Page Title

                                       Virginia

CL!X Portrait Studios Special Kids Program Serving
Special Needs Children and their families

CLIX Portrait Studios 2499 N. Harrison St. LL-2 Arlington, VA
22207 703-532-4752, www.clixportraitstudios.com

We understand some of the challenges that exist for those with
disabilities or serious illnesses when it comes to having
professional portraits taken. The CLIX Special Kids program
will give your child or family the individualized care needed to
capture artistic and lasting images that you will cherish forever.

With experience, patience and kindness, Michelle, the owner of
CLIX Portrait Studios in Arlington (a mother of a special needs
child herself) will conduct photo sessions for children with
special needs and their parents and siblings. The studio has
adequate space and ceiling mounted lights which move easily
to accommodate wheelchairs or special equipment. A limited
number of appointments can be scheduled when the studio is
closed to the public (usually Thursday mornings). Our attitude is
one of welcoming acceptance of children of any ability level.

Each Special Kids Session will include a pre-session
consultation in person or by phone so that we can better
understand your child’s needs abilities and temperament and
together we will plan the session accordingly.

A portrait session will typically last about 45-60 minutes.
Images will be edited and ready quickly for your review at a
separate appointment, scheduled at your convenience.

Fee for a Special Kids studio session is $50 for the first visit
and $25 thereafter. Special Kids Program participants
automatically receive CLIX CLUB prices (10% off all in-studio
purchases) for their portrait purchases.

Please call CLIX Portrait Studios at 703-532-4752 to schedule
a Special Kids appointment with Michelle.


Claude Moore Colonial Farm at Turkey Run,
6310 Georgetown Pike, McLean, VA 22101, 703-442-7557,
www.1771.org

                        MARYLAND

National Aquarium in Baltimore,
501 East Pratt Street, Baltimore, Maryland, 21202,
www.aqua.org

Special Visit Times

Avoid the crowd by visiting on the first Saturday and first Sunday
of the month. Our First Saturdays and First Sundays program
allows visitors with special needs and their guests to enter 30
minutes before the Aquarium opens to the general public.

Deaf Awareness Day

The National Aquarium celebrates our Deaf Awareness Day
every spring and fall. The dates for 2009 are:

* Saturday, September 12, from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Sign language interpreters will be narrating our public
presentations, including animal feedings, dive presentations,
and other public educational programs. Representatives from
deaf advocacy groups will be available to meet with visitors and
discuss their activities in the community.

Discounted Admission

To receive discounted admission on Deaf Awareness Day,
please contact the Aquarium's Special Customer Liaison.

Special Customer Liaison

If you have any questions or need additional information, please
contact:

Jennifer Hamilton
410-659-4291 (Voice)
410-727-3022 (TTY)
jhamilton@aqua.org

INDOOR PLAYGROUNDS

PLAYWISEKIDS,
6570 Dobbin RD., Columbia, Maryland 21045,
410 -772-1540, www.playwisekids.com

WHAT IS PLAYWISEKIDS?

PlayWiseKids is the premier family destination on the East
Coast for imaginative, hands-on play! It is a 24,000 square
foot, indoor learning and activity center for children.
PlayWiseKids makes a great outing for parents, grandparents,
aunts & uncles, nannies & babysitters, and anyone else looking
for a safe, fun, indoor play environment.

At PlayWiseKids, formerly ExploraWorld, children can freely
explore their interests and actively use their imaginations while
building social skills.   All of PlayWiseKids’ offerings are
consistent with the belief that children learn through hands-on
play. It’s the perfect location for Drop-In Play (no reservation
required), Birthday Parties, Child Care, Group Events and
Shopping!

At PlayWiseKids, children can pretend to be rescue heroes
driving a real fire engine or ambulance. They can shop in our
child-sized Grocery Store; shoot hoops and play foosball in our
Game Room; create masterpieces in our Arts & Crafts room;
dress-up and dance; explore tunnels and slides in our Toddler
Areas; play in the sand in our Chesapeake Bay Beach;
assemble a skeleton in our Medical Room; put together a four
foot dinosaur in our Nature Exhibit; learn about outer space in
our Solar System Room; and learn through Computer Games.

JEEPERS!
Located in Rockville, MD, Greenbelt, MD and Baltimore, MD,
www.jeepers.com

Jeepers! is great family fun anytime! Designed to please
children ages two to twelve, Jeepers! is the Ultimate family
entertainment experience combining the rides and excitement
of an outdoor amusement park with indoor convenience and
climate control.

Amusement park rides are still hugely popular with children, and
each Jeepers! offers five or six rides geared to different age
groups. JJ's Driving Schoolage groups, ranging from "kiddie"
rides to the "Python Pit", an exciting indoor roller coaster
designed exclusively for Jeepers!

