Things to do on the weekends (with teens or just with your spouse?)

[Anonymous]

We’ve outgrown playgrounds and children’s museums sadly. As my kids get older and are doing more things with friends on their own, I find myself at home with nothing to do or just running errands.

What activities have you enjoyed with your spouse or your friends? I am seriously in a rut and feel like I’m slowly losing it.

[Anonymous]

I have two girls, 17 and 13. The younger one likes to hang w me. The older one does a lot with friends and craves independence.

We go thrifting a lot. On weekends, I’ve enjoyed going to check out estate sales (follow maddietheb on instagram). My kids are less into those though.

I want to do more hiking/outdoor stuff

We’ll go to Georgetown, get pastries, browse stores and the flea market. They often do this without me and take the bus

They will sometimes go to a coffee shop and study together

My younger one and I enjoy going to plays

My older one is learning to drive, so we’ll go on day trips where she’ll take the wheel for part of it (also turning me gray)

Play tennis with older daughter (she joins lessons with me)

My younger one is a huge reader, so like to browse bookstores like politics and prose, or Barnes and noble (new one in Georgetown, but no cafe- boo!)

[Anonymous]

Museums, hiking, look up special events/festivals. See what plays regional theatres are doing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have two girls, 17 and 13. The younger one likes to hang w me. The older one does a lot with friends and craves independence.

We go thrifting a lot. On weekends, I’ve enjoyed going to check out estate sales (follow maddietheb on instagram). My kids are less into those though.

I want to do more hiking/outdoor stuff

We’ll go to Georgetown, get pastries, browse stores and the flea market. They often do this without me and take the bus

They will sometimes go to a coffee shop and study together

My younger one and I enjoy going to plays

My older one is learning to drive, so we’ll go on day trips where she’ll take the wheel for part of it (also turning me gray)

Play tennis with older daughter (she joins lessons with me)

My younger one is a huge reader, so like to browse bookstores like politics and prose, or Barnes and noble (new one in Georgetown, but no cafe- boo!)

Man, we’re living parallel lives. My girls are 16 and 12. We love to go on nature walks because my 16 year old has been an avid bird lover her whole life so now we take our binoculars and bird watch. Thrifting is huge with both girls and that’s one of our favorite hobbies. Same with going to the local high school theatre productions - they’re like $10 a ticket and usually very well done. April is packed since it’s when most schools do their spring shows so make a list of all the local school shows you want to see!

We also all 3 love reading so we go to the bookstore often and then find somewhere relaxing to grab a fun drink and read for awhile. My oldest loves crystals so we love to pop into our favorite crystal shop. The 3 of us love to get lunch together without dad and just sit and chat about our little topics. We drive around and listen to music. We take long walks to visit trees we like and observe our neighborhood’s yearly signs of the seasons changing.

Also, your local libraries have TONS of fun events. Check the calendar- over the summer I did tai chi, a pastel drawing workshop, a paint your pet workshop, a death cafe with a death doula, a dungeons and dragons drop in, a role playing games expo where we got to sit and play the games, a conversational Spanish meetup. There is ALWAYS cool stuff happening at the library!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have two girls, 17 and 13. The younger one likes to hang w me. The older one does a lot with friends and craves independence.

We go thrifting a lot. On weekends, I’ve enjoyed going to check out estate sales (follow maddietheb on instagram). My kids are less into those though.

I want to do more hiking/outdoor stuff

We’ll go to Georgetown, get pastries, browse stores and the flea market. They often do this without me and take the bus

They will sometimes go to a coffee shop and study together

My younger one and I enjoy going to plays

My older one is learning to drive, so we’ll go on day trips where she’ll take the wheel for part of it (also turning me gray)

Play tennis with older daughter (she joins lessons with me)

My younger one is a huge reader, so like to browse bookstores like politics and prose, or Barnes and noble (new one in Georgetown, but no cafe- boo!)

Man, we’re living parallel lives. My girls are 16 and 12. We love to go on nature walks because my 16 year old has been an avid bird lover her whole life so now we take our binoculars and bird watch. Thrifting is huge with both girls and that’s one of our favorite hobbies. Same with going to the local high school theatre productions - they’re like $10 a ticket and usually very well done. April is packed since it’s when most schools do their spring shows so make a list of all the local school shows you want to see!

