Museum of Natural History, Washington DC Oceans, dinosaurs, cavemen...your kids will go nuts!!! Cost: Free for all! Luray Caverns, Luray VA Who wouldn't love to explore underground caverns, best part about this place is that it is open year round. Cost: Adults $24 Kids over 6 $12 Kids under 6 free Boomerang Pirate Ship NW Washington DC The price is fairly steep for what you get, but come on it's a freaking pirate ship. Cost: $20 per person for 1 hour tour Terrapin Adventures Savage MD Rope swings, Ziplines, climbing walls...all the obstacles you need to tire those kids out. Plus the staff is really friendly and puts safety over everything else. Very pricey but it's an all day event. Cost: Terrapin Challenge $80.00 per person must be at least 8 years old and 70lbs or heavier. Other packages can be bought check out their site at; http://www.terrapinadventures.com/ That Bounce Place Reisterstown MD This place is great for all ages, they even have special days for smaller kids so there is no issue with intimidation. Slides, obstacle courses and multiple bounce areas give kids an endless supply of fun time! Cost: M-F day time $6.95 per kid for 4 hours Friday night-Sunday $8.95 per kid for 2 hours Maryland Science Center Baltimore MD This is my personal favorite, it's a great way to teach your kids without them realizing they are learning. The exhibits constantly change but they include everything from space, to dinosaurs and even games you can play together. Cost: Basic ticket prices include exhibits, planetarium, and demo stage You can add an IMAX feature for only $4 more per person Adults $18.95 Kids over 3 $15.95 Kids under 3 Free When was the last time you did something for your kids that you didn't want to do? Everyday? Once a week? As parents we make an endless amount of sacrifices for our children, we lose sleep, we work overtime for Christmas and birthday presents, we put our own social life on the back burner for them. Most of this they will never know about until they are much older, but occasionally something will trigger one of the best feelings in the world inside your heart. My oldest son pictured here in the blue shirt, he does a lot, and I rely on him a lot more than I probably should in some cases. He babysits while I write or do homework, he does chores and in most cases doesn't complain too much about them either. So I try to find small ways to reward him, we have family game night, or play video games together. We have traditions that started after the divorce was finalized and I love these traditions. Our bi-weekly hikes where we wake up a little later than usual on a Saturday or Sunday morning and go to the local state park. We walk the park a total of about three and half miles, I lie to him and tell him it's only one mile every time. I think he knows I'm lying but just goes along with it, because we spend that time talking, we talk about everything and nothing all at once while we wander around the park taking it all in together. The baby in the stroller, a bag of trail mix on hand plus drinks...I'm fully prepared for whatever whining may occur and ready to shut it down before it even starts. My oldest son tells me the most random things on this hike. He talks and talks; about his friends, school, his favorite foods (which change every week), his favorite video games. He asks me questions sometimes more profound than what I expect, he asks me about finding a new wife, or at least a girlfriend. The point is that we have that moment together and our children crave our attention on an almost necessary level, they need that reinforcement that you are there, that you care, and that you still love them. Another tradition we have is a just the two of us activity, every Tuesday night at 4pm we go to a fast food chicken chain, that offers a family night. We originally started going after I bumped into a friend from elementary school, and her and her husband invited us along. These friends have three children of their own and their oldest and mine get along very well. So even though this is an activity for us to do together, I more do it for him. There is always a theme at these things and tonight was no different, reptile night! A couple of guys brought some snakes and turtles and lizards in for the kids to see, touch and hold. Let me just state for the record...I am terrified of snakes, I wish I knew why, but no scary story, no haunting memory, they just give me the creeps. My son and his friend talk and I listen, they talk about girls, and teachers, video games and sports, I know this means a lot to him and I'm happy to do it because I realized it doesn't matter how successful I am in anything else. I want my son to look back on his childhood when he's older and say..."My dad was a great guy". I want to be there for him when he's hurt physically or emotionally and I want him to trust being able to come to me with whatever issue he is facing. The moment I am really talking about though happened before Christmas day, and it only occurred to me today because my son brought it up earlier tonight. It was December 14, 2013 it had snowed earlier in the week and I told my son I wanted to take him somewhere special. Every year there is a small street in Baltimore city that over does it with the decorations, if you live here you know what I am talking about. It's quite the spectacle. So I figured we would make a night of it, stop at the convenience store bought some junk food and drinks and off we went. I drove up and down the street twice letting my son's face reflect onto the lights and I remember thinking about how magical this must have been for him. When we were done he wasn't quite ready to go home yet so we made another stop, I showed him the office building I worked in and we drove through the downtown inner harbor. We talked and laughed, we looked at buildings I had seen hundreds of times but it was all new to him, when the night was over we went home. He was asleep before we even pulled into our neighborhood, I carried him into the house and put him in bed than went to sleep myself. The reason I bring it up tonight, is because today my son looked up at me, cocked his head to the side and asked me if I remembered that night. I told him that I did, to which he responded, "that was the most fun night ever". We didn't really do anything special in my eyes, I didn't buy him some big expensive gift. He had the most fun night of his young life just spending time with me and essentially doing nothing. Our children value our time more than we could ever begin to imagine, it's amazing we place so much happiness in our possessions, career, house, car, clothes or vacations. When our children are the ones who truly understand what a real gift is, the gift of our time, love and attention will ring for eternity in their minds. There is no doubt in my mind now that years from now when he is telling stories to his own children, that night will come up...that makes everything worth it. |
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