Butterfly Show!

By Shawna I almost hate to let you in on this little secret, because I’m afraid of it getting too crowded, but as a faithful Kids in the Capital contributor, I cannot keep it to myself: Carleton University’s Department of Biology hosts a free butterfly show in their greenhouses every fall, and it’s on right now, right now, right now!

That’s right, every day from September 29 to October 8 inclusive, from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm, you can bring your kids to see a fluttering, flittering, flapping display of gorgeousness free, free, free!  (Donations, however, are appreciated of course).  It’s also a great chance to grab some pictures of exotic, colourful butterflies that aren’t native to the area.  Or some pictures of your kids.  Or, best of all, some pictures of your kids interacting with exotic, colourful butterflies!  I went last year with the kids, and it was a big hit.  Sage in particular was utterly thrilled when a butterfly landed on her.

Here are the details!

You’re welcome.  Now don’t tell too many people…

Shawna is mom to 4-year-old Sage and 2-year-old Harris.  She has  been writing online since 2003, and her latest project is a fledgling photography blog.  She plans on visiting the butterfly show twice this year: once with her kids and camera, and once with just her camera.

Birthday party: Midway Family Fun Park

SADLY WE HAVE BEEN INFORMED THAT MIDWAY (REBRANDED AS ADVENTURELAND) HAS PERMANENTLY CLOSED

by Lara

Three years ago we had Kiernan's third birthday part at the Midway Family Fun Park.  This year he chose it again and we had a great time again!

The midway has moved in the last year to a new location on Kaladar.  It's bigger, brighter and all of their rides are now indoors which means they're available year round.

This year the party was small, 7 kids including Kiernan and his brother and sister.  He chose two activities for his friends to do: mini putt and bumper cars, and the kids had a blast doing both - especially the bumper cars.

Cake and food are included. (Note, there isn't an option to not have food and a cake, which seemed a bit odd to me for a 3 pm party).

Then the birthday boy got to spin the birthday wheel (where he won 30 extra coins) and then they all got to hit the midway. Playing in an arcade will never get old for kids I don't think :)

Overall, Kiernan really enjoyed his birthday party and we're looking forward to heading back soon to play in the arcade some more.

Flashback: Organic Farming

This post was written a couple of years ago, at the tail end of apple picking season. It's another great option for picking your own apples this year. Have you been to Ferme Dagenais? by Misty

We made a recent trip to Ferme Dagenais in Embrun, Ontario, and exprienced a little taste of organic farming. Originally slated as an apple picking adventure, we quickly realized upon arrival that all the apples had been picked. We were given a long pole with metal prongs and a bag attached, and told "you might get some if you work really hard!"

farme_dagenais_organic_farming

When visiting a local farm, it's best to call ahead, even if you have taken the time to browse their website (many small farms don't even have websites). Pick-your-own produce tends to go fast, and it's disappointing to make a long trip only to come home empty handed.

Fortunately this trip was not a disappointing one, as we discovered many parts of the farm where our little girl could run and explore.

farme_dagenais_dog

Upon arrival, we were greeted by the sweet dog-in-residence. She followed us around the whole lot, occasionally flopping over for a belly rub.

organic_farming_geese

Next was the chicken coup, where we were greeted by the two lone geese and countless chickens.

organic_farming_donkey

The donkey had his say, serenading us with extraordinarily loud "hee-haws." The little one found this hilarious.

organic_farming_rabbits

In addition to this, there were pasture and barns for goats, cows, and turkeys, and a coop for laying hens. I also noticed a beautiful experimental garden, bee hives and a little cage of rabbits.

Ferme Dagenais is a biodynamic farm - which attempts to balance the interrelationship between soil, plants and animals, while avoiding any external inputs (e.g. artificial fertilizers and pesticides). Although not every product may be certified organic, all things grown and sold from this farm are deemed "natural." When it comes to produce such as apples - one of the "dirty dozen" for their pesticide residues - it's sometimes worth the trip further outside of town.

As a bonus, we spent some time browsing the on-site natural food store "Le Tournesol," run by Osteopath Sylvain Dagenais.

To find out more about Ferme Dagenais, visit their website.

Rice Sand Box

by Erin

The end of outdoor sandbox weather is sadly on it's way.  Here's an idea on how to keep sandbox fun going all year round.

