Prince William Recycles Day 2012

Families are invited to a special celebration to highlight the County’s recycling efforts and to learn more about ways to recycle at home, school and work. Join us on Saturday, October 20, 2012 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Prince William County Landfill at 14811 Dumfries Road (Route 234) in Independent Hill.

This year’s festival focuses on going green by managing our use of natural resources. Information will focus on the benefits of recycling and waste reduction. Highlights of the celebration include:

• Games, children’s activities, face painting and prizes
• Landfill tours, informational displays and equipment displays
• Paper shredding (bring up to four boxes)
• Door prizes
• Free hot dogs and drinks
• Compost bins available for $20 while supplies last

For more information about Prince William County Recycles Day, please contact the Solid Waste Division of the Department of Public Works, 5 County Complex Court, Prince William, VA 22192, 703-792-4670. You can also visit the Web site at www.pwcgov.org/trashandrecyclingfor more details.

Air and Scare 2012

Trick-or-Treaters, Creepy Bugs and Spooky Science Invade the National Air and Space Museum’s Udvar-Hazy Center

The Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum hosts its annual “Air & Scare” Family Day, from 2 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 27, at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va. Visitors will enjoy safe, indoor trick-or-treating and spooky activities for all ages at this free event.

Designed with the whole family in mind, aerospace will come alive with fun activities, all with a Halloween twist. Participants will enjoy face painting, spooky crafts, trick-or-truth stations, science experiments and treat giveaways. The Tot Zone will feature story time and a dress-up corner. Free classic cartoons will be shown in the Airbus IMAX Theater. There will be hands-on activities for teens and tweens, including packing a parachute. Everyone’s favorite Star Wars and Ghostbusters characters will be on-hand for photo opportunities. This year’s newest editions to “Air & Scare” will include a performance of “Buzzy the Frog’s Treasure Box Trick” by the Magical Puppet Theater and a display of spiders and other creepy bugs by the Department of Entomology at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History.

Attendees are encouraged to come in their favorite space or flight-themed costume. Admission is free, but parking is $15. “Air & Scare” is made possible by Mars Snackfood US LLC. For more information and a full list of activities, visit airandspace.si.edu/airandscare.

The National Air and Space Museum is on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., at Sixth Street and Independence Avenue S.W. The museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center is located in Chantilly, Va., near Washington Dulles International Airport. Regular daily hours for both facilities are from 10 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. (closed Dec. 25).

Guest Post: Belvedere Plantation

Special thanks to our guest poster, who emailed me asking about Belvedere and agreed to go write about it when I didn't have a review! If you like to write and visit new classes, places, or playgrounds, I'd love to publish your work, too! 

Sunday, October, 14 we spent the most beautiful fall day at Belvedere Plantation!!

We arrived soon after opening, which I highly recommend! By the time we left in the afternoon it was quite crowded. While in line to pick up tickets, we were greeted by the Pumpkin Princess dressed in a beautiful orange gown greeting the children with a bucket of candy! I am not quite sure if it was the candy, or the princess, but my 2 ½ year old was instantly in love! She wanted to follow the Princess all around the plantation the rest of the day!

There were a few things that greatly impressed me about Belvedere Plantation. The first  was they had REAL bathrooms, and many of them! They also had a baby changing station/family bathroom. This was amazing since we are right in the middle of potty training and the idea of trying to get my little one to go into a porta-potty gives me nightmares!  They also had lots of benches and places to sit. If you have older grandparents with you, this is a huge plus.

Another thing that really impressed me was the way they handled the jumping pillow. At other farms we have visited, they were a free for all with a mix of big kids and little kids. At Belvedere, they have someone working at the jumping pillow timing the jumping times. He gave 2 minutes for each group- little kids, then big kids. It was awesome because it gave each group an opportunity to jump with children their own size. They could come back an unlimited amount of times.

The other activities in the same area as the jumping pillow were the pedal cars, pony rides, and the fun barn. These are geared more towards the 4 year old and up crowd. There were not very long lines for any of them. The Fun Barn is also in this area. It is filled with a foot or two of loosely packed hay with ropes for the kids to swing on.

They have activity tents with face painting and pumpkin painting. The face painting was free, but the pumpkin painting was an extra charge. There are a few activities spread out that are an extra charge if you only purchase the Cackling Farm Pass. If you plan to do the flower cutting, pumpkin painting, or want to fire pumpkins from a cannon, the better value is the Crowing Farm Pass.  We decided next time that we would get the extra pass for our daughter, but not for us since she would be the one doing the activities.

One of the highlights of the day was the Pig Race in the Swine Speedway at 12:30. It was very exciting for all of the children. Farmer Ian was the MC of the race and gave out prizes and also let the children participate by holding up flags representing their team’s pig. There is an area for the kids to pet goats and sheep as well as see turkeys, chickens, and pigs. The one thing they didn’t have that my daughter asked about was cows.

