A Steam Train Adventure

by Krista This past Victoria Day weekend my 2 year old son and I decided to join some out-of-town friends and go on the Hull - Chelsea - Wakefield Steam Train excursion. The train is one of Canada's last remaining authentic steam-powered engines and travels through the Gatineau Hills covering 64 km of beautiful scenic views along the Gatineau river.

From start to end our journey was a pleasant experience beginning with the friendly staff directing us into the parking lot in an orderly fashion. Picking up our tickets and finding our assigned seats was a breeze thanks to the ticket agent's detailed directions. Each train car had a tour guide that pointed out landmarks and interesting facts during the ride. All the guides were kid friendly and always smiling.

The whole experience basically takes up the entire day. They advise that you arrive 45 minutes before the train departs, which is at 10:00 am sharp. This gives you lots of time to pick up your tickets, take pictures of the train and find your seats. The ride to the village of Wakefield and back takes 90 minutes each way including a 2 hour stopover.

The ride to our destination passed by quickly with the guide handing out colouring books/crayons and musicians making their way through the train playing classic Quebec folk songs with a few recent hits mixed in. My son bounced happily in his seat to the music while waving out the window to bystanders watching the train make its way through the Gatineau Hills. We walked through the train to the souvenir car to buy a toy locomotive, which he played with for the remainder of the trip.

The stopover in Wakefield began with the tradition of the musicians pushing the Steam Engine around 180 degrees on the turntable. (View our video on YouTube) Afterwards, you were allowed to walk through the actual steam engine while the engineer went about his business of preparing for the trip home. My son was thrilled at the chance to see the inside the steam engine!

There was a small park with picnic tables and benches next to the train station where we had our lunch. You can opt to buy a box lunch or bring your own. There are all kinds of restaurants and take out stands to grab a bite if picnics are not your thing. After our lunch and some running around the park we made our way to the Wakefield Bakery and bought some yummy cookies and bread for the ride home. We then sat and enjoyed some ice cream while we waited for the train to blast it's horn to let us know it was time to make our way back for our journey home.

The ride home was a little quieter since my son was tuckered out from all our walking (re: running) around the village. There is room in each train car to store your stroller if needed. If I had known that, I would have brought our umbrella stroller to make getting around the village a little easier. The musicians made another appearance and a girl making balloon animals and face painting paid us a visit. I had packed a book that my son had never read before to keep him happy for the final leg of our trip home. It seemed to work... but I think the cookies I bought in Wakefield might have been the real winner!

The pricing changes from season to season and is very specific. They have special prices for seniors, students, children and a family rate. Kids 2 years of age and under are free and they get their own seat.

For more information visit their Web site.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58grR_TnHEA&feature=player_embedded]

Krista is mom to three boys: 2 year old Ewan and 9 month old twins Angus and Lachlan. You can follow her on Twitter @kristahouse.

Guerilla parenting: playing at Staples

by Zach There are times when I need something to do with the kids that isn't anything that we usually do, and that is free, or very, very cheap. Often doing something different is for my own sanity. And, usually the novelty keeps the kids, and me, entertained far more than would seem logical.

I suspect that these activities sometimes border on the unusual. For example, taking the kids to Staples. Who takes their kids to a big box store primarily to amuse them? Me, apparently.

For example, there is a Staples at 403 Bank Street. It's a big building, by downtown standards. And it has a number of characteristics that make it a pretty effective way to pass part of an afternoon:

• unlocked, out of the way bathrooms
• usually not very busy
• wide aisles and pretty good sight lines
• many, many packaged, hard to break, colourful items (the expensive stuff is generally locked away or out of reach - watch out for the computer monitor displays, though)
• rows of desk chairs to try out
• staff that don't seem disturbed by small children

If you actually need to buy something, that's great. If not, put something in your hands, and you look like you're shopping. The kids constantly grab stuff off of shelves and displays, so I usually have to say "we're not buying that" many times. However, I can also get some extra mileage out of the experience by getting the Boy to return whatever he's holding to where he got it.

While I certainly don't want to visit with kids on regular basis, I have to say, I've been surprised at how well the store entertains them.

Warning: watch out for the many huge, rolling stepladders the staff uses to reach high shelves. To kids, they seem like immense fun, but are definitely not safe for little ones.

Are you guerilla parenting too? Do you find yourself taking your kids places to play that you never would have imagined before? New suggestions are always welcome.

Zach is the dad of a 3.5 year daughter “the girl” and twenty month old son “the boy”. Zach doesn’t have his own blog but he is blogged about at Capital Mom.

Budding Gardeners Love Visiting Laporte Gardens

by Isabelle My little guy loves helping out in the garden, and now that he's almost four, I can honestly say that he does help me when we're outside together. He helps with the weeding and tilling, carries gardening tools around the yard, sows seeds in the starter containers and fills pots up with soil. Of course, when I need to run gardening-related errands, he's the first one to put his shoes on and run to the car.

