What To Do In Ottawa This Weekend

With the weather warming up and the smell of flowers in the air (sort of), there is a lots of fun kids friendly things to do in Ottawa this weekend. If you’re stuck for ideas, here are some great outdoor, interactive activities that the whole family will love: The Tulip Festival

Running from May 3-20^th, the Ottawa Tulip Festival boasts food, dancing, music and a whole lot of tulip. There are free concerts and live performances from Thursday to Sunday nights at the Tulip Plaza in front of City Hall.

For more info: http://tulipfestival.ca/site/capital_sounds/en

Spring on Sparks

Sparks Street is gearing up for a family friendly, fun-filled spring extravaganza. Come and enjoy a giant 50 foot ferris wheel, merry-go-round, games, food and whole lot more! From May 3 until May 12.

For more info: http://sparksstreetmall.com/spingonSparks.html

Intergalactic Star Wars Day

For those of you who would not be surprised to see a Wookie walking down the street, May 4^th is known among Star Wars fans as Star Wars Day. Use your imagination to have light saber battles, watch reruns of the two trilogies and remember, “May the fourth be with you!”

For more info: http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/May_4

Canadian Museum of Agriculture

On Saturday, May 4^th is the Grand Opening of the Learning Center at the Museum of Agriculture. They’re celebrating with a fun-filled day of activities like ice cream making, butter making, grooming a calf, crafts and demonstrations of big tools and farm machinery in action. And of course, who could argue with free cake!

For more info: http://www.agriculture.technomuses.ca

25^th Birthday Celebrations at Centrepointe Theatre & Ben Franklin Place

This family friendly event will feature Juno-nominated children’s performer Jennifer Gasoi and a Musical Petting Zoo. Tweens & teens can check out the skatepark, take a juggling workshop, or get a henna tattoo. Making anything from remote control robots to making laser cardboard cut-outs. A great day will be had by all.

For a full list of activities and performance times visit www.centrepointetheatre.com

So get out there, Ottawa families, and start to enjoy all the awesome spring activities that our great city has to offer. What are your plans this weekend?

Play Time Cafe in Manotick

By Kamerine Play Time Cafe is a kid-friendly coffee shop that recently opened in Manotick. I was so excited because even though there are other similar establishments in town, this is by far the closest one for me. I took the kids there one snowy morning a couple of weeks ago.

The first thing I noticed were the super bright green walls and then my eyes wandered around to the toys and puzzles and comfy chairs and couches and the high chairs everywhere. This was obviously a clean, kid-friendly, cozy place. The play area is gated off but surrounded with half walls so you could see the kids from almost everywhere in the place. There were also toys and stations (for lack of a better word) set up here and there like a princess table the kids loved with a hidden cubby full of blocks.

I picked up a snack for the kids and tried a Panini for me and veggie sliders for them. It was all delicious. The food is a focus for the owners and they boast wholesome and locally sourced ingredients. This isn't a necessity for me but it's definitely a nice touch.

It can be weird talking about bathrooms but I'm going to. Play Time Cafe has two bathrooms and a fully stocked change table for the little ones. This is such a big deal when you're out and about and the inevitable happens and you need to change a diaper. No problem at all here.

I had a chance to talk to two of the owners and I can say without a doubt that they are friendly and passionate about what they do. I'm glad to have Play Time Cafe so close by and I hope I've convinced you to go check it out. It's bright and cheerful and clean, with a friendly staff, and focused on healthy eating and community: a winning combination. We will definitely be back to Play Time Cafe.

High Tea at the Fairmont Chateau Laurier

***We updated this post! You can view it by clicking here!**

I’ve been hearing a great deal about the Prince and Princess Tea at the Fairmont Chateau Laurier for a while but never really gave it much thought. As the mom of two pre-teens, I have quickly learned that anything with the word “Princess” in it is taboo. However, since a friend had recently brought her older daughter there (just calling it High Tea) and had rave reviews, I omitted the word princess and brought my two girls there for High Tea.

Every afternoon, High Tea is served in Zoe’s Lounge. The decor in both the Chateau Laurier and Zoe’s is beautiful and posh. Just walking into the lobby of the hotel made my girls stand up a bit straighter and carry themselves a bit more grown up. In Zoe’s Lounge, all the staff were extremely attentive, and everything they served was presented so elegantly. Both my girls were amazed.  There were three different High Tea menus to choose from both my girls actually stuck to the Princess Tea menu since if offered more of what they would actually eat.   The scones, sandwiches, fruit salad and desserts served to us were delicious. We watched as the “tea expert” made her way around the room pushing a cart filled with so many varieties to choose from. Both my girls chose hot chocolate instead of tea but they did get to drink it from fancy china. The treats were endless. When our plates or cups were empty, they were quickly refilled and both girls were amazed at each and every new pastry and cookie offered to us.

