your email address other than me. Don’t have a website? No problem, use mine – http://playgroupdropout.clubmom.com. Got it? Make sense? Will you all leave your email addresses now so I can respond to you? Only if you want to, of course, but if you want to now you know how to do it.

Comments

[Corinne]

Hmmm.... you could always do museums in D.C. My favorite one is the Museum of American History with the Puffy shirt from Seinfeld. But then again, I'm a huge dork. That, or the Botanical Gardens. Air and Space is just WAY too crowded.

[Alissa]

When Drew was about 15 months old we took him to the Louisville Science Center. They have an entire children's museum, with a section that's hands-on. He loved it. He also didn't mind seeing the rest of the museum--too much.

I KNOW there are museums there. Probably way better than the ones here. Try that.

[mamatulip]

Seeing as how I'm in Canada, I have no clue what's out there in D.C., but I remember a few things we liked to do with Julia in the disgisting hot, humid weather: we took her to the petting zoo a lot, and to the splash pad/park, both of which were outside. There's a discovery centre here that we took her too, and a restaurant that was totally geared for kids, with bounce houses and games and Little Tykes cars to drive. She liked the library, too. Still does.

Hope this helps some.

[Frema]

There's got to be a zoo in D.C., right? When you're tired of being outside, you can always do the indoor exhibits.

I know I'm not a mom, but my niece is a year and a half and she likes it. She studies the animals AND the people.

[William]

Take some old bread and or crackers and go feed ducks somewhere. It works for me everytime.

[lori]

I got nothing for you. I just didn't want you to think that I've foresaken you since I haven't commented for a few days (conference at work and stomach bug from daycare - yuck to both).

All of our activities seem to center around the 11-year-old. The baby is just along for the ride. I actually look forward to the no-plans weekends because I don't get many of them.

[Aimee]

How about the Aquarium in Baltimore? Cool fishies, cool a/c, I don't think it's more than 3 hours from DC...

[Kris H.]

Hi! Check out this website:

http://www.our-kids.com/

It tells about almost everything these is to do in DC, Virginia, and Maryland (they even have a section dedicated to indoor activities!).

That is the only idea I have so far, but if I think of anything else I will let you know...

[Jessica]

well if you only have 3 hours then I guess you cant come up to NYC and visit us. Daya will be so dissapointed.

[Kris H.]

If you are willing to drive into Richmond, they have a great children's museum (http://www.c-mor.org/) with a special section just for the 3 and under set. Son used to LOVE that section. It kept him busy for hours while Daughter and Hubby did the rest of the museum. And I didn't have to worry about him being trampled by the big kids. They also have a really neat shadow room that Mia would probably like.

I know DC also has a children's museum now, but I have never been there. I would guess they also have a special section for the littles though since every kids museum I have ever been to does.

[Kate the Shrew]

Hmmm... I'd say most museums are going to bore her to tears, literally, at her age. I can vaguely recall one of the Smithsonian buildings having bigger, more kid-interesting stuff like mounted animals and dinosaur bones on display, though she's still a tad young to really be into the dinosaurs yet.

Is the aquarium still there? Fish are good, bright and shiny and moving around. I vote aquarium.

[Tomika]

Yep - children's museum. Jayla loves ours here in Houston.

[chatty cricket]

Zoo? I know it's outside, but really why would you spend more than an hour and a half there anyway. Or better, Aquarium! We took Lady to the Zoo and the feature she enjoyed most was the fishes, so we would have been better served at the (indoor, airconditioned) Aquarium.

Plus, how can you say no to penguins?

[Betsy]

Take her to Frying Pan Park in Fairfax. It has all kinds of farm animals you can look at, open space to run around and play, hay rides, and playground equipment. There are even tractors to climb on. Bring cold drinks and your stroller.

[Traci]

I know you just did the zoo recently, so I'd second the vote for a children's museum/center. They usually have stuff for kids of all ages.
Or the aquarium - I have some great pictures of my son when he was about a year and was absolutely mesmerized by all the fish.

[Kylie]

Zoos involve being outside. (Well, the ones here in Australia are basically all outside areas...)

