Artomatic opens tonight, May 18, at 6pm. Artomatic 2012 is a month-long art festival in the DC area that is “by artists, for everyone,” with no charge for admission or workshops.
This year’s event is a Crystal City office building scheduled to be demolished, featuring 10 floors of art by more than 1,000 artists. of every medium. Visual art, music, performance, film, fashion, and more are highlighted. Workshops, tours, seminars and other events are held all month long.
Special events for kids – click the links for full description and to RSVP/reserve your child’s spot for these completely free programs:
This Sunday, take a stroll with your family for an important cause, Research Down Syndrome (RDS), and in memory of a beloved local son, brother and small but mighty RDS champion who passed away this year.
A Walk for Flynn Sunday, May 20, 2012 at 9:00 AM North Lake Center at 15101 Bauer Drive in Rockville, Maryland (this is the holding school for Beverly Farms ES, previously known as Manor Lake ES).
Donation: $20 per person. Make checks payable to Research Down Syndrome (RDS)
What to Wear: Navy Blue and Kelly Green – Team Flynn colors!
Rain Date: Sunday, June 2.
Why We Come Together: To honor and remember Flynn Thomas Fry. We want to help keep Flynn’s spirit alive, and also contribute the family’s favorite charity, Research Down Syndrome (RDS).
Walk Details:
The Walk for Flynn will take place around Lake Frank, located in the Manor Lakes neighborhood off of Bauer Drive. After our walk, we will provide a light breakfast for everyone before they head off to their other Sunday activities.
The walking paths around Lake Frank are not hard to maneuver, and there are only a few hills to climb. The entire walk around the lake is about four miles, with a few interesting creek crossings on big stones. For the seasoned walker/hiker, it takes about an hour. We will have an alternate route that is shorter and easier for the less-seasoned walker and children.
My IRL friend Jean, writer of the pee-your-pants funny blog Stimeyland, has a son who plays hockey for a unique team for kids with developmental disabilities, the Montgomery Cheetahs. Jean says of the Cheetahs, “It means everything to us.”
Jean has three kids. I have three kids. The scheduling and driving and commitment required of us parents for our kids’ extracurricular activities is daunting. Admittedly, I would rather ditch the whole process and go play soccer as a family in the backyard, or take the kids along to a wine festival to play in the gravel while I savor a Sauvignon Blanc. Of course I don’t do that. Just like you parents out there, I sign up, pay for and drive my kids to multiple activities each which enrich their development, confidence and joy.
But when you hear the words, “It means everything to us,” from a fellow mom who willingly gets up on weekend mornings before the sun for games and practices, invests in oodles of expensive hockey gear, and oh yeah, has two other sons with their own interests and activities you know this local activity provider must completely rock.
So my family and I are definitely hitting this fabulous fundraiser and family skate event on Saturday May 12 from 5-7 pm at the Rockville Ice Arena. People can come out and skate for a couple hours, or cheer the skaters on and eat snacks from the rink restaurant (what Alice and I will be doing as Chris/Dad, Charlie and Eve get their skate on). We can all also participate in a raffle for Disney tickets, Nintendo 3DS systems, and more prizes aimed at the family demographic, and donate to the Cheetahs if you are so inclined. I am so inclined.
You can register for the event in advance. 100% of the money raised will fund ice expenses for the Cheetah program. If you pony up $50 at their donation site (a very fair price for a night out for your family) you can send a shout out to your favorite Cheetah (Go Jack!) and get a Cheetahs t-shirt.
Having just turned 37, I myself look forward to wearing a cheetah tee while doing errands around town. (Oh wait, it’s the cougar that is the wild cat symbol of a hot older woman. Hmm, maybe I can start a new pop culture name that a cheetah is a not-overly-worked-out-but-takes-care-of-herself professional woman and mother who gets sh*t done?? Do you think that will catch on??)
The Montgomery Cheetahs are a non-profit organization offering an adapted ice hockey program for young people with developmental disabilities, such as autism and Down syndrome. More than 100 youth have participated in the program since its founding in 2006.
I highly recommend this retreat, hosted by my friend and personal wellness coach Cristie Ritz King of Real Life Wellness. Her sessions have inspired me to take better care of my body. Her informative, personally tailored counsel has taught me how to increase healthy greens and plant-based proteins in my diet for increased energy, health and mood. She has offered a good deal of advice that has made it easy for me to decrease my caffeine and alcohol consumption, and get more sleep and exercise (and these were hurdles I have been fighting for years). I credit her guidance in losing 10 more postpartum pounds.
