A Walk with the Alpacas at Maple Hill Urban Farm

Welcome back our teen blogger David, as he visits Maple Hill Urban Farm and takes a walk with April the Alpaca

David walking down a path with two alpacas

I have always considered alpacas the most underrated domesticated animals. They are very friendly and docile creatures, perfectly suitable for young children and families. I find them to be smart enough that you can get meaningful interaction with them like a dog, and with fur that is great for petting, like a sheep. When I heard of a place in the NCC greenbelt that offered tours where you can walk an alpaca, I was all for it.

We arrived at Maple Hill Urban Farm and met Don, the owner. We entered the stables and met our alpacas. Mine was named April. We grabbed onto their leashes, and brought them out. I quickly learned that April had a rebellious personality (though Don mentioned they adopt the personality of their handler), with a resistance to walking with me. I finally managed to get her moving, and we began trekking down the trail.

While walking with my alpaca, I was able to enjoy the beautiful scenery of the farm while petting its soft fur. Don mentioned that the Alpaca walk can be very therapeutic for visitors with special needs and young children. After walking on the gravel path for a while, we went onto a small bridge. For some reason, my alpaca totally switched its personality and enthusiastically ran in front of me to get to the other side. I went from dragging April around to having April drag me! It was an incredible experience to spend time with my alpaca and look around the Maple Hill property.

After putting our alpacas back in the stables, we got to visit more of the farm. First off, we fed some cows pita bread, which they calmly munched out of our hands. We then visited a pig pen, and petted the small hogs as they devoured scraps. Finally, we got to see a grain silo from the 1930s. Apparently, it has had many uses since then- including serving as an illegal marijuana planting spot. All in all, I had a great time at Maple Hill Farm, from spending time up close with one of my favourite animals to seeing the other aspects of farm life.

If you also want to walk an alpaca, Maple Hill Farm will be open most days during business hours. For more information, click here.

Price:

$60 for 2 adults

~extra children 5-12 yrs old add $10

~extra adults add $15

~Toddlers are free with strict adult supervision

Location: Maple Hill Urban Farm is located at 200 Moodie Drive

Additional info: Tours last 45 minutes. Please arrive 10 minutes before your tour time. Children are welcome but must be accompanied at all times. There is a clean outhouse available. Alpaca walks are available in all season.

David is a fifteen-year-old aspiring adventure and travel writer living in Ottawa.  Skydiving is on his bucket list. He received a complimentary ticket for this post, but all views are his own.

Aero Gatineau - an interview with Carol Pilon

Our teen blogger David has been a fan of the snowbirds ever since he first saw them while visiting his grandparents in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. He is looking forward to seeing both the snowbirds and Carol Pilon perform during Aero Gatineau September 15-17. David is back on the blog with an interview of Canada’s first and only professional wingwalker.

With the annual Aero Gatineau show approaching, many will be watching as planes perform aviation acrobatics. I got to speak to Carol Pilon- a performer at the Gatineau Air Show and Canada’s first and only professional wingwalker- to learn more about her and her craft. Here’s what we talked about.

photo credit Eric Dumigan.

You’ve been a professional wingwalker for over 20 years. How do you become a wingwalker?

Well, for me, it was simple. I was at that point in my life when I did not want to go to college because I had no clear path ahead of me. I took a couple years off to really think about what the next step was, when I saw an ad for my local air show. I saw a wing walker on the screen and at that moment I thought “well that’s gonna be the rest of my life”. From that point on, I educated myself about the wingwalking industry and spent the next 7 years harassing all the teams in North America until they finally gave me the chance, and the rest is history. There are no wingwalking courses, it's all about independently getting a good mentor and joining an established team.

What all goes into the preparation and performance of wingwalking?

Really, it's as simple as attaching yourself to a harness and walking on the plane. I can teach you any number of theoretical tips and tricks on the ground, but as soon as you're up in the air, you’re on your own. The biggest safety protocol we have, believe it or not, is the pilot. Their job is to make the flight as smooth and suitable for your performance as possible. Getting the right pilot is 95% of the preparation.

You’ve been to many places, done many things as a wingwalker. What was the most memorable experience you’ve had in your career as a wingwalker?

How do you pick one? I’ve had many great shows, met many great people, and realistically, any day I get to go wing walking is an absolutely fantastic day for me. 

With all your travels, how does it feel to be performing at the Aero Gatineau show two weeks from now so close to where you grew up in Masham, Quebec?

This is a little known fact, but as an air show professional, you’re always warned about doing hometown shows. There will always be increased attention from the audience because of friends and family member’s being there, and it can be a distraction from the task at hand. I’m really excited to be back home, but I gotta balance that with being able to say “hey guys, I gotta go work now”. 

Finally, what does the future look like for you? Any goals, is retirement on the horizon?

You will see at this show that I have developed a new routine in order to hire and incorporate two new wingwalkers. My goal right now is really to educate and mentor the next generation of wingwalkers to carry on the craft. In fact, we will be hosting one young lady to try out wingwalking at this air show to see if she likes it and possibly have her join the team. I’m really focused on growing the field right now. As for retirement, that's not happening any time soon. 

Carol Pilon will be performing at the Aero Gatineau Legends of the Sky show from September 15-17. Tickets must be bought online and are $35 for adults and $15 for kids. For more information, visit Aero Gatineau Ottawa.

