Whales Tohorā at the Canadian Museum of Nature

The Canadian Museum of Nature has a new exhibit, Whales Tohorā, that is sure to be a hit with your children. E and I had the opportunity to attend a preview event before the exhibit opened on March 2nd and we can't wait to go back for more!

As we approached the Museum our excitement grew with the view of the large inflatable blue whale in the Queen's Lantern.  We soon learned that the whale has not been named and the Museum is currently holding a Name-the-Whale contest. Check out the website to vote or suggest a name - you could win a free one year membership or a special souvenir!

The exhibit highlights three elements - Whale Lab, Whale People and Strandings. The gigantic whale skeleton that hung above us throughout the exhibit was amazing. We loved reading the facts posted, viewing the large whale teeth and skulls and following the whale trail stations (ideal for children older than my almost 3 year old). Another one of the neat features was the life-sized model of the blue whale heart (the largest on the planet!) that the children especially loved to explore.

There are a number of interactive activities to keep the children busy including touch-screen games and short videos. We stayed and watched a sperm whale on the hunt for a squid in the Search and Destroy video a few times because E found it absolutely exhilirating.

While we were at the Museum we were also sure to visit the dinosaurs, polar bear, grizzly bears and the rest of our favourites.  E and I are especially looking forward to go back to watch the new 3D Movie, Turtle Vision.

During March Break, the Museum will be hosting a number of activites from a Whale Dinner, Whale Bingo, Whale Crafts and Ocean Curiosities. For more information about Whales Tohorā visit the Musem's website and pack up the kids for a visit!

Alicia is mother to E (2 ¾) and blogs at I Found My Feet.

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 

Disney on Ice

by Amanda I took my son to see the show on Friday night at 7:00 pm.  It was such a wonderful event!  First of all, I myself am a huge fan of Disney.  You just can't go wrong.  It is truly fun for the whole family.  If you follow me on Twitter you would have seen my tweets throughout the show.  I didn't intend to Tweet like that during the show, but, I was excited, and my 4 year old was even more so!

When we walked in the front doors to Scotiabank Place we were immediately bombarded by the souvenir stands.  Immediate eye candy, for both him and me.  Of course I let him have a look, and of course I let him have an Incredibles spinning light toy!  It is his favourite Disney movie!  He is a particular fan of Dash because "he runs really fast Mommy!".  I bit my tongue and just paid the $20 for it because it made him happy.  I did not spring for the $12 popcorn or the $15 snow cones, however the mugs they came in were very cool!!

Off we went to find our seats a few minutes before the show started.  We ended up having really good seats.  We were able to see everything with no difficulty and close enough to make out facial expressions!

The show itself covered many wonderful Disney movies, they played out on the ice the most beloved scenes from each movie that was part of the show while Mickey, Minnie, Donald, and Goofy narrated between scenes.  I will give you some highlights from each scene.

Act I

Alice in Wonderland:  The playing cards had amazing choreography.  It was fairly intricate group skating with a lot of intersecting lines where the skaters had to be quite close together.  It looked so good!

Peter Pan:  The crocodile costume that the skater wore was incredible!  He skated on his hands and feet with picks on the front and his blades in the back to maneuver around the ice.  The Lost Boys set was very true to the movie with a tree house and slide.  Tinkerbell was a little firecracker and got to be suspended by wires, how cool was that?

Act II

The Lion King:  Again, wonderful costumes, skaters with billowing 2 piece costumes, one part was carried overhead and they looked like a herd of what I think were meant to be buffalo, they were just gorgeous!  They also did the giraffe in the same style, very visually appealing.  And what can I say, I LOVE Timon and Pumba.  I sang every word of Hakuna Matata.

Snow White:  Snow White and her Prince were beautiful dance style skaters.  I really enjoyed just watching their skating solo.  They were expressive and to me their skating was quite good.  Again, fantastic costumes on the dwarfs and the witch.

Aladdin:  Amazing job on the set in this scene.  Jasmine's balcony was just like the movie.  I was disappointed they didn't have Rajah, Jasmine's tiger in this piece!  He was such an important part of the movie!  Or  Abu, the monkey!  ("Kiss the monkey, Blech, hairball!")  They of course had Genie and the magic carpet ride, but I honestly think this one could have been better!

The Little Mermaid:  Ariel, Sebastian, and fish of many beautiful fluorescent colours.  It really looked like it was Under the Sea!

The Frog Princess:  I have never seen this movie, but I am glad to see that Disney is embracing multiculturalism more and more.  Princess Tiana had a gorgeous dress and I enjoyed the skating the most in this scene.

The final group skate incorporated many characters from movies they didn't cover during the show.  We saw Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, Mulan and so many more!  What an enjoyable evening.  My son was very well behaved, he was enthralled by the show, and he smiled and danced throughout the performance.  He also amused himself with his spinning light toy, just like a boy!  It was all said and done just before 9:00 pm and of course, my son fell asleep in the car on the way home, surefire way to tell the evening was a success!

Check out this link for clips on the official website! http://disney.go.com/disneyonice/

Did you go? Are you going to the show?

Amanda was born and raised in Ottawa where she continues to live with her husband and son “J”. Amanda is bilingual and interests include reading, blogging, socializing, and advocacy on children and teen issues.