This retreat also includes so many restorative goodies: massage therapy! guided meditation! and more. Register before May 15 to receive $50 off the retreat price!
The retreat will be hosted by Cristie Ritz King, M. Ed, CHCof Real Life Wellness. Cristie received her training from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition where she studied more than one hundred dietary theories and a variety of practical lifestyle coaching methods. She offers her clients simple solutions and plans that work when they are trying to balance challenging, hectic, REAL lives.
P.S. Cristie is a Silver Spring native and former parent in Silver Spring. She is old my MOMS Club buddy and current blogging mama colleague — check our her parenting site, The Right Hand Mom. Cristie now lives in the New Jersey suburbs with her family.
On Friday, April 27, the Newseum will open the HP New Media Gallery, an interactive experience that uses the latest technology to allow visitors to physically step into a social network that shows media’s powerful impact on our world. Live Twitter feeds fill touch-screen monitors and connect visitors with trending news stories. The 2,500-square-foot gallery is the first permanent addition to the museum since its grand opening in 2008.
As visitors enter the gallery, they are directed to the “Check-In” area, where they can post photos of themselves to screens in the gallery and comment on events of the day. At two 11-foot-wide interactive touch walls, visitors are encouraged to explore dozens of important news events and viral videos, including the first Twitter reports of the 2008 China earthquake and the Facebook posts that fueled the Egyptian revolution in 2011.
In the “Choose the News” area, visitors can flip through the latest stories and build custom news pages, then publish them to a large video wall. The “Game Zone” features motion-tracking technology that allows visitors to use hand gestures to test their knowledge of social media.
SATURDAY APRIL 28
Fenton Street Market returns to Veterans Plaza in downtown Silver Spring on April 28, from 10:00am – 4:00pm! Every Saturday through October 27, over 60 local vendors a week will showcase their wares: original artwork, handmade and imported crafts, antiques, jewelry, furniture, vintage clothing, unique services such as acupuncture and henna tattoos, and much more. Community programming will include a screen printing demonstration by Pyramid Atlantic, an interactive model train exhibit by the Riverdale Model Train Club, and music by market favorites Snakehead Run and Israel Dempsey. Veterans Plaza is located in front of the Silver Spring Civic Building, at the intersection of Fenton St. and Ellsworth Dr., Silver Spring, MD 20910.
SATURDAY APRIL 28 & SUNDAY APRIL 29
USA Science and Engineering Festival
Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Washington, D.C.
April 28: 10:00am-6:00pm
April 29: 10:00am-4:00pm
Admission FREE
This huge and awesome free festival which features over 3,000 hands-on science and engineering activities, and more than 100 stage shows on six stages! It’s a science loving family’s dream! Attendees can operate state-of-the-art robots; converse with astronauts, Nobel Laureates, storm chasers, science celebrities like Bill Nye the Science Guy or the MythBusters and even scientists of the past; fly a fighter jet simulator; enter a virtual reality environment, be a CSI agent and so much more. Students can also leave with information about science and engineering scholarships, internships, mentorship and future jobs.
Before you go, be sure to download the FREE USA Science and Engineering Festival App. It lists all activities, stage shows, 36 Featured Authors, and gives you a map and more. The app is available for both iPhone and Android.
Highlight for Young Kids
Visit the PBS Kids Sid the Science Kid Booth for fun hands on activities for children all day, a photo opportunity with the Sid the Science Kid costume character, see Sid the Science Kid will perform his “Science is Everywhere” singalong on the Curie Stage on Saturday at 10:50am and 12:50pm and Sunday at 10:00am and 11:50pm, and be entered to win a Sid the Science Kid collection of merchandise drawing each day.
Also, leave a comment on this post to win one of TWO copies of the Sid’s Backyard Campout DVD! The winners will be randomly drawn in one week.
Artomatic opens tonight, May 18, at 6pm. Artomatic 2012 is a month-long art festival in the DC area that is “by artists, for everyone,” with no charge for admission or workshops.
My IRL friend Jean, writer of the pee-your-pants funny blog 
of Real Life Wellness. Cristie received her training from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition where she studied more than one hundred dietary theories and a variety of practical lifestyle coaching methods. She offers her clients simple solutions and plans that work when they are trying to balance challenging, hectic, REAL lives.
Photo credit: Sam Kittner/Newseum
