Flashback: Ray Friel Summer camps

As my 3 kids (and Joel too!) are taking part in City camps again (though not at Ray Friel) this summer this post seemed like a great one to bring back (they're heading to Calypso on Thursday, Kiernan is over the moon excited!). This year my 3 year old twins are taking part in the half day camps offered by the city! ~lara By Vicky

My son Joel just completed a week at Camp Central, a city of Ottawa day camp offered at the Ray Friel Rec Centre for kids ages 4-7.

The description said, [kids will] take a walk on the wild side, with weekly themes and some of the wackiest games and activities ever! I wasn't sure what to think, with this somewhat vague description, but this camp definitely did not disappoint!

Every day, the kids did a craft, went swimming, AND skating, and had a special activity at the end of the day. If they preferred not to swim or skate, there were other options for them, so they never felt pressured to do something they weren't comfortable with. They went to a nearby park, watched a movie, and even had a field trip to the Papanack Zoo!

Every morning we'd arrive for the morning wake-up, which was a bit overwhelming for a 4 year old. There was a room full of kids of all ages, and camp counsellors, shouting cheers and songs at the top of their lungs. Boy did it bring back memories! I wanted to join right in when they started "A booma chicka booma chicka rocka chicka boom!" (Tell me I'm not the only one who remembers that one!)

I can't say enough about the camp counselors. These kids are responsible, well trained, and genuinely love what they are doing. They doted on Joel, gave him lots of attention and I could tell that he really bonded with them by the end of the week.

If you live in the East end and are looking for a camp for your kids, I'd recommend Camp Central! You can register on the City of Ottawa's 123 Go registration page by searching for 'Camp Central'. It is offered until the week of August 8-12, 2011 for a cost of $150.50.

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 Mom. She also is a Peekaboo Beans Independent Stylist, visit her on Facebook to find out more! www.facebook.com/ottawabeans

Celebrate Canada Day with a Flag Cake

by Alison One of our favourite Canada Day traditions is our Canadian Flag Cake. It’s really quite simple, but a big hit. All you’ll need is a 9X13 rectangular cake pan, your favourite cake recipe (even one from a mix), white icing to cover the full cake, red sprinkles and a maple leaf template.

Once you’ve baked and cooled the cake, cover it completely in white icing. The proper dimensions of the Canadian Flag can be found here but for the simplicity of the cake, I roughly divide into 4 parts. The middle two parts stay white (for now) and then my daughter covers the end quarters with red sprinkles. To make sure the sprinkles spread somewhat evenly, I cover the sprinkle jar with aluminum foil and poke holes in the foil.

Place your maple leaf stencil over the middle half of the cake, and cover with sprinkles. We make a stencil by printing a picture of a maple leaf, covering the paper in packing tape and cutting out the leaf with an exacto knife. This prevents the paper from picking up all the icing, and we can usually reuse a stencil for two or three years (after it’s been wiped down).

Happy Canada Day! We'll be enjoying our cake in Seattle this year.

Alison is the mom of two wonderful kids, 6 and 2. She’s recently relocated to the Pacific Northwest but considers Ottawa home. She blogs at Ali’s Adventures.

A Hoppin' Good Time

by Carly The Little Man will turn six in August, but because it can be hard to get school friends together in the summer, we decided to have a small party  to celebrate the momentous occasion before classes ended.

We recently won a birthday party package from Tiny Hoppers and  while we hadn't done anything like that before now, we figured this would be a great time to take advantage of our winnings.

I was actually a little hesitant at first because after visiting their East End location it was clear they catered more to toddlers and preschoolers than school aged children.  So we talked it over at length with Jake and he decided he wanted to go for it.

Tiny Hoppers Standard Birthday Party Package Includes:

* Up to 16 children * Ages 1-10 * 1.5 hours in length * 45 minutes of structured activities with the children * 45 minutes of free play, time for cake, snacks and presents * Various themes available * Balloons for each child * Set up and clean up * FREE Class Passes * $150

We arrived  about 15 minutes before the party was due to start, to put out Jake's cake and speak with the staff on hand.  The two women who facilitated the party were lovely and accommodating.

The kids spent only about 30 minutes (instead of the 45 minutes indicated in the party package) doing "structured" activities.  They used different musical instruments, hopper balls and ribbons to sing and dance around to different songs.  The facilitators were really enthusiastic and animated, and all the kids enjoyed themselves.  They wrapped up that part with some parachute games and we followed that up with some free play, cake, and the gift opening.

Overall I was really happy with the staff and their willingness to help and support our needs.  The songs were silly and fun and the kids really enjoyed the ribbons, drums, hopper balls and the slide.

