Things to Do with Kids in and around Northern Virginia

The Newseum has two special offers in July. First, the Newseum is discounting all adult and senior admission to $17.76 for the month of July. Second, up to three kids (under the age of 18) will be admitted FREE to the Newseum with a paid adult admission from July 18 - July 20.

Looking at the fine print in the Thursday, July 2nd edition of the Washington Examiner, it looks like you can combine these two discounts during the weekend of July 18-20. So, for my family of five, we can visit the Newseum during that weekend of less than $40. That's a pretty significant savings from their regular admission prices (which are a little pricey). Yes, we're very spoiled living in the D.C. area with all of the free Smithsonian museums available.

Check out the Newseum web site for more details.

Ghosts of a Chance is a multimedia scavenger hunt game sponsored by the Luce Foundation Center at The Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM). The object of the game is to save two young curators, Daisy and Daniel, that have been possessed by spirits at the museum. You help Daisy and Daniel by by sending text messages, solving puzzles, deciphering clues and following treasure maps. Most of the game takes place within the confines of the Luce Foundation Center, which is located on the third floor of the SAAM; however, parts of the game will lead you to other areas within the museum (but not the National Portrait Gallery). The clues presented in the game are linear; the solution to each clue leads you to the next clue. In Ghosts of a Chance, there are three different mini-mysteries. In the first part, you try to save Daisy, one of the two young staff members. In part two, your goal is to assist Daniel, the other young staff member that is being spooked by spirits. In the third and final part, you save the museum. While you can tackle the three parts in any order, I suggest helping Daniel and Daisy (in either order) first before saving the museum.

Ghosts of a Chance is a lot of fun. We played the game as a family and enjoyed the game immensely. It was a blast to explore different parts of the SAAM and view many of their collections. The game incorporates the use of the multimedia kiosks (located in the Luce Foundation Center) so kids get a chance to showcase their computer skills. The biggest "problem" was that each of the kids wanted to send (and view) all of the text messages. It was mildly annoying to hear them whine and complain about who got to send the last text message or how unfair it was that their sibling got to use one of the kiosks one more time than they did. Just the usual family fun... :-)

If you get stuck during the game -- we got stuck on one clue -- the enthusiastic staff was available in person (or by cell phone) to help out.

As an aside, SAAM has a series of works by Jean Shin on display. The collection is located next to the Luce Foundation Center; check it out... it's very cool. Two quick notes about the Shin exhibit if you're going with kids. First, photography is not allowed within that particular exhibit. I learned this the hard way when one of the security guards asked me to put away my camera. Second, only one of the exhibits is interactive, but several of the exhibits have overly sensitive sensors around them that go off if you get to close. The guards must get annoyed by unsuspecting visitors setting off the alarms/buzzers constantly.

There are a few, minor ways I think it can be improved. First, modify the game slightly so that each clue contributes to the overall solution. Right now, if you stumble upon a clue while playing the game (or simply exploring the museum), you can skip past several steps. Next, physically space out the clues more. In some cases, the popularity of the game leads to several teams being close to each other and inadvertantly revealing a clue. Last, offer the game more often :-)

To their credit, the creative team behind GOAC has developed a sequel called Return of the Spirits which addresses some of the suggestions raised by players. The trio of Smithsonian staff that were overseeing the game did solicit feedback from people who decided to participate in both games. In fact, they offered a prize to players who filled out a survey at the conclusion of the game.

Both Ghosts of a Chance and Return of the Spirits are presented once a month. The next two dates are Saturday, July 11, 2009 and Sunday, August 16, 2009. According to the web site, additional dates can be viewed on the online calendar; however, at the time of this writing (June 29, 2009), dates after September had not been posted to the online calendar. According to the GOAC web site, both games are suitable for ages 12 and over and each one takes approximately 90 minutes to complete. Each group that participates -- and it's a game that's a lot more fun played with a group of people -- you'll need a cell phone that is able to send and receive text messages. Unfortunately, my son found out the hard way that his pre-paid Trac phone was not compatiable with the game.

