The Launch of Google Calendar

Have you checkout out our page lately? Did you notice a little link to our Google Calendar?

Google Calendar offers a great opportunity for posting events. Using this application, not only can I post events from a remote location, but now, Google is essentially keeping a calendar for me. So, you can also view past events.

I really like that this feature is live on my page. The thing I don't like is the inability to show links on the calendar. So, you can no longer just click the link for the event sponsor.

Both calendars will be maintained until either Google allows links on their calendar descriptions, until I get tired of updating both, or until you give me feedback about which you prefer.

I hope some of you were able to attend the Camp & Activities event at Fair Oaks Mall this past weekend. It seems to have been very informative.

Nature Find and Alligator Feeding

I started Childrens-Events.com because I thought there should be a central place to find local events to attend that were kid-friendly. There are so many amazing activities happening all around us. Yet, either because of poor advertising or for whatever reason, so many great events get missed.

Childrens-Events.com was to be that place where you go to find all local events and activities. Many of the events I post are outdoors, but so many more are indoor events.

I came across a great site today. It's called NatureFind.com. Isn't their logo beautiful?! I love it!

• "NatureFind is a content database for Natural Places and Events. The NatureFind system is automated for efficiency, every entry is reviewed by an editor for quality and appropriateness. Over 7,000 places have been selected (parks, nature centers, botanical gardens, zoos. Over 150,000 events are featured each year (nature walks, guided canoe trips, ranger talks, star gazing, animal showcases).
• "The National Wildlife Federation, the nation's largest wildlife conservation organization, is NatureFind's Conservation Sponsor. Working together, NWF's Be Out There program and NatureFind are helping millions of viewers connect with nature."

ChildrensEvents.com is a small, mom-owned website. NatureFind.com is an amazing database compiled by professionals who work at it for a living, 24/7.
Check it out - they even boast an iPhone application! I'm downloading it right now!

I hope you'll continue to check our website regularly for events in the Northern Virginia Area, even though we don't have a phone application.

Currently, there is a cool event happening in Leesburg, VA called Alligator feeding at Banshee Reeks Nature Preserve. I didn't find confirmation of the event on their website, but a local paper had the following dates:

• Wed 1/20 at 3pm
• Thu 1/21 at 3pm
• Fri 1/22 at 3pm
• Sat 1/23 at 3pm
• Sun 1/24 at 3pm
• Mon 1/25 at 3pm
• Tue 1/26 at 3pm
• Wed 1/27 at 3pm
• Thu 1/28 at 3pm
• Fri 1/29 at 3pm
• Sat 1/30 at 3pm
• Sun 1/31 at 3pm

The description of the event reads: "See alligators leaping for food and hear their amazing strength as they bite into their food with powerful jaws."

Banshee Reeks Nature Preserve is located at 21085 The Woods Road, Leesburg, VA, 20177.
Their phone number is 703-669-0316 and their web address is http://www.bansheereeks.org.

Please double-check the dates and times with the Preserve prior to attending and if you attend, please submit some photos of your adventure for our blog! Personally, we'll be passing on this particular event. The description is enough for me - crunch!

A Kid-friendly Valentine's Day Activity

January 15 - February 6, 2010, partner with Chick-fil-A in supporting our troops who are serving right now in remote regions of Iraq and Afghanistan. For every box you and I fill with our troops' most-needed items, Chick-fil-A will ship those items to those serving abroad. The box is called GIFTS FROM HOME. Here's how it works:

1. Go to any Chick-fil-A and pick up an empty box and a list of "Most Requested Items." Participating locations include Sterling, Reston, and Chantilly.
2. Collect needed items from the list and fill the boxes. DO NOT seal the box.
3. (OPTIONAL) Consider donating $11.50 to cover shipping costs for each box. Contributions may be made online at www.freedomalliance.org or mailed to:
   

Freedom Alliance Support Our Troops
22570 Markey Court
Suite 240
Dulles, VA 20166
In the memo line of your check please write "Chick-fil-A"
4. Drop off your full box(es) and receive a FREE Chick-fil-A Chicken Sandwich for each filled box.

Most requested items include:
Toiletries
Pre-Paid International Calling Cards
Non-Perishable Snacks
Magazines, Books, and Movies
Personal Letters
Cards of Encouragement
Energy/Protein Bars
Wet Wipes and Lip BalmValentine's Day is about showing how much we care. Let's extend that sentiment to our troops this Valentine's Day!

More 411 Bang For Your Buck

Are you ever out on the road and find that you have to call a place who's number is not in your speed dial?

What do you do?

Do you try to go online to find the number or do you blatantly pay the dollar and change that your cell company probably charges you to call 411? Only to find out that the place is either not listed or you don't have the proper spelling?

Well, Google has the solution! They have brought out their own 411 number and the best part is, it's F-R-E-E! That's right. You don't have to spend a single dime on information anymore.

Simply call 1-800-Goog-411. Give them the city and state and the name of the place and voila! They will connect you for free. You can also ask that they text message you the numbers so you have it for future reference. How cool is that?

Don't believe me? Check out this link here (http://www.google.com/goog411) for a short demo or try it yourself - afterall, it is FREE!

The Daring Book for Girls

I recently learned of this book and it's premise and I gotta say, I love it!

I think everyone should buy this book for every girl in their family! This book is about teaching today's girls to be like we were when we were kids. To be free and interesting girls, untethered to electronics.

I love the introduction in the book written by Andrea J. Buchanan & Miriam Peskowitz. It's so good I'm gonna re-write it here for you even though it's on their website. It reads:

"We were girls before the Web, cell phones, or even voicemail. Telephones had cords and were dialed, by, well, actually dialing. We listened to records and cassette tapes - we were practically grown-ups before CDs came to pass - and more often than not, we did daring things like walk to school by ourselves. Ride our banana-seat bikes to the local store. Babysit when we were still young enough to be babysat ourselves. Spent hours on our own, playing hopscotch, or tetherball, building a fort in our rooms, or turning our suburban neighborhood into the perfect setting for covert ops, impromptu ball games, and imaginary medieval kingdoms.

Girls today are girls of the twenty-first century, with email accounts, digital cable, iPods, and complex video games. Their childhood is in many ways much cooler than ours - what we would have given for a remote control, a rock-climbing wall, or video chatting! In other ways, though, girlhood today has become high- pressured and competitive, and girls are inducted into grownup-hood sooner, becoming tweens and teens and adult women before their time.

In the face of all this pressure, we present stories and projects galore, drawn from the vastness of history, the wealth of girl knowledge, the breadth of sport, and the great outdoors. Consider the Daring Book for Girls a book of possibilities and ideas for filling a day with adventure, imagination - and fun. The world is bigger than you can imagine, and it's yours for the exploring - if you dare.

Bon Voyage."

So, don't wait any longer. Get your hands on this book and pass it on! Consider it a right of passage for your daughter, grand daughter, niece, cousin, or friend's daughter; sorta like passing on the family recipe book. I can't wait to start going through it with my daughter. I know I will learn new things as well.