National Children's Museum

Diggs and Nana Becky and I went to the National Children's Museum in National Harbor last week.  We've been meaning to go for quite some time now, but just never quite made it.  I had heard mixed reviews from other parents, so I'm glad we finally visited and were able to make our own judgement, for better or worse.  So, I guess I'll just come out and say it.  We had a great time, it was really interesting, but I'm not sure we'll go back any time soon.  First, it cost $30 for the three of us to go.  Maybe I'm just not used to paying admission living where we live with all the free Smithsonian museums just a few metro stops away.  Second, although it's not hard to get to, I just don't like paying for parking.  There's a parking garage adjacent to the museum, so it's handy, but still.  Paying $9.00 for a few hours of parking, on top of paying $30 to get into the museum, is just not at the top of my list of fun things to spend money on.  Third, there seemed to be a lot of things that babies and younger toddlers would like and a lot of things that the five and over crowd would like, but Diggs seemed a little big for the three and under room and many of the other exhibits were a little over his head.  Sure, he loved climbing around (briefly) in the under three padded climbing apparatus and making the lights and siren turn on in the fire truck, but other than that, a lot of the activities seemed geared toward older children.  Maybe that's my fault, maybe I wasn't doing a good job keeping him engaged while he was clearly overwhelmed.  I don't know.  And fourth, the museum itself is a lot smaller than I thought it would be (which is one of the main criticisms I'd heard from other parents) especially given that it cost us ten bucks each to get in.  It was also a little beat up and many of the toys were missing parts, but perhaps that's just the nature of a space dedicated to hands-on activities for children.  

I know it seems like I'm beating up on the museum, but I'm just being honest.  We really did have a good time.  And, by far the best activity was the Imagination Playground event being held in the theater space while we were there.  There's a calendar of events on the museum's website, but there are also a few activities that were happening at the museum while we were there that weren't listed online.  The Imagination Playground falls in that category.  Basically there were about a hundred foam building blocks and tubes and such thrown onto the floor and you could build whatever you want.  At the suggestion of the attendant, we built a ramp for rolling balls.  Diggory could have stayed there for hours and hours if he had a choice.  We stayed until the bitter end and "helped" clean up.

After our visit to the museum we walked down to the water to check out the new carousel.  Sadly, it wasn't open on weekdays yet, but it is now.  Here's the link to the hours.  It's $3.00 for a single ride but $5.00 for unlimited rides in any single day.  Um, yes, unlimited rides please!  The whole area around the carousel is fenced in and there's a plethora of picnic tables and a playground inside, though I assume those are only accessible with a paid ticket.

I think maybe we'll have to check out what else is happening in National Harbor this summer and make another visit.  Maybe we'll even take the water taxi from Old Town Alexandria, just for fun!

Here are the pictures to prove we actually went to the museum!

Diggs was pretty serious about Elmo.  

The fire fighter uniforms come in a bunch of different sizes.  You could make your own crew!  Diggs liked driving the truck, but he ran out covering his ears whenever the siren went off!

Here's Nana and Diggs driving the food truck in the three and under room.  The "Nursing Mother's Area" are those two chairs in the background.  Not exactly what I had in mind when I read about it on the museum's website.

Testing out how cars drive on different textures.

Building in the Imagination Playground.

Sometimes this is "the look" I get when I ask him to smile for the camera.

Here's our completed ball ramp!

Theodore Roosevelt Island

I was on the verge of cabin fever this morning, which is odd because I feel like we've been going, going, going for the last several days, so I decided, "Well, let's just go somewhere."  So, we took off in the car and went to Theodore Roosevelt Island, just off the George Washington Memorial Parkway in Arlington, Virginia.  Maybe, though, I should explain (briefly) why I haven't posted in almost a month!  Eek!  For one, I started a new blog...Snail Mail Momma, all about paper crafting and the joy of actual mail.  So, while many nap times are typically devoted to updating this blog, I switched it up a bit and wrote for that blog, and then since it was Mother's Day, the rest of the nap times were usually consumed by making stationery sets for my three moms (and/or watching DVR'ed Revolution on NBC.)  Excuse number two is that Mr. Diggory was sick for a bit, and then my mother-in-law was coming to town, which is awesome, but very much gave me the kick in the pants I needed to devote almost a whole week to deep cleaning my house.  

