Taffy Lane – Orleans’ very own Christmas Lane

by Joanne

The decorated tree, stockings hung on the fireplace mantel, Grand-maman’s yummy tourtière in the oven, my nutcracker collection placed perfectly and a drive down Taffy Lane! We have many traditions at our house when it comes to celebrating Christmas. When we pull out the Christmas tree the kids eagerly and enthusiastically help us decorate it. They are so excited to hang their stockings by the fireplace and they love helping me place my nutcrackers throughout the house. But Christmas is not Christmas without a drive down Taffy Lane.

Taffy Lane is a small little street in Orléans that puts the Griswold’s to shame!

Aunt Bethany – Is your house on fire, Clark?
Clark Griswold – No, Aunt Bethany, those are the Christmas lights.
~ Quote from Christmas Vacation

It is known throughout Eastern Ontario as the place to go to see Christmas lights. The houses on the small lane are decorated with every Christmas light and inflatable imaginable. It is a sight to see.

My kids just love driving or even walking down the lane to see the beautiful lights. We look forward to seeing our old favorites.

If you are planning to head down to Taffy Lane you can either walk or drive. I suggest parking at Orleans United Church at the corner. It is a great walk and the lights are just beautiful. If you are walking with the kids be sure to watch for those driving slowly on the street. They are most likely looking at the beautiful lights and not at the road ahead.

You can get to Taffy Lane by taking Orleans Boulevard heading North (over the 174) and taking your first right onto Sugar Creek Way and then your first right on Taffy Lane.

Joanne is the proud mom of Amélie (8 years old) and Mathieu (5 years). She is new at blogging and you can find her at Our Money Pit.

Christmas festivities at the Cumberland Heritage Village Museum

by Sara The Cumberland Heritage Village Museum is located 10 minutes east of Orleans.  The museum consists of several acres of historical residential and agricultural buildings, including a blacksmith, school house, church, and community hall.  For train-lovers, the entrance to the museum is a Canadian National railway station and during summer months children (and adults) can go for a ride on a miniature steam train with the Ottawa Valley Live Steamers and Model Engineers.

Although the museum closes for the season on October 30th, it re-opens on December 5th, 12th, and 19th for a Cultural Christmas Event.  Between 10 am and 5 pm, the village is alive with holiday activities including choirs, horse-drawn wagon rides, and even Santa is in town.  Families can learn about how the Irish and Germans celebrated Christmas as well as traditional holiday foods.  Regular admission fees are charged for the activities (Adult: $7 / Student: $5 / Senior: $5 / Family: $18)

We visited the museum this week with the 2.5 year old monkey's preschool class.  The firefighter, who missed his field trip to the museum last year because he was sick, tagged along for a morning of fun.

There was a blanket of snow on the ground when we arrived and the boys were happy to roll around and make snow angels.  We started our morning decorating sugar cookies and then took them outside.  The boys were happy to sit around the fire drinking hot chocolate and eating their sprinkle-covered snacks.  The museum is a beautiful location year-round but it was especially nice taking photos of the buildings, surrounding by freshly fallen snow and decorated with wreaths.  We finished our morning out with a visit to Santa  Claus and a ride on a horse-drawn sleigh. 

Our visit to the museum was a great opportunity to participate in some holiday activities while also enjoying time outside together as we trekked from building to building.  I encourage everyone (adults included) to bundle up in snow pants and if you have small children, it might be helpful to bring a sled in case little legs get tired.   

Sara is a photographer and mom to a 4.5-year-old ” firefighter” and 2.5-year-old “monkey”.  You can also find her at her blog, My Points of View.

Spooks, Spirits, & Spectacles

by Kari I love Halloween, always have.  It's magical to me.  I love the crisp air, the crunch of the leaves, the colourful costumes, and excited chatter of wee ones.  Although I intend to win Kids In the Capital's Trick-or-Treat to a Wicked Beat giveaway, I've made my list of just-in-case other events ;-)

The Canadian Children's Museum in the Museum of Civilization is offering a host of Halloween themed activities over the weekend.  On Friday, the Theatre is putting on an interactive puppet show, The Pocket Witch .  On Saturday, they introduce an international flair with their Dia de los muertos, or Day of the Dead program.  Children and their families can take part in some of the rituals practiced on this holiday in Mexico.  While Sunday's storytime asks Where Do Witches Go? .  This special programming in included with regular price of admission, $30 per family.

If free admission is what you seek, the City of Ottawa can help!  Several Halloween-themed library programs can be found throughout the city on Saturday, some feature Halloween parades, while others include spooky stories, activities, and crafts.  Older children, and less spookable children, might enjoy the Main library's 'A World of Ghosts' program on Sunday...especially the creepy snacks.  These programs require pre-registration so pull out your library card and reserve your spot.  

On the other hand, if you don't mind open admission with line-ups for your mostly free entertainment, Trick or Treat with the Mayor returns to City Hall.  For a donation to the Baby Supply Cupboard of the Ottawa Foodbank, children will walk the spooky cemetery to enter the haunted house, eventually making their way to the Halloween Party.  I've been told from previous participants, that the 6-8 year-old age range will get the most out of this evening, but even the younger ones will enjoy it.  You might want to check out your local community centre for events too.  The Sandy Hill Community Centre is handing out treats and providing activities on the day from 6 - 8 pm.

