Whales Tohorā at the Canadian Museum of Nature

The Canadian Museum of Nature has a new exhibit, Whales Tohorā, that is sure to be a hit with your children. E and I had the opportunity to attend a preview event before the exhibit opened on March 2nd and we can't wait to go back for more!

As we approached the Museum our excitement grew with the view of the large inflatable blue whale in the Queen's Lantern.  We soon learned that the whale has not been named and the Museum is currently holding a Name-the-Whale contest. Check out the website to vote or suggest a name - you could win a free one year membership or a special souvenir!

The exhibit highlights three elements - Whale Lab, Whale People and Strandings. The gigantic whale skeleton that hung above us throughout the exhibit was amazing. We loved reading the facts posted, viewing the large whale teeth and skulls and following the whale trail stations (ideal for children older than my almost 3 year old). Another one of the neat features was the life-sized model of the blue whale heart (the largest on the planet!) that the children especially loved to explore.

There are a number of interactive activities to keep the children busy including touch-screen games and short videos. We stayed and watched a sperm whale on the hunt for a squid in the Search and Destroy video a few times because E found it absolutely exhilirating.

While we were at the Museum we were also sure to visit the dinosaurs, polar bear, grizzly bears and the rest of our favourites.  E and I are especially looking forward to go back to watch the new 3D Movie, Turtle Vision.

During March Break, the Museum will be hosting a number of activites from a Whale Dinner, Whale Bingo, Whale Crafts and Ocean Curiosities. For more information about Whales Tohorā visit the Musem's website and pack up the kids for a visit!

Alicia is mother to E (2 ¾) and blogs at I Found My Feet.

Winterlude: Confederation Park

by Lara It's February in Ottawa - time for cold, snow, and Winterlude!

We took the kids for a quick outing this weekend to check out the festivities downtown.  We aren't skaters so we avoided the canal all-together but had a great time wandering around Confederation Park:

Saw sculptures of ice, and of other things:

We saw tipis and totem poles and heard lovely music:

I think I want one of these for myself to sit in while the kids play outside:

And of course, we couldn't leave without:

We parked at City Hall which was easy and convenient and cost under $2.

Have you been to Winterlude yet? Do you have a favourite activity? (want to blog about it? :)

Lara is mom to five year old Kiernan and two and a half year old boy/girl twins Quinn and Juliette.  Between the kids and her social media consulting business, she spends most of her time running frazzled.

Flashback: The best skating is local skating

Another great post from early in 2011.  Do you have any local skating ponds or rinks you love?

by Thomas

When I was first presented with the question ‘where is your favorite place to skate in the city’, without any hesitation I said the Rideau Canal. We are so fortunate to live in a city that is home to the world’s longest skating rink! It is an amazing experience, taking in the scenery and sense of youthful excitement that you enjoy when skating end to end on this World Heritage site is second to none. But after a few more thoughts, the Canal is fantastic, but it’s not my favorite.

My true favorite spots to skate are the little ponds, creeks and rivers that each winter we transform into local skating surfaces. There is something very Canadian about heading to the water front and shoveling off a patch to skate or play hockey on. I am very fortunate to have a pond right behind our house, where the neighborhood children play pickup hockey and the young ones learn to skate, preparing themselves for the game next winter.

These local destinations are links to the past, to simpler times. To a time where people, maybe even you, spent full days playing with friends or by yourself. You remember the days when you’d rush to get out of bed, chug down a glass of orange juice and run out the door with your mother shouting behind you ‘Be back for dinner!’… but you’d be lucky to be home before dark. On your way home praying the whole way that your dad wouldn’t mind since you were playing hockey after all and still let you stay up for Hockey Night in Canada.

These little spots, hidden from the hustle and bustle that our lives have become, are beautiful and so much more meaningful then ‘just’ a skating rink. I love the ability to take my boys outside whenever I want and watch the joy and freedom they experience when they get their skates on; the smiles that shine out from the mask of my 3 year old when he is tip-toeing across the pond; the cheers of joy coming from my 5 year old when he scores a goal into an empty net; the pride that beams from my heart as I watch these two bundles of snowsuit glide across the ice. These local skating spots provide the next generation with the ability to get lost in the joys that your own childhood brought you.