Soft Play! Kids have to work off a little steam sometimes and
our soft play areas offer tubes, chutes, slides and obstacle
courses where kids can follow their imaginations.

Jeepers! is not an arcade. Our games of skill build hand-eye
coordination and give parents and children the opportunity to
play together. Many games have a sports theme, such as
basketball hoop shots or bowling, while others, like Hungry
Hippos, are whimsical and just plain fun.   Most of the games
give out tickets redeemable at Jeepers! exclusive "Big Digs"
redemption area for prizes and toys.

       WASHINGTON, D.C.

The Smithsonian Museums:

Smithsonian Institution Building, the Castle
The Smithsonian's first building, popularly known as the Castle,
houses the Institution’s administrative offices and the
Smithsonian Information Center.

Highlights: 18-minute video orientation, two interactive touch-
screen stations with information on the Smithsonian in six
languages, and one scale model of the federal city
Location: 000 Jefferson Drive SW, Washington, DC, 202-633-
1000,
www.si.edu/visit/infocenter/sicastle.htm
Hours: 8:30am to 5:30pm. Admission is free.

Anacostia Community Museum
1901 Fort Place, SE
Washington, DC 20020
202-636-4820
Open daily 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
Closed: December 25th
www.anacostia.si.edu/information.htm , anacostia.si.
edu/exhibits/Exhibition_Navigation.htm

As the Smithsonian Institution's museum of African American
history and culture, the Museum explores American history,
society, and creative expression from an African American
perspective.

The Freer Gallery of Art and Sackler Gallery
The Sackler Gallery: 1050 Independence Avenue, SW.
The Freer Gallery of Art: Jefferson Drive at 12th Street, SW. The
two museums are connected by an underground exhibition
space.

Hours are from 10 AM to 5:30 PM every day except Dec. 25,
and admission is free.
202.633.4880
www.asia.si.edu/visitor/default.htm , www.asia.si.
edu/exhibitions/default.htm

The Freer Gallery
The gallery houses a world-renowned collection of art from
China, Japan, Korea, South and Southeast Asia, and the Near
East. Visitor favorites include Chinese paintings, Japanese
folding screens, Korean ceramics, Indian and Persian
manuscripts, and Buddhist sculpture. A highlight of the Whistler
holdings is the Peacock Room, a dining room that was once
part of a London townhouse. In 1876, Whistler lavishly
decorated the room with a blue and gold peacock design. After
the owner's death, the room was brought to the United States
and permanently installed in the Freer Gallery.

The gallery was founded by Charles Lang Freer (1854–1919), a
railroad-car manufacturer from Detroit who gave to the United
States his collections and funds for a building to house them.
The Italian-Renaissance-style gallery, constructed in granite and
marble, was designed by American architect Charles Platt.
When the gallery opened to the public in 1923, it was the first
Smithsonian museum for fine arts. In subsequent years, the
collections have grown through gifts and purchases to nearly
triple the size of Freer's bequest.

Sackler Gallery
The Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
The gallery opened in 1987 to house a gift of some 1,000 works
of Asian art from Dr. Arthur M. Sackler (1913–1987), a research
physician and medical publisher from New York City. Among
the highlights of his gift were early Chinese bronzes and jades,
Chinese paintings and lacquerware, ancient Near Eastern
ceramics and metalware, and sculpture from South and
Southeast Asia. Sackler also donated $4 million toward
construction of the gallery. Since 1987, the gallery's collections
have expanded to include the Vever Collection, an important
assemblage of the Islamic arts of the book from the 11th to the
19th century; 19th- and 20th-century Japanese prints and
contemporary porcelain; Indian, Chinese, Japanese, and
Korean paintings; arts of village India; contemporary Chinese
ceramics; and photography.

International loan exhibitions have included Timur and the
Princely Vision: Persian Art and Culture in the 15th Century;
Yani: the Brush of Innocence, featuring paintings by a 14-year-
old Chinese prodigy; When Kingship Descended from Heaven:
Masterpieces of Mesopotamian Art from the Louvre; Court Arts
of Indonesia; Korean Art of the 18th Century: Splendor &
Simplicity; and A Basketmaker in Rural Japan.

The Sackler Gallery is connected by an underground exhibition
space to the neighboring Freer Gallery of Art. Although their
collections are stored and exhibited separately, the two
museums share a director, administration, and staff.

The Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer Auditorium, located in the
Freer, provides a venue for a broad variety of free public
programs relating to the collections of the Freer and Sackler
galleries, including concerts of Asian music and dance, films,
lectures, chamber music, and dramatic presentations.

