Hello!

It's the 9th edition of The Little Loop Newsletter by Clovie. Happy Back-to-School in Montgomery County and DC Northwest. Here is your first weekend of the school year, as we desperately hold on to the pool still being opened.

We intended to celebrate Back-to-School, but our little guy was sick and missed the first day of his new 3's classroom. Shoutout to his grandparents for covering for us (hi Mom!). He already told us he'd be sick again so he can go back to his grandparents' house (must be nice).

I also filled you in last week that we converted his crib to a toddler bed. So far, not too bad...knock on wood. He's come out of his room only a few times, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy him crawling into bed with us (I'm sure I'll eat my words later, but let me live!).

And quick PSA: children under 5 years old should not use slime! We bought slime at the CAMP store and I had to throw out his clothes from the mess. Apparently other parents knew tiny hands aren't meant for slime yet; I wasn't one of them. If you follow Clovie on Instagram (@clovie.kids) you already heard my rant.

TLDR: We went digging for the good stuff this week. Curious George: Let's Get Curious! at the National Children's Museum, the Summers Farm Flower Festival, pedal boats at Black Hill Regional Park, mini golf at Bohrer Park, and the Great Falls Overlook boardwalk with a beer-garden reward after. Plus another Clovie update.

Growing Clovie

Today is our 3-month anniversary since going live with Clovie! I'm so proud of the numbers: over 10,000 parents have used cloviekids.com to find kids activities, over 2,000 followers on Instagram (@clovie.kids), 200+ Little Loop subscribers, and 100+ businesses signed up on the Clovie directory. And there's so much more to come.

Just Show Up
​No tickets, no plan. Just go.

​Black Hill Regional Park (Boyds)​
​All ages · Free to enter, pedal boats $12 per half hour · First come, first serve · No reservation​
The pedal boats are the move for little ones: stable, easy, and life jackets come with every rental. Paddle out on 505-acre Little Seneca Lake and watch for turtles, herons, and the occasional bald eagle, then hit the playground. Kayaks, canoes, and rowboats are there too if you want a longer paddle. The last rental goes out at 4:30pm, you need a photo ID, and boating season wraps around Labor Day.

​Bohrer Park Miniature Golf (Gaithersburg)​
​All ages · $8 a game, or $10 unlimited (residents; $9 / $11 nonresident) · Saturday and Sunday, 12pm to 6pm · No reservation​
Eighteen landscaped holes with waterfalls, streams, and ponds, and it is stroller accessible. It is weekends only now, noon to 6pm, with the last round starting an hour before close. It closes for rain or extreme heat, so check before you head out on a hot afternoon.

​Great Falls Overlook on the C&O Canal (Potomac)​
​All ages · $20 per vehicle (park passes accepted, card only) · Enter at Great Falls Tavern, 11710 MacArthur Blvd, Potomac · Open daily, dawn to dusk​
From the Great Falls Tavern entrance, an easy, stroller-friendly boardwalk crosses a run of footbridges out over the river to the Great Falls Overlook, where the Potomac thunders through the rocks with Virginia on the far side. It is about a half mile each way, flat the whole way, and the falls up close are worth the trip on their own. Stay on the boardwalk and well back from the water, the current here is dangerous. The Billy Goat Trail starts nearby if your crew wants more, and the Old Angler's Inn beer garden (oldanglersinn.com) is a few minutes down MacArthur Boulevard for a casual, no-reservations bite after. The lot fills on nice weekends, so go early or late afternoon.

On the Calendar
​Times and dates worth planning around.

​Curious George: Let's Get Curious! at the National Children's Museum (DC Northwest)​
​Best for ages 3 to 7 · $18.95, ages 1 and up (under 1 free) · Daily except Tuesday, 9:30am to 4:30pm · Timed tickets, book ahead​
Step into Curious George's world and turn it into hands-on STEM play. Kids move George up an apartment building with pulleys, run a produce stand, build at a construction site, putt through a physics mini golf course, and climb aboard his rocket. It is included with museum admission, weekend slots fill up, so reserve a timed ticket online. Downtown DC, near Federal Triangle.

​Summers Farm Flower Festival (Frederick County)​
​All ages (under 2 free) · Tickets start at $18.48 a person (single admission $21.42) · Saturday and Sunday, 10am to 8pm · A little past our usual map​
🌻 August 22, 23, 29, & 30
🌻 September 5, 6, & 7
This one is technically in Frederick County, a little past our usual Montgomery and DC map, but it was too good to leave out. Ride a wagon out to an 8-acre field of sunflowers, zinnias, and cosmos, pick 6 blooms with your admission, then turn the kids loose on jumping pillows, corn pits, giant slides, and barnyard animals. It's 40 min/1 hour out, and the flowers are weather-dependent, so check their website the day before you drive.

Loved this one? Forward it to a friend who is always asking what to do this weekend.

New here? Subscribe at cloviekids.com/subscribe, and check out past issues here. Follow us @clovie.kids.

Find the best kids classes, camps, and party entertainment in Montgomery County & DC Northwest at cloviekids.com.

P.S. Run a local kids business? List it free at cloviekids.com/join, or email hello@cloviekids.com to be featured in The Little Loop.

Less Planning. More Playing.

Carole
Founder, Clovie