Snowshoeing with kids

by Joanne Winters

Ottawa can be cold, and when you factor in the windchill it can be downright nasty!  Although the thought of hibernating indoors does sound very appealing we have had to find ways to keep ourselves active and have some fun outdoors in our frigid city.   

A few Christmases ago, before we had kids, I purchased snowshoes for myself and my husband. We lived in area with an open field nearby where we could go snowshoeing and enjoy the crisp cold air.  It was so beautiful being out there late at night, enjoying the star-filled sky as we trekked across the fields.    Now fast forward a few years… 2 kids and dog later, and we still enjoy it!   

When we first decided to take the kids out for a trek in the snow covered woods they were very excited.   We grabbed our snowshoes and a sled with a warm blanket, bundled ourselves up, packed a snack and headed to Mer Bleu.  The kids were so excited.  At first we stayed on the well established paths throughout the woods but then I decided to let the kids try out my snowshoes.  My daughter loved it – we strapped them on her boots and away she went.  She had no trouble going off the beaten path and staying above the fresh powder. My son also had a turn and away he went leading the way through the snow with ease.    Along the way we stopped to admire and feed many birds and explored the trails. If you bring bird seed with you and stay really calm the birds will come eat out of your hand. 

There are many opportunities to go out and snowshoe in Ottawa.  The National Capital Greenbelt offers a variety of trails to explore.  Also Gatineau Park offers 60 kilometers of trails for snowshoeing, ranging from easy to more challenging treks.  

A wonderful thing about snowshoeing is that it does not require a lot of equipment.  All you need is to dress for the weather and strap on some snowshoes.  If you want to give it a try and not invest in the snowshoes right away many places like Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC), Trailhead and Gatineau Park do rent them.  I suggest calling ahead to check on the availability. 

The best conditions for snowshoeing are when there is about 10 centimeters of snow on the ground.  The more snow the more fun.  Snowshoes work on all types of snow and ice.  You also don’t need to head out very far for your first trek; you may just want to start in the backyard after a snow storm, your neighborhood park or any field nearby.    

So next time the weather office is calling for a dumping of 10 centimeters of snow, don’t just think about the snow blower or the shoveling, think of it as Mother Nature laying the base for an awesome family adventure!

Oh My, Oh My, Oh Dinosaurs!

The renovated Canadian Museum of Nature with new glass lantern. Martin Lipman © Canadian Museum of Nature

What is it about dinosaurs that captures every kid's imagination? Miss Bea has a vocabulary of about 20 words, and "dinoshaw" is already in there  (along with "mooshe" and "buddafwy"). So today we decided to pay a visit to the dinoshaws at the Museum of Nature.

The Fossil Gallery. Martin Lipman © Canadian Museum of Nature

I'll be frank with you: natural history is not really my thing. I'm more of a science & tech kinda girl. But who can resist dinosaurs? So our first stop, after admiring the beautifully refurbished atrium, was the fossil hall.  There are fossils hanging from the ceilings, fossils on the walls, but I think my favourite part is at the far end, where you round the corner and find yourself in a prehistoric forest, surrounded by life-like models of Very Large Beasts.

The Dinosaur Diorama. Martin Lipman © Canadian Museum of Nature

From there, we headed up to the top floor: the bird gallery. "Bird" was one  of Miss Bea's first signs - after "milk" and "cookie" - so the first opportunity for her to tell us about what she found interesing in the world around her.

At the exhibit we explored the kid-sized bird rescue centre, played a bird guessing game with daddy, and then had the all-important weigh-in: she now weighs 1182 hummingbirds. That's 39 blue jays, or 3 mallards (for those who prefer working in ducks).

The Bird Gallery. Martin Lipman © Canadian Museum of Nature

That was about all we could fit between breakfast and nap time, but it's certainly not all the museum has to offer! We knew we'd be back so we picked up a family pass, which will also get us into places like the Ontario Science Center when we head to T.O. in January (but if you're smart you can also get in free). There will be more visits, with more exhibits to explore, and I definitely want to check out the animalium and the children's area.  Besides, we still have to hunt down some mooshe and buddafwys.

This is what you get when you Google for Creative Commons images of moose and butterflies. In case you were wondering. Photo © Vicki & Chuck Rogers

Tell us about your favourite Ottawa museums! What do you like to see and do?

Sasha is mom to 2-year-old Miss Bea, and 4 month old Baby Em.  Her ramblings can also be found on her blog, The Rambling Stroller.

Favorite Posts: The Children's Museums

Everyone here at Kids in the Capital is busy enjoying their holidays and chasing after their kids. If you are also frantically trying to  think of an activity to keep your kids amused, check out one of our favorite posts from this last year! by Lara

We are really lucky to live in a city with so many fabulous places to take the kids – indoor and outdoor. There are still many that we want to explore, but there are a few that are tried and true favourites that we make visits to at least once a year.