If you have a group of 10 or more people that would like to play either Ghosts of a Chance or Return of the Spirits, you can contact a member of the staff to schedule an appointment at least seven days in advance. Check the web site for contact information.

The Potomac Nationals, as well as other minor league baseball teams across the country, are teaming up with Kraft on a special summertime ticket promotion. Bring a wrapper from any Kraft Singles package on any Tuesday between May 12, 2009 and September 1, 2009 and receive a free ticket with any ticket purchase at the ticket office. Most importantly... Enjoy the cheese at home. Please don't bring that to the ballpark :-)

For more details visit this page.

Last night, my ten-year old son and I invited one of his friends to watch the Washington Bayhawks play the New Jersey Pride in a Major League Lacrosse game. While it turned out to be an expensive outing, the three of us had a blast.

The Bayhawks franchise played its first six seasons in Baltimore before moving to the Washington, D.C. area for the 2007 season. The franchise has won two MLL championships, one in 2002, the second in 2005. The Bayhawks play their home games at George Mason Stadium, which is located on the campus of George Mason University in the heart of Fairfax, Virginia. There's plenty of free parking available. For the 2008 season, single game tickets for adults cost $24 and youths (12 and under) cost $19. So, for the three of us, it was $62. A program costs $1. The crowd at the game consisted mostly of families with kids with their lacrosee sticks in attendance. There were several booths/vendors at the game, including Six Flags, Commerce Bank and Triple Edge Lacrosse. At the Six Flags booth, there was a wheel that you could spin to win prizes like a mini frisbee, skateboard key chain or a free pass to Six Flags. Commerce Bank is a Championship Partner with the Bayhawks. Several times during the game, the PA announcer would announce that the first person to show up at the Commerce Bank booth wearing a Bayhawks hat/jersey/t-shirt would win a fantastic prize. I'll be better prepared the next time I attend a Bayhawks game :-)

What about food and bathrooms? I saw two food vendors at the game. One sold normal, sporting-event fare, including hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken tenders, lemonade, soda and funnel cakes. In addition, Domino's pizza was selling soda and pizza by the slice. My son and his friend had funnel cakes; I had a bite and it was tasty. How can you go wrong with deep-fried dough covered with powdered sugar? The prices for the food were reasonable (for a sporting event). My son purchased a funnel cake, one cup of lemonade and a bottle of coke for $11. As far as bathrooms are concerned, there were plenty of porta-potties.

There were a handful of VIP and other hospitality tents on the side opposite the stands. For an extra $5 per ticket, you could purchase a VIP wristband which allowed you to be closer to the action. Given how fast those lacrosse balls can fly, I felt a lot safer sitting in the stands far away and above the action. Before the game, we stood behind a net behind one of the goals that the players were shooting on. One piece of advice: Stand a few feet behind the net and pay attention.

The game consisted of four 15-minute quarters. Last night's game started at 7:00PM and was finished around 9:00PM. The Bayhawks players and coaches came over to the sidelines after the game and signed autographs for everyone who wanted one. My son and his friend got several players to sign his program. In addition, the two of them got tons of free stuff. Between the two of them, they managed to take in the following: six lacrosse balls, three t-shirts, two skateboard key chain, one small frisbee, one small beach ball, three sheets of four Bayhawk trading cards and three game programs. Your results may vary :-)

So, I've discussed many of the fun things about our Bayhawks adventure yesterday. What about not-so-fun things? Well, the stands face west and, at 7:00PM, the sun was directly in our faces. Wear a hat and/or sunglasses for an early evening game at GMU stadium. The admissions price is a bit high. We spent about $90 between the three of us. Besides those two (minor) things, I highly recommend attending a Bayhawks game next season.

If your family love visiting science museums as much as mine, run, don't walk, to the Association of Science-Technology Centers web site to find a science center nearest you that participates in the program.

