Free Movies in Dumfries!

Join Pillar Church of Dumfries and the Town of Dumfries for "Movies on the Lawn"! They'll be showing family-friendly films over the next three months, including "The Lorax" on July 12th, "Willie Wonka" on August 2nd, and "Wreck it Ralph" on September 14th.  Seating begins at 7:30pm and movies will begin at sunset.  This is the summer 2013 schedule.

Giveaway: Butterfly Harvest at Great Country Farms

Hearts are aflutter to save the Monarch Butterflies!

 “Bring back the Monarch and keep the magic alive”

encourages Nicole Hamilton of Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy.

It’s the season for the mighty migration of the Monarch Butterflies and Great Country Farms wants to make a difference.  Together with local Girl Scouts, they plan to design and build a Monarch butterfly garden & educate others on how they can help.  Join us Saturday, July 20^th to be a part of it. 

The Monarch Butterfly population is waning and they need your HELP!  But why are Monarch butterflies important to the environment?  Monarch butterflies are pollinators.  During the Monarchs huge migration, they pass over areas where pollination is a problem.  So Monarchs can help pollinate plant life in suffering areas.

How can you help?  GCF will plant milkweed which provides Monarchs with a safe environment to harvest their eggs.   “We are investing in Monarch Butterflies.  Our vision is to establish an extensive monarch breeding population at GCF with the help of the scouts and others,” says Jaclyn Jenkins GCF’s Director of Operations. Girl Scouts can participate in helping us design Great Country Farms Scout Butterfly Patch and are welcomed back in the fall to release their butterflies.

While at Great Country Farms, join in family friendly fun on the farm!  Kids will love the 5 acre playground and visiting with the friendly farm animals. The Roosteraunt is open for lunch the Farm Market features fresh produce and other local products. The Farm’s U-Pick season is in full swing so be sure to visit the website to see what is ripe & ready to take home for a fresh summer time meal.

Saturday, July 20th, 2013

Open 9am-6pm

Girl Scouts- $8/scout & chaperones. Leaders FREE! Please make group reservations by calling 540-554-2073.

General Public $8/Child $10/Adult at the gate + 2 FREE Passes to come back in Sept. for those who have butterflies to release!

Children 2 and under and guests with a Military ID are no charge.

Want to go for free? Enter our giveaway for tickets! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Disclosure: Great Country Farms provided this content and the passes we're giving away.  They also provided passes for my family to use. PwcMoms is not responsible for weather, farm conditions, or your mental health if your children sing "Old MacDonald" all the way home from the farm.  Winner assumes any liability and risk.  

About Car Seats

I had a reader question this week that was above my pay grade, but I knew just the person to ask.  David from Baby Blossom is a great resource whether you're shopping for your first baby or your fifth! Check out his notes on car seats, following the reader's question. 

Question: "I'm getting ready to have my first baby and I'm trying to not totally break the bank on everything. Is it really a big deal if I buy a used carseat as long as it isn't expired? Are there any that work for longer than just a few months? Maybe one that converts somehow so it lasts at least until they're 3?" 

It’s easy to go overboard on baby gear, first keep one thing in mind… “Buy what you need, when you need it.”  Unless you are getting a used seat from a very trusted source (relative or close friend), DO NOT use a used seat.  You simply do not know the seat’s history.  Try other areas to save, but don’t scrimp when it comes to car seats and safety.  This doesn't mean you have to be extravagant.  Regardless of where you buy a new child car seat, every new seat sold in the U.S. has to meet minimum federal safety standards.

While you will lose some of the conveniences of an infant seat (easier to carry a sleeping child and an ability to attach to some strollers), choosing to skip the infant car seat (the “baby bucket”) in favor of a convertible car seat will save you money in the long term. The convertible seat will often cost more upfront than the infant seat, but you would need a convertible anyway after the child has outgrown the baby bucket (usually 8-12 months after birth). 

Convertible seats “convert” from rear-facing position (used from birth to two years) to forward-facing position (from two years to seat capacity limits).  While many convertibles are rated from 5-65 pounds (or higher), you really want a seat that has specific features to better accommodate an infant.  Often this is done with a cushion or insert provided by the seat manufacturer.  Think about it…this seat has to protect a newborn as well as provide comfortable space for a preschooler.  There are numerous convertible seats on the market.  The newest one is the Chicco NextFit.  The Maxi-Cosi Pria 70 with TinyFit includes a unique infant insert (the TinyFit) that can accommodate a newborn as little as 4 pounds. This insert basically makes a mini-seat (for the infant) inside the larger seat.

Lastly, an important element of any child car seat is how properly it is installed in the vehicle.  Especially as rear-facing installations of convertible seats can be complex.  Be sure to have the installation checked by a certified car seat technician.