Although my daughters aren’t strangers to eating in fancy restaurants, this experience probably topped the list. They both sat so quietly and politely, just watching everything that was going on around them. It was a treat to just be able to sit with them and hear about their day, school, friends and to speak with them as young women instead of just rushing them around from activity to activity. It’s something that I hope to do again very soon.

How old do you think your children should be before bringing them to a fancy restaurant where manners and decorum are important?

Green Eggs and Hamadeus: A Children's Theatre Review

Saturday February 9th was a very busy day in downtown Ottawa!  Winterlude was in full swing, the canal was hopping, and the sun was shining beautifully.  My son and I however were at the NAC for the performance of Green Eggs and Hamadeus, the second in a series of 3 performances that we purchased tickets for back in the fall.

This was a much more interactive performance (bilingual as well!) with audience participation!  The conductor of the orchestra broke down one of Mozart's pieces, Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, K. 525, Allegro, Romanze: Andante, Menuetto: Alegretto, Rondo: Allegro for the audience to explain how a piece of music was put together, the difference between the melody and they accompaniment, and how it all fits together in the end.  He explained that even the instrument, in this case it was the viola, with the most basic notes to play, was very important to the entire piece because they might have one "surprise" that stands out when the orchestra plays together.  He invited two children up onto the stage to conduct the orchestra after giving a little lesson on how it was done.

Then it was onto the story of Green Eggs and Ham.  It wasn't a very long performance, but it was well done, funny, the actors were very expressive which the kids in the audience loved!  There were a few times when the operatic singing was a little bit too much for the little ears, I did notice my son and a few other children a few times covering their ears.

As usual there were activities preceding the event, they had a large train set up for the little ones to look at, they were very strict about their "no touching" policy, which I could understand since the pieces were very delicate, but not exactly conducive to a bunch of kids who naturally want to explore with both their eyes and hands.

It was a lovely way to spend the afternoon!

http://nac-cna.ca/en/orchestra/event/2397

Amanda was born and raised in Ottawa where she continues to live with her husband and son “J”. Amanda is bilingual and interests include reading, blogging, socializing, and advocacy on children and teen issues.

The Rideau Hall Winter Celebration

By Stéphanie

It can be challenging sometimes to find interesting and entertaining activities to for both my kids, and not die of exhaustion in the process. While I have a very energetic young boy, I am lucky to have a really easy girl who's happy to be carried around almost everywhere.

On January 26th, I decided to participate in the Winter Celebration day hosted by the Governor General of Canada at Rideau Hall. It was the weekend after that crazy freezing -40 celsius week we had in January and while the temperature was a bit warmer, I found it was still a bit too cold to bring the baby. My friend was just as happy (happier) to stay at home babysitting, while my boy and I headed to Rideau Hall well dressed, with our skates on my shoulders.

We had a blast! Embassies of Finland, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the National Capital Commission (NCC) had kiosks where they distributed taffy, cookies, candies, hot chocolate and other hot beverages. We did some crafts at the Netherlands kiosk, we participated in an obstacle course organized by young reservists, took a horse-drawn wagon ride, skated - for a good 2 minutes! (my son is learning to skate this winter...) - on the beautiful historic Rideau Hall skating rink, and enjoyed Inuit dancing and throat singing in their beautiful cultural costumes.

Inuit Throat Singing

There were a lot of other activities for all ages, including cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, dog sledding and a visit of the residence. The event was well attended but not crowded and the only activity with serious wait time was the dog sled rides (which we didn't do). Very well-organized day, all activities were bilingual, and there was something for all ages. And the Rideau Hall grounds are just beautiful!

The governer general often organizes days of activities like this one, so it is a good idea to monitor their website. Also, all winter weekends, and on family day, the outdoor skating rink is open to the public from noon to 5 and there is even a possibility for groups to reserve the rink during the week.

My son still carries around his little Norway flag that was given to him on that day! This annual event is definitely on my agenda.

Stéphanie moved to Ottawa about 10 years ago from the south shore of Montréal. She usually works as an analyst for the federal government but is currently on maternity leave to take care of a 3 1/2 boy (Paul) and 4 month baby girl (Emy).