Lastly, if you cannot make the Kids in the Capital Halloween Meetup at Boston Pizza, two local museums are hosting Halloween Themed events.  The Cumberland Heritage Museum is hosting a Vintage Halloween Party encouraging homemade Halloween costumes and providing Halloween crafts and games from the 1920's and 30's.  While Billings Bridge Estate is encouraging the city's youngest ghouls and goblins to enjoy some old-fashioned Halloween games, and learn their fortune using apples and candles.  Both these events take place on Sunday from 11 am to 4 pm and regular admission fees apply, $15-18 per family.

Happy Halloween!

Kari is the mom of two girls, a 4 year old and 10 month old.  She can be found frequenting free activities throughout the city in hopes it’ll tire them out enough to sleep through the night.

Pumpkin time at Proulx Farm

by Lara

Halloween in on Sunday and in case you haven't had enough Halloween themed fun yet I thought I'd suggest one last stop that's well worth the trip.

We go to Proulx every year for strawberry picking but this was the first year we made it out for what is actually their busiest time of year - haunting season.

Proulx is a fun family outing (although they run some not so kid friendly scarier stuff in the evening with the Kiwanis club you might want to also check out called Skreamers)

The daytime activities include several mazes, magic shows, play structures, wagon rides, slides, pick your own pumpkins, a petting farm, bouncy castles, face painting and much more!

They've got the place decked out to the max. Just walking around looking at some of the hay art is awesome!

The cost is $13 for 6 and over, $10 for 3-6 and free for the under 3 crowd. We went for a couple of hours, but it would have been great to bring a lunch and spend the better part of half a day there (which would probably have felt like a bit better value for the cost too).

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It was fun, we picked a pumpkin from the pre-picked ones and the kids all had a blast. Check it out!

Lara is mom to 4 year old Kiernan and 1 year old twins Quinn and Juliette. You can read her blog at Gliding Through Motherhood.

Letting them climb the walls

by Carly I work for an organization that occasionally requires me to hit the town with a bunch of pre-teens and teens on a Friday night.  We regularly schedule trips to places mom and dad may not be willing to visit – especially with their child and twenty-five of his closest friends in tow.

Recently we were scheduled to play indoor Paintball, only to find out the day before that the place had closed its doors.  In an effort to avoid a huge outcry of disappointment, we rallied the troops and talked the youth into trying out a new climbing gym.

The folks at Altitude Gym in Gatineau not only accommodated us at the last-minute, but they opened their doors a day prior to their official grand opening so our teens wouldn’t be left in the cold . . . literally.

When we arrived at their brand new gym at 35 boul. St-Raymond in Gatineau, they quickly ushered us into the Clip n’ Climb area.  Despite many, many years of planning outings for camps, youth groups and the like, I’d never seen anything like it.  You won’t have either, unless you’ve been to New Zealand - because right now, that’s the only other place where the Clip n’ Climb concept exists.

Altitude Gym is located in a former church and contains traditional rock climbing areas for all levels of experience, as well as a bouldering area.  As stated on their website, it’s a veritable rocktopia of climbing.

However the pièce de résistance, in my humble opinion, is found past the 17,000 square feet of climbing surfaces, in the  Clip n’ Climb area.  The sanctuary of the church has been transformed into a mecca of climbing fun for kids (and grown-ups!) aged five and up.  You’ll find over 30 amazing surfaces, each as unique as the one before.  In a briefing session in the former lobby of the church, staff will carefully explain the harness, the rules and get everyone set up.

Once inside, kids simply select the wall they want to try, clip their harness to the individual belaying system set up at each climb and wait for a staff to give the all clear.  Then it’s up and up and away!  Once they’re at the top, they can climb back down, or just let go for a graceful decent to the floor.  If they hit the ground a little too hard, not to worry as it’s extremely well padded with over a foot of cushy, springy softness – much like the floor at Cosmic Adventures, only thicker.

Parents can climb too or just watch, and groups can rent the mezzanine for parties or other events.  An hour in the Clip n’ Climb area will run you about $14 per person.  Factor in a little extra if your adventurous kids want to try the “Leap of Faith” or the “Vertical Drop”.  Our youth were exhausted after an hour of climbing and found the timing to be just right.  The enthusiastic and helpful staff only permit as many climbers as there are walls, so no one is ever left waiting.  Reservations are strongly recommended to ensure no one is disappointed on arrival and parents will be required to sign a waiver before anyone can play.

I’ve no affiliation with Altitude Gym at all, but immediately knew my four year old would love it.  Since he’s got a year to go before he’s old enough, I’m not showing him the photos until then!

Find them at www.altitudegym.ca. Call them at (819) 205-0959.

Carly has red hair and occasionally the temper to match.  She loves potatoes, rainy nights, photography, her husband and her 4 year old son, Jacob.  Probably in reverse order.   She also blogs.

Sunday October 17th 10am- 3pm The Glebe Community Center 175 Third Ave @ Lyon St in The Glebe