Ottawa parks: Springhurst

by Brie Do your kids like boats? Pretending to be pirates? Running around and having fun? Then I have a park for you.

In our house we call Springhurst park the pirate park. It has two good sized play structures, both of which are built to look like boats. My kids like to play pirate as they walk the gang plank and stand at the prow.

Here's what I like about the park. It is well shaded, which is great for hot summer days. The park is small and it is easy to keep an eye on both kids while they play. There are some fields beside the park area which is great for running or soccer. And finally, there are two sets (four in total) of the bigger kid swings. This means that if we are visiting the park with friends fights over the swings can usually be avoided!

Here are some drawbacks to the park. The park is geared towards younger kids. I think older kids (over eight) would find it a bit boring as the play structures are more for little kids. Also, there are no bathrooms at the park so keep that in mind when you visit.

Springhurst park is located off of Lees Avenue in Old Ottawa East, quite close to the  Queensway exit.

Have a favrotiepark in Ottawa? Let us know! Email us at kidsinthecapital(at)gmail(dot)com to blog about it for Kids in the Capital.

Brie is the mom of a 4 year old daughter “the girl” and 2 old son “the boy”. You can read her blog at Capital Mom.

Blogging out loud

by Lynn

Ottawa has one of the most vibrant, active, and friendly social media scenes that I know. The online version of this city is a place where everyone is welcomed, where so many people have amazing things to say. There's twitter, there's facebook, and of course, there's an amazing community of bloggers. Kids in the Capital itself is a great example of how a blog can be a gathering place for people with similar interests, all of whom live in this great town of ours.

Blog Out Loud is an annual event for Ottawa-area bloggers - and, just as importantly, their readers - to gather and share. It's a chance to meet those people whose voices you've only heard online, to finally put sound behind the words. It's a fun evening and a great way to really feel a part of something. And as an added bonus, 21 Ottawa-area bloggers will be reading out loud their favourite post from the past year, a personal retelling of funny, moving, powerful stories; meanwhile, a dozen Ottawa-area photographers will be displaying their beautiful artwork.

I am amazed at how many people are coming forward this year to say that last year's event sparked their desire to start their own blog. That hearing the bloggers speak, and meeting so many great people, inspired them to add their own voices to the mix. And a few bloggers who started their own blogs after attending BOLO are even taking a turn at the microphone this year, reading their own story.

You could be one of those people, too.

This year's event is this coming Thursday, July 7, 2011. It starts at 7 p.m. and runs until around 10. It's free, although we will be asking for donations at the door to help cover costs (suggested donation of $2). It's at The Prescott (379 Preston Street), and we'll be down in the basement reception room, with our own private bar.

So expect things to get LOUD.

You're all invited, so hope to see you all there!

Lynn is the planning mastermind behind BOLO and she also has a personal blog over at Turtlehead.

Follow that boat!

by Krista

We are fortunate in Ottawa to have a great number of unique and interesting sites to visit, and my family loves to take advantage of as many as possible. We were particularly happy when we stumbled upon one that appealed to all of us recently, watching a boat travel down the locks of the Rideau Canal into the Ottawa River. It's one of those treasures that you are probably aware of, but just don't appreciate how unique it is until you experience it.

We started at the top, near the Chateau Laurier hotel. Our original intent was to just have look at the locks from the top lock, but we arrived just as a boat was pulling into the first lock. The lils were fascinated to watch the lock staff help the boat tie to the mooring cables on the side, then run to the lock to start the water draining. They thought it was hilarious to watch the boat, which was not a big boat, sink down lower and lower as the water drained, and compared it to their boats on the bath tub.

The locks are operated by hand, so as you walk down the path, the lock staff are moving at great speed to get to the next set of cranks to either open the lock, or the doors within the lock that let the water out. There are eight locks in total here, and the lift (or in this case drop) is 24m. It took a little over an hour from start to finish, and we barely noticed the time passing by!

There is no cost associated with this viewing, as you are just walking down a public pathway. The paths closest to the locks have many stairs, and as such are not accessible/stroller friendly. There is a fairly steep path nearby, which would be suitable. You won't be able to actually observe the operations as well from this path, however. You can walk across the every lock, but if you attempt to do this while a boat is moving through, you have to be well ahead of them! If you have very young children, you may want to consider wearing them in a carrier, as the sides are completely open to the canal below. I was glad both parents were present for this trip, as my monkeys are, well, monkeys who need some pretty close supervision.

You can't predict when a boat will be going up or down the locks, as there is not a set schedule. I would guess that it is fairly frequent to constant on a summer weekend, but you might want to have a backup plan if you are heading out.

There is also the Rideau Canal Museum near the top of this set of locks. We didn't visit it on this trip, but will on our next! More information about the lock system can be found on the Rideau Canal website.

