Flashback: Riding the Rails Ottawa Style

This post originally appeared last August and we thought we'd share it again! Going for a trip on the O-Train is such a fun idea for kids. And you get to spend two hours going back and forth over and over, as long as the kids stay interested! :) by Alison

My son is into vehicles. He loves to point out buses as they go by, and garbage day is cause for huge excitement. But trains are his favourite! He enjoyed taking the Metro on a recent trip to Montreal, and we thought that maybe the O-Train would have the same attraction.

It did!

We drove to the Greenboro Park and Ride, besides the South Keys shopping area on Bank St. The parking lot was quite full in the mid-morning, but we found space. A ticket for the O-Train costs $2.85, children 11 and under ride for free. This ticket is then transferable to the bus. We waited at the platform for less than 5 minutes, good timing on our part as the trains run every 15 minutes.

The O-train was very spacious and pretty quiet. The seats are in sets of 4 or 2, so you can ride forwards or backwards. There was enough space under the seat to store our umbrella stroller. The train ride was just over 10 minutes each way. The train makes 5 stops in total and goes through two tunnels and a trench. It also crosses the Rideau River at Carleton which is pretty. At Bayview Station we stayed on the train and rode it back to our car.

All in all, for less than $3 we had a very enjoyable morning. Our next task is to track down the elusive double-decker OC Transpo bus and go exploring.

Alison is a mom of two energetic children, ages 5 and 1. She just started a blog, Ali’s Adventures.

Celebrate Canada Day with a Flag Cake

by Alison One of our favourite Canada Day traditions is our Canadian Flag Cake. It’s really quite simple, but a big hit. All you’ll need is a 9X13 rectangular cake pan, your favourite cake recipe (even one from a mix), white icing to cover the full cake, red sprinkles and a maple leaf template.

Once you’ve baked and cooled the cake, cover it completely in white icing. The proper dimensions of the Canadian Flag can be found here but for the simplicity of the cake, I roughly divide into 4 parts. The middle two parts stay white (for now) and then my daughter covers the end quarters with red sprinkles. To make sure the sprinkles spread somewhat evenly, I cover the sprinkle jar with aluminum foil and poke holes in the foil.

Place your maple leaf stencil over the middle half of the cake, and cover with sprinkles. We make a stencil by printing a picture of a maple leaf, covering the paper in packing tape and cutting out the leaf with an exacto knife. This prevents the paper from picking up all the icing, and we can usually reuse a stencil for two or three years (after it’s been wiped down).

Happy Canada Day! We'll be enjoying our cake in Seattle this year.

Alison is the mom of two wonderful kids, 6 and 2. She’s recently relocated to the Pacific Northwest but considers Ottawa home. She blogs at Ali’s Adventures.

Sipping away the morning

by Alison

I had the opportunity to visit the Sippy Cup Cafe in Kanata before we moved. I was planning on meeting a friend, but child illness prevented it. As I had a coupon and needed to be out in that area of town, I went anyway. And I'm really glad I did.

This is one of the nicest child-friendly cafes I've been to. The play area is enclosed, and there's a boot rack outside the entrance. This way there's no snowy mess where the kids are running around. Also, they permit food and drink in the play area. In fact, there's a little window to pick up your order without leaving your child. Even with the food, I found the area very clean and tidy.

I enjoyed a latte and a brownie. The offerings for kids were also great. The all real fruit smoothie was a nice treat, as H hadn't eaten a big breakfast. The sandwiches also looked delicious, but I didn't get a chance to try them. Maybe on my next visit.

The play area is geared towards younger kids. I'd recommend it for the under 5 crowd. There was a nice play structure, a train table, play kitchen and various other toys. It started to fill up after 10am, but we didn't feel crowded.

It was a really nice morning, I got to enjoy a delicious coffee in a warm and dry place and H had fun playing with other kids.

