Notebook by Kathleen Donner

kids & family

by Kathleen Donner

Flights of Fancy Story Time: Mission to Mars

For the last few months, the Air and Space Museum Early Childhood team has been writing and illustrating original stories and reading them as part of their virtual Flights of Fancy story time series. Your little ones will love “Mission to Mars,” which tells the story of three friends as they imagine what it would be like to plan a trip, build a rocket, and travel on a mission to Mars. Watch at airandspace. si.edu/virtual-story-time.

Image: Courtesy of the National Air and Space Museum

Mount Vernon’s Patriot Run Festival

On Saturday, Sept. 12, at 9 a.m., Mount Vernon will host an optional, socially distanced Patriot Run Festival. They invite participants and their families to come by the estate that day to pick up participant t-shirts and medals, enjoy music, Mount Vernon Inn concessions, an opportunity to have your photo taken at the Patriot Run Finish Line, and participate in a live, socially-distanced, yoga class! Participants may enter for free and family/friends may attend by purchasing discounted tickets at $12 for adults; $7 for kids; free for five and under. To participate, you need to have entered and completed their virtual race by Sept. 12. mountvernon.org.

Welcome to Minerva’s Kaleidoscope

The Library of Congress’s Minerva’s Kaleidoscope is a single source for parents and caregivers to find materials to spark kids’ imaginations and to get updates on programs for families at the Library. The blog is led by a newly formed team, the Informal Learning Office, whose mission is to connect kids, families and teens to the collections and resources of the Library and to inspire you to use the Library for your own creative purposes. Blogs.loc.gov/families/2020/07/welcome-families.

Air and Space’s Udvar Center Reopens

The Udvar-Hazy Center, 14390 Air and Space Museum Parkway, Chantilly, VA, is now open from daily from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Visiting the museum requires that each visitor to reserve a free timed-entry pass and to follow the COVID-19 safety requirements. Due to ongoing construction

kids & family

Chelsea Clinton’s  fth children’s book, published in April 2019, is Don’t Let Them Disappear: 12 Endangered Species Across the Globe.

LOC National Book Festival Children and Teens Author Lineup

During the weekend of Sept. 25 to 27, virtual stages at loc. gov/bookfest will o er on-demand videos, live author chats and discussions, options to personalize your own journey through the festival with particular themes, and book buying possibilities through the festival’s o cial bookseller, Politics & Prose, with a limited number of commemorative book plates signed by authors. Subscribe to at updates.loc.gov on plans for the festival.

Children’s authors are Sophie Blackall, Dan Brown, Veronica Chambers, Chelsea Clinton, Jerry Craft, Jessica Curry, Parker Curry, Angela Dominguez, K.A. Holt, Deborah Hopkinson, Kwame Mbalia, Megan McDonald, Connie Scho eld-Morrison, Frank Morrison Peter H. Reynolds, Barb Rosenstock, Pam Muñoz Ryan, Jon Scieszka, Nic Stone, Don Tate, Steven Weinberg, Mo Willems and Kelly Yang. Teen book authors are Becky Albertalli, M.T. Anderson, Tonya Bolden, Mike Curato, Jo Rioux, Lucinda Robb, Rebecca Boggs Roberts, Aisha Saeed, Nic Stone and Sabaa Tahir. loc.gov/bookfest.

The First Tee’s mission is to impact the lives of young people by providing educational programs that build character and instill life-enhancing values through the game of golf. Read more at  rstteedc.org.

KIDZ Virtual ArtJamz: Dog Days

Wednesdays at 3 p.m. through Sept. 29, Unleash Your Inner Artist! at home with a jamming Virtual Guided Paint Class with one of their jamming local artists. Need art materials? Add an ArtJamz At-Home Paint Kit available for pick-up or delivery. After registration, you will be sent a Zoom code and link. Please make sure you have Zoom set-up on your phone, tablet or desktop. artjamz.co. ◆

to repair the Boeing Aviation Hangar roof, some parts of the Udvar-Hazy Center will not be available during your visit. Admission is free; parking is $10 (free after 4 p.m.). airandspace.si.edu/udvar-hazy-center.

National Zoo Reopens

The National Zoo has reopened. The Smithsonian releases 5,000 daily passes. Visitors may reserve as many as six passes up to 30 days in advance by visiting nationalzoo.si.edu or by calling 800-514-3849. Some walk-up passes may be available in the afternoon. Masks required for ages six, up. New Zoo hours are from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. nationalzoo.si.edu.

Donate Your Old Golf Clubs

Have an old set of golf clubs packed in the corner of your garage? Donating equipment is another way to help support the DC area’s The First Tee. With the 2nd Swing Club Donation Program you can put your old equipment to great use and make a huge impact. The value of your used clubs and equipment is sent to The First Tee DC as a cash donation.

