February is a great time to make snowmen and drink hot chocolate start thinking about summer camp. Dulles Town Center is hosting a summer camp and activities fair on Saturday February 26 and Sunday February 27, 2011. It’s a perfect opportunity for those who wish to meet representatives from many local camps at once.

If you like to do your researching online, here are a few local options to check out:

YMCA Summer Camp

My six year-old tried a week of nature day camp at Camp Highroad last August and he loved it. I signed him up thinking a full day camp experience might be helpful in the transition to first grade, and he came home completely exhausted and missing some item he had taken with him (lunch box, socks, towel, etc.) every day. I’m not sure I’ll send him again, but he can’t wait to go back. They offer before and after care, which allows for working parents to drop off and pick up without taking time away from the office.

Audubon Society Nature Camps

The Audubon Nature Society (ANS) is my go-to source for nature-based early education in the DC Metro area. They offer camps at the Broadlands Nature Center in Ashburn, the Rust Nature Sanctuary in Leesburg, and the Woodend Nature Sanctuary in Chevy Chase, MD. Both my kids enjoyed first camp experiences at the Rust Nature Sanctuary in Leesburg. The camps are small enough to be intimate, true to ANS’ mission of connecting people with nature in the DC Region, are lots of fun, and manage to stay low key enough not to overstimulate and exhaust the average child to the point of meltdown. To preview the ANS style of working with kids, I encourage you to stop by their annual Spring Nature Fair.

Vacation Bible School (VBS)

I know very little about the many vacation bible school options, but from what I hear the local churches often offer summer camps quite cheaply, so if budget and/or faith are a top priority, VBS might be a fit for your family. The following churches have offered vacation bible schools in past years. You can check their websites for 2011 information as summer approaches.

• Ashburn Presbyterian
• Bethel Presbyterian (Leesburg)
• Blueridge Bible Church (Purcellville)
• Cornerstone Chapel, (Leesburg)
• Hamilton Baptist Church
• Loudoun Bible Church (Ashburn)
• Our Saviour’s Way Lutheran Church (Ashburn)
• Purcellville Baptist Church
• St. Francis deSales Catholic Church (Purcellville)
• St. James Episcopal (Leesburg)

There are many other options!

• C3 Cyber Club (Ashburn)
• Destiny Preschool for the Arts (Leesburg)
• Ida Lee Summer Camp (Leesburg)
• Loudoun County (guide available online 3/4/2011 includes camps @ Douglass and Claude Moore)
• Red Gate Farm (Hamilton)
• Sportrock (Sterling, ages 9+)

You can also search the American Camp Association database of ACA accredited camps if you are looking for camps for a specific activity or age group.

Please don’t hesitate to use the comments feature to share your Loudoun County area camp offerings or camp experiences. The more local families who post, the better this resource becomes for all of us!

Now that we are fostering a dog I meet local families at adoption day each weekend and some have shared stories of recently losing a pet. I tear up when I hear them. Our wonderful vet is involved in a Pet Remembrance Candle Lighting Ceremony in Leesburg next week, and I offered to help get the word out. The event will be held at St. James’ Episcopal Church (14 Cornwall Street NW Leesburg 20176) at 6:00 P.M. on Friday March 5th. The deadline to include your pet’s photo in the slideshow has passed, but you and your family can still attend to remember a pet together and put a picture of your pet on the Memory Board. Here are some details straight from the flier:

If you have questions you can reach Dr. Krisi Erwin of the Leesburg Veterinary hospital at this email address.

The annual Bluemont fair is coming up again this weekend (9–19 & 20). Here’s the scoop from two years ago. Please remember to check their website for this year’s details!

Valerie Cook of Better Choices, a vendor participating in Earth Day @ Loudoun 2009, asked me to pass the following announcement along:

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!

Active Family Services, LLC is proud to announce our new Loudoun Family Calendar. This is the resource I dreamed of when I new to the area, new to staying at home with my children, and new to mothering two children. I hope it will help other parents and childcare providers to easily find places & events to share with their favorite little ones on days when they feel the need to get out of the house and connect with others.

We make every effort to ensure that the information on our calendar is up to date and easy to use; however, we recommend that you double-check event details with the location. If you would like to suggest an addition to the calendar or notice an error, please contact us. As with our other informational services this calendar is made possible by our local sponsors. Thank you for your support!