For adults (without kids) the coffee seating area looked very cosy. A perfect place to sit with a book or your laptop. The Sippy Cup Cafe also hosts birthday parties. This would be a very nice place to have a winter party, as you have exclusive access to the play area and can get various packages that include snacks or just run a tab for guests.

If you're in that part of town I recommend stopping in.

The Sippy Cup Cafe is located at 1104 Klondike Road in Kanata.

Alison is the mom of two wonderful kids, 6 and 2. She’s recently relocated to the Pacific Northwest but considers Ottawa home. She blogs at Ali’s Adventures 

Tumbling into Fun

by Alison One of the first school birthday parties my daughter was invited to was at Tumblers Gymnastics in Orleans. She was hooked. We signed her up for the next session and haven't looked back. I really enjoyed watching her learn the various gymnastics moves, and have fun running around the gym. Each class would start with a warm-up on the centre mats, including running and stretching. Then the class would move through stations. Usually, there were stations set up in 3 different areas of the gym and the stations related to the theme of the week. This gave the children lots of opportunity to try the apparatus and see what they liked best. The coaches were very good about showing children the correct movement and helping them to the best of their ability.

During the last class of each session, the parents are allowed into the gym area. During a regular class parents are kept outside and can watch through newly enlarged windows and 2 television monitors. On parents day, there's great opportunities for photos and seeing up close how much your little gymnast has learned.

We've done both the TumbleTykes classes for 3 and 4 year olds and the KinderGym for 5 and 6 six year olds. Tumblers also offers competitive programs starting at age 7, and a Kinder-elite program for advanced 4 to 6 year olds. The best part about gymnastics is that they offer classes during the day, and the gym is much quieter. For those under 3, Parent and Tots classes are available. They've added a new Tiny Tots for children 12 to 18 months. I know my son would have loved this class.

Tumblers offers a March Break Camp, either full day or half day. You can sign up for the full week or just a day. I found that the summer camp program had a good mix of gymnastics, crafts, and camp games. The camp is for children aged 4-12. Both boys and girls are welcome, but there were definitely more girls the week my daughter went.

March Break camp registration is ongoing and the Spring session registration opens on February 25th.

*****

Alison is the mom of two wonderful kids, 6 and 2. She's recently relocated to the Pacific Northwest but considers Ottawa home. She blogs at Ali's Adventures 

Christmas Shoe Boxes

This year we were looking for a Christmas charity geared for children that would help our daughter better understand the world. A friend recommended Operation Christmas Child or the Christmas Shoe Box as we now call it. Operation Christmas Child is a charitable project from Samaritan’s Purse that strives to provide gift filled shoe boxes to children around the world. Shoe boxes from Canada are primarily sent to countries in Central and South America, the Caribbean and West Africa. Each shoe box can be filled with either a boy or girl in mind, within 3 age groups (2-4, 5-9, or 10-14). You can use either a regular sized shoe box, or a plastic box. The boxes can be wrapped, but the lid needs to be wrapped separately. I believe that they are checked before being shipped overseas. The suggested items are all small things that we may take for granted, but that can mean so much to children.

Here are some of the suggested items:

- notebook

- pencils/ pens

- eraser

- pencil sharpener

- pencil crayons

- toothbrush

- pair of socks

- comb

- bar of soap (in sealed bag)

- wash cloth

- toothbrush

- pack of stickers

- ball

- toy car

- activity book

- small soft toy

- hard candy (in sealed bag)

This can also be a great group charity activity. You can set aside a time for everyone to fill their shoe box, or each child could bring in an item from the list and the group can fill as many shoe boxes as possible.

To cover operating costs, they request a donation of at least $7 a box. This can be placed in an envelope inside the shoe box, or online at https://secure.samaritan.ca/Donation/DonationPage.aspx?pc=080053. Operation Christmas Child collection takes place the week of November 21-27, so it’s a great way to start your holiday season. There are various collection points across the city. Check the locator for the location nearest you.

Alison is the mother to two energetic children, ages "almost 6" and 2. She blogs at  Ali’s Adventures.