Also, it's not like I haven't been going to museums, I just haven't been going to "new" ones (ones I haven't already covered in this blog) or going to museums with the tiny human, which is the whole point, right?  So, I guess I should briefly mention that he did go to the National Aquarium in Baltimore with his Nana Becky and Daddy while Momma was volunteering at the James E. Lewis Museum of Art at Morgan State University as part of the Registrars Committee of the American Alliance of Museums Reinforcement Crew activities during the AAM Annual Meeting and Museum Expo.  Putting those collections management skillz to work!  The general consensus via Nana and Daddy is that the aquarium is super awesome but super crowded, and they didn't make it through even half of the venue (no dolphins!) before it was "time to go."  Maybe it would be better if we went on a weekday?  Any thoughts?  It's expensive ($35 dollars-ish for adults), but children under three are free!  Yippee!  Also, I have to toss in that I visited perhaps the oldest residential home still standing in Baltimore, the Robert Long House, built in 1765 and operated by The Preservation Society, a membership organization charged with preserving the communities of Fell's Point and Federal Hill.  We got a private tour by an extremely charismatic guide as part of our reception post-Reinforcement Crew work and geeked out a little bit talking about fire brigades and 18th century merchant activities. 

Deep breath.  

That brings us to today!  We had never been to Roosevelt Island, and I'm not exactly sure why.  Maybe it's that I always forgot it was there, only really remembering whilst driving on the George Washington Parkway on my way to some place else...a seemingly trivial excuse, compounded by the fact that it's only accessible from the northbound lanes.  But, alas, we went and had a wee of a time exploring.  It's worth visiting, of course, but do keep in mind that the earthquake in 2011 messed up the plumbing for the fountains at the memorial (i.e. no water) and, as a result of the still-ongoing construction work (because the federal government can rarely secure funding and fix something in a timely manner), the restrooms are out of order indefinitely.  And we're potty training.  Plan accordingly, if you catch my meaning.  

So, park the car...and there's plenty of parking...and walk across the bridge, but don't miss the interpretive sign (because, I'm a museum geek, after all) around the construction barricades that explains the Native American history of the island and the explorations of John Smith in 1608.  Fascinating really.  The fishing village of Namoraughquend - meaning "fishing place" spelled in Elizabethan English - likely occupied the banks of the Potomac somewhere between the island and where the Pentagon was (much) later constructed.  The village was marked by Smith on his famous map of Virginia first published in 1612. 

Tiny human running on the bridge.  Notice that the rungs of the sides of the bridge are close together...I like that, given our experiences with Diggs falling/jumping into any area of open water.

After you cross the bridge, and don't forget to look over the edge at the water - we saw a box turtle on a log!, stop and check out the trail map on the large sign where all the paths split off.  There are no brochures available at the park, but you can pick one up at the parkway headquarters and visitors centers or download and print one from here before you set off...not a bad idea, anyway, because there's a lot of information in the brochure that I didn't see on any signs on the island. 

Posing, briefly, for momma.

Our first stop was the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial itself.  It's impressive as is but would have been even more so had the fountains been fully functional.  As it happened, I was pretty pleased with getting the photo below while Diggory chewed on a stick.  Eye roll.

Not looking at momma for the photo with the statue.

After exploring the memorial, we took off down one of the paths and walked through the trees.  The paths aren't terribly rugged, but I wouldn't necessarily call them stroller-friendly either.  I mean, we were walking, but I try to keep mommas with younger babes in mind too.  Maybe if you had a jogging stroller with air-filled wheels with deep treads?  

Further down the path we came upon a marker explaining George Mason's use of the island.  It's really too bad that the house is no longer standing.  I'll have to look up the history sometime.

I'm reading the marker.  Diggs is looking for bugs.

What's going through his mind here?

Oh, shoot.  He ate it.  

Wild strawberries!

See it!

We finally looped back around to the bridge and headed back to the parking lot.  I'll wear more appropriate foot wear next time so I don't trip on any tree roots and feel more protected against snakes (which we saw by the way, and I may or may not have said an inappropriate word, much too loudly, in the company of my tiny human.)  Oh, and I should mention that if your kid is into airplanes, this ain't a bad place to watch for them.  It's somewhat odd to hear (and see) commercial jets coming in to land at DCA when you're among a plethora of flora and fauna, but it's just a not-so-subtle reminder of the larger metropolitan area just waiting to engulf you once you get back in your car. 

Oh, Rosslyn and your tall buildings, you're encroaching on my photo.

See? An airplane!

We'll be back, for sure, as I often end these posts.  I'm thinking one of our next stops might be the Marine Corps Museum in Quantico.  I've never been their either, and it's high time I find my little brother's commemorative brick there.  And, we might be off to the National Children's Museum later this week.  Plans still pending...so stay tuned!