In a nutshell, you purchase a membership at a participating science museum and can receive free admission to numerous other science museums across the U.S. (and world). There are more than 290 museums that participate in the ASTC Passport Program. There are a few caveats though. First, the program doesn't apply to centers within a 90-mile radius of your "home" musesum. Second, the free admissions is typically just for general admission to the museum and does not include IMAX shows, planetarium shows or any other "special" activities. Third, you must bring your membership card to the out-of-town science museum to receive the benefits from the program.

We have a family membership at the Maryland Science Center in Baltimore and have used the ASTC Passport program to visit the Science Museum of Minnesota in St. Paul, Minnesota, the Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh and the Pacific Science Center in Seattle for free. It's a terrific program and a great way to save money!

Air & Scare
Saturday, October 25, 2008

"Flights of Fancy" -- Stories for Children
Saturday, October 11, 2008

"Flights of Fancy" -- Stories for Children
Saturday, October 18, 2008

In today's Washington Post, I saw an ad for Kidtoons. It's a program run by National Amusements, a company that runs several movie chains, including Cinema De Lux, Showcase Cinemas and Multiplex Cinemas. Participating movie theaters show G-rated movies for kids on Saturday and Sundays. There are two theaters that participate in the program here in Northern Virginia. They are the Fairfax Corner 14: Cinema De Lux and the Lee Highway Multiplex Cinemas. In December, they are showing The Santa Claus Brothers.

I haven't had a chance to take my kids to see a Kidtoons movie. If you have, please do leave a comment below and tell me your thoughts.

My family and I love the Baltimore Aquarium. Not only have we visited the aquarium more than half-a-dozen times, my daughter and I have participated in an overnight, "Breakfast with the Dolphins" program also. What makes the aquarium so great?

First, there's the location. The National Aquarium in Baltimore is located in the heart of Baltimore's Inner Harbor. Quick hint: The aquarium offers a $3 coupon for parking at the Inner Harbor Garage on S. Gay Street. Park on the 3rd floor landing and you'll be able to cross Light Street via the skywalk and be directly in front of the aquarium.

Second, there's the various exhibits. Right now (Sept. 2007), my favorites are Animal Planet Australia, Frogs! A Chorus of Colors and the dolphin show, Play! The dolphin shows are very popular, I recommend buying advance tickets either through Ticketmaster or directly from the aquarium's ticket center.

Last, and certainly not least, the volunteers and employees at the aquarium are top-notch. They're friendly, knowledgeable and always ready to help.

My advice: If you're in the area, check out the National Aquarium in Baltimore soon. If your family loves the aquarium as much as my family does, invest in a Family Membership. A one-year advance purchase Family Membership costs $109. A single visit to the aquarium without the dolphin show for a family of 4 with kids aged 3 - 11 will cost $70.

Click here to purchase tickets.

We went to see the Potomac Nationals play against the Wilmington Blue Rocks tonight at Pfitzner Stadium in Woodbridge, VA. It was a spectacular night for baseball and we had a blast. We got seats in the first row of the field boxes on the 1st base side. Great seats for adults, but my kids had a tough time seeing over the yellow, plastic barrier on top of the fence. The second row provided a much better view for them. Besides the great view, another benefit of sitting in the field boxes is that there are plenty of wait staff to fetch you hot dogs, soda, candy or whatever else you're hungry for. Between the five of us, we had six hot dogs, one sausage, two Dippin' Dots (Can anyone tell me what a Dippin' Dot is?), two bags of peanuts and one box of popcorn. The hot dogs were $1 apiece. It was Dollar Night at the ballpark. Grandstand tickets and hot dogs are one dollar apiece. Last year, Dollar Night also included dollar popcorn and soda. I guess that promotion proved a bit too popular last year :-)

With three kids under 10, we decided to leave the ballgame after the 5th inning. The first pitch was at 7:35PM -- a later start than I would like, but it's understandable with the terrible rush hour traffic, even on a Monday in the summer -- and we left around 9:15 or so. There were lots of other families that had the same idea we did, so we weren't the only ones following Steve Czaban's ALE (Always Leave Early) theory.