Autumn at Parc Omega

by Carly

Our family is not hugely into Halloween - for no particular reason, though the Little Man has always found it more scary than fun and so we downplay it for his sake and ours.  It wasn't a huge event for me when I was a child, so perhaps that's partly why we don't do the haunted tractor rides, the pumpkin patch or the parties.

We do, however, have a mad, mad love affair with Fall. Jake, now five, shares in this enthusiasm for Autumn.  The last two months have seen our weekends full of family related activities as mundane as cleaning out the garage and as pleasant as visits to out of town relatives.  Needless to say, Jake's been begging for a weekend activity centered around him, so this past Sunday his Nana and I took him to Parc Omega.

He'd visited with a day camp over the summer, but was frustrated by the height of the bus windows and his inability to reach the animals in order to hand feed them.  Since then he's been asking to go back.  At just over 8 months pregnant, I'm not up for wandering around a museum for hours or hiking through Gatineau Park.  But Parc Omega was a great option since you can both drive through the park, and stop from time to time to meander along the walking trails.

We saw caribou, red and white-tailed deer, bison, timber and arctic wolves, coyotes, wild pigs, blue herons, geese, beavers, moose, blue jays, raccoons, black bear, goats, ibexs, foxes, skunks and more.

Hearing Jake's squeals of laughter as the caribou and deer ate carrots he fed them through the car windows warmed my heart.  It was a perfect fall day and a lovely drive through Quebec, surrounded by beautiful hills ablaze in colour on one side and the Ottawa river on the other.

If you go . . . Parc Omega is near Montebello, about a 45-60 minute drive from Ottawa.  If you want to enjoy the walking trails, wear comfortable clothes and shoes!  The park is open year-round with prices ranging from $15-$18 per adult and $13-$7 for children depending on their age and the season.

Carrots are the preferred food of choice for the animals because they're healthy and easy to feed (long enough that little fingers don't need to worry about being nipped).  You can purchase them in the gift shop, or bring your own.  (We brought 6 lbs and went through them in minutes - I do wish we'd brought more!)

There is a canteen on-site, though like many tourist attractions, the prices are a little high.  You can bring your own picnic lunch and eat at a variety of spots throughout the park.

Depending on how busy the park is and how quickly you choose to drive through it, plan on spending at least a couple of hours meeting all the animals along the way.

Carly has red hair and occasionally the temper to match.  She loves potatoes, rainy nights, photography, her husband and her 5 year old son, Jacob.  Probably in reverse order.   She also blogs.

Upper Canada Village: You can't go wrong!

One of the things I enjoy as a parent is being able to take Liam places that I can remember visiting as a child.  One of those places that we chose to explore this summer was Upper Canada Village in Morrisburg.

We hadn’t planned on visiting the 1860’s pioneer village this summer as we knew that at only two and a half, Liam would not understand the significance.  However when booking a weekend of camping at Riverside-Cedar Campground, we discovered that The Parks Of St. Lawrence offers a 40% discount on admission to Upper Canada Village with your site reservation.  We quickly changed our minds and visited twice this summer.

Our first visit was just the three of us, but when we went back a couple of weeks ago, Liam brought his grandma and aunties too!  And that is one of the beauties of Upper Canada Village, there is something for everyone.

As adults, we enjoyed the physical beauty of the old building, the stories about the way of life in the 1860s and the antiques.

For Liam, it was the animals – horses going by no matter where you are, pastures of cattle, the pig pen and even little pig lets running around like puppies.

Be prepared for lots of walking as you check out everything from the village schoolhouse to the bakery, the church to the sawmill, the Tavern to the Doctor’s house.  If it was part of life in the 1860s, you are likely to find it along the roads of Upper Canada Village.

If you’re not up for walking there is a horse drawn wagon tour as well as a horse powered boat ride that will save your feet!

Along the way, the costumed interpreters are all happy to chat and share stories with you but as many of the buildings are actually working buildings they do have a job to do.

You may happen into the newspaper office in time to see them printing a poster for an upcoming event.

Cheese and bread are made daily in the cheese factory and bakery and sold in the gift shop.

There are lovely picnic areas around in the Village if you want to bring a picnic lunch or if picnics aren’t your thing, there is a cafeteria as well as a restaurant in the village.  The cafeteria has all the modern day choices of burgers, fries, sandwiches and of course, ice cream while the restaurant servers period meal choices.

Once you’ve walked all you can walk, checked out the gift shop on your way out and think that you are done for the day, there is one last thing left to do.  No, it’s not get in the car and hope that the kids sleep for the hour and a half drive back to Ottawa, it is to ride the Moccasin, or as Liam calls it, the Little Red Train.

Take a ride (the short ride is about 17 minutes and the long ride is about 45 minutes) along the St. Lawrence River, listening to the story of the battle of Crysler Farm.  The scenery is gorgeous and if you are so inclined, you can get off the train at Crysler Beach for a few hours before taking the train back to your car.

Although there is an extra charge for the train, it is well worth it as it was the highlight of Liam’s day both times.

Fun, family oriented, educational, outdoors, exercise . . . where can you go wrong with Upper Canada Village?

*****

Nicki is a working mom of one two-year-old boy, Liam. She is an Early Childhood Educator and in her spare time, volunteers for New Moon Rabbit Rescue and as a Brownie Leader with Girl Guides of Canada. She loves to garden, scrapbook and write! You can read more about Nicki on The Perils of a Working Mom.