Kid Baltimore | Family Activities with Children in Baltimore, Maryland

Why We Are Getting Chickens

I've been threatening to get chickens for many years now. But this is the year.

It just didn't seem practical until now, given that with three kids, and a busy studio, our plates were pretty full. But I've decided I'm over-thinking the whole thing. First of all, the kids are older now. They handle a lot more responsibilities. And second, we are talking about a handful of chickens. People used to have chickens around all the time. When did we get so removed from this part of living? And third. I just like chickens.

Look at these gorgeous eggs my kids and I gathered while visiting my sister. She lives on a farm.

 

So, a few ground rules.

1. All kids will help with the chores. (They are pretty excited about this and our son has volunteered to sleep in the coop to protect the chickens from wolves. Really.)

2. There will be fewer chickens than people. I don't like to be out-numbered, and how many eggs do we need anyway?

3. The chickens are not pets. I realize, however, that they will live out their chicken-years long past their egg-laying days.

We've been spending the last few months considering coops, and trying to decide on breeds. Any suggestions?

Longwood Gardens

Longwood Gardens is every bit as beautiful as I remembered. I lived nearby as a teenager, but I haven't been back there for way too many years, so recently, on a visit to see family, we stopped by.

I am amazed that at this time of year, just a couple of weeks ago, the gardens were so lush.

This waterfall caught me by surprise.

The conservatories are my favorite part. They look like postcards. My photo doesn't do it justice, but trust me.

I foolishly tried to get the kids to pose for a photo.

I'm pretty sure Rapunzel lives here. But really, it's a chimes tower built by Pierre duPont. The carrilon was replaced with electronic chimes in 1956, but with the 2001 rennovation authentic chimes were re-installed. The carrilon rings every 15 minutes, from 9:00 - 5:00.

The vegetable garden is one of my favorite places, if for no other reason than walking through a garden like this reminds me how beautiful the most practical of plants can be. Swiss chard is tucked in everywhere, part function, part beauty. I need to stop planting Swiss Chard in rows.

As we headed to the gates, my kids weren't quite ready to go, so we stopped by the rose garden. There is a topiary pruned into the shape of a chicken. What more could we ask for?

The kids also tried to figure out exactly which rose smelled the best. I think it was this one.

 

Longwood Gardens
1001 Longwood Road
Kennett Square, PA 19348

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The Nature Army

What? You haven't heard of it yet?

I remember making up clubs as a kid. Usually they had some pure and noble purpose, but fell apart when our 25 cent dues failed to add up to anything useful. Or maybe we just plain old lost interest. Mostly though, I think our clubs fell short because we kept them to ourselves. They were secret. Just for us. So go away.

Not so with the Nature Army. My daughter started the club ages ago, and cousins, friends and yes, even siblings were welcome. They came up with projects to help the earth. They started a Nature Army Fund that was built by occasional chores (we don't believe in paying for chores, except for special instances) and by selling hand-painted pots and candle holders at various art shows.

And now they even have a blog.

The masthead, which I am rather fond of, was designed and photographed by the Nature Army, and all of the posts will be written by members. New members are welcome. Check out The Nature Army Count of Supreme Awesomeness for details on how kids can join. Nope, no scary initiations here, just kids doing things to help nature, and then sharing what they did. All comments will be moderated by yours truly. Go Nature Army!

Exploring Caverns at the Crystal Grottoes

The area surrounding our campsite offers lots to do for families. My very favorite place we stopped was the Crystal Grottoes, a cavern that has been owned by the same family for 3 generations and offers daily tours. We pulled up to a picturesque old storefront. Cows were grazing across a stream. While we waited for our tour to begin, the kids were completely entertained by the small trickle of water that flowed from the building into the nearby stream.

When it was time for the tour, we filed down a narrow staircase into what would normally be a basement. Instead, we found ourselves standing in a cave. Our tour guide was amazing. He switched effortlessly between scientific discussions about geology, to telling us which rock formations looked like a king, or an alligator, or an elephant...

He explained how the caverns were discovered in 1920, and how they have been digging it out ever since, bucket at a time, sometimes with shovels, but just as often by hand. Yesterday alone they removed 25 buckets full of dirt and clay, to expose still more formations.

We learned about the critters that live down here too, but they were hiding. There are a few bats, frogs, and lizards. But the thing that astounded me the most is a honeysuckle root that our guide points out. It has burrowed 70 feet underground.

My cave explorers look happy, don't they? We wandered from room to room, down windy hallways that were fortunately quite well lit. On this particular day (after an amazingly hard rain) it was a little wet down there. One room is under water, but the rest we can get too quite easily. We traveled to a final depth of about 80 feet underground. It was cool, and quiet, and peaceful. After a while, I had no idea where we were. Our tour guide pointed us to different paths, where he tells us it's about a 6 hour trek back. No thanks. We'll stick with the tour.

 

240-217-7623

Crystal Grottoes Caverns
19821 Shepherdstown Pike
Boonsboro, MD 21713

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Divyying Up the Garden

This hurts. I'm a mom. I share everything. But this may just go too far.

When I had one actual kid (and two babies who weren't quite actual kids yet) I didn't plan well. I gave my daughter part of the garden by the house. What could go wrong? This small child wanted to plant some seeds, watch something grow, love nature. I completely supported that.

Silly me. There were two more small children in my future, and if I have learned nothing else, being a parent for 12 (count them, 12) years, it should be this: treat them fairly.

What one gets, the next gets, so it's time to pony-up and share some more of that coveted garden space near the house. Sigh. I am officially handing over the reigns this year. I promise. I won't wince when it's full of weeds, although I might pull a few when their backs are turned. It's their space, to do what they want. But just so you know,  I get it back when they go to college.

Just because I can't possibly post without pictures, here are a few shots of last year's garden that I never shared.

 

Oh, the tomatoes. I live for the tomatoes.

 

Cupcakes for the Birds

During the recent snow, my kids decided to whip up a batch of cupcakes for the birds. My daughter got the idea from Birds and Blooms and before I knew what was happening, the ingredients were being pulled from the pantry shelves and all three were up to their elbows in peanut butter.

Some of them got a little silly...

 but mostly, they got right to work...

and in the end, they presented quite a feast for the birds.

We waited and waited and waited, until our guests slowly began to arrive. First the titmice and chickadees appeared.

Then along came more friends, like this red-bellied woodpecker.

 I don't know what kind of bird this is. Anyone?

The one on the right is a downy woodpecker.

The birds devoured every last crumb, so I am guessing they would give the chefs rave reviews.

Here is the recipe.

Melt together:

1 cup vegetable shortening

2 cups chunky peanut butter

Mix in:

5 cups of cornmeal

Spoon into muffin tins (liners are optional, but we didn't use them) and top the cupcakes with your choice of birdseed, nuts, or dried fruit. Let them cool in the refridgerator and serve.