We took a last-minute, day trip to a couple of places in/around the Shenandoah Valley, including the Shenandoah Valley Discovery Museum, Route 11 Potato Chips and a wonderful farm with pick-your-own fruit, including peaches and blackberries. While wandering around downtown Winchester, we stumbled upon a wonderfully fun store named (appropriately): Incredible Flying Objects.

The store is located in the Bright Center on the Old Town Walking Mall in Winchester. According to their definition, the store sells "Anything that flies without a motor." This includes: Juggling Equipment, Darts, Disc Golf, Magic Tricks, Joke Toys (Hey, did someone drop that nickel on the floor?), Planes, Rockets and Yo-Yo's.

The staff truly loves what they do, and it shows in their enthusiasm and the way they treat their customers. If you're in the area, you've got to stop by Incredible Flying Objects and check it out.

One of the places we visited today on our day trip to the Shenandoah Valley was Route 11 Potato Chip Factory in Middletown, VA. Rt. 11 offers a glimpse, not a tour, of how they make potato chips Monday through Saturday from 9AM to 5PM. According to their web site, the best time to see the potato chips being made is AM to early PM. We got to Rt. 11 around 11:30AM on Saturday morning and were fortunate to be there when a couple of batches of the lightly-salted potato chips were being made. We even got to sample the chips minutes after they were finished. Yum...

The woman who was working the front of the store was extremely knowledgeable about the chip-making process and told us about the history of the company. Rt. 11 is planning on moving to larger facilities; hopefully, this will mean that they'll actually be able to give a real factory tour of their facilities. In the meantime, get yourself to Rt. 11 and try one of their 14 (!) types of potato chips!

UPDATE: According to the Rt. 11 web site, they have opened a new plant in Mount Jackson on June 6th, 2008. They are no longer doing any production in Middletown. The retail counter in Middletown will continue to be open Monday-Friday, 9-5. They suggest visitors call before you make your chip trek. The official opening for the new retail store in Mount Jackson is scheduled for the fall. Stay tuned for more details!

I took my daughter to go see the Washington Glory, D.C.'s own women's pro fastpitch softball team, play the Michigan Ice at GMU last night. Our general admission/grandstand tickets cost $20, $12 for me and $8 for her. It's a little pricey. There were about 200-300 fans at the game, a Friday night in early July. Most games start at 7:05PM. Sunday games start at 3:05PM. It's very easy to get to the GMU softball complex, and parking is free.

We had a great time. The PA announcer was energetic, and the feel of the game was very similar to a minor league game. There were lots of silly games between innings, such as a hobby horse race, dance contest, musical chairs contest and the ever-popular spin-around-a-bat-until-you-get-dizzy-race.

There was a small concession stand that sold the usual ballpark fare -- pretzels, hot dogs, peanuts, drinks. The choices are not as elaborate as even the smallest minor league team, but the prices were low and the food was good. Please note that I'm out the belief that all food at the ballpark is good :-)

So, I would highly recommend taking your kids to a Glory game this summer. Sure, the tickets are a little expensive, but it doesn't cost any more than going to the movies, plus you get to sit outside and cheer our newest professional sports team to victory!

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If there are places or things that you and your family like to do in and around Northern Virginia, drop me a line!

This past weekend, my company held its annual summer picnic at J.R.'s Festival Lakes in Leesburg, VA. The weather was spectacular, and the property that the facility is on is wonderful; however, the food was mediocre and the various activities on the seven picnic areas were disappointing.

J.R. Festival Lakes includes the following activities: swimming at the swimming lake, fishing or paddling around the fishing lake, volleyball, softball, golf driving range (more on this later), horseshoes, children's play area, wagon rides, badminton and tug of war. Each picnic areas has a few of the activities mentioned above; however, the picnic areas are so far from each other that you couldn't do most of the activities in an afternoon.

Our picnic area, Lakeside, was held in a large tent next to the "swimming lake". You'd have to be pretty desperate to swim in it. Near our area was a volleyball court (which was on uneven ground), a badminton court (on the top of a hill which dropped off quickly) and horseshoes.