We also all 3 love reading so we go to the bookstore often and then find somewhere relaxing to grab a fun drink and read for awhile. My oldest loves crystals so we love to pop into our favorite crystal shop. The 3 of us love to get lunch together without dad and just sit and chat about our little topics. We drive around and listen to music. We take long walks to visit trees we like and observe our neighborhood’s yearly signs of the seasons changing.

Also, your local libraries have TONS of fun events. Check the calendar- over the summer I did tai chi, a pastel drawing workshop, a paint your pet workshop, a death cafe with a death doula, a dungeons and dragons drop in, a role playing games expo where we got to sit and play the games, a conversational Spanish meetup. There is ALWAYS cool stuff happening at the library!

OP here. You and your girls sound really fun. What are your favorite thrift shops and where is this cool crystal shop?

[Anonymous]

Fairfax County suggests

Training homeless individuals for employment

Working at a nearby shelter or housing organization

Registering people who are homeless to vote

Organizing or participating in fundraising drives for local service agencies

Incorporating your skills to aid in efforts of housing first programs or supportive housing programs

Recruiting others to join your efforts

[Anonymous]

OP I feel you we're running out of things to do to. It's pretty boring.

[Anonymous]

If you like museums and history, it would be almost impossible to run out of places to go in the DMV. Most recently I went to the National Museum of the US Army and Kenmore in Fredericksburg with a friend. If you are in or close to Virginia look at the VA250 passport for ideas.

There are a lot of lesser-known sites in DC. For instance, Lincoln's Cottage or Clara Barton's Missing Soldiers Office. I'm excited to go to the National Geographic Museum when it opens. Went to the old one multiple times with friends.

You could also do overnights -- look in the travel forum but once upon a time I've been to Hagerstown, Frederick, Fredericksburg, Westmoreland County, Baltimore, Winchester, Staunton, Romney for the train in the fall, Charlottesville, Berkeley Springs, Richmond, and many more.

[Anonymous]

There are tons of options at a wide variety of price points. It helps if you think of your teen as a friend or buddy for whatever activity vs. you doing something for the purpose of entertaining them.

If you bring your teen to Glenstone, you don't have to reserve tickets in advance!

I second the suggestions for theater - there are often matinees on Saturday and Sunday and evening shows as well. I use the TodayTix app for rush and discount tickets. I often grab a couple of low cost tickets to a same day show if we find ourselves with a Saturday and nothing to do.

And diving into a volunteer gig with a teen can be really rewarding - I've spent Saturdays working to clear invasive species, gardening with native plants, helping with animal rescues, etc.

For older teens, taking a class together can be fun. I'm learning an instrument with one of my kids and taking weekly yoga with the other.

[Anonymous]

Hiking and then a meal out. I do that with my teen every month or so.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you like museums and history, it would be almost impossible to run out of places to go in the DMV. Most recently I went to the National Museum of the US Army and Kenmore in Fredericksburg with a friend. If you are in or close to Virginia look at the VA250 passport for ideas.

There are a lot of lesser-known sites in DC. For instance, Lincoln's Cottage or Clara Barton's Missing Soldiers Office. I'm excited to go to the National Geographic Museum when it opens. Went to the old one multiple times with friends.

You could also do overnights -- look in the travel forum but once upon a time I've been to Hagerstown, Frederick, Fredericksburg, Westmoreland County, Baltimore, Winchester, Staunton, Romney for the train in the fall, Charlottesville, Berkeley Springs, Richmond, and many more.

OP here. We are in Nova and I was raised in Richmond so I will definitely check this out.

[Anonymous]

2 kids. They are tasked to research a place close enough for a day trip during the week.
Historical, anthropological, geological significance. Population composition - racial, median age, occupation, median income, education level, how they voted etc, must see stuff, things to do, local news of interest etc.
documentaries, travel blogs, etc.

Then twice a month, we pick a place to visit. Sometimes we stay overnight. We have been doing a lot of state and national parks also. We love to go to historical places, or places with natural beauty, see how people live, love long drives, Birdwatch, trek, photograph, eat out.

There is just such a lot of museums, historical sites etc around us. But mainly, we don’t go unprepared. All of it is like an immersive field trip.

Our last trip was to New River gorge national park … and we did a bit of adventure sports, visited a ghost town, trekked, visited the visitor center, went to various summits, saw the work done by CCC etc. We watched several short documentaries to prepare and there was a lot of discussion about Great Depression and the state of the world today.

[Anonymous]

Hiking/walking places like Bull Run (and the blue bells will be out soon).

Kayaking in the Occoquan (you can rent kayaks in Occoquan) then lunch at a waterfront place and walk around the little town.