The Children’s Museum over at the museum of civilizations is one of them. We’ve been going at least once a year since Kiernan turned one. The museum is great because there is so much hands-on stuff for the kids to do, and they can enjoy it at so many ages.

I also love that by going to the same museums over the years, you get to see how much your children have grown in size and development.

Here is a peek at the Children’s Museum from Kiernan’s perspective over the last 3 years.

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Kiernan and Daddy put on fabulous puppet shows.

Miss Carmelina went to the spa this past year and buffed up a bit it looks like.

Our budding musician. This has always been a highlight of the museum for K.

As the kids get older they have more and more intricate things for them to do and work on. Here the kids were actually embroidering.

These photos give only a small snippet of the stuff to do at the museum. The kids can get dressed up in costumes, serve their parents lunch at the kids’ cafe, swab the deck and load and unload freight onto the cargo ship, do arts and crafts and when there are special exhibits there’s even more to do. I highly recommend the museum as something fun to do with the kids. And the family pass (2 adults and up to 3 kids) for $30 is a pretty good deal!

Lara is the mom to 3.5 year old Kiernan and 10 month old twins Quinn and Juliette. You can find her at her blog Gliding Through Motherhood.

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.

Going on a tree hunt

by Carly We never had a real Christmas tree growing up, but I always wanted one.  After getting married and having a child of my own, I thought the best year to try a live tree for the first time, was the year the Little Man was one and newly walking.  Good plan, right?

We had an open concept town home so we purchased a 12 foot gate and blocked off the three sets of stairs by spreading the gate across the kitchen, dining room and living room.  The tree was a last minute decision, put up about 5 days before Christmas, outside the gate.  It was beautiful!

Since then, we've gotten a live tree every year, but I've been increasingly disappointed with the lack of longevity.  Despite keeping the house cool, never letting the tree dry out and offering it sugar water as a treat every now and then, our subsequent trees (purchased at a local tree lot about 10 days before Christmas) never lasted past Boxing Day.  Last year's tree was so dried out by Christmas Eve, I threatened everyone who came near it with bodily harm if they so much as breathed on it.  By the time we got it out the door three days after Christmas, the remaining needles were in my foyer and the bare tree was in the snow bank.

I vowed then and there to visit the tree farm next (this) year and cut down a fresh tree.

Which is where we found ourselves this weekend.  We headed out with friends to check out Thomas Tree Farm outside North Gower.  It was everything I'd hoped for.  There were homemade cookies and hot chocolate, play structures, a bonfire, a tractor wagon to take you out to the fields and a horse-drawn wagon ride once you got there.

Everything I wanted in a tree farm.  Except for trees.  Unfortunately, all they had left were small fir trees or scotch pines.  I had my heart set on a fir tree of some sort as did our friends.  At the suggestion of some staff we checked out their pre-cut trees, but were disappointed with the selection and the fact they came from outside the province and had likely been cut months ago - just like the trees at our local lot.  So while the kids thoroughly enjoyed themselves running through the fields, swirling branches and visiting the outhouse, we left with only one tree . . . cut down and purchased for friends who couldn't make it that weekend.

We headed up the road to Hillcrest Tree Farm, but before getting out of the car, they let us know they had nothing left.

It was getting dark by that point, but my trusty smart phone informed me that Ian's Everygreen Plantation was open for night cutting with "well lit fields" so off we went.  Two of the three kids fell asleep on the way there and only the Little Man bolted excitedly from the car when we arrived.

A quick chat with some staff let us know that the tractor wagon wasn't making anymore trips to the fields that night and while the entrance/lot area was lit, the fields themselves weren't.  Prepared to leave disappointed once again, we were stopped by Ian himself on our way out.  He was quick to point out the hundreds of pre-cut trees in his lot.  Expecting the usual story of how they were cut weeks ago and shipped from places far, far away we prepared to continue on our way.

Ian came through for us though, explaining that the trees were cut on Thursday and were from his larger farm just outside the city.  We headed over to wander the rows, looking for the perfect tree.  Honestly, at that point, I was ready to settle for an okay tree.

We found lots of wonderful trees, of all shapes and sizes.  Jake had a quick visit to the reindeer barn and we grabbed a hot chocolate to go on our way out.  Our hunt ended happily and successfully.  We got a great tree and made some wonderful family memories.  The Little Man had a fantastic day so despite the iffy start, I highly recommend a tree farm visit.

It's not too late either - while I can't speak for the first two farms we visited, Ian's Evergreen Plantation still has lots of lovely trees to choose from and is open until 9pm every night until December 24th.  All the farms had free activities and trees ranging in price from $20 to $75.  Happy hunting!

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.