(Note from Kristina- if you haven't already, "like" Prince William County Fire and Rescue- they host FREE car seat inspections on a regular basis)

 

 

Week in Preview- July 8th through July 14th, 2013

Did you make it through the fireworks? I'd love to hear your thoughts and tips about viewing the 4th of July Festivities! You can always email me with your thoughts on any event you attend- I'm happy to share them with future attendees!

Monday, July 8
Think ahead to next Toddler Tyme if you haven't been yet, and pre-register by calling the Manassas Museum.
At 11am, pack a snack and head to Potomac Library for "The Lion King".  It's limited to the first 125 people to show up, so you may want to be a bit on the early side.  The library is a great place on a hot day- their AC is usually cranked up :) While you're there, don't forget about Summer Quest! (You can only be signed up for one library, but you can fill out your forms!)
From 12-3, there's a food distribution at Holiness Tabernacle in Woodbridge.  If you, or a family you know is struggling this summer, this might be a big help.  Also, don't forget there's free breakfast and lunch being served at various PWC School Sites.

Tuesday, July 9
From 10:30-12:30 the PWC Sheriff's office will be providing free Identification Cards for children at Chinn Library.
Want to get moving? My BodyMoveZ studio (located in the loop behind Ikea) will be offering free classes today. 11am Zumba/Zumbatomic Parent/Kid Class, 1pm Zumbatomic (ages 4-12), 2pm Zumba, 4pm Teens (ages 12 and up), 3pm Bokwa Fitness (adult), 4:30pm Zumba Fitness (adult)

Wednesday, July 10
Oh! Susannah will be performing at Stonebridge at 10am for the younger set.  Meet under the JumboTron.
Several fun library events are going on today, too.  My pick? The NoiseGuy at Bull Run Library who's billed as a "mud-slinging, noise-making comedian" for the elementary school set at 2pm.  If noises aren't for you, head the opposite direction to Chinn Library, also at 2pm for Live Animals! Have an up-close and personal encounter with wildlife rehabilitator Becky Shore as she introduces a turtle, a skunk and other animals that spend their time grubbing for food in the dirt or living underground. For children ages 1 and up.

Thursday, July 11
Leesylvania State Park will be "Buzzing About Pollinators" at 11am.  This class will discuss bees and butterflies and how to help them thrive.
At 7pm, load up the family for a free evening concert at the Marine Corps Museum. The Silent Drill Team and the Drum and Bugle Corps will be performing on the Parade Deck. Bring your lawn chair or a blanket and sit back and enjoy the show.  Refreshments will be available for purchase.

Friday, July 12
There's an indoor play at Common Grounds, which I hear actually has the "best coffee and cafe in Dale City", although I haven't yet tried it.  This is inside the old 99 Cent Movie Theatre (if you've lived here long enough to remember that) and is a church on the weekends, but it runs during the week as a coffee shop, as well.
7:30pm is the last outdoor movie at the Marketplace at Madison Cresent, and they'll be showing ParaNorman.  Bring your chairs or blankets and enjoy an outdoor evening!

Saturday, July 13
There's a Build and Grow (with a Kung Fu Panda Theme!) coming up, but you'll want to pre-register if you haven't already: https://www.lowesbuildandgrow.com/Home.aspx
Need a little more 4th of July? The Town of Haymarket will be hosting their annual "Stars and Stripes Street Fair" from 1:00pm to 6:00pm with a street fair, summer concert, and Stars and Stripes Barbeque. Everything is free to attend, concessions are at a fee.
Saturday night, take your pick between Mount Vernon Nights at the Workhouse Arts Center, which features live music, or an outdoor movie at Stonebridge Town Center.

Sunday, July 14th
There are a few old standbys on our Sunday calendar, but my vote is for a waterpark day! If you'd rather stay dry, you can check out a new park.  Take a look at Nova Outdoors- Kamber runs a fantastic site and has reviews of local parks and playgrounds all over the Northern Virginia Area!!

4th of July Fun in Prince William County!

Not on the 4th Fireworks (Tim's Rivershore- 1510 Cherry Hill Road Dumfries VA): On June 29th, Tim's will host their annual "Not on the 4th" fireworks show.  Fireworks are launched from a barge on the river, and Tim's recommends coming early for a seat in the restaurant.  

Dale City Independence Day Parade (Dale Blvd from Keytone to Gemini): Dale City's annual parade always gets under way at 10am.  This LONG parade features local scouts, businesses, fire trucks, floats, and more, and ends in the commuter parking lot behind the Comcast building (think Dale City Farmer's Market) with a fun fair.  Bring cash to purchase drinks/snacks and line up early to get a good seat along the parade route, which follows the side of Dale Blvd. heading towards I-95, closing traffic to one lane each direction on the opposite side.  

