Kid Baltimore | Family Activities with Children in Baltimore, Maryland

Goodbye Three

I've been looking forward to age four since practically the day my twins were born. After I discovered how hard this "twin thing" really was, I quizzed every parent of twins I found to see what the magical age was when life would get easier. The answer was almost always a solid "four". I'd double check with them, "Surely you really mean three?" But they never budged.

So here we are, standing on the edge of four, and I have to admit, they were right. In just the last few months the shift towards sanity has begun. I can reason with them. Tantrums may not be completely gone, but almost. They calmly get dressed in the morning before hop, hop, hopping down the stairs to our bedroom. They knock on the door and wait for us to tell them to come in.

Sanity.

Their personalities, which I have no doubt were there from day one, actually before day one, are now beaming through. They are eternally opposite. She is loony, mischievous, determined. He is solid, true-blue, concerned. As they run into the room being chased by aliens he stops to tell me that they are "just pretend" so I won't be afraid.

I will miss three. There have been so many new accomplishments. It was the year he decided it was not okay for Mommy to pick his Halloween costume; the year he built great monuments around the house and declared them untouchable; the year I realized there was plenty of stuff going on in that big head.

And it was the year she professed her love for a slug; the year she decided to read big kid books, page by page, even though she can't read yet; the year she elevated making funny voices to an art form.

So goodbye three. I will miss you. You have been a challenge and a joy.

Hello four...

Home Depot

Submitted by Dave

I wouldn't plan to purchase a major appliance with small kids in tow, but as a quick destination Home Depot has a lot going for it. Acres of stuff that kids are interested in, but nothing they would pressure you to buy. We walked in all of the storage sheds, checked out the flowers in the garden section, watched the forklift stack bags of mulch, and made spooky voices talking to each other from the end of drainage pipe in the plumbing section. After completing our errand (batteries, steel wool, and spray insulation) we picked up hot dogs from the vendor just outside the checkout and had a picnic at nearby Oregon Ridge Park.

410-667-8200

Home Depot
125 Industry Lane
Cockeysville, MD 21030

Mapquest Directions

Gunpowder Falls State Park - Hammerman Area

I think there is some sort of conspiracy to hide this place. If you are like me, and just grab the closest thing to an address that you can find before you head out the door, you will be hopelessly lost. The only real address listed for Gunpowder Falls State Park is for the headquarters. Nice people. I met them. They looked at me with pity in their eyes while I explained that I was looking for a scrap tire park and then handed me a xeroxed map with a highlighter pointing me to the exact place I was supposed to be, or rather, the exact place where I was not.

See, it turns out that Gunpowder is actually 18,000 acres of park and is divided into five main areas. I debated giving up, but no, this has turned into a quest. So I strapped the kids back into the car and tried to find entertaining things to point out along the way to make the ride more fun. A huge mountain of flowers at a construction site. An inflatable dinosaur at a car dealership. Finally, we got there. The place was strangely deserted. Even the guard building was empty and there were directions there for me to place $3 mysteriously in an envelope and take a tag for my car. Honor system? Fine. I saw a sign pointing toward the various points of interest, but I wasn't completely paying attention, so I followed the road looking for something, anything.

And there it was. No, not the tire park. A beach. A real live beach.

1,500 feet of beach on the banks of Gunpowder River to be exact and for the time being, it was ours alone. In the summer, the area is lifeguarded and you can rent kayaks, surfboards and catamarans. The kids took off their shoes and played in the sand for a while before we headed to the picnic tables for lunch. We spent a fair amount of time shooing flies away from our picnic, but what is a picnic without a few pests, right?

Life was good, bellies were full and nap time was imminent. We got back in the car and continued along the road and then finally...

410-592-2897 headquarters

Gunpowder Falls State Park - Hammerman Area
7200 Grace's Quarters Road
Baltimore, MD 21220

Mapquest Directions

Irvine Nature Center

The Irvine Nature Center recently moved, after 33 years, to a new, amazing, green facility in Owings Mills, MD. We stopped by to visit during their Grand Opening and let me just cut to the chase and say that I am completely and entirely in love with this place. There are already paths through the woods where you can take a nice walk, and nature exhibits and nooks to read a book in the main building. The Calendar of Events looks like there will be plenty to do with little ones, from pre-schoolers on up.

While we were there, our kids explored the exhibits, and then we took a stroll through the woods, passing some caged owls and hawks along the way, to meet in the gazebo and listen to a talk about pollinators. A bit farther along the path we had a peek at the newly established beehive. I have to say, the speaker, Rick, was so knowledgeable and entertaining, that we left trying to figure out where the best spot would be for our very own beehive. So maybe I've gotten a little carried away, but you get the idea.

410-484-2413

Irvine Nature Center
11201 Garrison Forest Road
Owings Mills, MD 21117

MapQuest Directions

Tomato Canning

 

We've been in squirrel mode lately. I'm determined to be ready for winter this year. I grew up canning. My special job when I was little was stuffing the jars because I had the littlest hands. Eventually I was promoted, to chief-tomato-peeler and a few other odd jobs, but I was never in charge because I am, after all, still the baby of the family. Of course, now I am in charge (more or less) and I try to pretend like I know what I am doing as I hand out the jobs. It's okay though, because Mom is just a phone call away if I blow it.

But here is the best part. Now that my youngest ones have reached the ripe old age of 3, I've realized something that my mom probably discovered ages ago. I have my very own assembly line.

Creepy Crawly Weekend

September 13-14, 2008 is the Grand Opening Celebration for the IrvineNature Center's new location. I can't wait to check out their new green facility.  There will be lots of free activities for the whole family including puppet shows, nature walks and Native American games.

But I'm also tempted to visit the Carrie Murray Nature Center for their 9th Annual Bug Fest on Saturday, Sept 13, 2008. It includes cockroach races and insect cuisine (for the super brave). Pre-registration is requested for this event, and the admission is $6 per person.