Celebrate National Carousel Day in Prince George's County!

Photo courtesy of National Harbor

Overlooking the Potomac River at National Harbor

Did you know that Thursday, July 25, is National Carousel Day? Aren't we lucky to have two awesome carousels to choose from here in Prince George's County, MD?!

National Harbor opened their new carousel and children's play area earlier this summer. We had a chance to visit on opening weekend and really loved it! It's so fun to ride the carousel and look out over the water.

Starting at 10am on Thursday, National Carousel Day, National Harbor will have stilt walkers, face painting, balloon artists, unicyclists all along the water from the carousel to the Plaza. Plus, one of our favorite children's bands, Milkshake, will be performing!


Carousel passes are usually $3 per ride or $5 all day, but on Thursday, you can ride all day for $3 with a purchase from a National Harbor retailer. (I hear Ben & Jerry's, CakeLove or the Peeps Store calling your name!!).

Our other favorite carousel in Prince George's County is the Chesapeake Carousel at Watkin's Park. It's $1.50 per person per ride.

Happy National Carousel Day in Prince George's County!


Original post by Out by Ten. Thanks for reading!

ICE! and Christmas on the Potomac

Filling up on Ogre pops and Ogre milk with other bloggers and their families before getting started!

Have you been to ICE! yet? Thanks to this little 'ole blog, our family had the incredible opportunity to attend for free this year and we had a BLAST! In past years we've participated in different aspects of Christmas on the Potomac, but we hadn't ever been to ICE! Now that we have experienced ICE! I can promise it won't be our last time!

It's not too late for you to make Christmas on the Potomac a new family tradition, too! It continues through January 6!

As you may have heard, it's really, really cold inside ICE! -- 9 degrees to be exact. We bundled up in our warmest clothes and happily donned the bright blue loaner parkas but were still just a bit chilly. Actually, Abel passed on the parka touting the cold rating of his winter coat. Um, he regretted that decision!

The sculptures themselves were truly incredible. The kids (as a 6 and 2yo are wont to do) were trying to race to the next thing and so I had to keep up with them, but I could have lingered a lot longer to really take in and appreciate the sculptures. In fact, I recommended ICE! to friends with an 18mo but suggested they get a sitter and make it a date night.

Nathaniel LOVES Puss in Boots so this was his favorite! I mean look at those details -- incredible, right?

We all gave the ice slides a go. I, however, was really, really bad at it! I guess I assumed since it was ice I'd slide right down and so I didn't really get my legs up in the air (as instructed!) so I kind of scooted down. Abel got a good laugh at that one!

By the last room, the boys were cold and ready to be done. But I could have spent a lot of time here. This nativity scene was truly breath taking!

One of my favorite parts of the Gaylord is just being at National Harbor. After ICE! we (literally in this case!) rolled around the grounds for a bit!

Then we went back inside, met Gingy and decorated a gingerbread train!

Then rolled around a little more!

By then Nathaniel was pooped. Plus, he's kind of terrified of costumed people (including Santa!) so Lucas and I had some bonding time with the character meet and greet. Lucas is just the perfect age for this -- his smile got bigger and bigger with each character!

ICE! -- definitely a new holiday tradition for our family!

I was provided free tickets for my family to attend these events but all opinions are my own! ICE! and Christmas on the Potomac are open until January 6, 2013.

Original post by Out by Ten. Thanks for reading!

Where to Buy Local this Holiday Season

Illustration by Ray Vella via

Are you thinking of buying local this holiday season? Here are three awesome opportunities to support local Prince George's County enterprises!



Community Forklift

Community Forklift is celebrating Green Friday and Small Business Saturday with a store wide sale, free workshops, hot cider and cookies! November 23-25all regularly-priced items at the Forklift and in the Salvage Arts Department are 20% off!! What a perfect opportunity to find something special for that impossible-to-buy for person on your list! Or, purchase what you need to make your dreams of a DYI Holiday come true!


Franklin's Restaurant Brewery and General Store

Franklin's is celebrating Small Business Saturday and their 20th Anniversary on Saturday, November 24 by having a Sooper Dooper Saturday Sale and Celebration. EVERYTHING in the General Store will be 20% off from 10am until 10pm. This is one of our absolute favorite places to find cool and unique gifts for everyone on our list!


Cheverly Community Market 

The Cheverly Community Market will host an extra-special Holiday Market on Saturday, December 8 from 9am until 1pm. Their Thanksgiving Market was jam packed with incredible local vendors and artisans and the Holiday Market is sure to be even better. What a great opportunity to talk with and meet the farmers, producers, bakers and artists behind special gifts for your loved ones.

How, when and where are you buying local this holiday season?

 

 



Original post by Out by Ten. Thanks for reading!

Dreaming of Christmas on the Potomac

On Saturday we got a little reprieve from the heat with temps in the 70s but I still shook my head at the women I saw wearing jeans and sweaters. What? Did they think it was winter?

But then I stepped into my own winter wonderland at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center at National Harbor when I was lucky enough to get a sneak preview of Christmas on the Potomac 2012!

Just a small part of the Winter Wonderland the folks at Gaylord created for us!

We're longtime fans of Christmas on the Potomac. Three years ago, we visited for the indoor snowfall, light display and train. Last year, I took Lucas on a special daytime "date" to meet and greet the DreamWorks' characters and do a scavenger hunt.

But this year I definitely want to do it up big and go to ICE! Shrek the Halls. I've heard so many reports from friends about how awesome it is and this year they're doing it even bigger and even better. This year's theme Shrek the Halls (who doesn't love that adorable ogre?) will be constructed of 2 MILLION pounds of ice.