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, the
Smithsonian's museum of international modern and
contemporary art.

Location: Independence Avenue at Seventh Street SW
Hours: Open daily except December 25
Museum: 10 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. (EST) Plaza: 7:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.
Sculpture Garden: 7:30 a.m. - dusk Admission: Free; donations
are accepted.
202-633-1000, www.hirshhorn.si.edu/visit/hours.html , hirshhorn.
si.edu/exhibitions/index.asp

National Air and Space Museum

National Mall Building
Independence Ave at 4th Street, SW
Washington, DC 20560, 202-633-1000
Admission: Free
Hours: 10:00 am - 5:30 pm
Open every day except December 25.
www.nasm.si.edu/museum , www.nasm.si.
edu/exhibitions

Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center
14390 Air and Space Museum Parkway
Chantilly, Virginia 20151
Admission: Free
Hours: 10:00 am - 5:30 pm
Open every day except December 25.
www/nasm.si.edu/museum , www.nasm.si.edu/exhibitions

The Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum
maintains the largest collection of historic air and spacecraft in
the world. It is also a vital center for research into the history,
science, and technology of aviation and space flight, as well as
planetary science and terrestrial geology and geophysics.

The Museum has two display facilities. The National Mall
building in Washington, D.C. has hundreds of artifacts on
display including the original Wright 1903 Flyer, the Spirit of St.
Louis, the Apollo 11 command module, and a lunar rock sample
that visitors can touch. The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center
displays many more artifacts including the Lockheed SR-71
Blackbird, Boeing B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay and Space
Shuttle Enterprise.

National Portrait Gallery,
The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery tells the stories of
America through the individuals who have shaped U.S. culture.
Through the visual arts, performing arts, and new media, the
Portrait Gallery portrays poets and presidents, visionaries and
villains, actors and activists who speak American history.

Admission: Free
Location: The museums are conveniently located at Eighth and
F Streets, NW, D.C., 2000, 202-633-8300, www.npg.si.edu ,
www.npg.si.edu/exhibit/curex1.htm
Museum Hours: 11:30 a.m.-7:00 p.m. Daily Closed December
25

National Museum of the American Indian
Collection, preservation, study and exhibition of the living
cultures and history of the native peoples of the Americas.

Location: Fourth Street & Independence Ave., S.W.,
Washington, DC 20560, 202-633-1000,
www.nmai.si.edu , www.nmai.si.edu/subpage.cfm?
subpage=exhibitions&second=dc&third=current
Hours: 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Daily; closed Dec. 25. Admission is
free.

National Postal Museum

The National Postal Museum is divided into galleries that
explore America's postal history from colonial times to the
present. Visitors learn how mail has been transported,
emphasize the importance of letters, and spotlight the creation
and wondrous diversity of postage stamps.

Location: 2 Massachusetts Ave., N.E., Washington, DC 20002,
202-633-5555, www.postalmuseum.si.edu
Hours: 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., except December 25. Admission is
free.

National Zoo

Location: 3001 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, DC
20008,
www.nationalzoo.si.edu, nationalzoo.si.
edu/ActivitiesAndEvents/Calendar/
Hours: Grounds: April 1-Oct. 31 6 a.m.-8 p.m.
Nov. 1 -March 31 6 a.m.-6 p.m.
Buildings: April 1-Oct. 31 10 a.m.-6 p.m.
Nov. 1-Oct. 31 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
The Zoo is Open every day of the year except December 25.
ADMISSION IS FREE!

American Art Museum
The Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM) is America's
first federal art collection, dedicated to the enjoyment and
understanding of American art. The museum celebrates the
extraordinary creativity of our country's artists, whose works are
windows on the American experience.

Location: 8th and F Streets N.W. in the heart of Washington,
D.C. 20560, americanart.si.edu, americanart.si.
edu/collections/exhibitions.cfml
Hours: 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Daily except December 25.
Admission is free.

National Museum of Natural History
The Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History is
dedicated to understanding the natural world and our place in it.

Hours: 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Daily except December 25.
Admission is free.
Location: The Museum is located at the intersection of 10th
Street and Constitution Ave., NW in Washington, D.C. 20560,
202-633-1000,
www.mnh.si.edu , www.mnh.si.edu/exhibits/

National Museum of African Art
The Smithsonian's National Museum of African Art fosters the
discovery and appreciation of the visual arts of Africa, the
cradle of humanity.

Hours:10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily except December 25.
Admission is free.
Location: 950 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C.
20560, 202-633-4600, www.nmafa.si.edu

FUN FAMILY ACTIVITIES

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