Dulles 28 Centre
22000 Dulles Retail Plz
Dulles, VA 20166 (map it)
(703) 904‑0001

One glimpse of this play area and I came to the conclusion that the chain stores of America have realized that some of the best ways to reach folks with small children is to provide a place where our kids can safely play while we sip a beverage and take a minute to regain our sanity, and have clean bathrooms with changing tables nearby.

I made an unplanned stop because the play area looked like a fun place to kill some time, and then made an unplanned purchase at Starbucks when we needed a potty stop. (Their master plan is working.)

This play area is the perfect place for pint-size mulch-eaters to lower their fiber intake — no mulch! This outdoor playground is surrounded first by a fence, then benches, then snack spots (Starbucks, PotBelly, Cold Stone… and Pei Wei if you’re willing to walk another 50 yards), and after that the parking lot. It offers fresh air without any actual contact with nature. My two year-old had fun, there were other kids to play with — even in the afternoon when most kids are home napping — and the place seemed well maintained. I especially appreciated the latching gate which reduces the likelihood of kids straying into the parking lot.

A local mom shared a site with me that could prove useful given all the upcoming summer movie screenings. kids-in-mind.com reviews movies and rates their appropriateness for children. I have looked over the reviews of a few movies we have seen recently and they seem to be accurate and thorough.

Summer Family Movie Screenings:

Regal (throughout the US including Ashburn, Alexandria, Fairfax, Fredericksburg, Manassas, Sterling and many other VA locations) See free movies on Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 10am. Show up early to get a seat! Click here for Maryland locations, including Frederick.

Tally Ho (Leesburg, VA) $1 Family Classics on Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 11am

Please drop us a line if you are aware of other theaters that have similar programs.

ETA: You can also check your local library for summer movie showings. I know LCPL has some scheduled. 

Sterling Community Center
120 Enterprise St.
Sterling, VA 20164 (map it)
(703) 430‑9480

This Friday (6/6/2008) from 9:30-11am is your last chance (until September) to catch what may be the best value in indoor play in Loudoun County.

I have been hearing about tot time at the Sterling Community Center for months, but this week was the first chance I have had to take the kids on a field trip there. I had three lucky little ones with me and was only charged $2. Yes, only $2

There were lots of ride-on toys, mats, a tunnel, some ramps and balls, trucks and toys, etc. There was a clean bathroom, friendly staff, and a volunteer ready to play. Plus, the other kids and moms seemed nice and ready to chat, though it’s not so easy to chat much when juggling three.

Kudos to the smart dad who brought a camp chair to sit in while watching his daughter play. (I should have told him he’d be famous!)

This offering seems to attract a younger crowd, so my 4 year-old was by far the oldest, biggest kid there. If you bring a kid on the older end of the safe spectrum you may need to remind him/her that the littler ones are not quite as steady on their feet or as experienced at sharing toys.

Sorry for the lack of pics… I can give you a smell instead of a sight, though. The room this event is held in holds a faint odor of years of smelly feet. You get used to it though.

Bowl America Dranesville
46940 Woodson Drive
Sterling, VA 20164 (map it)
(703) 430‑1350

We managed to avoid testing the food and the video games, but we did try out the lanes at Bowl America last weekend. The bumpers made the game more fun for my two and four year olds. And maybe I have been living with my head in the sand for the past 20 years, but they have a nifty device we have never seen before. It is a little ramp for kids to use to aim and release a bowling ball to give it the momentum it needs to get all the way down the lane. However, my kids though the bowling ball coming back to us backwards was even cooler. Maybe they have a tilt button or a puff of wind that an operator hits when they see a little one’s ball stuck mid-lane, but as far as we were concerned it was pure magic.

Even though it was a Saturday night the vibe was still pretty family friendly. I don’t bowl often and always forget how close you are to the folks in the next lane. Either we were lucky or the staff is thoughtful in assigning lanes, because our neighbors on both sides were patient with the kids and seemed to enjoy them.

Other tidbits parents might care about:

• Smoking is allowed after 5pm on Saturdays, but we didn’t feel like the place was too smokey for a short visit with our kids.
• The bathrooms were clean, but very narrow so a bit awkward for wrangling toddlers or changing diapers.

Dulles Town Center
21100 Dulles Town Circle
Dulles, Virginia 20166–2400

The Dulles Town Center’s play area is in the center of the mall’s upper level just outside the food court, and above the area where Santa and the Easter Bunny make their seasonal appearances. This play space truly delights my children. The only downside is that it always seems to be crowded when we go. The fact that children are not injured in the chaos more often is either a testament to the designer’s genius or the innate self preservation instincts of the 1–5 year olds of Loudoun County.

The mall also boasts a train and a carousel, neither of which have been tested by my crew. We do frequent the fish tank in the Nordstrom’s Kids Shoe Department though, and highly recommend a visit.

Algonkian Regional Park
47001 Fairway Drive
Sterling, Virginia (map it)
(703) 450‑4655

Cost: Free to enter, but some activities have fees

Ages: all

Drinking Fountain: not by the boat ramp, and I have not explored enough to find others.

Restroom: port-o-potty near the boat ramp and group picnic areas leaves much to be desired. We have not assessed the others.

Parking: Easy

Stroller-friendly: some areas, but I recommend a jogger or off-road stroller

Our experiences

Summer ’07: This summer we have spent more time paddling at Algonkian. There’s an easy ramp for put-in and also the option to hang out onshore and pick up litter, try to catch fish, and throw rocks in water. I generally have no problem paddling upstream a bit to go around the islands right there. Even if the wind picks up it is nice to just paddle upstream along the south shore of the river with the little ones.

Winter ’07: Yesterday the kids and I threw snowballs into the Potomac at As we drove in the kids (and the dog) squealed with delight at the sight of deer everywhere. We headed towards the boat ramp where we kayak and canoe in the summer, and parked by the soccer field. We did not see any other kids, but did see several folks eating lunch in parked cars and a photographer lugging around a lot of equipment. Both enjoyed throwing snowballs into the river until my little one walked right in — burr, cold little feet! After stopping by the car for a change and a snack we were off for a hike — we tried a trail we’d never found time to explore during our summer boating visits and found that we were very glad to be wearing non-cotton socks and we made our way through snow-melt and mud. We saw animal tracks in the snow, a few birds over the water, and my son scored a lost golf ball which is currently sitting in my dishwasher. I try to report back on how golf balls fair in dishwashers once the cycle is finished…

Other reviews/Feedback from others: There is also a golf course here which is not an area I am qualified to comment on.