Not to mention, beyond ICE! they're bringing back all the incredible Christmas decor, train, gingerbread decorating, fountain show, indoor snow (for real! It's magical!!) and more.

And as easy as it is for us to get to National Harbor, I'll tell you what I'm really dreaming about: enjoying the hotel package as a special get-away for the four of us. (Yeah, I'll keep on dreaming that dream....who knows, maybe it will come true someday!!!!)

I know it's hard to start thinking about Christmas when you've just started your back to school shopping, but for you planners or bargain-hunters, there's a great deal going on right now. Tickets for ICE! are already on sale and there are great early bird specials going on. Won't it be nice, come December, to have one thing checked off your list already?

And the awesome thing for us locals is that we can so easily visit during a non-peak date -- missing out on the massive crowds and getting an awesome discount!

Okay, now I'm off to keep on dreaming about all that ice...maybe it will cool me down today!


Disclaimer: I was invited to a special sneak-preview of Christmas on the Potomac and enjoyed a winter wonderland and yummy treats plus two gingerbread-making kids for my kids. However, I was not required to blog about it and was not compensated in any way. All opinions are my own.

 
Original post by Out by Ten. Thanks for reading!

How to Train Your Dragon

As you know, my family and I were offered free tickets to attend the How to Train Your Dragon LIVE! Spectacular at the Verizon Center last night. Unfortunately, due to a family emergency, my boys are out of town so we couldn't go. (Trust me, I was SO tempted to go alone but I would have felt terrible enjoying the show without Lucas and Nathaniel.) Instead I sat at home reading all the amazing tweets from my friends who were there.

My discount code (MOM) still works so if you're on the fence you can still buy tickets!

Here are what a few of my other blogger friends have to say about the incredible show:

Thien-Kim at I'm Not the Nanny says you'll love it even if you haven't seen the movie. (KIM! It's a fantastic movie -- rent it today!!)

Robin at The Not-Ever-Still Life enjoyed it because she's a "visual cataloger."

If you go, let me know. I'd love to hear about your experience!


Original post by Out by Ten. Thanks for reading!

Dreamworks' How to Train Your Dragon Live Spectacular + Discount Code

Two things:

1. We are huge fans of the Dreamworks movie How to Train Your Dragon. Six year old Lucas loves the movie and, quite frankly, so do I!

2. I was really disappointed that I didn't learn about Walking with Dinosaurs until it had already left DC.

So when I heard that How to Train Your Dragon Live Spectacular was coming and that it was even bigger and better than Walking with Dinosaurs, I knew we had to get tickets.

Disclosure: I was offered free tickets for my family to attend this special event. But all opinions are 100% my own. And I'll definitely write an unbiased review after the show for you, too!

Eeeeeeek! I am so excited! We'll be going on Thursday, July 19 (join us!) and the show will be in DC through the 22nd at the Verizon Center. (It's also playing across the country through February.)

I have to admit that I have trouble conceptualizing big things -- like suspension bridges and skyscrapers -- and after reading this description, I'm having a little bit of trouble conceptualizing this show....

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON LIVE SPECTACULAR breaks every rule of theatrical entertainment to fully immerse audiences into the show in ways that have not been attempted before. Barely contained within the arena, HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON LIVE SPECTACULAR utilizes the full venue, maximizing every dimension of the performance space to transport audiences into a mythical world of fire-breathing dragons who soar overhead at great speeds. The state-of-the-art animatronic technology and large-scale cinematic projections interact seamlessly with the live actors, who bring DreamWorks Animation’s heart-warming story to life through theatrical storytelling, martial arts and acrobatics. It's not to be missed!

Can you imagine it? I mean the Verizon Center is BIG. Really big. Even though I can't quite grasp it--or maybe because I can't quite grasp it--I can't wait for it! I haven't told Lucas yet, but when I do, that boy is going to lose. his. mind.

So here's the thing, regular ticket prices range from a low of $29.50 to a high of $69.50 (excluding fees). A limited number of premium seats and special VIP ticket experiences and family packages are also available.  Click here to purchase tickets, for show times and much more. Click here for details on how to meet the dragons as well as other VIP opportunities! 

BUT here's the even better thing: Not only did the lovely folks putting on this little (haha!) show offer me free tickets, they're offering my readers 25% off tickets for all weekday performances -- even Friday night! Just enter the code MOM in the promo box which says "MOMMY BLOG." Note: this code is actually good for tickets for any location across the country (so save this post if your location isn't on sale yet!).

I'm just going to leave you with one more little fun fact: Toothless (we all adore Toothless, right?) weighs over 7,500 pounds and flies over 1.2 miles throughout the performance. Um, that's equivalent to a Range Rover soaring through the arena. Wow!



Original post by Out by Ten. Thanks for reading!

Now on Facebook!

I'm so happy to announce that you can get the best of Out by Ten (and much, much more!) now on Facebook! I'm calling the new page "Family Friendly Prince George's" because that's really what we're all about here at Out by Ten.

I'm now a full-time work-outside-the-home mom and while we're still going on TONS of family adventures, making time for the adventures (verses making time for writing about them!) has taken priority in my life right now.

But have no fear! Our new Facebook page is a great resource for all the wonderful family-friendly stuff happening in Prince George's County and the greater Metro DC area. Be sure to check out the Out by Ten archives (see those handy categories over there ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~>>>) for lots of great ideas.

Please head on over to our Facebook page and give me a great big "like!"


I'll see you on your wall soon!



Original post by Out by Ten. Thanks for reading!