The best part of all of this? You get to share in building these memories for your own children and in turn, are creating the events which will become their own cherished memories.

Thomas is the proud father to three sons; 5 & 3 year olds and his 5 month old. Looking to provide the father voice into the parenting blogging world, you can find his personal experiences at http://thomaslynn.wordpress.com/

Rideau Canal Festival

 by Zach The Rideau Canal is 202 kilometers long, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and now it has its own party. Well, to be accurate, it’s had its own party for four years now. This year the Rideau Canal Festival is on from July 28 to August 2, and it’s in full swing.

I stopped by with my two kids, the girl (4) and the boy (2) on a really, really hot Saturday afternoon, July 30. We visited the Confederation Park site at about 1:30pm, right in the middle of the children’s activities held that day from 12:00 to 3:00. We were practically on time, by our standards.

The festival isn’t just at Confederation Park, though. There are activities at the Bytown Museum / Ottawa Locks site, and the Dows Lake Pavilion, so there’s plenty to do. Check their website at www.rideaucanalfestival.ca for detailed scheduling information.

The fee for entry into the Confederation park for adults is $5, but kids under 12 are free, so it was still a pretty cheap deal for us. The pathways around the main green are lined with a variety of booths, there’s a main stage, and, when we were there, a number of entertainers were making their rounds on foot.

The crowd was pretty thin at first, maybe because of the high temperatures in the middle of the day, but there were still kids clustered around the Scottish-accented stilt walker / juggler / comedian. The girl watched for a bit while the boy napped in the stroller, and then we moved on – I don’t think she quite knew what to make of a ten-foot high man in tartan tossing juggling clubs in the air.

We bumped right into a balloon animal artist, who whipped up a dog on a leash for the girl and a monkey in a tree for the boy. A face painter was also on hand, and the girl got a sparkly butterfly on her arm and the boy got a rocket ship on his face (at least until they went swimming later that afternoon…).

We were right in time for Irish dancing, performed by students of Trillium Academy of Irish Dance. The girl loves watching dancing, so she sat on the green in the sun for a while and watched, while I stood behind her and tried to use my shadow to try to keep her cool(er).

The Ottawa Art Gallery has a small tent set up with loads of markers, paper, paint, and stencils for on-the-spot masterpieces. The boy and girl had never used stencils before, and they started producing pictures like an assembly line.

We checked out a few of the exhibitors at the Energy Ottawa Ecosphere Environmental Fair, though I think the boy was more excited to be in a really big tent than to learn about recycling electronics in an environmentally responsible way. We got going just as a band started to get going, though we were able to listen to the music for a long time as we walked back home.

Zach is a dad to a four year old girl and two year old boy. He sometimes blogs. He is often blogged about by his wife over at Capital Mom.

Dancing in the Streets. The Ottawa version.

by Brie On a hot Friday afternoon we headed to the National Gallery of Canada with friends. But instead of going into the Gallery we sat outside under some trees and watched some free modern dancing. It was a pretty perfect way to pass the time.

Dancing in the Street is a project from The School of Dance that has performers and musicians dancing in streets across Ottawa. In their bright yellow t-shirts, the dancers preform contemporary dances playing off of each other and the space that they are in.

My four year old loved watching the dancers. In fact she loved it so much she asked me if she could get up and dance.

I was thrilled to see her exposed to some contemporary dancing. I have always loved modern dance because of its freedom of movement. Watching the Dancing in the Street dancers and then watching my daughter I realized that she has been doing modern dance all along!

We saw Dancing in the Street in front of the National Art Gallery, but you can check out their schedule and find them at different locations throughout the summer.  

Have you watched a Dancing in the Streets performance?

Brie is the mom of a 4 year old daughter “the girl” and 2 old son “the boy”. You can read her blog at Capital Mom.