City of Manassas (Harris Pavilion 9116 Center Street, Manassas VA): The City of Manassas celebrates the 4^th of July with an Independence Day party with live music, rides, an Apple Pie Baking Contest, carnival foods, face painting, and a red, white, and blue hayride. Events kick off at 4pm, and fireworks are scheduled for 9:15. Rain date is July 5. Activities and food prices vary, no admission fee or fireworks charge. 

Pfitzner Stadium (7 County Complex Court, Woodbridge VA):  The Potomac Nationals, Prince William’s local minor league baseball team, hosts a game on the 4^th complete with fireworks.  Purchase tickets ahead, they’re usually sold out at the gate. People do come out and sit around the exterior of the stadium to watch the fireworks- but plan to pay to park if you drive up to the stadium, and for it to be CROWDED getting out! 

Montclair at Dolphin Beach (Dolphin Drive and Spillway Lane, Dumfries VA): The MPOA sponsors a 4th of July Fete every year, and while only MPOA tag holders can attend the event on the beach, there is viewing available from side streets, or from the lawn of your nearest and dearest Montclair friends.  (If you don't have a Montclair friend, make one- you've got time!) 

Signal Hill Park (9300 Signal View Dr. Manassas Park VA): Thursday, July 4th from 7-10pm, free admission, shuttle service from VRE and City Hall, $5 on-site parking handicap only, limited general parking across the street. 

Great Meadow Foundation (5089 Old Tavern Road, The Plains VA):  Great Meadow Foundation’s festivities.  General Admission is $40 per car at the gate or $35 in advance.  Included in admission, which begins at 4pm, is rock wall, laser tag, moon bounces, bands, and a rain machine.  There will also be helicopter performances, polo demonstrations, and one of the area’s largest fireworks exhibitions.  Pony rides are available for $5, and there will also be food available for purchase if you prefer not to tailgate.  This location is about 11 miles from Haymarket and 46 miles (an hour) from Woodbridge.  

Lorton Workhouse (9601 Ox Road, Lorton VA): Will present a patriotic concert and fireworks on July 6th, with the concert beginning at 7pm and fireworks commencing at 9pm.  Both events are free, but you'll want to bring a blanket or lawn chairs, and plan to leave outside alcohol at home.  The Workhouse is on the opposite side of the Occoquan Bridge, 3 miles from Woodbridge, or 23 miles (about 30 minutes) from Bristow. 

Townof Haymarket (Corner of Route 55/Washington Street): The Third Annual Stars and Stripes Street Fair (July 13) will be a full day of fun from 1:00pm to 6:00pm with a street fair, summer concert, and Stars and Stripes Barbeque.  These events are free to attend and are not limited to Town of Haymarket residents.  

Fredericksburg VA:

Lorton Workhouse: 

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Anytime activities are outside, they can change with the weather, so please use common sense or call before heading out! These are just events presented, not endorsements, although we love to hear reviews, so send us yours! We're happy to link to your business or blog.  Also, if we're missing something, let us know! 

Prince William Ice Center Camp

Guys, we've been friends for awhile, right? And, if any of you were serial killers or something, you'd have figured out my kids' names already, because it really wouldn't be hard.  It's mentally taxing for me to keep referring to them by ages or birth order, so let's just get real about it.

This is Savannah.  She's 5 and she enjoys pink, sparkles, soccer, math, kicking butt and taking names, swimming, and ice skating.  She does not enjoy dresses, tights, mosquitos, or when people do not realize that she is Lord and Master of the Universe.  Especially her brothers- they should know better.

Savannah checked out the Ice Stars Fun Camp last week, and I thought I'd share her feedback with you.  We thought about doing a video, but then I realized that not everyone speaks rapid-fire five year old, so typing her responses would be easier.

So, kiddo, tell me about camp.
Camp?  Camp was good.  I was just awesome and I skated and one day we got to do the slip and slide. Daddy let me buy lunch from the cafe and I got chicken fingers AND tater tots, which is a lot of food, but he let me do it.

What was your favorite part about camp?
Um, we did lots of different stuff. It was all good. I made a t-shirt, do you want to see it? (this is another good reason not to make a video- she just runs off.  For the record, I've seen the tie-dye shirt at least 20 times)

Was there anything you didn't like?
I thought we were going to skate too much, but we didn't, we just did it more times.  And now, I can skate while I jump.

