Tag Archives: South Mountain Creamery

April 26, 2013 · 8:23 am

The Weekend Round-Up: April 27-28

Got milk and then some at South Mountain Creamery’s annual spring festival.

Have you had a look at the forecast for the next few days? If so, then you know the big list of outdoor pursuits is a must-view along with the picks below. Happy Weekend!

Kingman Island Bluegrass & Folk Festival
Where: Kingman Island
When: Saturday 1-9pm
Admission: $10 suggested donation
The 4th Annual Kingman Island Bluegrass and Folk Festival will feature seven bluegrass bands and plenty more revelry. The celebration of local music, food, and culture as well as the revitalization of the Anacostia River includes seven hours of performances by local bluegrass acts, DC’s favorite food trucks, Sierra Nevada beer, bike giveaways from BicycleSPACE and tours of the island, local music busking stages, and a children’s area with crafts and games. The $10 suggested donations helps support Living Classrooms’ environmental education programming for DC youth on Kingman Island. Tickets can be purchased ahead online, and all advance purchased tix include a free beer. Kingman Island is located on the Anacostia River at 575 Oklahoma Avenue NE (at the entrance to RFK Stadium).

Don’t Fear the Turtle
Where: University of Maryland
When: Saturday, 10am – 4pm
Admission: Free
The Maryland Day celebration in College Park gets a giant thumbs-up from me, and not just because it’s my alma mater. This is a fantastic event for families, and I know from experience. The University is hosting a huge open house for, well, everybody. “Explore Our World” is the theme of the annual fair, and guests will be able to do that and then some. There are loads of activities for kids, including learning games; a kids carnival with moonbounces, bungee runs, climbing walls, and more; a hip hop orchestra; arts & crafts; farm animal visits; puppet shows and singalongs; face painting; fossil digs; insect and instrument petting zoos; and much, much, MUCH more. It’s spread out all over campus, and it’s a big campus. Be prepared for lots of walking (worth every step!) and be sure to bring a stroller for little ones.

South Mountain Creamery Spring Festival
Where: South Mountain Creamery
When: Saturday 10am – 5pm, Sunday 11am – 5pm
Admission: Free
You don’t have to be a customer to experience farm fresh hospitality at South Mountain Creamery’s annual festival. (We’re not and had a great time there last year!) Take a ride out to the country in Middleton, Md, to enjoy farm fun for all ages — go on a hayride, visit the animals and feed a calf, sample SMC products, listen to Bluegrass, and more. BBQ, ice cream, drinks, and other concessions are available for purchase.

Ciné Teens: La guerre des boutons
Where: Alliance Francais – Dupont
When: Friday, 6pm
Admission: Free
The Alliance’s Movie Hour for Children series kicks off with “La guerre des boutons,” the tale of two warring towns in rural France. Every summer, the boys of the villages terrorize each other in the tradition of their fathers and their fathers before them: throwing rotten fruit, wooden sword fights, and the like. When one wily warrior steals all of a prisoner’s buttons, boyhood insanity promises to follow. For kids ages 8+. RSVP to www.francedc.org.

National Hairball Awareness Day
Where: National Museum of Health & Medicine
When: Saturday, 10am – 12pm
Admission: Free
Something you probably didn’t know (and I didn’t either until I heard about this event): The last Friday in April is National Hairball Awareness Day. (Like I even needed a special day when my two cats make me aware on a regular basis.) The National Museum of Health & Medicine invites you to celebrate the occasion tomorrow — among the museum’s collections are 24 veterinary and three human hairballs or “trichobezoars.” You can see one of the human hairballs and explore the myths and realities behind these medical curiosities. If you’re thinking of going, read this post about our experience at the museum first! While hairball awareness sounds fun, some of the other exhibits at the museum might not sit so well with the young children or the faint of heart.

Nationals vs. Reds
Where: Nationals Park
When: Friday, Saturday, & Sunday
Admission: Tickets start at $13
Catch the Nats in this weekend’s series against the Reds. Tickets are available for all of the games, and there are some special promos going on including Harris Teeter Family Fun Days, Signature Sundays, Kids Run the Bases. Game times are 7:05pm on Friday, 1:05pm on Saturday, and 1:35pm on Sunday.

Visit (& Vote for) George’s Place!
Where: Mount Vernon Estate
When: Saturday & Sunday, 8am – 5pm
Admission: $17/adults, $8 ages 6-11, free for 5 and under
Spend a day at Mount Vernon, the Virginia estate of first POTUS George Washington. Tour the mansion and other buildings, take a wagon ride, and stroll the sprawling grounds. While you’re there, be sure to use social media to help the historic site gain points to win a $1 million grant for preservation. Read more about the initiative from Partners in Preservation. And even if you don’t make it to Mount Vernon, you can still cast your vote for the site.

