As I walked home from the Reston Community  Center at Lake Anne today, my twin three year-olds in tow, I thought as I often do about what a nice place we live.

Today is the first day of community center classes for my boys, and I feel like
our year is now officially underway. The whole way to art class they were
proclaiming their love for their art teacher and collecting things like sticks
and leaves to take to her. Bless her heart, she always acts like she loves what
they bring her.

It just happens that I ran into several moms I know whose daughters are in the
same classes and we grabbed coffee and chatted while our kids painted their
masterpieces. Though one of my boys was nervous about tumbling class, he ended up loving it and the walk home was a happy one. The sun was shining, the
walking paths were clean and clear, the dog-walkers were out, and the Robert E.
Simon statue was sparkling.

I've lived here in Reston for six years, but not until I had kids have I been able
to truly appreciate all that the community has to offer. It hasn't been easy to
figure out what to do and where to go, but I think I've slowly done a good job
of it.

Since my boys are now almost four, a whole bunch of community center
programs are open to them, which is exciting. The parks, the paths, the trees,
the access to great museums in DC, the coming metro, all these have been so fun
learning about and taking advantage of.

On my blog, I have a brief list of Reston-area places to take the little kids, and
I'd love to be able to help newcomers out and learn more from more seasoned
Reston parents.

To see my Reston links and ratings, go here .To see my DC-area reviews, go here.

Please help me build my site by suggesting more I can add to it! I'll show my
gratitude to you by bringing you interesting sticks and leaves my boys collect
on our walks. And also I'll write about the sites on my blog.