Making the rice

Just a quick note: we are using rice and food colouring for this project. Both are non-toxic and edible, although young children should still be monitored since ingesting even a few tablespoons of uncooked rice can be dangerous. A few grains won't harm anyone, though.

Get some rice - LOTS of rice. I only used 4 x 600g bags, but for a "sandbox" you'll need 10-15 times that. I suggest you go to Costco.

You'll want about ¾ of a bottle of food colouring for every 500g of rice. The more food colouring you use, the brighter and deeper the colours you'll wind up with - if you want muted pastels, use ½ a bottle or less. You can also mix the food dye for custom colours, you're really only limited by your imagination and your patience. For this sample, I used the Neon stuff.

Rice Sandbox1

Essentially, we'll be combining the food colouring with the (uncooked) rice and kneading it to spread it through as many of the grains as possible. A plastic zippered food storage bag comes in VERY handy for this step.

Rice Sandbox2

TIPS:

• Adding the food colouring to the bag before adding the rice makes it easier to get good coverage (as opposed to what is shown in my image).
• Dye the rice in small batches, DO NOT overfill the zippered bag.
• Dollar store zippered bags won't cut it for this activity, you'll need something sturdier.
• Allow rice to dry completely before touching it with bare hands. The food dye will come off on your fingers and stain your clothes.

Rice Sandbox3

Repeat this procedure as necessary. You'll want to use a fresh zippered bag for each batch. You might want to consider dyeing ½ the rice and leaving the rest un-dyed, for the sake of saving some time, and your sanity.

Containing the rice

Rice Sandbox6

So now that you have made a rainbow of rice grains, dump any un-dyed rice into the bottom of a large, shallow plastic storage container. I like the ones designed for underbed storage because they have little casters making set up and put away easier on my back. Next, add all the coloured rice, you can either dump it all in, or you can artistically arrange it, as I did in the sample container.

Rice Sandbox4

Playing with the rice

I set the sandbox up with typical toys: shovel, pail, dump truck, animal figurines. The toys you add will depend on the age of the child(ren) playing in the sandbox.

Obviously, the colours will not stay separated, but we're not creating an art installation here. Unless that's what you really want, in which case, place your container out of the reach of children, and cats. Seriously about the cats, you do not want to ever leave the sandbox uncovered and unattended. Trust me.

After playtime is over, you will have to vacuum up some stray rice grains.

Rice Sandbox5

Reserve a half cup of each colour to use in future art projects - think glitter, but WAY less messy.  I have another post coming soon on what you can do with this batch of rice.

UPDATED TO ADD: "I found out that you can add a few teaspoons of rubbing alcohol to the food colouring to make kneading it through the rice grains easier. It also decreases the drying time before you can play with the rice without danger of staining your fingers and/or clothing."

Erin Marshall is an Angel Mama and a SAHW. Two days a week she uses her Amazing Auntie super powers to keep up with her 20-month old nephew, Xavier; the rest of her time is split between being an editor/proofreader, artist and blogger. 

Flashback: Apple Picking At South Mountain Apple Orchard

by Natasha

Apple season is upon us - do you go apple picking?  What's your favourite place?

You can tell that fall is just around the corner when the Apple Orchards are open and buzzing with people.  Whether you are out to pick the delicious fruit to make the perfect pie, apple crisp or just simply enjoy an apple as is, the apple orchard is the perfect outing.

We recently visited Mountain Orchard with our family and friends. It is located just 10 minutes outside of Kemptville.  Our family and friends had a great time picking delicious, juicy LOBO and Macintosh apples.

When you arrive, there is wagon ride to take you out into the orchard to pick your apples.  Mountain Orchard has Lobo, Macintosh, Spartan, Cortland, Eden, Empire, Honey Gold, Silkin, and Honeycrisp.   Depending on when you go to pick apples each type may not be available based on the growing season.

Mountain Orchard has a ton of great activities to offer families.

There is a cute little park beside the store that parents can sit and relax, sip their apple cider and watch their kids play on the swings.

The whole family can explore the giant corn maze.  It’s a barrel of laughs running around trying to find your way out.  Kids can also roll and jump around in the stack of straw.

They have the most delicious apple donuts I have ever eaten, called Apple Cider Dougnuts - YUM! Mountain Orchard is open daily from 9am to 5pm starting at the end of August and the season concludes Thanksgiving weekend.

Make sure to call ahead to avoid disappointment!