So Very Vienna: Fun Spring Things to Share

We are having some spring fun these days. Sometimes together as a family, sometimes me and the Bug, and sometimes just me alone. All in all, we are trying to keep busy because we’ve learned that when we are all in the house too long, no one’s all that happy.

We went downtown to see my mom off on her bus back to New York. Before she left, we went to the free National Building Museum’s Building Zone for kids. It says the space is for kids age two and up, but I think Bug did just fine at nearly 14 months old and walking. She crawled up steps of the little house there, played with big (albeit dirty) rubber Legos and enjoyed rolling all sorts of trucks across the floor. I drove downtown with Bug’s new sunshade in place on the window, and kept rolling the windows down, forgetting it was there and mussing it all up.

This Saturday we went to the first Vienna Farmers Market of the season. Hooray! Not too much out yet, but we got amazing strawberries, some sweet potatoes and asparagus. Tons of plants there, and a balloon man that made a ladybug balloon animal for Ladybug! Score!

We spent this last week working on our yard. Ladybug is not to be without her trusty sticks while she walks. I went to the farm stand in the Pan Am shopping center, which turns into a firework stand in summer and then pumpkin stand in fall. I find their plants to be reliable, prices mostly comparable to around town (maybe a bit higher – I bought some herb seedings, but then saw that the basil plant paled in comparison to those at the Vienna Farmers Market for just 50 cents more). I also attacked several gigantic weeds in the yard, almost losing my glasses in the battle, and just Got It Done. I dare say we are recovering from our summer of neglect that our yard suffered last year when Ladybug was a newborn.

As for some Mothers Day, I had an early respite at Spa World in Centreville. This place is a trip – most literally, to Korea. It’s a traditional Korean bath house. One part is the bade pool – separated by gender, you go in au natural to a series of pools that have all these massage jets to soothe your muscles. Then you go into a co-ed area where you can lounge on floor mats between visits to one of seven poultice rooms, where temperatures generally range from 120 to 150 degrees. Each room has some kind of mineral or clay to help cleanse your system of toxins. Then you can snack on traditional Korean food and snacks. All in all, a nice and unique experience – don’t let the cheesy strip mall location fool you.

Finally, a plan for a new fun thing: my local blogger friend, NoVA Mommy, told me about“roller stoller skating“. That’s right, you read it correctly. Seemingly a stupid and dangerous idea, I am there later this month. It’s Thursday mornings in Manassas. I’m going to party like it’s 1985.  Stay tuned.

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