The Lost Kingdom at Wesley Clover Parks

The Lost Kingdoms roars into the nation’s capital for its North American debut this summer.

A unique edutainment event for the entire family, The Lost Kingdoms features fifty life-sized animatronic dinosaurs and Ice Age beasts with robotic moving body parts including opening jaws and blinking eyes and the sounds of roaring, hissing and snarling coming from the bushes.

The Lost Kingdoms opened in Ottawa on June 23 and will run daily from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm until July 9.

We had a chance to send an Ottawa family to check it out and here’s what they thought! They brought their two kiddos along with them, who were 5 and 6 years old.

“It was a totally unique experience and fun for all ages!

I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of dinosaurs that were set up. The kids get up close which is really nice and some of the dinosaurs move and make noise, which is pretty neat. The enormous T-rex at the beginning is set to a timer and moves and makes noise. I had to remind my youngest that it wasn’t real ;)

Everyone left with a smile on their face and my youngest is ready to head back again any time!”

Tips:

• It’s a lot of walking. Bring a wagon or stroller for younger kids.

• It’s a fairly long walk without shade and entirely outdoors so dress accordingly. On a hot day you’ll definitely want to bring lots of water and a hat .

• Construction at Moodie makes it difficult to get there easily so take the March Road exit.

• For the little ones with unpredictable bathroom breaks, send them before the tour because there were no washrooms in sight.

• Staying for a picnic or snacks would be a great idea.

Tickets are $28 each or you can get a family bundle and tickets are $24.50 each.

Can you touch the dinosaurs?

Kids are encouraged to get up close and personal with the exhibits, but they should not try to climb, ride or poke them.Will there be food on site?

Food and beverage will be onsite, but it will vary from day to day based on local vendor availability.

You can check out the Lost Kingdoms in Ottawa until July 9th!

We were invited to attend the media preview at no cost. All thoughts are our own.

Upcoming activities for Kids in Ottawa - April 2023

We’ve been getting and seeing all kinds of activities and opportunities for kids coming in to our inbox lately so we thought we could put together a grouping of them here for you to check out!

Art classes

SPACE themed Drawing & Painting class at the Ottawa School of art in Orleans, Ages 9-12 | Wed 6pm-8pm, start date: 04/19/2023 !

They still need at least 1 more kiddo signed up for the class to run.

P23SC02C: Art in Space: Drawing and Painting Strange New Worlds (Ages 9-12)

Wednesdays, 6pm-8pm

10 sessions

April 19-June 28 (No Class May 10)

Summer Camps

Many summer camps are already sold out for the season - check out these options that as of writing this, still had available spots!

ASNY (Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet) has spots left in their Magic Treehouse musical theatre summer camp July 17th - 28th. Everything we’ve heard about the ASNY programming has been wonderful and a great chance for any musical kids to be a part of a production!

Math camp: If you have a math enthusiast, the Canadian Mathematical Society is running a camp July 24-28 out of Carleton University! There will be 3 age groups available:  Grades 4-5, Grades 6-7, Grades 8-9 and if there is enough interest they may open up the next week for camps as well.

City of Ottawa: The City has openings left in some of their camps, but they’re filling up fast so a good idea to check out what’s still available sooner than later!

Earth Day

The Nature Museum is opening for free on April 22 for Earth Day, so it’s a great day to visit the museum! They’ve also included a Nature Trek Scavenger Hunt worksheet on their website you can download and bring with you for your visit!

Children’s Business Fair

This event will showcase youth entrepreneurship in the community!

The fair will host 50 youth-run businesses on April 30, 2023 from 10 am to 1 pm at the Lansdowne Horticulture Building. This event is free and open to the public! Children create a product or service, develop a brand, build a marketing strategy, and then open for customers at this one-day marketplace. https://www.childrensbusinessfair.org/ottawa

Have anything you’d like to see added to the list. Email kidsinthecapital.@gmail.com!

Naming the city's new swim programs

The City of Ottawa is developing a new swimming program to start in January 2023 and they are looking for the public’s help to name the levels! 

The list of names for toddler classes was developed in consultation with the Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg First Nation. The names are written in the Anishinabemowin Algonquin language, English and French. All of these can be found in the Ottawa River, making our swim classes truly local.

These  include:

• Amik / Beaver / Castor

• Mikinàk / Turtle / Tortue

• Nigig / Otter / Loutre

• Àwadòsì / Minnow / Méné

• Mànameg / Catfish / Barbotte

• Nika / Goose / Oie

• Ogà / Walleye / Doré

• Omagakì / Frog / Grenouille

• Màskinòje / Muskie / Maskinongé

You can help with some of the decisions that need to be made!

Choose colours for their six to 14 year-old levels, creatures for their three to five year-olds levels, and come up with original ideas for the under-3 toddler level names.

Residents can look for ballots at indoor pools.  They’ll be given out at swimming lessons or can be requested at the front desk, even if you’re not currently registered for lessons.  

Ballots need to be completed and put in the ballot box at one of the 18 locations by June 22. You can also enter for a chance to win a $50 gift card for City of Ottawa recreation and cultural activities.

Will you go and add your votes to the conversation? We’ve added copies of the ballots below for you to check out and talk about before heading in to submit your official ballots!