Healthy Kids Day
Where: National Capital YMCA
When: Saturday, 10am – 12pm
Admission: Free
The YMCA of Metropolitan Washington is celebrating YMCA’s Healthy Kids Day® with free community events to get more families moving, learning, and living healthier. Healthy Kids Day, a national initiative of the Y, takes place at 1,900 Ys and features fun, educational activities such as cooking and group exercise demos, arts and crafts, games and much more. Join us and jumpstart a journey that lasts kids a day, a summer, and, we hope, their entire future. Visit the YMCA website for information about events taking place at Y’s in other parts of the area.

Park It
Where: National Parks
When: Throughout the weekend
Admission: Free
It’s National Park Week through Sunday, so celebrate it by visiting one of our local national parks. These include spectacular natural areas, historic homes, battlefields, seashores, and archaeological sites, and we have many of them throughout the region. Get a nature fix at Rock Creek, tour the monuments and memorials on the National Mall, bike along the C&O Canal, see living history at Claude Moore Colonial Farm, take in the views at Great Falls, hike at Roosevelt Island. These are just a few suggestions; search for many, many more national park pursuits on the NPS website.

Show Time
Where: Local Theatres
When: Throughout the weekend
Admission: Varies by venue
Here’s the live entertainment on local stages this weekend:
– The Magic Finger & James and the Giant Peach are on the Imagination Stage.
– See the marionette version of Cinderella during the first weekend of The Puppet Co. latest production.
– Go classical with the kids at “Viva Violins: From Baby Talk to Mozart,” the NSO Kinderkonzert at The Kennedy Center.
– Justin Roberts and the Not Ready for Naptime Players are playing the Saturday 10:30am and 2:30pm shows at Jammin’ Java, and Beethoven’s Wig will be there on Sunday at 2pm.
– Uno, Dos, Tres, con Andrés! is this week’s Saturday morning at the National performance.
Hello Dolly! is the latest Ford’s Theatre production.
Get details on all of these productions in this post about entertainment this season.

Child Fest 2013
Where: Reservoir High School, Fulton, Md
When: Saturday, 10am – 3pm
Admission: Free
The Children’s Cancer Foundation, Inc., (CCF), a local non-profit that awards grants to fight childhood cancer, hosts its fun-filled Child-Fest this weekend. Now in its 6th year, Child-Fest is a day of valuable information, entertainment, food, games, an inflatable zone, and activities for children of all ages. Entertainment includes Grammy award-winning acts, fencing, dance teams, and an appearance by the Raven’s mascot, Poe. Look out for a giant Peep and more costumed characters and strolling entertainers.

Move Me Festival
Where: Kenmore Middle School in Arlington
When: Saturday, 2-5pm
Admission: Free
Bowen McCauley Dance (BMD) presents the 4th Annual Move Me Festival on Saturday. The free, family-friendly celebration of the arts and culture promotes healthy lifestyles through movement and the arts and will feature performances and artistic activities by local arts partners. This year, the festival focuses on the need to “Get Active, Get Creative, Get Involved.” More than a dozen arts partners will provide an afternoon of exciting performances and activities, including Latin dance, clogging, theater workshops, orchestra performances, an instrument petting zoo, yoga, face painting, magic tricks, arts and crafts, and much more.

ABC’s of Family Biking
Where: Capitol Hill Montessori School at Logan (215 G Street NE)
When: Sunday 11am – 1pm
Admission: Free
Want to get the family two wheelin’ together? Kidical Mass DC, WABA and DDOT Safe Routes to School is bringing back the “ABC’s of Family Biking” to help interested families learn more about the tools and resources available to help them bike together and offer fun activities for all ages. There will be a special class on biketrains and group riding, a display of bikes and equipment used to transport kids, a “swap or sell” for secondhand kids’ bikes and gear, and a chance to get tips and tricks from other biking parents.

Portrait Story Days
Where: National Portrait Gallery
When: Saturday, 1-4pm & Sunday, 2-5pm
Admission: Free
Drop in to listen to a story about a person who has influenced American history and culture and to create a special piece of art. This weekend, learn about poet William Carlos Williams.

Falling for the Weekend

An older photo, but a fall fave

Forgive the corny, cliché title of this post – it’s hard to come up with something clever week after week (not that they ever were that clever…). But trite or not, the reference to autumn is apropos for this roundup of weekend events, as so many of them salute the season. Of course, there are also recommendations that make no allusion to the time of year. No matter what you and the kids decide to pursue, fall-themed or not, have a great time doing it. Happy Weekend!

Kids Euro Festival –Thanks to the French-American Cultural Foundation, 27 EU embassies, and more than a dozen major cultural institutions, Europe is coming to us via the Kids Euro Festival, a virtual passport to four weeks of continental artistic adventures. This is the first weekend of the event that will present more than 200 FREE children’s performances all around the metro area. Mimes, storytellers, dancers, and puppeteers are just a few of the exciting acts that will perform at a variety of venues from October 14 – November 10. See what’s on the schedule this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Autumn Colonial Market Fair – Claude Moore Colonial Farm is holding its annual fair on Saturday and Sunday from 11am – 4pm both days. Tradesmen and artisans — blacksmiths, potters, silversmiths, candle makers, and more —from all over the country will be there to demo their work and sell their wares. Guests can also enjoy all kinds of colonial fare and watch as food cooks right over a fire pit, just like olden times. Along with the fair, you can also tour the farm, which is straight out of the 18^th-century. Admission to the farm on the Autumn Market Fair weekend is $6/adults, $3/ages 3-12, free for children 2 and under.

