Sharing the Love

Across the nation, but especially in this region, the main event this weekend is the Super Bowl. I work in Baltimore city and you have to enjoy a little hometown pride. The past two weeks have seen a surge in all things purple: cupcakes, lattes, billboards, buildings.

You can bet that Sunday evening will find us in front of the tv, watching the game.

But before that?  There are two whole days to squeeze a day trip in!

Here are a few I'm considering:

February 2, 2013
Meet Merkle's Reptiles
Merkle Wildlife Sanctuary and Vistor's Center
Upper Marlboro, Maryland
cost: free

February 2-3, 2013
Great Scale Model Train Show
Maryland State Fairgrounds
Timonium, Maryland
cost: $9 adults, children free

February 2-3, 2013 (and every Saturday and Sunday)
Falls Walk
Great Falls Park
McLean, Virginia
cost: free

As always, these events were collected from various sources. If you'd like to attend one, I recommend verifying the details at the original source.

Enjoy and GO RAVENS!

Sharing the Love

So, that plan I mentioned last week about posting a few curated events each week?

Collecting events took longer than expected!

My plan is for this to be a regular Wednesday/Thursday thing, but this week it will have to be a Friday thing. Hope it isn't too late for you to use.

Here are the events I have my eye on for the weekend:

Falls Walk
11 am and 12:30 pm
ongoing - every Saturday and Sunday
cost: free
Great Falls National Park
McLean, Virginia

Baltimore Restaurant Week
(okay, might not exactly be a family event, but I'm happy to drag my kids to any place with good food - especially good food at discount prices!)
Friday, January 25 - Sunday, February 3, 2013
cost: two course lunch $15.13, three course dinner $20.13 or $30.13
various restaurants in
Baltimore, Maryland

Australia Day
10 am - 2 pm
Saturday, January 26, 2013
cost: regular entrance fee, adults $29.95, children (ages 3-11) $20.95

National Aquarium
Baltimore, Maryland 

Intro to Geocaching

10 am
Saturday, January 26, 2013
cost: $2/person, plus park entrance fee of $3/vehicle
Gunpowder Falls State Park
Middle River, Maryland

Winter Tree Identification

2 to 3 pm
Saturday, January 26, 2013 cost: free
Merkle Wildlife Sanctuary
Upper Marlboro, Maryland

Artillery Demonstration
1 to 4 pm
Sunday, January 27, 2013
cost: $5/per vehicle
Eastern Front Visitor Center
Petersburg National Battlefield
Petersburg, Virginia

As always, these events were collected from various sources. If you'd like to attend one, I recommend verifying the details at the original source.

Enjoy and have a great weekend!

Plans and New Features

I have lots of plans for Pick Your Feet Up in 2013.

For one, a face lift is long overdue. The "About" page is outdated and there are some blog amenities I want to explore. I want to update the header and the colors and the . . . this may be more of an overhaul than a face lift.

I'll keep you posted.

Second, I have a few features I want to implement. The first of which is a weekly roundup of hand-picked, kid-friendly activities in the Baltimore/Washington area for the coming weekend.

It's time to spread the day trip love!

So, without further ado:

If you're brave enough to venture into the district and participate in the Inauguration activities, two kid-friendly venues caught my eye:

Inauguration Activities at Mount Vernon
Mt. Vernon, Virginia
Thursday, January 17 - Tuesday, January 22
cost: $17 adults, $8 children (ages 6-11)

Celebrate the Inauguration at the Smithsonian
Washington, DC
Saturday, January 19 - Monday, January 21
cost: free

Also in the District:

Shark Feeding
National Aquarium - Washington, DC
Saturday, January 19
2 pm
cost: $9.95 adults, $4.95 children

If you're like me and plan to steer clear of the Inauguration crowds, I have a couple of events for you too:

Call of the Wild: Winter Animal Tracking
Merkle Wildlife Sanctuary
Upper Marlboro, Maryland 
Saturday, January 19
cost: free

Maryland FIRST LEGO League Championship
UMBC
Baltimore, Maryland
Saturday, January 19
8:30 am to 4:30 pm, best viewing times between 1-4 pm

Search the Skies
Robinson Nature Center Nature
Columbia, Maryland
Sunday, January 20
2 to 3 pm
cost: daily admission to nature center $5 adults, $3 kids (3-17), plus $3 for Star program

MLK Day of Service
Monday, January 21

I've curated these activities from many different sources. If you're interested in participating in one of these events (and I hope they at least gave you some fun ideas for your weekend), I would encourage you to check the details at the source provided.