Our absolute favorite gardening centre is Laporte Gardens, located on Old Montreal Road near Trim (just east of Orleans). Not only do they cater to all of my gardening needs, with a large, well-organized selection of trees, shrubs, plants and herbs, but they have also thought of the little ones who visit their centre with mom and dad. Our visit starts with a quick overview of what's on sale indoors, where you can find a selection of pots, seeds, books, and other gardening items, but most importantly, where Tim Horton's coffee and Timbits are provided free of charge to customers (a small charitable donation is suggested but not required).

The large outdoor area provides tons of entertainment for little ones, who (when it's not too busy), can run around the aisles of trees and plants and play in the covered wooden playstructure. The playstructure, of course, is the highlight of the visit, although the soil and mulch pick-up is also very popular with my son - we drive to a designated area, where helpful (and strong!) young men pack up our car. Very impressive to a three year-old.

Isabelle is the mom of 3.5 year old Jay and two-month old Rosie. You can also find her at Dr. Peach’s Blog.

Never underestimate the entertainment value of Pooh Sticks

by Shawna With the days heating up (I am sticking my fingers in my ears at mention of nighttime near-freezing temperatures this coming week - lalala, I can't hear you!),  my family is itching to get outside.  Yes, there are lots of fabulous, known parks we can target, but just as appealing is going for a walk or throwing helmets on the kids' little melons and stuffing them in our usedottawa.com-purchased bike trailer to explore.  After all, playgrounds might offer the kids a chance to run around, but the most activity I usually get there is pushing swings, or helicoptering around my almost-two-year-old to make sure he doesn't plummet through a gap in the play structure rails enroute to the slide.

We're new to our Barrhaven neighbourhood (as is everyone around us: we live in a brand-new development) so so far our forays have had us exploring close to home.  We have a path that loops around the water containment pond that's almost across the street.  If we're smart, we head to the left when we get there and branch out about halfway around.  We only return to the path do the second half when we know we're done with the walk.  You see, there's a bridge on that half, and we have learned that throwing pebbles into the water is an inexhaustible source of entertainment when you're a half-pint.  And throwing sticks on the upstream side and waiting for them to appear on the other?  You cannot imagine the suspense!  Especially because the current is extremely sluggish once the spring run-off has happened.  (Where did my stick go?  Why isn't it here yet?  Did it get stuck on something?  I'll get more rocks to throw while I'm waiting... Did I miss my stick while I was getting the rocks? Where is my stick? THERE IT IS!  LOOK MUMMA, LOOK!)  This game, by the way, was "invented" by Winnie the Pooh, hence the name "Pooh Sticks" (no, it's not a scatalogical reference).

Announcements that it is time to go home - or even just move on - are usually greeted with shrill screeches of displeasure, so it's often better to a) hit the bridge on the way home and mentally budget some time for lingering there, and b) have an activity at home which they want to do to lure them away.  My kids, for example, are big fans of the bath, so that's often how I transform their anger to eager acceptance of leaving.

When the decision has been made to go for a bike ride, my husband and I tow our wee mites around (okay, he tows, I just bike along unencumbered with him) until we've been going for a while and see a likely little spot, then we hop out and release our mini-Krakens.  Any small play structure or inviting path to explore will do.   Then the kids get free rein until it's time to pop them back in the trailer and head home.  Since they're usually getting cranky at this point, we quickly learned to proffer a supply of liquids and finger-food snacks to placate them on the way home.

Man, does it feel good to be doing something active for entertainment again.  For the kids, it's about the destination; for the adults it's about the journey, and this sort of activity covers both bases.  Win!

Shawna is mom to 4-year-old Sage and almost-2-year-old Harris.  She has  been writing online since 2003, and her latest project is a fledgling photography blog.  As a delicate hothouse flower, she is not winter's biggest fan and is expansively happy that spring is here!

Gardening with children at the Children's Garden

by Brie Last summer the kids and I started attending a weekly playgroup at the Children's Garden in Old Ottawa East. Located at the corner of Main Street and Clegg, the Children's Garden has transformed Robert Legget Park from an unused green space to a wonder of plants and vegetables.

For a black thumb like me it was the perfect chance to expose the kids to gardening without actually having to do it myself. This is what I call a win-win situation.

Now that the weather is warming up, the boy and I have started attending the playgroup again. Every Thursday morning from 10am to 11am parents and kids gather at the garden to play, do crafts, take part in a circle time, eat snacks and, well, garden.

The playgroup is free, but the volunteer coordinator does as for a small donation to cover the cost of the craft supplies and the snack that is provided.

So far the only plants growing are the garlic, but that should change soon. The Children's Garden has a team of volunteers that plant and weed throughout the spring, summer and fall.

Last summer there was an impressive number of vegetables growing. My then three-year old girl would always head straight for the tomato plants as soon as we arrived and would happily sit and eat them off the vine. Luckily, that was exactly what they are there for.

The Children's Garden is open to everyone, just like any other public park. It would be the perfect place for a family picnic or even a birthday party. Besides the weekly Thursday playgroups, the Children's Garden often hosts special parties, like the fairy party the girl attended last August. You can subscribe to their email updates to be informed of any upcoming activities.

Brie is the mom of a 3.5 year old daughter “the girl” and eighteen month old son “the boy”. You can read her blog at Capital Mom.