I knew that J.R.'s Festival Lakes had a driving range so I took a few clubs from my car and walked to the "range". Yes, it's technically a golf range; however, the balls are terrible and the mats are even worse. A "bucket" of balls (10-15) comes in a plastic red bucket. It had to have been 1/2 - 3/4 mile from our picnic area. What a big disappointment...

On a positive note, the employees were fairly friendly and the jukebox had a few good tunes. I can't imagine there are too many places in Northern Virginia (besides J.R.'s) where you can hold a picnic for 100 - 1,000 people. It could just be so much more...

Last Saturday, I took my nine-year old son to attend the Cub Scout Jamboree at Camp Snyder. Despite the hoardes of scouts, we had a blast. There was an area for scouts to build their own model rocket. My son (after he and I stood in line for 30 minutes) had a chance to try out a bow and arrow. There was a BB gun range and much more fun.

Camp Snyder is certainly very easy to get to from Northern Virginia. It's right off I-66 in Haymarket, Virginia. For history buffs, the piece of land that Camp Snyder is on was once slated to be part of a history-themed amusement park owned and operated by Disney.

My daughter is in her third season now with NVGSA. NVGSA is one of a handful of organizations (that I'm aware of) that sponsors girl's softball in the Northern Virginia area. She plays in the 8U league which is coach-pitch. The other age groups are as follows: 10U, 12U, 14U and 18U.

This season, there are a total of 7 teams in her age group. Each team has between 7 and 10 girls. My daughter has enjoyed softball tremendously and gotten progressively better each season. The team practices once per week and has its games on Saturday mornings.

I took my mother and my eight-year old son to the International Spy Museum in downtown D.C. Overall, I thought the museum had several interesting exhibits, especially if you like gadgets in the James Bond/007 movies or Get Smart television show, but it's geared more towards adults and teenagers rather than middle school age kids. (As an aside, the museum does say in its literature and web site, that "While children of all ages are welcome, children ages 12 and older will gain the most from the exhibits which often include text panels and interactive displays.")

I took my eight-year old son to see the GMU men's soccer team play Bucknell in the 1st round of the 2006 NCAA Men's Soccer tournament earlier today. It was the first time that I had attended a soccer match at GMU and we had a great time.

The Basics
The GMU stadium is next to the field house, right off of Rt. 123. Plenty of parking and very easy to get to. Admission was $7 for adults and $5 for kids. There's lots of bleacher seating. Even with 1,000+ people in the stands for today's game, there were plenty of good seats.

My Recommendations
While there is a small refreshment trailer and bathrooms in the fieldhouse next door, I would highly recommend bringing a small cooler with refreshments. The line for the refreshment stand moved v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y, and, thanks to Murphy's Law, as soon as we got towards the front of the line, they ran out of hot dogs.

I would also recommend bring stadium/seat cushions. The metal bleachers are not fun to sit on for a long period of time.

During the 1st half, we sat at the near side closest to the entrance. Lots of GMU students -- most of whom looked like they just woke up minutes before the start of the 1PM game -- sat around us. While the students were neither rowdy nor obnoxious, most of them weren't into the game and were more concerned about socializing with each other :-) In the 2nd half, my son and I sat at the far end and there were far fewer people on that end.

All in all, we had a very good time. It's too bad that the Patriots lost, but we'll definitely be in the stands next season to cheer them to victory!

Our family went to Cub Run RECenter on Sunday afternoon to celebrate my seven-year old daughter's birthday. It was the fourth time that I've been to Cub Run and I'm still very impressed with the facilities, and more importantly, with the friendly and conscientous staff.

Cub Run is located in the western part of Fairfax County, near the border with Loudoun County. The main attraction at Cub Run is its leisure pool. The leisure pool includes the following:

• - 30-foot high slide that goes outside the building
• - 20-foot high indoor, open slide
• - Spa
• - Vortex
• - Current channel
• - Open shallow water area
• - Tiny-tot slide.

Please note that you must be 48 inches tall to use the vortex and two water slides; however, if your child is not quite 48 inches tall but a good swimmer (like my seven-year old daughter), you can ask the Cub Run lifeguard staff to administer a short swim test to your child. If your child passes, they will receive a wristband which allows them to use the vortex and water slides.

