DC/NoVA Adventures – The River Farm

This summer I’ve been looking for some fun stuff to do with the kids.  I’m all for going to the pool and forcing the kids to develop those beautiful imaginations of theirs….however, what I really love is checking out this beautiful TriState area of ours.  While I imagine we will be here for awhile, I feel like we should live like this could be our last year.  So I set off in search of fun things to do and see for little, or no, cost.  I discovered The River Farm, in beautiful Alexandria, VA overlooking the Potomac River.

The River Farm is 25 acres of beautiful landscaped area which was once part of George Washington’s estate.  It is also the home of the National Horticulture Society.  One of the coolest things you can see is a set of White House gates that were first installed in 1819 as part of the repair to the building after the war of 1812.  Some of the flowers and shrubbery that surround the house is 100 years old!  Can you believe it?  As a side note this place is also available for weddings and heaven help me I would get married all over again at this place.  Goregousness doesn’t even accurately describe all the hidden and out in the open gems on this property.

 The White House Gates
 

 My new Dream House

Entrance to The Children’s Garden

The Meadow

I definitely recommend adding this to the list of places to see.  It can be low-key, the kids can get some energy out and you can see all the beauty nature has to offer.  The kids ran and explored and it was absolutely lovely!

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Fall Celebrations in the DC/NoVA!

Fall is here and I am so excited for my first East Coast fall.  I’m going to be one of those ridiculous Leaf-peepers this year.  I’m just so giddy with excitement.  Cute sweaters and boots, walks outside with the kids.  Seeing the beautiful leaves.  Taking drives   Needless to say, I am very happy about the upcoming Fall fun.  We had our first two tastes of the season and I can’t wait to experience all the fun.  If you want the real low-down on all the awesome fall-ness make sure to check out fellow DC area blogger KidFriendly DC.  It’s my one stop shop for everything that is fun that’s going on around here.  It’s really helped me while I get acclimated to everything there is to find.

First on our Fall Fun Fest was Montpelier Farms in Upper Marlboro, MD.  It was about a 35-40 minute drive from our house, but it didn’t feel that far at all.  I scored the admission tickets on Living Social (you’ve gotta sign up!).  Montpelier Farms is great because the general admission includes most of all the really fun stuff that you would want to do while you were there.

We did the Hay Ride, the giant Hill slides, the corn maze, the bounce houses, the cow tractor ride and the pedal tractors – all a part of the general admission.  The kids races little rubber duckies as well.  We went inside the gift shop and also did a little munching.  We were really disappointed that on a Sunday Afternoon they were out of hot apple cider, apple donuts and apple pie.  To be honest I was more than disappointed.  I was kinda really annoyed.  They had cold cider and an apple cider slushie (which the kids loved).  We munched on hot dogs and chips.  The hubby even had some sort of pumpkin pie, cream thing..but it had nuts so I was not a fan.  We purchased some Elderberry Jelly (Yummy) and some Bean salsa, which we haven’t tried yet.  I also got a copy of the book Spookley the Square Pumpkin.  There is a movie of the same title available for the kids to watch, as part of the general admission.  The actual pumplin patch wasn’t open yet, but it was still September. The kids had such a great time doing all of the activities, and feeding the goats.  We may go back and give it another chance.  Hopefully they have all the yummy munchies available next time.

Next, we took a trip over to Fairfax, Va for Kids Fest – Fall into Fairfax!  We didn’t have the chance to stay very long, but they did a fabulous job.  There were tons of booths that were set up that I didn’t get to, which I was bummed about.  Lots of stuff for kids on the Kids’ Midway, and everything was reasonably priced, including an all day pass for unlimited rides.

Make sure to check out all the fun fall happenings in your town!! Where I’m linking up today

Marine Parents
miscellany monday at lowercase letters

”Mommy
Hosted by Krystyn at Really, Are You Serious?

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