Howard County Scavenger Hunt 2024

This year, we participated in the Howard County Recreation and Parks scavenger hunt. The hunt sent us all over the county, sometimes to businesses, sometimes to historic sites, sometimes to just plain fun sites. 

One of the challenges was to have a little dance routine. We did one at our studio, That's Dancing.

Posing with our teacher

The North Laurel Community Center is part of Howard County, so we fulfilled two other objectives by getting a snap at the skate park and one with an employee inside the center.

Luckily, we did not have to actually skate

At the front desk

By a sculpture

We were supposed to get pictures at outdoor art installations. The center's parking area has a spot that has hosted many different sculptures.

Another challenge was visiting libraries, which we did at the Savage branch. They have a nice garden.

Library garden

Pic with a "fREADom" sticker

At Savage Mill, we found more outdoor sculptures and a dog to pose with (finding five dogs was another challenge).

Outdoor sculpture #2

A dog in the game store

More outdoor art

We went to the lakefront and put our hats on the statues of the Rouse brothers. James Rouse was the real estate developer of Columbia, Maryland.

Join our team!

Playground by the lake

Another statue

Right by the lake is the Central Branch of the library, so we got some more pictures, including a stack of books sorted by rainbow color.

Reading rainbow!

Indoor art!

Not far away is the Charmery, an ice cream store, and GameOn, an arcade and bar combo.

Enjoying ice cream

Enjoying video games

GameOn's sign in the background

We were supposed to get pictures with a musical instrument and with a classic car. We found the car in our neighborhood and a uke in our house.

Strumming!

Carefully obscured license plate

We donated food at the county food bank, checking another item off the list.

Proof of generosity

Another business we went to was Black Flag Brewing Company. We got another picture with an employee there, along with some tasty beverages. The kids were with us and she asked them to tell jokes. Two of the three children complied! We also made a flag that did not come out well in photographs.

Employee and our flag

Our flag outside!

Next door was a dog training school which was closed on Saturday night.

No late night parties here

The next day, we went to Centennial Lake to get a picture by their amphitheater. We didn't get too close because some people were doing meditative yoga inside.

Rocking out at the amphitheater

We visited one of the old house of the county, Waverly Mansion. It is mostly used for events like weddings. It is also claimed to be haunted so we took a picture with a picture of the ghost.

Not quite visible

We also visited the Alpha Ridge Park and the Howard County Center for the Arts.

At Alpha Ridge

More outdoor art

In Ellicott City, we visited the Patapsco Female Institute, a boarding school from two hundred years ago. Since it was Sunday morning, they were not open.

Let us in!

We also visited the B&O Museum in town and took a pic with the train bridge from the early 1800s.

Museum entrance

Train bridge

The Robinson Nature Center was having a plant sale, so we bought some stuff and took some pictures there too.

I'm Spider-Man!

Photo with employee

Animal pic

Another animal pic

Back at home, we made dino puppets for a puppet show, another challenge we met.

Dragon, snake, or dinosaur?

We submitted our pics and videos. Later in the week we found out that we won! We got our picture at Parks and Rec HQ and on their Facebook page, along with a bunch of gift certificates to Howard County businesses.

Yay us!

Cute Kid Pix May 2024

More pictures that didn't make their own post...

May is the concert season for our school children. First, the eldest had a pops concert at the beginning of the month. His concert band played music from the recent Star Trek reboot. The Wind Ensemble played Led Zeppelin in Concert. Both were delightful.

Concert!

The eldest also had his driver's license test, which he passed. I watched a short bit of it from the sideline. Maryland has a long portion on actual roads, so I couldn't see everything.

Parking in the MVA parking lot

During one day of long errands, I stopped off at the Guinness Open Gate Brewery and had a quick lunch. I paired the caesar salad with Give It a Chai, a stout with chai spice flavor that was very delightful. I sampled the Pineapple Coconut Stout which only reaffirmed my theory that beer and fruit don't mix well (unless you are talking about a lime wedge in a Corona).

A quick lunch

The library had a program for kids to pet dogs, so my youngest went. He's a bit skittish around animals, so the experience was definitely a good one.

Not dual-wielding, but something like it

More concerts came the next week. My elementary scholar played his bass in the same auditorium where his older sister played her cello a day later.

Elementary Orchestra

High School Orchestra

We did not see any of the aurora borealis during those solar storms but we did see a sweet rainbow in our neighborhood.

A full arc?

My wife is the treasure at the end of the rainbow

The kids hiked by some rock formation while I was somewhere else. My wife got these pictures.

King of the mountain

Getting dethroned

Happy hiker

During a walk back from school, we spotted two new families in the neighborhood.

Traffic on the waterways

We went on a scout hike and discovered a big worm and the joys of a creek beach.

Centi- or Milli-?

Cricket Creek beach

Epic throw time!

Crossing the creek

Uh-oh!

Made it!

On the way out to celebrate our niece's graduation, we stopped off at South Mountain Creamery and had a treat along with a quick peek at the cows.

Shy about having a picture taken

Not shy about having a picture taken

Back at home, my youngest's school had their field day where everyone plays outdoor games. I volunteered to run the Buddy Walkers, which is a sort of synchronized ski walking. My son walked by once but did not play my game. Later, as he was packing to go home, I got a picture of him sitting in the principal's chair. He got it as a prize from a silent auction fundraiser--he got to use it for a week at his classroom desk.

As close as he got to me during field day

More festivities

Principal's chair in 4th grade!

I usually take a short cut walking back from school. One morning I caught some deer hanging out in our little woods.

A zoomed in shot

We visited Centennial Park in Columbia, Maryland, to do some geocaching and play at one of the playgrounds.

Working together

Do you think I want my picture taken?

A little relaxation

I visited my sister in Virginia and the only picture I took was of my steak at Outback Steakhouse. Whoops!

Sirloin with lobster mac!