oct outing for 7 and 5, 3 yo girls, 4 yo boy

MrsSstrug

friends with kids are visiting weekend for Oct 21

Boo at the Zoo was vetoed.....($30 a person? really?)

i think playsuem might be too young for the older girls.

is there fun stuff at Brookside Gardens?( Glen EchoI have never been). what is the huge playground in Fairfax (with a merry go round or something?)

help

jenndreier

What about a trip to a local pumpkin patch?  They usually do hayrides, have maize mazes, boo barns cool stuff like that.  We do Larriland Farm every fall...

https://www.pickyourown.com/fallfestival.html

but there are others that are even closer to you.  This one is worth the drive in my opinion. 

I think the playground you're thinking of is Clemyjontri Park in McLean. 

https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/clemyjontri/playground.htm

Good luck and have fun, Jenn

Sofka

you should go to Cox Farms or another place that has a Fall Festival

 

Artslvr

When?  There are all sorts of fall festivals and pumpkin patch type things - see here:

https://www.our-kids.com/public/t/?f=5&s=129&t=285

(hint: click on the words Name or Address or State to sort - I usually sort by state)

The park you may be thinking of in Fairfax County is Burke Lake Park:  Merry-go-round, train ride, mini golf - very fun. 

Or you may be thining of Clemyjontri: https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/clemyjontri/ 

Fairfax County has all sorts of fun parks - there's Lake Accotink, Frying Pan Park, Hidden Pond - I don't know how far you want to travel.  You can search by feature here:  https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/parklocator.htm  Here are some of the major ones:  https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/wp-glance003.htm

I've never been to Glen Echo but it looks really cool.

MrsSstrug

it is weekend of Oct 21....and thanks for these links. Clemyjontri is the park i was thinking of (we have friends in Fairfax)

DCtoLowcountry

Brookside Gardens has beautiful grounds, a playground and a butterfly garden (access to the butterfly garden requires tickets I think). Glen Echo has children's shows - I'd check the calendar. Cabin John Park also has a minature train ride.

crazyDCbride

There is a carousel and mini train at the Wheaton Park, and a mini train at Cabin John.  I think the Wheaton park's playground is being renovated, though... not sure?   It's a nice walk from the Wheaton carousel/train to Brookside.

MrsPhilDunphy

Ohhh, fall farm festival time! We went to Montpelier Farms last year (might be a hike from you down in PG County) and there was a ton of stuff. A corn maze, animals, hay ride, etc.

I also just saw this deal for a place in Adamstown that is pirate-themed. 

tracy042206

If you wanted to do a pumpkin patch with a lot of extra fun things for the older kids then Butler's Orchard up in germantown has a lot of stuff like that along with the hayride.  A more sedate outing with a hayride and pumpkin patch would be Homestead Farm - our fave for the younger kids who don't really get to do the other stuff.

The McClean Park (Clemyntre....whatever spelling) is a lot of fun and there is a carousel, but if not for the carousel the Germantown park with the Adventure playground is just as nice for the older kids if you wanted to stay closer to home.

 A nice webiste you can check out closer to the date for more area stuff to is Macaroni Kids Rockville.  They have a nice calendar feature but it only goes out a few weeks at a time.  They would list any special activities in the area at places like the Meadowside Nature Center or evening fun stuff or Halloween parties etc.

WinesNot Whines

What about a regular trip to the zoo? That's free.

Glen Echo has a great carousel, puppet shows, and other things for kids.

MrsSstrug

WinesNot Whines:

What about a regular trip to the zoo? That's free.

Glen Echo has a great carousel, puppet shows, and other things for kids.

 

thanks all for these great suggestions! reg trip to zoo is on the table too but we have already done national zoo with this set of friends....looking for some other options.

vml14

I vote for fall festival, too, but as a backup incase of bad weather, kids LOVE the natural history museum.  I went with my 6 yo nephew, 4 yo niece and 1.5 yo daughter this spring, and all of them absolutely loved it!  It was actually really neat to see how at the different ages they all got something different out of the exhibits.  They LOVED the mammals room!