You mean jump while you skate?
No, I mean skate while I jump.  And, I can do a spin on two feet.  And, Mrs. Marina (her coach) says I'm doing a good job.  Also, I liked the teachers.  When I grow up I'm going to be a camp teacher at the ice rink.  How old do you think I have to be to be a camp teacher at the ice rink?

I'd imagine you have to be a teenager.  Would you go back to camp again? Should I tell people their kids would like skating camp?
Oh, sure, I'd go to all the weeks.  They can come, too. We'll have fun.

That's Savannah on the far right- this picture is from the PwIce.com site. 

So, there you have it.  Savannah liked camp, and thinks we can all have fun together.  I was a little nervous the first day because it looked like many of the kids were older than her, but she informs me that this made it more fun because she got to hang out with the big kids.  Also, they mix the hockey camp kids and the figure skating kids together during some parts of the day, so there are plenty of people to play with. You can pack your child's lunch, or they can purchase lunch from the rink cafe.  Camp runs from 9am-5pm, but there is a before/after care option if you need a longer day.  For us, since we're not typically a daycare family, Savannah SLEPT after camp each day.  She also had a wicked crush on one of the hockey coaches.  In any event, she had a great time.  The mixed age group was probably my biggest concern, but she seemed to have a great time and came home talking about friends every day, so it worked out fine! Each week there are different off-ice activities, if you need to know about anything (like bringing a swimsuit for the slip-n-slide or a shirt to tie-dye) they'll let you know.  Also, the kids are on the ice several hours a day, but they break it into chunks so they're not bored or over-stressed about skating.  There is some outdoor play time, so we tried to dress in light layers so Savannah would be comfortable on the ice and outside.  It's a challenge, but you can do it :) Also, there's a form to sign if you want to leave sunscreen.

If you'd like more information on hockey or figure skating or learn to skate camps, you can find it here.
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Disclosure: Prince William Ice Center is one of our sponsors, but they didn't ask me to write this, nor was I compensated.  We paid for camp just like everyone else, and all opinions are my own. Yours might vary, but I'd be happy to hear them in the comments if you want to share.  We had a great week at camp, but are not responsible for your experiences as we don't control the ice rink. 

Engineering for Kids Recap

For those of you that won spots to our Engineering for Kids Meetup, I hope that your children had as much fun as mine did!  I have to admit that I had some initial misgivings about the ability of a 20 child class to work with kids ranging from Kindergarten to Teen, but the class was fantastic, and my own children were informing me that they're having Robotics Parties for their birthdays before the class had even finished.  

 I got a little giggle out of the fact that the kids seemed to gravitate towards their own age groups.  We had the youngest guys together, the oldest guys together, and even three of the four girls that came made up a team.  Everyone seemed to find a buddy.  I asked about whether there'd be an advantage for the older children, but the teachers, who were both fantastic, assured me that sometimes kids who over-engineer are actually at a disadvantage when it comes to battling the robots. The kids worked with Lego Mindstorm Sumo Robots, which came with a basic central unit that they added wheels and appendages onto.

 There was quite a bit of learning going on.  The Engineering for Kids team was sure to introduce the engineering procedure, introducing a problem, thinking about a solution, building, testing, and then addressing any new problems based on testing.  They were fantastic about engaging the kids and listening to their questions/concerns but not spoon-feeding them information.  I know that is a really difficult skill to achieve, so I was very impressed! When they got questions like "Will this work?" they answered "How do you think you could test it to see if it does?".  The staff was truly fantastic, working the room quietly and efficiently to make sure questions were answered and all team members were included without doing the work for the kids or altering their thought process.  They also helped the kids to link their robots up to the computer so they could upload the program that made the robots work on the battle mat.

During the 2 hour workshop, the kids were able to "battle" in brackets twice.  It was so interesting to see the different approaches kids took- from "hammers" to "arms" to really basic designs, it was so neat to watch as the various designs worked, or didn't work! I especially liked seeing the second battle, because the kids all did such a great job addressing any design flaws.  I know it was really hard for all of them to leave pieces that fell off during battle (no re-builds during competition!) but all their robots did a great job!  In the end, the teachers were right and our youngest trio of builders ended up beating our oldest trio in the last battle!

Watching everyone work together and designing and redesigning was so cool.  There were so many learning experiences and lifeskills happening all at once! The teamwork, though process, and even the engineering process was incredible to watch.  I think that as an after-school program this would be second to none for kids of any age- they have robots for Preschoolers and up!  My kids are also incredibly excited that they offer parties (birthdays, scouts, etc), as I already mentioned.  If you weren't able to make this meet up (I know I could have given away hundreds of spots for all the interested kids!!) there's also camp this summer being run by Engineering for Kids. Be sure to click the link and check out all of the great themes and weeks being offered!!