My firstborn started kindergarten, without two teeth
and with a ton of excitement!
If, like in our family, school stared for you this week, then you’re probably in town and looking for a fun way to spend the three-day weekend in one last hurrah of summer. The pools are still open, the weather’s supposed to be ideal and thankfully, there’s TONS of fun for kids in the Washington DC area Labor Day Weekend 2009!
ALL WEEKEND
Glen Echo Park’s 39th Annual Labor Day Art Show, Open House and Weekend of Irish Music and Dancing
Free and open to the public, the weekend-long festivities will entertain your family whenever your schedule allows this weekend. Irish performances in the Bumper Car Pavilion, Art Show in the Spanish Ballroom, artists’ open house for all art classes on Saturday in the “hobbit houses.” And see below for info about Saturday’s Open House at The Adventure Theatre, just for families!
SATURDAY – MONDAY
Kids Eat Free at IKEA in College Park, MD and Potomac Mills, VA
Need a new bookcase or other home goods? At least the kids meals are free! At IKEA this weekend Saturday-Monday, kids 12 and under can choose three kid-sized items to create a meal, including five meatballs, Mac N Cheese, PBJ sandwich, kid yogurt, two cookies, chocolate milk, regular milk and more! No adult purchase necessary. You can also drop your potty-trained young ones off at Småland (here’s my inside report on their free babysitting playland.) Just get there at 10:15am sharp to snag your place in line – it opens at 10:30am and often by 10:31 all the first spots are filled. You can leave them for 1 hour while you shop. My kids love love it and the staff at the College Park store is excellent.
Maryland Renaissance Festival
From 10am-7pm Saturdays and Sundays until October 25, and this Monday Labor Day too. We love to get medieval and geeky at RennFest. Children’s activities include puppet shows, mimes, acrobats, dancers, musicians and more. Mother Goose is walking around with the Fairy Godmother, there’s jousting competitions, jugglers, sword swallowers – it’s amazing. Of special interest are the performances of Robin Hood and Saint George and the Dragon, in which children from the audience play the main roles to the cheers and boos of the crowd. There’s a renaissance themed playground for children too. And of course, there are renaissance yummies and crafts and costumes all over the place. Some elements of songs or jokes can be a bit bawdy but they flew right over our little ones’ heads. Some people get waaaay into it and really fly their freak flags, awesome. There’s also ale stands all over the place for thirsty parents.
SATURDAY
The Adventure Theatre in Glen Echo Park’s Open House
From 11am-4pm, this fabulous children’s theater will have tons of free classes and activities for kids of all ages. Performances, storytimes, clowns, films, theater tours, a free Treasure Island pirate class, free popcorn and Giffords ice cream. Don’t miss this great day and be sure to sign your child up for an incredible Fall Class in The Adventure Playlab!
SATURDAY & SUNDAY
Trains and Planes at the College Park Aviation Museum
10am-5pm both days. The National Capital Trackers bring their fabulous model railroads to the museum. See all the mintiature trains, villages, tunnels, and depots free with museum admission.
Museum admission: $4/adults, $3/seniors, $2/ages 18 & under.
MONDAY
Labor Day Parade in Gaithersburg
Starts at 1pm – full details here.
Labor Day Parade & Festival in Kensington
Parade at 10am, festival after the parade until 3pm. This local parade is small and super fun, with a kids festival at the end. At St. Paul’s Park near downtown Kensington.
You know, I’m exhausted just typing all this fun stuff for families! And would you believe there’s even MORE fun on the APISS Calendar? Have a wonderful weekend.