Imagination Stage Launches Fall Online Classes

Registration has opened for Imagination Stage’s popular theatre and creative arts classes. The Fall 2020 semester moves online with a full selection of creative and interactive experiences. With six and ten-week classes in acting, creative drama, musical theatre, dance,  lmmaking, and early childhood, this online fall semester features new classes speci cally designed for the online format as well as reimagined family favorites. Classes for ages one through eighteen begin September 21. Families interested in registering can learn more and sign up at imaginationstage.org or by contacting the registrar at registration@imaginationstage.org.

Photo: Jeremy Rusnock Photography LLC.jp

XWORD Across: 1. Like extreme opposites 6. Nonplussed 11. Online windows, with pop 14. Neat 18. Butterfl y 19. Whale show 20. Nautical guy 22. Stat start 84. Ready follower? 85. Attach, in a way 86. Range units: Abbr. 87. Abound 89. Put down 91. Letter ender 92. “The girl from ____ goes walking” 95. Part of N.A.A.C.P.: Abbr. 96. ___ fl y “Computer Beginnings?” by Myles Mellor www.themecrosswords.com • www.mylesmellorconcepts.com 23. Relating to the promotion of 98. Extended musical composition longevity through diet 99. The Beatles’ ____ in the Life 25. Certain cookies 102. “Shallow ___” 27. Two-dimensional extent (Jack Black fi lm) 28. English queen 103. Barely beat, with “out” 29. 0s and Xs 104. Resulted 31. Eccentric 106. Hydrocarbon 32. Bluenose 108. Spring time 33. Attack 109. V.I.P.’s opposite 34. Dickens’ character 113. Some kind of a nut 35. Young kids 115. “The Prince” writer 39. Removable locks 118. Elongated slit 42. J.M. Keynes subj. 46. Backslide 119. ‘’Gilmore Girls’’ girl 120. Not one of the majors Look for this months answers at labyrinthgameshop.com 47. Night of poetry 121. Water balloon sound 48. World’s smallest republic 51. Dixie pronoun 52. Record label abbr. 53. ___ Tweed 122. Saga 123. Work for eds. 124. Chucks 125. Irk 16. Contradict 17. Attention getters 21. Connecticut university 24. Reveals 49. Soviet fi ghter 50. Ending for an enzyme 52. “So ___” 53. Next in line? 74. Demolition compounds 76. Metric wts. 77. The Giants’ Manning 78. Like pecan pie 54. Letters after Q 55. Robotic thinking? 61. Not healthy 62. Basketball backboard attachment 63. Diner order 64. Driveway type 67. White wine aperitif 68. Lures 72. It once billed itself “The most trusted name in television” 73. End of the year month, for short 74. Gradually narrow 75. Northerly land area named after a Canadian PM Down: 1. Cotton fabric 2. Actor Sharif 3. Tie up 4. India tourist city 5. Australian jumper 6. Fatuous 7. Beachwear 8. Fully satisfy, desire 9. Longtime record label 10. Bidding locale 11. Letters at Camp Lejeune 12. Sch. groups 13. Cul-de- ___ 14. State ranger 15. Pancake maker 26. Sheila singer, Tommy 30. Post-E.R. place 32. Pizzazz 33. Oktoberfest souvenir 34. Painter Matisse 35. Be nosy 36. Paper quantity 37. Queen of scat 38. Toiletry item 40. One of 150 41. ‘’Duke of ___’’ (1962 doo-wop classic) 43. Sewing group 44. Beginnings 45. “__ a chance!” 47. Issue 56. Exclamation of surprise 57. ___ bit 58. Foootball org. 59. Prank 60. Peacock Network 64. Hosts 65. Urchins 66. Fundraising gp. 67. Wail 68. Wilts 69. Prefi x with ‘’center’’ or ‘’cycle’’ 70. Moliere’s ‘’L’ecole ___ femmes’’ 71. Website symbol 73. Part of LED 79. Last letters 80. Encourage 81. ___ time 82. Poet’s contraction 83. Moore of “G.I. Jane” 84. Act passed to protect rights of people with disabilities 88. Cold war fi gure 90. Out 91. Of a hymn 92. Incongruous results 93. Italian food 94. Swallowed up 97. Quaker pronoun 98. Like some wonders 100. Defective fi recracker 101. On ____ with (equal to) 104. Tra __ (singing sounds) NOW REOPENED 105. E.P.A. concern: Abbr. 106. Haughtiness Offering In Store Shopping, Contactless Pickup, and Shipping 107. Baseball player for the Giants 108. Screens for bulletin boards? 109. LePew of cartoons Monday to Friday: 12pm - 7pm 110. Popular fashion magazine

We can’t wait to Saturday and Sunday: 11am - 5pm 111. One of fi ve Norwegian kings 112. Evening, informally see you again! labyrinthgameshop.com 113. Colo. is on it 114. Soccer fan in the family 645 Pennsylvania Ave SE NEED MORE HELP? 116. It makes men mean 117. Insurance company for (Steps from Eastern Market Metro) Call 202.544.1059 or email team@labyrinthgameshop.com vision, abbr.