Enjoy!

Happy Campers

Somehow I've become the office expert on camping. I've had three co-workers come to me for camping advice.

If you read this blog, you know how scared they should be.

So far, the number one question I receive is where to camp. 


The boys and I have only camped in two different kinds of campgrounds: state parks and backyards.

Our first camping trip (when I still had diapers to content with), was to Westmoreland State Park in Tidewater, Virginia. Westmoreland was the site of my first camping trip (when I was in diapers myself).

Since then, we've spent our annual summer camping trip at Shad Landing in Pocomoke River State Park on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.

Last summer we also spent a weekend at Rocky Gap State Park in Western Maryland.

All of these locations were wonderful.  I can't say enough good things about Maryland's state parks. We've encountered nothing but friendly staff, clean bathrooms and great facilities. Our experience with the parks in our neighboring states is slim, but so far, they've been equally pleasant.


Where is your favorite place to camp?

Dinosaur Land

My oldest son, Gabe, is obsessed with dinosaurs.  This obsession hasn't been one of those fleeting fascinations of childhood.  He started favoring dinosaurs over trains and cars at the age of three.  Now, at the age of seven, he has a laundry basket full of toy dinosaurs.  An easy third of our children's book library features dinosaurs.  His favorite activity is to sit drawing dinosaurs (sometimes with labels regarding when and where they lived and what they ate). 

Gabe is a walking dinosaur encyclopedia.

Two years ago, in some forgotten visitor's center, Gabe spotted a brochure for Dinosaur Land in White Post, Virginia (near Front Royal).  The colorful brochure portrayed life-sized models of dinosaurs in a shady park setting.  He carried that glossy paper around until it disintegrated. 

Even without the brochure, Gabe occasionally asked to visit the park, but I was intimidated by the two-hour drive in our old van.  Now, with a new car and kids who are veteran day trippers, I figured it was time.

We opted for the scenic route instead of the dreaded Capitol Beltway. It took us one hour and 45 minutes.  We played Auto Bingo and listened to the Beatles. We saw a train being pulled by four engines. We drove through Harper's Ferry (Matt wants to go back and hike to the top of the cliff on the Maryland side.  I may regret saying we could).

Just at the point we were all getting a little anxious and tired of being in the car, Dinosaur Land came into view.  It's a small park featuring 37 fiberglass dinosaurs built to various scale.  We paid our admission ($4 for children 2-10 years old, $5 for those 11 and older).

A quick glance at the creatures in the park (which include a giant shark, octopus, and King Kong) made me a little nervous.  Gabe sometimes refers to himself as a paleontologist. He has little patience when I mispronounce "Gigantosaurus" and can't pass the dino-related quizzes he gives me.  Here we were at Dinosaur Land and not all the creatures in the park were life-sized or all that accurately portrayed. Some needed a new coat of paint.

Not to fear.  He and his brother LOVED it.  We walked the path three times.

Each display had a sign providing the dinosaur's name and a little bit about them.  Gabe supplied us with any additional details he felt were needed.

Gabe's favorite dinosaur has always been T. Rex.  Matt prefers Triceratops because he ate plants. 

"I don't like dinosaurs who want to eat me."

A very good point.

Even following the lead of an obsessed, self-proclaimed paleontologist, we spent just over an hour at the park.  That included time in the impressive gift shop (more Auto Bingo cards!). Fortunately, in planning this trip, I called a friend who lives nearby and was forewarned of this possibility.  My friend recommended a nice community park in Front Royal where we had a picnic, played catch, and made use of an amazing playground.

We lost count of the brown park signs we passed on our drive and decided to do some exploring and maybe some camping in the future.  Matt and I did most of this future planning.

The paleontologist slept all the way home.