Sheep shearing

by Amy

If you're in Ottawa and looking for a great activity to do with your kids this long weekend, head to the Canadian Agriculture Museum. This weekend, they are hosting their annual Sheep Shearing Festival. 

And it's SUUUPER fun.

I happened to read about this event several weeks ago, so call ahead and reserved a place for our homeschool group. All in, there were fifty of us! I'm always anxious when I plan something like this that everyone have a good time. I feel responsible. 

Luckily, there's no way you could NOT have fun at this event. And since a picture tells a thousand words -and since I might have taken a few hundred pictures yesterday - I'll let them do (most of the) talking.

Did you ever think those huge Clydesdale horses could be cute?? How about now?!!

you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours

There are several events that are scheduled throughout the day. A sheep herding demonstration, a dog agility competition and the actual sheep shearing. We started with the sheep herding.

These dogs really are something else! The shepherd training them does a great job explaining the process and puts several dogs through their paces, both older experienced dogs and younger pups "who like to floss their teeth with wool". And he explains everything in a delightful german (I think) accent that seems to somehow lend credibility to what he's saying. Or so I thought.

All the kids we were with -from 14 years old down to 16 months- LOVED it. They had a bit of trouble hearing some of what the shepherd was saying, but were spellbound watching the dogs at work.

From there, we walked a short distance to where the agility competition was being held. Just before it started, one of the trainers brought her dog around for the kids to pet. They were smitten. As you can imagine, this event was hugely fun for the kids to watch, and the dogs put on a great show.

Although there are plenty of tables and tents set up inside the museum grounds, our group was too large, so we headed back out to the parking lot and found some nearby shade to sit in while we ate. There is a small (read: VERY small) concession stand there inside the museum, but it looked pretty limited to snack-type food... other than the lemonade (think fair ground lemonade... yum).

yes, they're all wearing Star Wars shirts

The actual sheep shearing is held every 30 minutes. I was at the tail end of our group, so got there too late to pull out my camera and get pictures of the actual shearing, but here's the end result. I think she said that each sheep produces about 4 lbs of wool (at least that's what I'm going to go with since she's holding up four fingers *grin*) and that all that wool -ALL THAT WOOL- sells for only $1.20. 

You read that right. One dollar and twenty cents. Remind me not to go into sheep farming.

Don't they look a bit ashamed? Although I'm sure they put up with the humiliation in order to be free of all that hot, scraggly, stinking fleece.

they are kind of cute

From there, they kids went outside, grabbed a ball of (freshly washed and carded) wool that they were then able to dye their choice of colours. They younger kids just played in the soapy water!

Scattered throughout the farm, in various buildings, are crafts and hands-on activities for the kids. Just passed the (new and very cool) bee exhibit, the kids got to try their hands at carding wool. Not as easy as it looks for those with still-developping hand-eye coordination, but everyone still enjoyed it. My three-year old (pictured below in the navy) wanted to take his brushes home. While he had to leave them there "for other little kids to use", he did get to take his little ball of soft, clean, freshly carded wool home with him.

Although I only got one picture of this next activity, it was my favourite of the day. The kids each got to pick a colour of wool roving to use to turn into a felt bracelet. Simon chose orange (without only a bit of encouragement from his orange-loving mama), and Liam chose a dark blue/teal colour. Liam is not one to accessorize, so he insists that his is a snake. Simon wore his bracelet for a few hours... then gave it to me. Woohoo!

The Museum of Agriculture is open from 9am til 5pm, but the sheep shearing activities only run from 10am until 2:30pm. After getting our fill of sheepy, wooly goodness, we stopped by to play on the tractors...

...and visited the milking barns...

...where we stopped to ooh and ahh over this little slice of adorable...

the Jersey... my favourite of all the cows

...and a final play at the park before taking our gang of fun-filled, sun-kissed (note, wear sunscreen since it's almost all outside), slightly tired and cranky kids home.

And I saved the best for last... pictures of some of the new baby lambs that were out walking around the farm. SO. STINKING. CUTE.

So cute and so soft. Baby hands are just drawn to them. Adult hands too. Getting up close and personal with these sweet, snowy, fleece babes is alone worth the price of admission!

The Sheep Shearing Festival runs all weekend, including the holiday Monday. If you go, come back and leave a comment and tell us what you thought.

Amy is the homeschooling, photographing mom of 7 year old Liam, 3 1/2 year old Simon, and 16 month old Andrew. She blogs at Muddy Boots and her photography can be found at Muddy Boots Photo.

