November : what you might have missed

November has come and gone. Here's a look back at what you might have missed in November. Activities for Kids

This month we talked about feeding our feathered friends and about introducing our kids to the symphony.

Birthday parties

There are so many great birthday party ideas in Ottawa.  This month we talked about Monkey Rock and birthday parties at the farm.

Books

This month Margaret Kirkpatrick, the Children’s Librarian at the Carlingwood Branch, told us about some of her favourite books.

Crafts and cookings

We made sushi snacks, crafted a great costume and about turned your child's art into placemats as a great gift.

Game On

We started another new monthly series on gaming for kids called Game On. This month we talked about Kinect and Dance Central.

Holidays

As we gear up for the holidays, we've talked about the Orleans parade of lights, making Christmas cards with your kids and what kinds of presents parents recommend. If you're trying to get a great holiday snap, we had part 1 and part 2 on picture perfect holiday photos. On a more serious note we also talked about ways we can make others holiday season better with some mom to mom helping.

Parenting tips

We had some great tips on taking your kids to the dentist for the first time and how to talk to your kids about Fair Trade.

Remembrance

November is a month to remember. Sara talked to us about taking our kids to the Remembrance day parade and to the War museum.

Reviews

Amy had a chance to attend a Safe Parent course and told us all about it and Sara's kids had some fun with some great craft supplies from Eko Bear.

Skates and hockey

We took our kids to a hockey games, we taught them how to skate with Canskate, and we introduced them to Timbit hockey - winter is on it's way!

Social Media Mondays

This month we talked about who to follow and what client to use on Twitter, talked about the importance of commenting on blogs,  and had a guest post on the value of Linked In.

October - what you might have missed

We blinked and it was November. Before any more time passes we thought we had better share with you some of the fun things we did in October! Did you do any of these in October too? Activities for Kids

This month we learned about scouting in the capital, taking babies to the movies, build & grow clinics at Lowe's, Miller's Farm, and a great new climbing gym. We  also spent an afternoon at the Pinto Valley Ranch, talked about musicals for kids, and the butterfly show at Carleton.

Big news and changes

This month we launched our new look, moved over to our new url and also helped launch a sister site in Calgary called Kids in Cowtown (have you told all your Calgary friends about it yet?)

Crafts, Cooking and other fun ideas

Here are some ideas to eat, play with and make! In October we shared how to bake drill cake, a great and easy noodle box for quiet time and a perfect Thanksgiving paper bag turkey craft,

Exploring the outdoors

This month we explored all kinds of great parks, trails and generally outdoorsy locations.  If you haven't already, you should make sure you check out Petrie Island in the Fall, the Mer Bleue boardwalk, a great dog park,andMcLaurin Bay before the snow is here to stay!

Great Giveaways and sponsors

We had a lot of  great giveaways in October including one for Wiggles Tickets (we hear it was amazing) and for a great show at the NAC called Trick or Treat to a Wicked Beat. We also welcomed Eko Bear as another new fabulous Kids in the Capital sponsor.

Halloween

We hope everyone had a great Halloween! To get us all ready for the fun filled (read exhausting day) we talked about all kinds of things to do for Halloween, including visiting Proulx Farm, Spooks, Spirits, & Spectacles, and forming a Halloween posse.  We also talked about some tips for Halloween including what to do with the candy , hosting a Halloween costume swap, and how to get through the day with a child who is a little bit nervous. One of our favorite posts were the helpful ideas from the Ottawa Public Library on great Halloween reads.

Meetups

We had a wonderful Halloween party at Boston Pizza Orleans on the 31st! Thanks to9 everyone who showed up and we can't wait to see the photos that Julie from Inspired Photography took. We ended up rescheduling our mom's night out to Le Nordik until November 9, so we hope that we will see lots of you there. Keep an eye out for the newest playdate schedule which will be resuming in the coming weeks. If you have any great ideas for playdate locations let us know!

Parenting Tips

With Fall and back to school comes colds and other illnesses, so9 we loved the great tips on dealing with colds and other yucky stuff.  We also talked about photo tips for Fall photos and thinking about your neighbourhood.

Social Media Mondays

We are really enjoying the Social Media Mondays we have started here. Social Media has become so important to us and so many of our readers that we like to share what we know with other parents that are just starting out in social media. This month we talked about why to blog and how to start a blog. We also talked about why twitter is a great tool for parents and how to start tweeting.  We hope these posts are helping you delve more into the world of social media!

Don't forget that we want to hear from you about the things you love to do with your kids in Ottawa. Leave us a comment or email us at kidsinthecapital(AT)gmail(DOT)com if you want to blog for Kids in the Capital!

September recap - what you might have missed

How is September already over?! I am certain we can only be halfway through and yet... here we are!  A lot did happen here in September, here's what we talked about, in case you missed any of it! Attractions for kids

We went all over the city, from the cottage right in our backyard at Mud Lake and exploring new corners of the city while trying out geocaching, to the Lumiere Festival, karters corners, and going on family bike rides.

We also found out why Chapters is a great place to take your kids, heard about the ruins at MacKenzie King Estate, visited the ByWard Market, an exhibition at the National Gallery and heard about putting your girls in hockey.

Books

We visited the Sunnyside library and also heard about getting your kids their own library cards.