The area we enjoyed, having one under 3, was the Little Farmers Corral. There were lots of fun swings and areas for the little ones to play. The zip lines are also there. They had regular zip lines for the children to hold on, but they also had zip lines for the little ones with seats. It’s a little close to the Pumpkin Cannon, so be aware if you have a child that gets spooked by loud noises, it can be loud over there.

We ended our day with a hayride to the pumpkin patch.  We didn’t have to wait at all to get on and as soon as we had picked a pumpkin they were there to pick us up. They are well prepared for big crowds.

Overall, we had an amazing day!! Thanks to PWC Moms and Belvedere Plantation for giving us an opportunity to go!  More information on hours, coupons, and ticket information can be found at http://www.belvedereplantation.com  Don’t forget to enter the photo contest after your visit!!

_____________________________________________________________

Beth Heim is a mom to two kids. When she's not at the pumpkin patch, you can find her spending time with her family, taking photographs, and working as a teacher PWC schools.

Featured Organization Friday: St. Jude Walk

November 17th on the National Mall, people will converge to give hope to children with cancer through the annual St. Jude Give Thanks Walk.  There's no registration fee, you can fundraise as a walking team for any amount you want, and even earn prizes for various increments of money raised.

Not really a walker so much (or, not really a "get up and get into DC early on a Saturday" type so much)? Vendors are also needed to make in-kind donations of everything from prizes to water and snacks for the walkers. Many of you may have participated in the Give Thanks Walk last year at Potomac Mills Mall, and this is the same great event with a new venue.  However, even though it's now in DC, it's got a local focus as one of the beneficiaries of the money raised is local family the Duggans, whose child is fighting pediatric cancer.  

This event is also a locally rooted event because this year's event chair is a PwcMom! Melissa Robey met a two and a half year old cancer patient last year and realized that she needed to get involved with St. Jude's, which has done such amazing work.  Not only do they accept every patient, regardless of the family's ability to pay, they have changed the survival rate for pediatric cancer from 20% survival to 80% survival, and as the only cancer institute devoted to children, they get to take most of the credit for that.

This year, 10,400 kids will be diagnosed with cancer that stops them, and their parents, in their tracks.  Cancer is the leading cause of death for kids ages 1-14 behind accidents.  If you can support this event as a vendor, walker, or donor, Melissa would love to work with you.  You can find her team page here where you can join up as a walker if you don't have your own team, or even found your own group of walkers, if you prefer!
_______________________________________________________
Walk Coordinator Melissa Robey is a local Prince William County Mom and owner of Games2u (offering free laser tag with a party in October/November to readers of this article!) as well as being a ThirtyOne consultant. She lives here in the 703 with her husband and twin boys, in addition to being a rockstar and running a charity event.

Fields of Fear

We just shared with you about our daytime experience at Cox Farms, and that I am a giant pansy about going to the farm after dark.  PotomacLocal.com editor Uriah Kiser, however, revels in the scary side of Cox and was all too happy to check it out for us:

Photo from Cox Farms

"On this farm is Cornnighttmare; a twisted trail of haunts and lost souls trapped in a corn field at Cox Farms in Fairfax County. Once on this trail of terror, small sounds in the cornstalks reveal themselves as clowns with chainsaws who jump out at you, mummies rise from their tombs, and a seven-foot tall brown grizzly bear chases visitors out of a log cabin."

To read the full review, including prices and hours, visit their site to read "Find Nightmarish Fun at Fields of Fear"

Disney on Ice: Best and Bravest

In preparation for the upcoming arrival of Disney on Ice at the Patriot Center October 17-21 The Feld Group asked local bloggers to think about their "Best and Bravest" moments in honor of Princess Merida making her skating debut.  
____________________________________________________
I love the new Princesses.  Tiana from The Princess and the Frog works her booty off to open her own business, Rapunzel from Tangled knocks boys over the head with a frying pan, and Merida from Brave fights to be in control of her own destiny. These are not the type of girls that take a nap and wait for Prince Charming.

Before my daughter was born, I prayed that she would be strong and self-sufficient (just like the new princesses), even though I hoped she'd be a girly-girl, too. God definitely granted my wish granted on that one.  My four year old is the one in pink sparkles attacking the tackling dummy when it's not being used at football practice.  She's feisty and fiery and is brave about a number of things in her everyday life- from trying new foods to leaping after her brothers with the reckless abandon of a kid who doesn't realize that she's a foot and a half shorter and thirty pounds lighter than her brothers.

This is my girl. She has to wear tennis shoes with fancy dresses so she can run fast.

But, in all honesty, we haven't had that much that she's had to be really and truly brave about.  We've been incredibly blessed with a lack of major medical issues, natural disasters, or death in our family. Probably the hardest thing she's had to deal with has been being a civilian kid in a highly military area.  Letting go of your friends is never easy, even when you're tiny.

