Swimming lessons at Washington Lee HS

For the past few weeks Mason and I have been taking swimming lessons at Washington Lee HS. We are 3 weeks in and this is my favorite activity that we have done together in his whole 17+ month life. I have no expectation that he'll be able to swim at the end of this 9 session class, but it's great to see Mason get excited about being in the water.  Added bonus: it's a great arm workout for me! Here we are at the start of class:

The swimming classes are offered quarterly through Arlington Parks and Rec at multiple area schools and at a variety of levels.  We are in water babies which is age 6 -18 months at the start of the class. We are definitely the oldest in the class but rules are rules and it really doesn't seem to matter at this age. I've learned a lot from my swimming lesson experience to date and I'm happy to share for anyone interested.

Lessons learned:

• Research the date, time, location and level in advance of sign ups being available. Also create a profile with Arlington parks in advance.
• Find out when registration becomes available and sign up that morning. (It's not as bad as Lilly for Target but you get the idea!)
• Bring a rash guard shirt...the WL pool is rather chilly and I think the shirt helps. I've heard Yorktown is a bit warmer but I can't confirm.
• Arrive dressed in your swimwear and just get ready at the poolside bench.
• Assume that post class you won't get a family changing room unless you want to wait or you start to exit the pool about 1 minute before class ends - my preferred strategy!

I think we'll be away too much this summer but I fully intend to sign us up for Water Tots in the fall.

Fiola Mare and Momtographie

The last few months have been quite hectic with job transitions and things so this weekend I got some much needed me time! On Saturday I had plans with Lisa for brunch at Fiola Mare on the Georgetown waterfront. I got there a bit early and, having rowed in high school, was so excited to see a high school regatta on the Potomac. There were great views from the restaurant for the races and people watching!

Fiola Mare has an amazing brunch offering - three courses and bottomless cocktails for $48! We both had the burrata to start and it was heaven....more please!

We also enjoyed the tortilla espanola, the bucatini, the panna cotta and the semifredo. After lunch we grabbed a beer at Orange Anchor and got free koozies! The adorable bow tie clad bartender, Mason!, told us that if we travel with our koozies and tag on FB we can get a $.05 gift card per mile away. With Lisa's upcoming trip to Paris we'll be back eating for free in no time. Great day with a fun friend, good conversation and yummy food and drink!

Today I attended Momtographie, a photo class specifically for moms. A few weeks ago I entered a drawing for the class through Our Kids, and was lucky enough to win! I feel really excited coming out of the class and will hopefully haves lots of amazing photos to share soon. Stay tuned!

Westover Park

I was busy getting us ready for playgroup and I noticed Mason sitting in his chair like a little Puma model. He looks like such a cool guy!

We took the stroller over to the park and checked out the houses along the way. It's amazing to me that there are all these neighborhoods a mile from our house of 7 years that we've never explored.

Westover Park was great for our playgroup age (17mos-2yrs). It was much more compact than Hayes Park so I felt like I could talk to the other moms but also watch Mason. Here is Mason enjoying the slide and teacup spinner.

They had multiple slides, swings and some climbing structures for older kids. We spent an hour with everyone and took off. Mason was so worn out he fell asleep as soon as he was in the stroller. I think that's a sign of a good playground!

Kids' Farm Month

Today was Mark's day to sleep in so Mason and I had a running and breakfast date. We ran through the neighborhood and ended at the Ballston  Booeymonger. Mason loves buses and was happy to spend the next hour watching them and eating yummy pancakes!

I read on the Our Kids website that April was Kids Farm Month at the zoo so we decided to check that out. There was face painting, a puppet show, music and farm animals to pet. It took an absurd amount of time to park (and was quite pricey!) so we spent our limited time with the animals. Mason loved the cows but when asked what sound they make he kept saying roooooaaar!

You could actually go in the pen with the goats so long as you followed two rules 1) no running and 2) don't pet the goats on their face. Mason broken those within 5 seconds so our goat visit was short.

It was very hot so we grabbed some dippin dots and headed home for family nap time. It was a busy morning!

Hayes Park

One of my personal goals in going part time is to get back into a regular running routine. I'm excited to say that today I went on my first run since November! Here is Mason and me pre-run.

We took the long route to our play date at the park, got in a few miles and enjoyed the lovely spring weather.

Last year I joined MONA (Mothers of North Arlington) and through that recently joined a weekly playgroup. The playgroup is 7 other moms and their kids all similarly aged to Mason and we rotate meeting at homes, parks, etc.  We've only been involved two weeks but I think this is great for Mason and me.  Anyway, this week's playgroup was at Hayes Park. This park has a fairly decent sized fenced in playground and has activities for kids of varying ages. Mason loves the slide so we spent the majority of our time there, although somehow I have no sliding photos.

In the summer months they have a spray park which I think Mason will love.  We will definitely be coming back!

Touch-A-Truck

A few weeks ago I signed up for a membership with Our Kids, which each week emails a list of local kid friendly events. I've seen lots of fun ideas and can't wait to explore DC with Mason. Today was our first suggested outing and we headed to Touch-A-Truck at Walt Whitman Middle School for a play date with Lucy. There were about 15 utility and service trucks for the kids to play on and we spent about an hour here. Here is Mason (escorted by Mark) and Lucy on the back of a tow truck. I love how fearless Lucy is and I think Mason is equally impressed!

 And here is Mason and Lucy in a John Deere Backhoe.

This is an annual event put on by Fort Hunt Preschool and cost $5 for everyone over age 2.

Later we headed to lunch at Union Street Pub in Old Town. It was kid friendly with a good beer and food menu so everyone was happy!

Hello!

After 14 years of working full time in an office, I'm going part time to spend more time focused on family and home life.  I plan to write about family activities, cooking, restaurants and whatever else is going on in life!  Enjoy!