Cooking

One mom told us all about how to make an amazing Thomas birthday cake and a trip to the apple orchard has people making apple crisp and apple sauce.

Fairs

Fall fair season is upon us.  We visited the Richmond and Spencerville Fairs.

Meetups

We are heading out to MacKenzie King Estate this Saturday morning - will you join us?

Out of town activities

We visited the Granby zoo and it sounds amazing!

Parenting Tips

This month we talked about the importance of being aware of kids with allergies and how to make it easier for them when you host an event.  We also talked about getting fussy babies to sleep, cutting your kids' hair, and using cloth diapers.

Products

Figuring out what kind of lunchbox to buy isn't an easy decision - here's some help.

Social Media Mondays

We launched a new series called Social Media Mondays - here is the intro post.

Sponsors and Giveaways

This month we welcomed Inspired Photography to our list of sponsors and had giveaways from Spoiled Sugar and Inspired Photography (giveaway open until the end of the day Oct 1)

Services

There are so many great services in the city that cater to kids.  Take your kids to Two Monkeys Coffee and Tea House, glamping, to yoga, babynastics or throw them the perfect princess party!

August : what you might have missed

Activities for kids So many more great places to go with your kids were covered this month.  A ride on the Rideau Canal, a visit to the Governor General's, we visited the fair, went to Brewer park, discovered a great community playgroup, hunted bugs at the Billings Estate and even a trip to a fabulous Asian food store.

We also found out about fun things to do with your kids : use skype to keep in touch, throw a fairy party, make paper boats, and listen to audio books.

Bloghop

We had a bloghop and so many great Ottawa blogs linked up. Go and have a look and say hello while you're there!

Classes for kids

Have you thought about having your child learn a language? Brie tells us how her daughter learned Japanese this summer and about great language programs in the City.

Joanne tells us about the martial arts classes her son takes and the Ottawa Lions Sports program her daughter takes part in.

Let's get together

We've got a meetup up scheduled for the long weekend to go apple picking at Cannamore Orchards. We'd love to see you there!

Our Kids in the Capital Tuesday morning playdates are continuing! We'd love to see you there too! :)

Splish Splash

Calypso is great fun, but possibly not the best fit for your non-daredevil young ones. Mont Cascades was also a great bet for summer fun.

There are great splash pads all around the city - do you take your kids to any?

Sponsorship

We were thrilled to add Spoiled Sugar to our sponsors this month. She has some amazingly cute stuff in her shop - definitely worth checking out!

Nayla Natural Care did a giveaway for some Kinderville products. The contest is over, but the review is great and worth a read!

Summer of Awesome

Lynn has continued to have an amazing summer hitting the Carp Farmer's Market, Saunders Farm, the Changing of the guard, the Centennial branch of the Ottawa Public Library, and then also did some backyard camping!  Lynn, will you be following up this amazing summer with the Fall of Fabulous? ;)

Yummy deliciousness

We made muffins with Sara and Vicky told us about a great place to get fabulous cakes.

We can't wait to see what the next month brings.

July : what you might have missed

There's a lot going on in our fabulous city and Kids in the Capital has been hopping! In case you missed any of our fabulous posts this past month, here's a recap! Summer of Awesome

Lynn is having an amazing summer and telling us all about it.  She's been to Cosmic Adventures, Papanack Zoo, AMC Movie Tuesdays and Ray's Reptiles already and has been sharing everything she's learned! We can't wait to hear where she's going next!

Summer posts

Has this not been the nicest summer you can remember in eons?  So many fun summer things to do!  Vicky went to the cottage and brought back some great tips on cottaging with kids, told us about the ice cream truck and strawberry picking.  Sara told us about her backyard garden , did a great Canada day craft, and checked out some Dragonboats.   We  also touched some trucks , found out about some of the great summer camp options at Dovercourt and heard about summer park programs.

On a more serious note, we also covered some water safety tips. Please please be safe near water this summer.

Day-tripping

If you're heading out of town, think about taking a ferry, checking out Smiths Falls or spending the day at Storyland.

Restaurants

Liisa told us about a very sometimes treat - poutine! And Vicky gave us some breakfasting with kids tips and some information on Gabriel's in Orleans. We also checked out Kid Kaf which is a cafe but also a great place to let your kids run around and burn off energy, in a safe environment.

Food

We made butter, lemonade and tofu cookies with Brie (my you've been busy in the kitchen this summer ;)

Festivals

Kari told us about a smorgasbord of festivals, several of which have now passed but are worth keeping an eye open for next year.  And we found out all about the Lumiere Festival which is coming up this September but has lots of mini activities in August leading up to it.

Photography

The ABC Challenge ended this month, but some are continuing on with new challenges in the flickr group - come join in! We also featured our ABC photos at Blog Out Loud, which was an amazing amazing event put together by one of our wonderful contributors - Lynn.

Getting together

We have been having weekly weekday playdates all summer long and we'd love if you could join us in the future.  We also have monthly (or so) evening adult meetups - keep your eyes open for the next one!

Not to mention

And we can't forget the review of a great stroller, the fabulous benefits of yoga for kids, and our wonderful new sponsor Nayla Natural Care (please go visit her and tell her we sent ya ;).

Have a great August, and in case you never filled it out, it's not too late to complete our survey.  And we're always looking for guest posts on the things you love to do with kids - drop us a line! kidsinthecapital@gmail.com