Best place for a preschool picnic

Ok. It's not exactly a picnic, but after three years of preschool and plenty of year-end picnics at park pavilions this year the parents in my daughter's preschool class decided to do something that the parents would enjoy as much as the kids. We held our annual end-of-year celebration on the patio at Freddie's restaurant in Bel Air. Instead of packing sandwiches and a treat to share and lugging it to a park, we all sat under umbrellas and ordered off the menu. The kids kept themselves busy in the restaurant's wooden pirate ship play area while the parents ate, drank and chatted. With the Caribbean music playing in the background, it felt a little like a day at a resort. Sure, it was more expensive than a picnic. But our server made settling up easy by making separate checks for every parent. He also ran back and forth supplying the kids with cups of water, which we moms appreciated greatly. The restaurant wasn't crowded on this Thursday afternoon and they were able to accommodate us easily when we gave them a general head count ahead of time. So much better than nibbling on kids' leftover PBJs and chasing them around a park.

BANV goes to Disney World and gets really, really tired

Twenty-four hours. That's how long it takes after leaving Disney World for the fatigue to lift, for the muscle aches to ease. My mother, who joined us, described it best. She said it's like giving birth. After it's over you forget all the pain and have the images of your children's delighted faces to treasure (Disney's Photopass offers them on a photo CD for a mere $125). If you go, here's my advice (Please remain seated until this blog post comes to a complete stop):

• Go before your oldest turns 10. In Disney World, a 10-year-old is an adult. That's what happens in a magical world. They don't act like adults, but you have to pay for them as if they were. If you're afraid your youngest won't remember the trip if you go so soon, take a lot of pictures and tell him he had a wonderful time.
• Read up before you go. It's like visiting another world with its own set of rules. You need to know what the natives know. We liked Birnbaum's Walt Disney World 2008 the best. You can get it at the library and at Barnes & Noble.
• Expect to be exhausted -- for days. Visiting Disney parks is a bit like hauling your family around Hershey Park on the hottest day of the year, then waking up the next day and doing it all again. And again. And again. For whatever you want to do, there will be a gazillion other people who want to do it too, including finding a place to sit. (And this wasn't even the really busy season.)
• Try not to complain out loud. Disney fans will overhear you and interject things like, "We come every year and I'm so depressed when I go home. I've left the happiest place on earth." Moments after uttering these words this same Disney fan ripped into the "cast member" at the Epcot frozen lemonade stand with a tirade about having overlooked her place in line.
• Make your dining reservations as soon as your children are born. Eating is challenging. Scoring a place to sit while eating is like an Olympic sport. If you manage to reserve a spot to sit in a cool restaurant to rest and recharge for lunch, you've hit the jackpot and may make it through the rest of the day with minimal meltdowns. Disney World starts taking reservations 180 in advance and some are hard to get even then. Restaurants we liked: Cinderella's Royal Table in the castle (even though the only reservation we could get was for 9:30 p.m.), The Hollywood Brown Derby in Hollywood Studios and Planet Hollywood in Downtown Disney.
• Expect meltdowns. Adults will want to cry. Children will. And often. However, most everyone there expects it, has been through it and endures it with stoicism -- even while riding packed like sardines in a bus hauling everyone home from "Extra Magic Hours" that end at midnight. Did I mention it's a magical place?
• The Disney Saratoga Springs resort is lovely. Would have been a great place to unwind in the two bedroom suite with a full kitchen and washer and dryer (used it three times). However, when we finally returned to the room each night we all passed out unconscious. If you swim at the hotel pool before hitting the parks, your kids will tire out sooner.
• If you want anything to be a little easier, expect to pay for it. We sprang for the Friday night Pirate and Princess Party. The park was closed to everyone who didn't spend an extra $38-$44 a head. The best part was there were virtually no lines for the big rides. (Lines for the kid rides were a bit long.) We hit Big Thunder Mountain twice, Space Mountain and Splash Mountain (Remember: When you ride water rides at night, there's no sun to dry you off.)
• Spring for a Bibbidi Boppidi Boutique makeover for your little princess. You'll see little girls all over the park with their hair pulled back into impossibly tight buns, coated with colorful glitter applied with a magic wand and wearing bright eyeshadow and tiny jewels on their faces. We went for the $50 version that includes hair and nails rather than the $200 version that includes a princess dress and shoes. (I just packed one of my daughter's own princess dresses in my backpack and whipped it out when the makeover was done.) But what would have been really magical is that instead of sending our little girls into the boutique and having them emerge looking 10 years older, the moms should be able to go in and come out looking 10 years younger.
• Skip the meal plan. Yes, it probably can save you some money. However, you have to remind every "cast member" who sells you food that you are on the meal plan. Even then, you have to check your receipts and spend time on your cell phone straightening out all their mistakes. And, you have to remember to add a drink and dessert to every meal you purchase, since you already paid for it. Eventually, you get tired of loading up on four slices of Epcot Japanese ginger cake you really didn't want. Just pack some sandwiches and refillable water bottles to carry along and pay as you go for the rest.
• FastPass, FastPass, FastPass. Decide what you want to ride and make a bee line for the ride's FastPass machine as soon as you enter the park. You'll have to plan the rest of your day around the times on your FastPass. If you have dining reservations, you also have to plan your day around those. Our favorite attractions: Epcot's Soarin' and Turtle Talk with Crush; Magic Kingdom's Mickey's PhilharMagic and Ariel's Grotto; Hollywood Studio's Star Tours ride and Fantasmic light show.
• The "characters" are wonderful. Alice in Wonderland, Belle, Sleeping Beauty, Ariel. They don't just pose for pictures with your kids, they are in full character, acting their parts with voices that seem to match the ones you heard in their movies. (I took little movies of them meeting my kids.) Don't forget to pack your digital camera battery charger (I took 526 pictures and recharged my battery every day) and a large media card. All my pictures fit on a 2GB card. Your kids will need a little book and big pen to get characters' autographs. They sell cute ones for $10 at the park, but we brought our own little notebook.