The locker room facilities at Cub Run are brand new and quite nice. While lots of people leave their belongings in unlocked lockers, I would suggest spending the 25 cents to lock up your belongings. In addition to lockers in the locker rooms, there are giant bins in the leisure pool area for your towels, flip-flops, etc.

We got to Cub Run around 2PM on a Sunday afternoon. When we got there, both the current channel and vortex were closed. At first, I thought they were closed due to mechanical reasons. Later, I found out that they were closed because there wasn't enough lifeguards to watch those sections. Around 2:30PM, additional staff arrived, and both those stations were opened.

This is a good time to discuss (and applaud) the staff at Cub Run. I have been very impressed with the friendliness, professionalism and conscientousness of the staff there. There are at least four lifeguards in the leisure pool section. There's at least one staff member monitoring the entrance the both slides. Another lifeguard is watching the swimming area. A third lifeguard is constantly walking around the current channel and vortex. The fourth lifeguard is monitoring the shallow, tiny-tot area. The lifeguards don't hesitate in blowing their whistles and insuring that everyone is having fun safely.

In conclusion, while Cub Run isn't on the same scale (or as expensive) as Great Wolf Lodge (see my writeup about Great Wolf below), it's a great place to have a birthday party or visit on a cold, rainy day. I recommend it highly.

My four-year old loves the airport. He also loves trains, or more precisely, subway cars. Occasionally, he and I will combine both those loves and take a Metro trip to National Airport. Our Metro trips to the airport always happen on weekends, non-holiday weekends, so we're usually able to sit in the front seat in the lead car, right behind the Metro operator. My son still loves to look out the front of the train and watch the view from the operator's perspective. For us, the train ride is about 30 minutes.

Once we get to the airport, we usually go the newer terminals (B and C) and park in front of one of the windows and watch the planes take off and land. The airport is great for kids because there are plenty of places to eat, lots of things to see, and plenty of clean bathrooms to visit.

The Northern Virginia area is lucky to have so many teams (and venues) for both pro and amateur sports. We've got pro teams in five major sports leagues -- Redskins (NFL), Wizards (NBA), Capitals (NHL), Nationals (MLB) and D.C. United (MLS). There are three minor league baseball teams in the area, including the Potomac Nationals, Bowie Baysox and Frederick Keys.

In addition to pro teams, there are several major college athletic programs in the area, including George Washington University, University of Maryland, American University and George Mason University.

On the same trip that we visited the Baltimore Museum of Industry, we, along with a small group of other families with kids about the same ages as ours, visited the Da Vinci Discovery Center of Science and Technology in Allentown, PA. I enjoyed the museum so much that I actually wrote a short e-mail to the director of the museum, thanking him for the fun, interactive exhibits and the wonderful staff at the museum. More about the museum...

The museum is situated on top of a small hill near Cedar Crest College. The building has two floors. The bottom floor has a large space for several exhibits, a medium sized meeting room for demonstrations -- more on that later -- and a small eating area with vending machines (including a vending machine that dispenses hot food, such as pizza and french fries). The top floor contains several classrooms and an open area where about a dozen interactive exhibits were located. I don't recall what the theme of the exhibits on the second floor, but they were centered around the physics of motion.

My kids loved the interactive exhibits. There were lots of things to push, pull, wear, listen to, poke, prod, twist, turn, mash and build. Hopefully, they also learned a thing or two :-)

The staff at the museum was wonderful. Many of the volunteer staff appeared to be teenagers or young adults. They were great with the kids and very knowledgeable about the exhibits and the scientific principles behind them, too!

On the day that we visited the Da Vinci Discovery Center, Bob the Bike Man did two presentations. Bob (I'm sorry that I don't recall his last name) is from State College, PA and collects bicycles. Not just any bicycles, though. His collection includes all sorts of bicycles. Everyone loved his presentation. I'll try my best to describe the most impressive bicycle he demonstrated. Imagine two large bicycle wheels, maybe 8-10 feet in diameter, with a swinging bicycle seat in between. Getting on was tricky, and getting off was even more difficult!