That made me think, though, that when it comes to real-life bravery, there's nobody I know that does it better than military spouses and kids.  When our BFFs had to leave this past summer, I pitched a fit. My daughter still cries when we pass the Quantico exit on 95 south wanting to know when she gets to see her friend Mia.  We were not, and are not, the epitome of bravery.  However, as a lifer here in Woodbridge, I've had my fair share of "military brat" friends, and while I know they don't want to leave, they always seem to "buck up and go" with a  level of Bravery that rivals even the pluckiest of the new princesses.

While she might not realize it yet, Mia is part of the bravest group of people I know.

Best Buds enjoying cupcakes tailgate-style

Mia, and other military kids like her, gets handed orders, just like their parents. They didn't sign up for military life, but they head out to new houses, new friends, new schools, and even new languages.  Military kids send their daddies and mommies off with a kiss to scary places that most of us only hear about on the news.  They deal with mommies and daddies who were left behind to manage a family alone and are sometimes just a little bit on edge.  

Mia, and all the military kids in our lives, are so awesome in their continued bravery. Just like Merida, they explore new places with gusto, head out on new adventures with a gleam in their eye, and while they might be frightened initially, they always seem to succeed in making the best of any situation they land in.  In my book, they're definitely the Best and Bravest, just like Merida.

My Private Space on the Internet

It's election season in a Presidential Election Year.  That means that if you're on Facebook/Twitter/Pinterest/Reddit you've seen a lot of this:

Or This: 

You like that? How I found two Willy Wonka themed political memes? One for each side? Fair and equal, people!

I could actually find these all day.  Green Party, Ron Paul, whatever.  Google Images, it's amazing.

Anyway, that's not really the point.  The point is, that during every election cycle, and especially during a presidential cycle, I'm reminded of the fact that many of us are absolutely ridiculous about our "my private space on the internet" expectations.  

It's my opinion that if you post something political/inflammatory/derogatory/obscene on your Facebook/Twitter/Reddit/linkedIn/Social Media of Choice, you are effectively saying that you wanna fight.  I know this, because I've done it.  A Lot.  I'm in a 12 step program for political Facebook posts, in fact.  Anyway...back to the generalizations about wanting to fight. Remember the Grouchy Ladybug?

So much truth in children's literature.

What worries me is that as people get into these heated conversations, someone inevitably throws out a "This is my private space on Facebook and I can say whatever I want to here!"

True, free speech is awesome.  However,  Facebook is not "private", even if you have it set to "Stealth Ninja" mode.  Twitter is not a bulletproof wall you can hide behind, nor are the pictures you post on your blog ever really gone, even if you delete them.  I know this sounds like the distrustful rant of an octogenarian, but I promise that I'm still in my 20s.  For a few more months.  

It worries me that we have people my age, and even people older that adhere to the idea that "This is my Facebook Page and it's private" because we’re passing that ideology down.  Facebook is a social forum, just like the other "social" media networks, which, by definition, are not private because they're intended to be shared and connect people. 

It’s not just political rants, either. I have cousins entering college and posting pictures of themselves that they're not going to want a future employer to see, and they claim they're safe because their accounts are set to private.  However, all I have to do is right click and I can download a picture, write something funny on it and re-post it somewhere else.  Let's ask this poor guy how that turned out for him:

Brilliant! 

So, like most things on my mind, this whole "there's no privacy anymore" turned to my children.  I have an odd relationship with social media, because as there are more of "you" that read my posts and are part of the PwcMoms community on Facebook, there are less people I allow on my private Facebook page.  I am now literally one of those losers that has less than 100 Facebook friends. 86, in fact.  If I ever edited my posts and used proper formatting, I have few enough Facebook friends to write it out in letters because it’s so few.  Eighty-six.  

That might seem hypocritical, but to be honest, I don’t share much on my PwcMoms Facebook page. I don’t share my bad days, I don’t tell you much about my kids besides what they liked or didn’t like in a review, and most of the time when I post that we’re going to a particular location or place, we either went there the day before, or we’re actually leaving when I post it.  Not because I make a habit of lying to you guys, but as a safety practice for my kids.   

What this really made me wonder about is what the future looks like for our children.  Are they going to have any concept of a filter? Any concept of privacy? Are we robbing them of privacy with every bathtub picture post and every blog about their toilet training issues? My kids now measure their achievements based on whether or not I’m going to “put it on the book”, and I just wonder if I’ve totally messed up their concept of privacy for the rest of their lives. Will we have anyone that can RUN for president in the future, or will all the children of this generation have ruined their chances Krystal Ball photo-scandal style? 

How do you balance social media with privacy, especially where your children are involved? Where are the lines, if there are any?