I do think the party would have been better geared toward younger children and I was happy that only six children in total could make it to our party because the space was really small for children of that age.  As it was, our guests were bumping into one another a fair bit and there were a few scraped knees and backs from climbing through the small-ish tunnels and slides.

The structured activities were great, but with a smaller and older group (less chaos, more listening to instruction) they took less time than anticipated and I do wish the staff had allowed for that by planning some additional games or songs.  In the end I stepped in and led the kids in a few rounds of musical chairs when I saw their enthusiasm for the free play lagging.

Because the space was small, the parachute couldn't be fully opened (though the kids had a blast anyway) and the floors were pretty dirty, both the surface of the foam mats that covered the floor and underneath them), as evidenced by the black feet the kids had by the end of the party.  Everything else was spotless and it was handy to have bathrooms with nice low sinks and the like for the kids to wash up in.

From a customer service perspective, it was a wonderful experience and I'd certainly go back for another party.  The East End location is primarily used to accommodate a full time daycare and the space is set up as such, so I'd definitely recommend their party package for children 3 or 4 years of age and under.

In the end, Jake had a blast, which is really all that matters.  I was really pleased that their facility was strictly peanut/tree nut free and whole egg free as the Little Man is allergic to both..

What are some of your favourite places to have birthday parties?

*****

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.

Flashback: RCMP Sunset Ceremonies - Free and Fun!

The musical ride is a highlight for many every year. This year it runs from June 26 to the 30th.   by Josee

I've lived in or around Ottawa most of my life, but I'd never seen the RCMP Musical Ride until last spring. My husband Dan and I decided to take our kids (our then two-year old daughter “B.G.” and three month old son “Bonhomme”) to the RCMP Sunset Ceremony at the Rockcliffe Stables.

The ceremony was slated to start at 7:30 p.m. and we arrived (later than planned, as usual!) at about 7:00 p.m. We managed to park on St. Laurent Boulevard, close enough to the stables so that BG was able to ride on Dan's shoulders the rest of the way to the stables. We found a shady spot and set up our lawn chairs, and Bonhomme and I guarded our spot while Dan and BG went exploring. There were lots of displays to check out. Dan enjoyed sitting in an airplane cockpit (I think it had once been part of a fighter jet) and BG came back waving a poster and stickers she'd gotten from an RCMP officer.

The show began with a comedy routine, which I admit I wasn't able to follow because we couldn't see the whole ring, not to mention the fidgety three-year old sitting in my lap, asking question after question. Then we noticed an airplane circling above, and suddenly parachutists from the US and Canadian armies started dropping out of the sky. They circled so close overhead that we thought they would get caught up in the large tree that was providing our shade. Everyone around us laughed when an excited B.G. pointed to a parachute and shouted out, “Mommy, I want one of those!”.

After that came the marching band; that was also a huge hit with BG. Then, finally, the RCMP musical ride. I have to admit that by the time the ride started BG was done with the sunset ceremony, and we ended up leaving before it was over. But even though we didn't get to the end, we had an amazing time. BG still talks about the parachutes!

The RCMP sunset ceremonies are back this year and run from Wednesday, June 23^rd to Sunday, June 27^th, from 7:30 to 9 pm  June 23 to 27.We're planning on going back this year, but we'll (hopefully) head out much earlier and bring a picnic supper, so that we can snag a spot a bit closer to the ring and keep both kids occupied until the show starts. Maybe this year I'll manage to catch the whole show!

Josée is mom to three-year old daughter B.G., and one-year old son Bonhomme.  She is always searching for fun and frugal Ottawa events and activities, and puts her research to good use at her website, www.frugalfunottawa.ca.

Whales Tohorā

by Amy My sister suggested we take the kid to see the Whales Tohorā exhibit and when I mentioned it to her she did her excited exclamation.

We went early on Saturday, arriving just after the Museum of Nature opened and we had the exhibit practically to ourselves.

They had models and skeletons, videos and games. The kid had a great time matching the whales heads to their body's and tails, and climbing through the life-sized model of a Blue Whale's heart.

I was most fascinated seeing the whale's vertebrae that was bigger than the kid.

Across the hall in the Discovery Zone they had activities set up for kids to try - testing their memory of which whales are which, letting them fish for the different things that different whales eat, there were arts and crafts.

While the kid was catching sea lions and salmon with a magnetic fishing pole, the woman was showing me an example of a blue whales tooth and the tiny little krill that they eat.

Another great part about going to see the Whales Tohorā exhibit was that our admission got us into the rest of the museum.

Amy is mom to two year old Maggie and a 6 year old schnauzer named Henry. You can read her blog at amyboughner.ca where she writes about motherhood and anything else that’s on her mind. She also shares a blog with her husband at boughner.ca where they talk together about parenting a daughter.