All in all, the Da Vinci Discovery Center is a wonderful museum for kids under 13. There are lots of interactive exhibits and the staff is terrific. I highly recommend visiting the museum if you're driving through the Philadelphia area.

The Baltimore Museum of Industry is a hidden treasure located a few minutes from Baltimore's Inner Harbor. Set in an old cannery, the BMI has lots of fascinating examples of machines and equipment from the past (and present).

We visited the BMI on a quiet Sunday afternoon in late August and had most of the museum to ourselves. Luckily, one of the volunteer tour guides noticed us wandering around the museum and offered to serve as our tour guide. She was fantastic! I would highly recommend asking for one of the tour guides to take you around the museum. Our tour guide was able to turn on and operate a lot of the working equipment. In addition, she was full of stories that truly made our visit special.

For instance, do you know what a courting candle is? During the 19th century, when courting was more fashionable than it is now :-), when a young suitor would come calling, the father would adjust the height of the candle by twisting a small lever.

Did you know that during the Great Baltimore Fire of 1904, fire engines from D.C. were summoned to assist, but, their effectiveness was limited because of incompatible couplings? As a result, the Federal Government mandated a universal size for all hose couplings?

We went to Great Wolf Lodge in Williamsburg, VA earlier this summer and loved it. The indoor waterpark is awesome! There's an area for toddlers, with two small water slides. There's also a great wave pool with plenty of rafts for everyone to use. The lazy river ride was fun, as were the larger water slides.

One bonus is that Great Wolf allows you to use the waterpark the day that you check in. In addition, you have the full run of the waterpark on the day that you check out, too.

Check out Our Kids, a great web site that lists activities and resources for kids and parents in the Washington, DC, Richmond, and Chesapeake, MD areas. Our Kids offers:

* a weekly newsletter,
* presale codes,
* fun giveaways
* and much more.

When you visit the Our Kids, please tell them that you read about them on the NovaKids Squidoo lens.

ZooLights takes place at the National Zoo from November 28 to December 30. Tickets for FONZ members are $6; nonmembers are $12. Nonmembers can get $2-off coupons at area Giant Food stores.

Buy tickets at http://www.fonz.org/zoolights.htm.

The National Zoo, in Washington, D.C., is offering ZooLights, from November 28th through December 30, 2007. The zoo is open from 6PM - 8PM each night. The main attraction is the numerous light displays, depicting various animals (obviously), throughout the zoo. In addition to the light displays, several of the buildings, such as the small mammal and reptile houses are open for visiting. Depending on the night of the week, there are other activities, such as a puppet show and craft stations, present.

My family went last Saturday night, and while the displays were great, we were disappointed that (a) the zoo didn't allow the roasting of marshmallows (despite advertising its availability) and (b) only a part of the zoo was actually part of the ZooLights exhibit.

The cost of the admission is $6 for FONZ members and $10 for non-members. FONZ members can purchase a family four-pack for $20. As always, TicketMaster is the most convenient option, but they charge an outrageous shipping and handling fee.

I just received a flyer in the mail for Air & Scare, the annual Halloween event for ghosts and goblins of all ages. The event is held at the Udvar-Hazy Center, which is a companion facility to the main Smithsonian Air and Space Center in Washington, D.C. The Udvar-Hazy Center is located in Chantilly, VA just south of Washington Dulles International Airport.

Everyone is encourgaed to arrive in costume for indoor trick-or-treating. Your favorite "Star Wars" characters will be available for pictures. Young kids will be able to participate in Halloween crafts, hands-on activities and storytime. Older kids will have karaoke, simulation games and robotics demonstrations to keep them occupied. Here's my favorite event of the evening -- watch an episode of "The Jetsons" in the Imax Theater.

Air & Scare will be held on Saturday, October 25th from 4PM to 8PM at the Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia. There in no cost for admission; however, parking is $10 per vehicle.