The Canadian Tulip Festival - the plan

by Shawna With the early warmth this spring, we may be in danger of having an almost tulip-less Canadian Tulip Festival (which runs from May 7th - 24th). While this may put a crimp in my role as one of the "Artists in the Tulips" (this will be my second year my images can be found in the Tulip Art gallery in Commissioner's Park by Dow's lake), it in no way means I won't go to the festival with my kids.  Sure, it's nice for me to see the tulips and use them as a colourful backdrop for pictures of my nearest-and-dearest, but let's not lose sight of the main reason to go: to let the kids exhaust themselves by hopping them up on sugar at the Fudge Shack and tear around like mad things, all the better to sleep that night!

I kid.

Sort of.

In truth, there are tons of kid-friendly activities at the Tulip Festival and they almost all come with the bonus of getting out in the fresh air and maybe even learning a little history along the way.  To kick off the festival, there's an open air Liberation Street Party planned this year on Sparks St., which is being held in celebration of the 65th anniversary of the liberation of the Netherlands and Canada's role in it.  Throughout the festival there will be children's activities at Major's Hill Park, and a lot of the area's museums are planning programming that links in with the festival.  The tulip festival website has details on all of this and more.

The fact is, there's a dizzying variety of programming and there's no way it would be fun to dash from activity to activity, trying to cram it all in; what we do is take a look at the schedule and try to earmark just a couple of things that sound fun on a day or two I'm not officially scheduled to be there.  We keep things loose and watch the weather, and if we can go at those times, so much the better.  And if things don't align so that we hit all our "planned" events, we try to keep in mind that what the kids really like best is the chance to ride the tulip shuttle bus (a novelty for my suburban children), see the ducks on Dow's Lake, and yes, eat fudge and Beavertails and tear around like mad things.

The better sleep that night is just a fringe benefit.

Shawna is mom to 4 year old Sage and almost-2-year-old Harris.  She has  been writing online since 2003, and her latest project is a fledgling photography blog.  She feels a defensive need to let you know that she herself rides the bus almost every day.

A Weekend of Museums

by Isabelle The first words out of my four year-old's mouth when he woke up last Saturday were: "I want to go to the train museum today!". Given the rainy weekend forecasted, we packed up a picnic lunch, the baby stroller, and our two kids and headed to the Museum of Science and Technology. We've been there many times before with Jay, but we hadn't yet gone with Rosie, our 10 week-old daughter.

The trains are a huge hit with kids of all ages, of course, as is the museum's well-known crazy kitchen, but other temporary exhibits are also worth seeing for kids and adults alike. We were pleased to see that the exhibit focusing on Canadian space science has been recently expanded, and were impressed with a new exhibit on braille, which included a number of different instruments developed in Canada (including the foldable white cane). Another new exhibit focuses on healthy foods and where they come from, and presents a series of wall-sized photographs of families from different parts of the world, posing with their weekly groceries. Needless to say, there is a remarkable variety when these families are compared. Finally, we ended our visit with our picnic lunch (tables and chairs are available and a small cafeteria offers food and drinks for purchase) and a run through the digital networks exhibit, which includes tunnels lit up in different colours.

We spent about two hours in the museum, and although the parking lot was packed, the museum didn't feel too busy, even with the stroller. I took a number of pictures with my small point-and-shoot and intended to post them, but unfortunately, because of the low light level in the museum, they didn't turn out very well. Next time, I will bring my larger camera, which has a removable flash.

The next morning, my son decided he wanted to visit the Aviation Museum. After a quick look outside our living room window, my husband decided to take him solo. We had last visited the museum on Canada Day, and the museum has changed quite a bit since then. Most striking is the memorial gallery, although my son enjoyed walking through the planes and helicopters and even sitting in one of them! The museum has two buildings, but one is only available as part of a guided tour. Since the tour lasts one hour, my husband decided to skip it and focus on the main building instead. On nice days, the museum has a play structure and picnic tables outdoors for its visitors.

Since his museum weekend, Jay has decided that when he grows up, he wants to be an astronaut, a train conductor, a truck driver and a pilot. He is going to be one busy guy :)

For information on opening hours, admission prices and exhibits, visit www.sciencetech.technomuses.ca and www.aviation.technomuses.ca.

Isabelle is the mom of 3.5 year old Jay and two-month old Rosie. You can also find her at Dr. Peach’s Blog.

All aboard! A visit to the Ottawa Train Station

by Vicky Call me crazy but I have a soft spot for train stations. Maybe it's from all those years I traveled by train to and from University for holidays or spring break. I remember the nervous excitement about going back home to see my family and old friends, and the feeling of  gloominess that the break was over too fast and I was heading back to reality of readings, essays and midterms.