Rock Creek Fall Heritage Day at Peirce Mill – Step back in time somewhere else on Saturday for a day-long celebration marking the re-opening of historic Peirce Mill during Rock Creek Park Heritage Day. Artists, craftspeople, and historians will line the mill yard and grounds, restored to their 1800’s appearance, to bring history alive. Visitors can join them for hands-on demonstrations, while park rangers and historian shed light on what life was like in the 19^th century. There will also be tours of the restored mill, which will be grinding grain, as it did more than a century ago. A schedule of the day’s events and more info is available of the NPS website.

Truck Touch – Kids can pretend to drive a school bus, explore construction rigs, learn about EMS & recycling trucks, and many more vehicles at Suburban Nursery School’s annual Truck Touch. Along with the cool rides, guests can enjoy homemade baked goods and lunch from some favorite local vendors (pizza, ice cream, & hotdogs). It will all take place in the school’s parking lot on Saturday from 10am – 3pm. Admission is $5/person, free for children under 2. All programs benefit Suburban Nursery School, a non-profit, parent-run cooperative nursery school for over 50 years.

Pinkalicous and the Pink Pumpkin – Room & Board is hosting a special event featuring award-winning author and illustrator Victoria Kann, reading from her latest book Pinkalicious and the Pink Pumpkin. Bring the kids, decorate pumpkins, and enter for a chance to win our kid-sized Jill table and four Little Jake chairs. Books are available for purchase at the event. It all takes place from 11am – 1pm, and the reading begins at noon. The event is free, RSVP to roomandboard@brandlinkdcrsvp.com.

Taste of Georgetown – In its 18^th year, the Taste of Georgetown will showcase the spectacular cuisine of 30 of the neighborhood’s finest eateries, highlighting Georgetown’s culinary personalities and featuring nearly 60 delectable dishes to sample, as well as wine pairings, the jazz talents of Blues Alley artists, and children’s activities such as caricatures, jugglers, and balloon artists. Wisconsin and M Streets NW is where this will all go down on Saturday from 11am – 4pm. Tasting tickets can be purchased online or at the event.

Best in Shows – Drumming with Dishes at the Atlas, The Three Billy Goats Gruff at The Puppet Co. Playhouse, Krazy Kitchen Science at Discovery Theater, and Saturday Morning at the National are just a few children’s productions you can catch this weekend. For even more performances, see this post about live entertainment this season.

What’s Grosser than Gross? – The National Geographic Museum’s latest exhibit for kids, “Animal Grossology,” features some of the slimiest, stinkiest, yuckiest creatures on earth…and their natural bodily functions. Yes, there’s plenty about poop, puke, and other icky processes all presented through many cool, creative, interactive installments. Kids will love it (and so will adults). Admission is $8/adults, $6/ages 5-12, free for children 4 and under and includes the fun Weird But True exhibit as well as entrance to Ocean Soul: Photographs by Brian Skerry, a beautiful collection of images from oceans around the world that any photography buff or wildlife lover will find mesmerizing.

Fall Fests – Burgundy Farm Country Day School and South Mountain Creamery are holding their annual fall festivals this weekend. And many more seasonal celebrations are taking place at local farms and other venues around the area. See this post for details on all of them.

Family Day in the White House ‘Hood – The Neighbors to the President’s Consortium, a group of historic sites and museums in the White House neighborhood, is hosting a day of activities for families. Activities will include a scavenger hunt at the Renwick Gallery, an art safari at the Corcoran, candle making at the DAR Museum, and more. Detailed activity descriptions are available on the NTPC website.

Hop on the Halloween Train – The “Eye Spy” Halloween Train at Cabin John Regional Park rides again! Get on board this Friday, Saturday and Sunday – tickets sales begin at 2pm, and rides are every half hour from 3-8pm. Tickets are $6 person and include “Eye Spy” game card and other activities for kids.

Family Fun Literacy Day – The Play With Words Children’s Museum in Vienna, in partnership with the Vienna Whole Foods Market and PBS Kids, is hosting a Family Fun Literacy Day on Saturday from 12-3pm. Join them, along with the characters from PBS Kids “Super Why” TV show, for a fun afternoon of literacy-related activities, including hands-on activities and a treasure hunt throughout the Vienna Whole Foods store, with prizes for the first 200 children. More information is available on the Play With Words website.

And the forecast is looking great for this weekend, so this post will come in handy if you want to take advantage of the weather:

The Best Places in the DC Area to Enjoy a Beautiful Day Outdoors with the Kids

But if indoor pursuits sound like a better plan, you can get some ideas for them here:

Rainy Day Recreation (ie, Indoor Fun)