How about a trip to an ice-cream parlour or gelati? There was a rather young child enjoying gelati today when I was at the gelati place (yes, it is winter here, but the gelati place is newly openned, and I hadn't tried it before!)

Is there another swimming pool that you haven't been to that could be a nice change for you all?

Other than that, grabbing a dvd, turning the air conditioning up, bringing out some frozen avocardo slices for bub and nice ice-cream for you and husband, and spending time together watching the box. (Great family time that that is...)

[Vycki]

You could always try the planetarium at the Air and Space Museum. Its air conditioned at least, and since Mia is fascinated by tv and doesn't usually get to watch tv she may get a kick out of a "tv" that takes up the entire ceiling. And if you take the metro in she may like that too.

[schmugela]

We are also in the metro DC area and I took my wee one to the Natural History museum at around that age. He liked it. He was a little young for it but it was fun. And interesting for grownups. We took the metro in and that was even more fun. The aquarium in Baltimore is a little too far with nap schedules for us. I have been meaning to check out Frying Pan Park but ugh..the heat...

the whole family has quite enjoyed the shows at the National Museum of the American Indian. we have seen a couple of the inside ones - open amphitheatre so good for only staying as long as the small child is enjoying it. They have good food there. And lots of flowers with butterflies outside.

[Maly]

Hi!
What might be fun is a road trip to the Inner Harbor in B-more. A little bit of a drive but you have Port Discovery (children's museum) the bmore aquarium and the harbor mall all right next to each other. You can spend a little time outside, some time inside, and fun for all. The mall used to have a fudge place that put on little shows while they make their fudge and then gives out free samples!! so fun..the highlight for my lil cousins when they came to visit.

[dcfullest]

Go driving up on skyline drive, stop of the way in front royal and get a takeout lunch at Apartment 2G, and then find a cool place to have a picnic/short hike. I went over the 4th of July and I swear it was at least 20 degrees cooler than NoVa.
Somewhere around milepost 40 there is a 1.5 mile (round trip) hike that leads to a 70 ft waterfall-- perfect for dipping your toes in and cooling off!

[Emily]

Beth, this weekend is the Loudoun County Fair. I've never been, but I'm dragging my husband there for the rodeo demonstration on Saturday night. I can't wait. Obviously Mia couldn't care less about the rodeo, but I'm assuming there are other more kid-friendly things to do there. Here's the link: http://www.loudouncountyfair.com/

Looks like Saturday there is a dog agility show and a children's show, among other things. I'm sure you could pet all the horses and cows and pigs that your little heart desires.

Also, the Water Mine at Lake Fairfax is supposed to be great for kids. They have water slides and a lazy river for older kids, but also a pretty substantial young-child-friendly area with waterfalls and fountains that maybe Mia would like.

And finally, (I know you're thinking SHUT UP ALREADY) how about a movie at Tysons? They do the mom/baby movies during the week. You'd have to Google it and find out which theatre does it. And it would be AIR CONDITIONED. Ahhhh.

[Melissa]

You could do what I'm hoping to do one weekend soon and set up a play area in the house for Mia (actually, I'll be setting up a play area for my baby, not for Mia, sorry). I'm thinking Ikea trip for rug and containers followed by toy sorting and corner organizing. Boring, I know :) Have a good weekend.

[Kris H.]

I had TOTALLY forgotten about Water Mine in Lake Fairfax!!! We used to take Daughter there when she was Mia's age!!! She loved it. We would take her on the lazy river...we would get one of the double innertubes and she would share my side with me. You can float around that thing for hours and it is nice and cool...

Hmmm...might have to plan another trip there soon...thanks for reminding me Emily!!!

[Kelly]

There is an aquarium somewhere in DC...not far from the mall if i remember correctly...my oldest daughter LOVED aquariums when she was jsut a little thing. Hope it helped some

[mr lady]

I have no clue what you should do. My kids all liked movies as babies. We took T to The Exorcist in the theater when he was 6 months old. He LOVED it!
But I have to say, I'd let her lick the vacuum. It'll build up her immunities. Or you could just get her one of these. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00008PW02/104-6024688-8159167?v=glance
It saved my ass when my kids were little and it still works 6 years later.