So there you have it. If you want to know more, go ahead and leave a comment or email. I need to go take a nap.

Forest Hill Rita's to open Thursday

Looks like Forest Hill's new Rita's will open tomorrow.

BANV returns to Reality World

BANV just got back from Disney. Very....tired. Too....much.....fun....all....the....time. Never....stops. Need....rest. Will...post...more...when...strength...returns....

Harford County Kids Magazine offers digital edition

Harford County Kids Magazine has just debuted its digital edition. If you register at the magazine's website, you can access every page of each issue on the web. It even comes with an electronic whoosh when you turn a page -- in case you miss the sound of newsprint. The colors are crisper than they are in the print edition and if you misplace the copy that came in your mail or you picked up off a rack, you can see it all online. You also get to see past editions. So if your child's birthday is a few months from now, you'll be able to come back and read this month's cover story on children's birthday parties and check out the lists of places to host it. And, if you like what you read here on BANV, you'll probably like Harford County Kids Magazine. I do some writing for them. (Psst...If you have any ideas for items you'd like to see in the News & Notes section, e-mail me at belairnews@comcast.net. I'm always looking for stuff.)

Klein family speaks out on Kohl's plan in Wednesday's Aegis; No Kohl's group to rally tonight at 6

The Klein Family explained their reasons behind wanting to put a Kohl's department store on the 10.5-acre parcel they own near Forest Lakes Elementary School in a letter that appeared in Wednesday's Aegis. In the letter it said that the family had already met with one official community organization from the area and they'd scheduled two more meetings. They blamed "today's bad economic times" for forcing them to come up with an alternative to the shopping center plan anchored by mid-range restaurants that they spent a year trying unsuccessfully to lease. The letter said:

"We think leasing the property to Kohl's, to build a Kohl's Department Store, is an extremely attractive alternative. Kohl's plans to build a retail facility [that] will rival any commercial facility in this county for compatibility and ecological sustainability. Even better, we have been assured by representatives from Kohl's of their willingness to work with community representatives regarding the appearance of their proposed building. We also are holding discussions with community representatives regarding on-site amenities to improve upon what is currently required by code, with respect to the landscaping and site plan."

The letter goes on to say that independent traffic studies conclude that traffic would likely be the same for Kohl's as it would have been for the shopping center. But it adds that Kohl's would generate less traffic on weekday mornings when the children were in the nearby Forest Lakes Elementary School.

The No Kohl's in Forest Hill group has scheduled its third weekly rally for 6 tonight at the corner of Rock Spring Road and Osborne Parkway where the Kohl's would be built.

The family's plan for the site is scheduled to go before the Harford County Development Advisory Committee at 9 a.m. May 7.

Click here for previous BANV posts on the Village at Forest Lakes development.

Bel Air's First Fridays kicks off tomorrow

Bel Air's First Fridays downtown music, food and local shopping event starts tomorrow on Office Street. From 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., Gary and the Groove will play and the Main Street Tower restaurant will offer beer, wine and food. Some local stores will stay open late to participate in the event.

Here's the line up for the rest of the First Fridays:
June 6th - Crossroads
July 3rd - Spiral
August 1st - Jody West Band
September 5th - Around the Block
October 3rd - Wherez Dave

The First Fridays events are sponsored by the M & T Bank branch on Office Street. In the event of rain, the First Fridays are cancelled. For mfo, call 410-638-1023

Man charged in firebombing at Havre de Grace library pleads guilty

According to a report in Delaware's The News Journal, the man charged in connection with a firebombing at the Havre de Grace library Aug. 22 pleaded guilty yesterday in Harford County Circuit Court. Daniel Ramsey, 29, was convicted of conspiracy to commit second degree arson and sentenced to 10 years in prison with eight years suspended. The former volunteer firefighter for Havre de Grace's Susquehanna Hose Co. will serve five years of probation and must pay $18,000 in restitution, the story said. An unnamed 17-year-old juvenile, who was also arrested and charged in connection with the incident, was sentenced in March to 100 hours of community service and ordered to pay $18,000 in restitution. Damage to the Union Avenue library was estimated at $17,000 and the library was closed for a couple of days following the incident. A story in the Baltimore Sun this past September quoted Deputy State Fire Marshal Joseph G. Zurolo Jr. as saying officials believed Ramsey was trying to create work for the fire department so he could help put the fire out.

Click here for previous BANV posts on the Havre de Grace library fire bombing.