Summer of Awesome - Canada Science and Technology Museum

by Lynn Ever since the Museum of Nature reopened last year, it's been getting the love. I've read more than one post here at KITC about how great it is, and we're certainly believers - we had an annual pass this year, went many times, loved it every time, can't say enough good things about it.

As a result, the Museum of Science and Tech kind of got pushed into the background. We'd gone there so many times when our kids were younger that we kind of had a been-there, done-that attitude towards it. It just didn't seem as shiny and new.

This week my eight-year-old son asked to go back to the "train museum," and since we hadn't been in ages, I said yes. And it's true that there are a lot of displays that are getting older, and areas that are in need of an update.

But the thing I didn't realize is that they have so many cool outdoor activities there in the summertime. We barely spent any time inside during this visit. Instead, we explored the grounds and did a TON of super cool stuff. It was well worth the visit.

First of all, we rode the steam train:

It's a real steam train from the early 1900s, and with the Wakefield steamer out of commission, it's your best bet for a train-loving child this summer. It's a short ride but still a lot of fun, especially if you make pronouncements in Sir Topham Hat's voice for the entire ride. The train costs $2 extra per person, but if your kid likes trains, it's worth it. Oh, I should mention that the train only runs on Wednesdays and Sundays.

Then we took a tour of the lighthouse:

I looooooooove lighthouses. And I love this one best of all, because it's in my very own home town. Did you know it was moved from Cape Breton Island in over 1000 pieces? It used to be that you had to go to the museum on special "lighthouse days" to see the inside. Now there are a few tours a day. AWESOME.

The light fixture is so fascinating (I won't spoil it, but you'll be surprised at what is making the light), the spiral staircase gives you quite the thrill (but was easily handled by my four-year-old), and the view from the top is charming:

There's also daily tours of the observatory for those of you who are into astronomy, and on the days when the train isn't running, you can take a tour of their storage area featuring all kinds of goodies that didn't make it out onto the main floor - we'll be going back to see that, for sure (think we'll find a secret pirate treasure back there?).

We did go inside for a little bit, because the kids love the Crazy Kitchen, and the light tunnel system never gets old (even if it is in need of repairs in a few areas):

We also checked out their current special exhibit, which is a history of cars in Canada, featuring several unusual models that were manufactured or designed in Canada. Nothing makes you feel old like seeing the first ever Chrysler minivan - man, I remember when those came out, for heaven's sake. Now they look like your grandfather's car. SHEESH.

The kids had a really good time at this exhibit playing with some funky interchangeable cars that were out - in fact, they liked them so much that my oldest two decided to spend some of their own piggy bank money to buy themselves a small car to take home from the gift shop.

Then it was back outside because it was time for WATER ROCKETS. AWESOME.

You put a little water in a bottle and screw a special adapter on the end. Then you pump it up and watch it rocket hundreds of meters in the air. SO COOL.

Plus, the water rocket experiments took place at the foot of an actual Atlas rocket that is on the grounds, which is on loan from NASA. Did you know that if the rocket wasn't kept under constant internal pressure, it would crumble like a pop can under its own weight? Now that is awesome science.

We were there for almost five hours, and we didn't even get a chance to check out the internal presentations (on lasers, physics, and deep freezing, all of which we have seen before but the kids still want to see every time), see the big engines inside, hear the talk about the Titanic, visit the space station, or even see their brand new exhibit which is on eco-power - renewable and safe energy sources. And there's also a simulator ride which we have never been on, because I always assumed it was for bigger kids, but now my kids actually are bigger, so I think we are ready.

Good thing we bought a membership, because we'll be back again, soon.

If you get a chance in the next couple of weeks, it's worth a trip out to the Science Museum. Turns out the old lady still has a lot of life left in her.

(But not on Mondays. It's closed Mondays.)

Lynn is mom to three tombliboos, age 8, 6, and 4, and blogs over at Turtlehead.

Summer of Awesome - Saunders Farm

by Lynn

A few days ago we spent the day at Saunders Farm. I wasn't going to bother to write about it, even though it totally won the Most Awesome Award for the Summer of Awesome last year. I'd already written gobs about it, I'd gushed even, and it would all be more of the same.

In fact, we almost didn't go at all, because I thought to myself, sure, it's awesome, but how can it be as good as last year? And we've seen it all, and done it all, so is it just going to be boring this year?

And the answer to that is NO. No, not boring at all.

In fact, EVEN MORE AWESOME.

We get there, and once we get past the awesome climbing structure at the entrance, and take an awesome wagon ride, we enter the main part of the park and we see this:

Those are huge pillow jumpers. They are like enormous trampolines, and oh my lands, are they ever fun. Adults can go on them too, and I got some serious air. Kids can jump, or just sit and go along for the ride. They are AWESOME.

Then we climbed up the big tower to look out over the mazes and saw these:

Pedal cars! New this year! And they were fun. So much fun. And we didn't even have to wait. And we got to ride them as long as we wanted. AWESOME.

And! Then!

There's another new display area, the Saunders Mine. You can buy a bag of dirt with semi-precious stones in it, then use a constantly running stream to actually sift for your stones. Now, it did cost extra, which always is annoying. And usually I would have said no. But I thought to myself, I can either spend the rest of the day listing to three kids whine the light fantastic about how they totally missed out on the best event ever, or I can just cough up the moola now and become the Best Mom Ever.

Easy choice.

My kids could not get enough of the mine. They love, love, loved finding their own rocks. Then they spent another hour just watching other kids sift, and playing in the stream, and checking other pans for pay dirt. It was AWESOME.

And there's still the mazes, ten in all:

And the splash pad:

And the myriad play structures:

And the giant slide, and the discovery barn, and the ice cream, and did I mention the jumping things?

My kids declared it to be the Best Day Ever (although truth be told, I've heard that a LOT this summer, which I must say is very gratifying). We were there for five full hours, and we didn't even do everything that was available - not to mention that the kids could have easily spent another hour just jumping. The thing about Saunders Farm is that it's really different from other attractions - and not just different from stuff in Ottawa, but unique in the world. And that's pretty cool.

I do believe that Saunders Farm is going to win the Second Annual Summer Of Awesome, as well.

Lynn is mom to three tombliboos, age 8, 6, and 4, and blogs over at Turtlehead.