Come buy used children and teen books, videos, and music at the Ashburn Library Advisory Board (ALAB) sale on Sat, June 27th, 10 am to 4:30 pm at Ashburn Library ( 43316 Hay Rd ). Prices from 50 cents to $2.

Contact Douglas Nelms at alab_volunteer@yahoo.com if you would like to volunteer to help with the book sale on June 27th or the set-up for the sale on June 26. Thanks in advance for your support of our library!

Eagletree Farm & Vineyard
15126 Harrison Hill Lane
Leesburg VA 20176 (map it)
(703) 777-5954 or (703) 851-0699

Loudoun Valleys Office of Rural Economic Development says:

Eagletree is a private setting with a personal touch.

These folks are right. Located off Rt. 15 north of Leesburg — you turn off 15 like you are going to Temple Hall Farm and then follow the U-PICK signs — the setting is so private that I at first felt like I was trespassing in someone’s back yard, but that is exactly what makes the picking experience so wonderful.

Eagle Tree’s pick your own blueberries are $4 per pound this year and worth every cent. They are tasty and the experience of picking is perfect. I have been twice and both times it was a serene experience. No chaos, no crowds, no shortage of blueberries… just a nice little family experience and some yummy blueberries to boot.

If you are looking to round out your blueberry picking experience with some literature for little people, check out Robert McCloskey’s Blueberries for Sal. It’s been a favorite since my childhood… so much so that I feel I am shortchanging my children if I don’t manage to hunt down their little metal buckets so that they can hear their blueberries go “Kerplunk!”

We love the Audubon Nature Fair, and look forward to attending each year. We picnic with friends, shop for gifts for upcoming events, meet bee keepers, learn about invasive species, find little creatures in the pond, make cardboard binoculars, enjoy performances geared at both kids and all ages and bask in being surrounded by such a wonderful crowd of folks.

This year’s fair will be held on Sunday, May 3, 2009 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and the details are all online.

EarthDay@Loudoun 2009 Family Festival will be held on Sunday, April 26th from 11-3 at the Willow Creek Farm by Clyde’s, 42920 Broadlands Blvd.  Vendors will be offering green services and goods.  Local artists will feature “green” works of art.  Proceeds from the event will support environmental efforts to reduce the county’s ecological footprint.

I wish the organizers and vendors great success and hope many Loudoun families are able attend!

I am saddened by the thought of reduced access to one of the nicest parks I have been to in Loudoun County. We have been a few times and really enjoyed it. I always meant to take the kids there more often, but the reality is that the park is out of our usual circuit and we have not been back in over a year. Despite my disappointment I completely understand how the town might feel frustrated by folks coming from elsewhere and then not picking up their trash. It happens all the time on my own front lawn. I don’t smoke, but I stoop to pick up cigarettes daily and there are always more. It makes me feel as mad as Goldie in Margie Palatini’s board book “Goldie is Mad” but there’s nothing I can do but accept the litter, pick it up, or throw a raging tantrum like Goldie. The town of Hamilton searched for an alternate solution. I hope it works for them, and that it is worth alienating all those angry moms.

The lesson here is pick up after yourselves, pick up after your kids, pick up after your dogs and pick up after the other fools who have not figured it out yet. I’d suggest to anyone who upset about Hamilton’s decision that the most powerful response out there is to teach our children to be more respectful of our shared spaces than whoever has been disrespecting them so much that a park is closing its doors to neighbors from the next town over.

I went walking at Olde Izaak Walton Park this morning with kid and dog and was tickled to see that the fence on the dog park has been completed. I was also greeted by this sign:

The dog park has a picnic table both inside and outside the fence. I’d be pleasantly surprised if it was a kid-friendly dog park, but I look forward to socializing my sweet beast, either way. Once the dog park is ready for use, the kids who come to Olde Izaak Walton to look at the ducks and geese will have one more attraction for their viewing pleasure.

Here’s photographic evidence of the progress that has been made:

For more info on the dog park you can reach the town of Leesburg by phone at (703) 737-7132. I also read on Everything and the Dog’s blog that their owner is involved with the group that will assist in maintaining the dog park, so she might be a good point person if you want to be involved in some way.

• Send child outside with paint and brush.
• Watch from comfy chair just inside the door.
• Remove gloves BEFORE the kid comes back inside.

Have fun!

While on their website you can bookmark the activities and printables for a rainy day. Have fun & pass the word along!

Here’s a glimpse at our other favorite exhibit at the aquarium in which a simulated wave breaks above and around you while you stay dry:

Below are a couple games we’ll be playing tomorrow with at our Inauguration Day play date.

Pin the Presidential Seal on Obama

Supplies:

• picture of Obama — we used a recent Time magazine cover — in conjunction with poster board and creativity
• small printouts of the US Presidential Seal
• painters tape

Crowded Metro Station

Supplies:

• one Hula hoop
• eager kids

The goal of this game is to see how many kids can stand inside a hula hoop. Next, we’ll see if they can walk across the room with the hula hoop at waist level. I am guessing the game will end when the kids start to disagree about alternate uses for the hula hoop…