When I take the train, I always sit next to the window. There's nothing like looking out on the countryside and watching it zoom by. The train slows down as it passes through small towns, the perfect speed for stealing a quick glance into  backyards. Sometimes the gentle rocking of the train lulls me to sleep. I rarely talk to the person sitting next to me, nor do I read. I just sit and watch and think. I find it extremely peaceful.

Like most 3 year olds, Joel loves playing with trains, so what could be more exciting than seeing them in person! Today my younger brother was arriving by train. Joel and I went to pick him up.

When we first arrived, the train leaving for Montreal was about to depart. We hurried to watch it pull out of the station. Joel grinned from ear to ear as the train's big wheels started turning. We waved at the people watching us as the train rode by. What was supposed to be a 2:30pm train was in fact late, so that gave us half an hour to explore the station - more than enough time for a 3 year old!

We started by looking at the antique model trains encased in glass. They were larger than most models. I wished there was a story to accompany those trains. It's a little piece of history that always intrigues me - the way people relied on train travel so much more years ago, and how entire communities were built around stops along the CN railway. Then we discovered the spiral ramp - which thanks to a very kind VIA rail employee, we were allowed to run up and down on despite not having tickets.

Next we tried out a couple of different seats, to find which one was the most comfortable. The massage chairs definitely won that prize, although for $1 for 2 mins we just sat in them to take a photo. Then we found an old luggage scale. Joel hopped on so we could weigh him. I put my foot on the scale to pretend that he had suddenly grown and gained a few pounds, which lead to some hysterical laughter! Then we checked out the restaurant briefly, picked up a few brochures and sat in a chair to wait for the train to arrive. A few minutes later we heard the chimes and an announcement that train number 42 was arriving! We rushed to the window to watch the train pull in. Quickly the passengers arrived up the escalator as Joel loudly said 'nope' for each one that wasn't his uncle. Finally Uncle arrived and we were ready to go! We paid the $2 for parking and headed home.

This summer I'm planning to take Joel on the train to Toronto to visit a friend. We went once before when he was 9 months old, but I have a feeling the next trip is the one he'll remember.

Vicky is the mom to 3.5 year old son named Joel and 9 month old daughter named Mieka. You can read her blog at blog Some Kind of Wondermom.

Canadian Museum of Nature

by Brie

One of our favorite places to visit is the Canadian Museum of Nature. We are usually there at least once or twice a week. Part of the reason is that it is just a few blocks from our house. The other reason is that both kids love it.

The Museum is still under construction, with half of the building closed to the public. The grand reopening is scheduled for the end of May, with some exciting new galleries opening, like an earth and water gallery. Is it sad that I am seriously excited about the new exhibits? Until then the kids and I are happy to be amused with the exhibits we have already seen a million times.

When I go to the Museum with both of the kids we always start on the first floor with the dinosaurs, because that is the girl's favorite floor. We walk around and marvel at all the reconstructed dinosaurs while she gives them funny names. I always try to stop and watch the Ankylosaurus death-blow video. That is my favorite.

If I am there alone with my toddler, we start on the fourth floor so that he can play in the bird hospital. Both kids love to pretend to be doctors and help the injured bird. And drive the truck. They like that too.

I am looking forward to when the kids are older and I have a chance to stop and read the information posted throughout the museum. I know I could be learning a lot more than I currently am. But right now I am too busy watching them pretend to be seals about to be eaten by a polar bear (second floor).

After we have made the rounds we all like to stop in the snack room. I'll be honest, some days I think this is everyone's favorite part. In talking with a security guard I learnt that the new cafeteria, part of the current renovation, will have a focus on kid friendly and healthy, organic food. We may be spending a good part of future visits there!

I find the prices at the Museum very reasonable. Until the grand opening, when the prices will be going up, the cost of entrance is $5 or $13 for families. Kids under 3 are free. You can also borrow a Nature Card from some libraries which will give you free membership for a family of five. Or head over on a Saturday morning when entrance is free for all.

We ended up buying an annual family pass for $50 because we visit so often. It is probably the best investment we have made, especially over the winter months when we are desperate to find things to do with the kids inside.

Whatever you decide to do I do suggest you go. And say hi to Boogie the dinosaur from me. He's the one right inside the door. Don't worry, he's friendly.

Brie is the mom of a 3.5 year old daughter "the girl" and eighteen month old son "the boy". You can read her blog at Capital Mom.