Krista is married to Willy and mom to a 4 year old son, Woo, and 2.5 year old daughter, Goose. You can find her at Life in the Hutch or on Twitter @kgraydonald

Flash back: Surviving the Cottage with kids

We have so many great posts from last year that are still very relevant so we're going to bring some back from time to time.  Here's one Vicky wrote last year about going to the cottage with kids. by Vicky

On a bit of a whim, I booked a week’s holiday at a cottage with a friend and her family. I found it on www.cottagelink.com, and it looked beautiful. One of the features that sold me instantly was that it was owned by a family with young children, so everything we needed was already provided: highchair, crib, change table, toys, toys and more toys, picnic table, wagon, playstructure etc. Also the water was only a foot deep off the dock, so despite not having a beach, it was shallow enough to enjoy with my 1 year old.

This was my first experience renting a cottage with kids. I’ve been lucky to have friends with cottages and have enjoyed many summer holidays by the lake since I was a teenager. But this time was different. It was great to see the kids enjoying the water and playing outside, but it wasn’t what I would call a relaxation vacation. Someone still has to cook, clean and get the kids in bed so it’s not exactly a break for the parents.

That being said, I definitely think I’ll try it again next summer, and I’ll be better prepared for it with this list of tips on how to survive a week at the cottage with kids.

1. Portable DVD player – your best friend. If you don’t have a built in DVD player in your car, this is the next best thing. Throw a movie on, with headphones, and you’re guaranteed a quiet trip. Also this is great for a bit of quiet time in the afternoon if the cottage has no TV or cable.
2. Plan your meals ahead of time. Make a quick menu for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and pack food items you already have at home. Make a grocery list and pick up what you need before you go or in the closest town if that’s possible (or if space in your car is limited). You don’t need to stick to the menu per say, but when kids are hungry you won’t be running around trying to figure out what to cook for lunch.
3. Do not over pack clothes. I brought WAY too much for the kids – a different outfit for every day, plus extras. What happened was that my son stayed in his bathing suit all day long with a pair of crocs. Shirts can be rung out and hung to dry, and most cottage towns have a Laundromat for emergencies (like being thrown up on, twice!)
4. Bring long-legged PJs for evenings. Cottages can be sweltering during the day, but get cool at night.
5. Swimming tires kids out! If you are trying to get a nap out of your kids, get them into the lake just before nap or bed time. If you can also give them a bath in the lake, you’ll speed up the bedtime process (speaking of which can anyone recommend a good biodegradable baby shampoo or soap?)
6. Bring a box of activities to keep them busy. I brought colouring books, activity books and paints which were all used. Why not try making a nature scavenger hunt that you can work on during the week?
7. If you are cottaging with friends, it helps to have similar aged kids so they can play together. My 3 year old got bored quickly with the 3 babies he had as playmates.
8. Explore the nature! There are so many learning opportunities around that will keep kids busy - go for nature walks, look for frogs, or feed the fish bread off the dock.
9. Expect that normal routines may not be easy to follow when you're away. Bed times may be later in a new environment, middle of the night wake ups will happen, and all this can make for cranky kids during the day. I would say try to go with the flow, and once the kids are in bed crack open a beer or a cooler and relax.
10. One more thing, if you are going to a cottage this summer with your kids, or thinking about it, please be water wise!

What are your tips for an enjoyable cottage vacation?

Vicky is the mom to 4.5 year old son named Joel and 2 year old daughter named Mieka. You can read her blog at blog Some Kind of Wondermom.

Inside the International Space Station

We really enjoy the Canada Aviation and Space Museum, or as it’s called at our house the Airplane Museum. On a recent visit, we checked out a new exhibit "Living in Space" about life aboard the International Space Station. The exhibit starts with a tribute to Canada’s astronauts. If you place your hand in the astronauts hand print, an information card about them appears over a holographic globe.There’s also a display with Marc Garneau’s space uniform.

We explored displays on the impact of extended space living on the human body. The information was presented visually but the accompanying text was geared for an older audience, and my daughter found it difficult to understand.

She found the space suit dexterity display more interesting. Lego and space gloves, what fun!!

The last part of the exhibit we saw was about space food and the different diets required for each of the astronauts. The diets are geared to meet their specific nutritional requirements, and are quite controlled. My son might not have grasped those fine details, but he enjoyed moving the food items around on the table top touch screen computer.

We missed the Canada Arm training game. It looked like it would be very appealing to slightly older children or those who are comfortable with game controllers.

Overall, we found the Living in Space exhibit a great addition to the museum. If you go, the exhibit is located on the left side of the museum, outside the main hall. It can be easy to miss.