Last year, the Baltimore Child Abuse Center's Spring Festival (pictured) was one of our favorite events, so we're pleased that the BCAC has reprised the event for this Sunday,
May 20th from 11am to 3pm, at the Quarry Lake at Greenspring Shopping Center (just off beltway exit 22). The BCAC does incredible work, helping more than 900 kids per year, including all reported victims of child abuse in Baltimore City, with crisis counseling services, medical treatment, referrals, and more. This event is the groups's biggest fundraiser of the year, helping to sustain these important services at no cost to victims.

The event includes pony rides, face-painting, carnival games, crafts (including spin-art), moon bounces and slides, and music provided by Meredith Marx, the DJ for 100.7 The Bay, and lots of food. Tickets are $25 for the whole family, which include 20 tickets to be used for all the attractions.

This is truly a great event, and for a great cause. 

Good stuff on tap...

The Baltimore Museum of Industry is one of several really under-appreciated museums in Baltimore. If you've never been before, Saturday is Big Truck Day, and it's a great day to take the kids. I've been to truck days past, and I will never again underestimate the fun that sitting behind the wheel of a garbage truck (left) offers. Adult admission has been reduced to $2, and kids 12 znd under are free. 

Also, on Saturday is the Let's Eat Charles Street festival: The street will be closed down to stroll and sample all the great food there, visit vendors, and see lots of great bands and the Oriole bird!

Of course, Sunday is Mother's Day. Celebrate all weekend with a Mother and Daughter Tea at any Y of Central Maryland location.

The last time I went to Medieval Times, I was in college and it was for a friend's birthday. It was fun in the kitschy way we intended it to be, but, after going back—this time to the one in Arundel Mills—with my boys, aged, 3 and 5, I can safely say that having kids in tow vastly improves the experience.

I have some quibbles, which I'll get to in a minute, but overall, this was a great experience for the boys. Watching them stare in slack-jawed wonder at the jousting, the hawk-flying, and, particularly, the sword-fighting offered one of those awesome moments of parent joy. The story, which involved knights competing in a tournament before the king and queen, and a villain from another kingdom trying to steal the princess, was much better developed and more clear than I recall from 15 years ago. And the boys loved rooting for "our" knight (based on where we were seated), the black-and-white knight.

And the food was much better too: tasty bread, tomato soup, ribs, potato wedges and half a grilled chicken each—all served without utensils, but with plentiful handi-wipes (didn't know they had those in the realm). I even got my 3-year-old to try and love soup for the first time. And the waiters were friendly and just funny enough (the main dish was "giraffe—which I've heard tastes just like chicken") without being annoying.

Among my quibbles was that, as a first-timer, I had a hard time getting in! If you're going to take the trouble to build a massive castle, wouldn't you let visitors enter through, you know, the castle? Instead, signs on the castle doors direct visitors to enter "through the mall." Unfortunately, they didn't specify which door and, based on where we parked, we ended up trudging through a massive Best Buy to find the entrance. You, dear reader, can avoid this problem: Enter through the mall entrance to the left of the castle and you're home free.

Also, there's the violence. I knew to expect sword-fighting, of course (and the requisite stick/fork/pencil/hot dog fighting that ensued for days afterwards as my boys tried to imitate it), but I was a little surprise at the explicitness of the "killing" of the knights. I don't recall if it was the case 15 years ago, but in this "tournament," the fights were to the death. After a pair of knights fought with swords, shields, fists, etc., one would explicitly finish the other off, slicing across his belly with a flourish or some such thing, and he would be carried off. Granted, it's nothing they can't see on TV, and I wouldn't quibble with it for older kids (maybe 8 and up), but it was a little much, particularly for my 3-year-old. Also—and this is as much a quibble with the script as with the violence—I thought it was strange that the king made a big show of sparing the life of the villain after he lost a fight, sending him to jail for being willing to die for his kingdom, while five knights had just been killed fighting for the "honor" of facing him. 

Finally, there's the cost. It's $56.95 for adults, and $35.95 for kids 12 and under. That's pretty pricy, but I think you could argue that it's a pretty singular experience, akin to a Broadway-type show, plus a really big dinner. The "extras," though, seem a little excessive. Given the large ticket price, I think it would be a good gesture to include things like the "tax and processing fee," free refills, and, particularly, gratuities, all of which are extra. Before and several times after the show, servers reminded patrons that "gratuities are not included." It seems a little, pardon the pun, gratuitous to ask a family of four that just paid about $200 to get in the door, to pay another $40 (20%) in tips. It's not the fault of the servers, who were excellent. Their pay shouldn't be left up to the discretion of potentially tapped-out parents who might rightfully be feeling pinched. The show should incorporate their pay into the ticket price, even if it means bumping that price up a bit.

Okay, enough griping—I can't help it, I'm a griper—the show really is an incredible and unique experience. I think when my boys are a bit older, it might make for a great birthday party venue (there were lots of parties in attendance the night we went). Of course, then, I'll know where to park.

Last night, I took my boys to opening night of the Ringling Bros. circus at 1st Mariner Arena, and we had a an incredible time—or, rather, they had an incredible time and I love watching them have an incredible time.

Maybe they do this every year and, in the past, we've just been too late to appreciate it, but for an hour or so before show time, everyone was able to come down to the floor of the arena to see performers up close and meet them (my boys, left, were starstruck by a neon-clad clown). Clowns, jugglers, acrobats, and dancers each took turns doing mini-sets in one of the three rings, often with participation from the kids. One of the elephants demonstrated his painting skills, and there was a dress-up area, where kids could try on all manner of sequined circus gear.

The show itself was, as usual, a loud, bright, gigantic spectacle. My kids' (3 and 5 years old) favorite parts were probably the clowns' silly, slapstick skits and antics, the acrobats spinning around in giant hamster wheels, and the Moroccan strongmen. As I explained on the blog three years ago, when I went to the circus for the first time with my older son, Jack, I'm a little uneasy watching the animal performances, but the elephants, tigers, and horses definitely seemed to be a highlight for many in the audience.

In any case, the circus people were gracious enough to give me 20 MORE TICKETS to give away. These ones are for the show next Wednesday, March 28th at 7:30, so if that time doesn't work for you, please don't enter to win. They are good seats too, about 10 to 15 rows up from the floor.

To enter, please make sure you have "liked" Learning to Crawl on Facebook (there's a link on the right side of this page), and leave a comment with a cute story about your kid(s). Also, please mention how many tickets you would like (4 max per entry). The deadline to enter is noon on Monday, and I'll announce a winner then.

To buy tickets to any show during the circus's run (through April 1st), starting at $14, click here.