A Trip to Valleyview Little Animal Farm

by Isabelle

Last week, I had the opportunity to accompany my son's daycare on a field trip to Valleyview Little Animal Farm, located on Fallowfield Road, just off Highway 416. Our visit started with a short slide presentation meant to introduce the kids to the different animals they were about to see. The 2- to 4-year olds seemed to enjoy the presentation, although I think they were raring to go and were a little disappointed to have to sit indoors for a few minutes when they first got there (practically speaking, however, it enabled everyone to use the washroom, which was a really good thing). After the slide presentation, everyone got on a tractor-pulled "train" to tour some of the crops. Because of the time of year, we didn't see much growing yet (corn, soya beans, to name but a few), but the under-4 crowd really enjoyed the ride.

Next, we visited the goats, sheep, and chickens, all in an indoor barn. The kids especially enjoyed feeding the goats themselves:

Then, we toured the outdoor animal enclosures, which included cows, pigs, peacocks, ducks, llamas, and deer. The kids ran relatively quickly through those, because they were anxious to get to the play structures, which I think were the best part of the whole farm. I lost count of all of the different wooden vehicles they had there, but my little guy particularly loved the truck, helicopter, and locomotive.

There was also a large pirate ship playstructure as well as one made up of different indoor and outdoor tunnels - the kids played in those two for a long time.

We ate a picnic lunch while we were there - there is a nice set-up of covered picnic tables for groups, and even some coolers out front for lunch boxes. Including lunch, our visit lasted about 3.5 hours - I thought that was a bit long for the little ones, who were tired of playing (!) before the bus came to pick us up. I would recommend planning a two-hour visit, perhaps with a short snack break halfway through. There is a snackbar on location if you're in a hurry and don't have time to pack a lunch or snack before heading out.

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.

Ottawa Farmers' Market

by Vicky Have you been to the Ottawa Farmers' Market at Lansdowne Park? Every summer we would talk about going to check it out, but it never happened. Finally this year we made it on the opening day! After one visit, I'm hooked. I want to go every weekend.

I wasn't entirely sure what to expect, considering it was early May and too soon for a lot of local produce. But I was pleasantly surprised by the variety of non-food vendors at the Market.

I picked up the most amazing some soap from U.Fabu. It's Cinnamon Sweet Orange and smells so good you want to eat it!.

And some Jerk Spice Rub for the husband!

I could not get over the baked goods! There were line ups to buy freshly baked breads, squares, pies and cookies so if that's what you are looking for come early!

When we lived downtown (before children) we often went to the ByWard Market or the Parkdale Market on Saturdays to pick up fresh fruits and vegetables. I really enjoyed strolling outside and buying from local vendors. I think it's great that we have so many fresh and local Markets in the city! Now that we have kids, I think this is something the kids will really enjoy, and it might even be an opportunity to teach them about the importance of buying local! Maybe we'll see you there?

From the Ottawa Farmers Market website:

Local producers of fruit, vegetables, meat, arts and crafts are bringing their goods to Lansdowne Park. From 8:00 am to 3:00 pm each Sunday until the end of October. Bring the family to enjoy breakfast in the open air and purchase locally produced seasonal goods.

The promise of the Ottawa Farmers' Market is that all goods sold by the vendors who participate are produced by those vendors. This ensures that the customer wanting to buy locally is able to and is purchasing the freshest meat and produce available while supporting local producers.

The market is located in Parking Lot #4 between the North side of the Aberdeen Pavilion, the East side of the Horticultural Bldg. and Holmwood Avenue.

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.

ABC Challenge : week 11

Only two weeks left!! I can't believe I only need to take four more photos and we will have completed the challenge!! I'm excited to announce that we are going to be featuring some of the ABC Challenge photos at Blog Out Loud this year.  Read my discussion group post on FLICKR to let me know if I can use any of your photos and to recommend which photos we should use!

Photography Tip

Wednesday got here way too fast this week and I didn't make it to the MacKenzie King Estate in time to take photos.  So we're going with a fall back/discussion tip this week.

What do you do with your photos when you take them out of your camera? I posted in the first week about how I use Picasa.  I know a lot of you use other programs like Photoshop (and/or Photoshop Elements) and LightRoom.  It would be fabulous if people would share what they do.

- Do you tweak your photos or always just live them as they were when you took them?

- How do you sort/store your photos?

- Do you have any tips or links to web sites with tips that would be good to share?

Let us know!

My two photos

M is for mealtime

Z is for zoom

Participants' posts

Can you even imagine finding your 18 month old like this!? B is for books or C is for climbing (you choose! :) by Muddyboots

F is for friends by Stella - so sweet.

N is for night by jhscrapmom. Such neat lighting!

Lara is the mom to 3.5 year old Kiernan and 1 year old twins Quinn and Juliette. You can find her at her blog Gliding Through Motherhood.

"If you go out in the woods today....

by Julie You're sure of a big surprise. If you go out in the woods today You'd better go in disguise.

For every bear that ever there was Will gather there for certain, because Today's the day the teddy bears have their picnic"

Every year, CHEO hosts a Teddy Bears' Picnic as a way to say thank you to the community for their support.  Held on the beautiful grounds at Rideau Hall, the picnic usually includes a pancake breakfast, a parade, entertainment, often rides and/or a petting farm, a BBQ, and the most popular attraction: the B*A*S*H tent (Bear Ambulatory Surgical Hospital) where kids can bring their bears (or any stuffed animal really) to be checked over and patched up by a doctor. 

 In past years, the picnic has also featured face painting, a visit from several Mounties, a display from the Ottawa Police and/or Fire Services, a games area (with games perfect for 2-5 yr olds), and of course clowns.

Enterance to the picnic and most attractions is free.  A nominal charge applies to some games, rides and food concessions.

Since there is no parking on site, the organizors have teamed up with OC Transpo to provide a free shuttle service running to and from the Aviation Museum.  Let me tell you, this ride alone is sometimes half the fun: a bus filled with picnic goers and their bears what more could a kid ask for? 

If you're planning to check it out, be sure to pack hats, sunscreen, water and snacks....and don't forget your bear!  The grounds are woven with paved pathways making most of the area stroller, wagon and wheelchair friendly. 

The year, the picnic will take place on Saturday June 26th.  Hope to see you there!

“Julie is a mom to 7 year old Maya and 5 ½ year old Evan. She is photographer and samples of her work can be found at www.inspiredphotography.ca “

Muddy Boots Photography: A Father's Day giveaway

NOW CLOSED Congratulations to Suzanne for winning this amazing giveaway!

Ever wonder what to get a dad that has everything? I mean, besides a fabulous mate and great kids, what more could a man want?

How about some lovely photos with said mate and kids.

We hosted our first giveaway this past Mother's Day (thanks again to Anna Epp Photography!) so we thought it was only fair that we do the same for Father's Day.

Please welcome Muddy Boots Photography! You may remember Amy from her post about sheep shearing at the Canadian Agricultural Museum. 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.

And here she is to tell you all about our fabulous Father's Day giveaway.

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Recently I got the following feedback from a family session:

Amy the pictures are amazing, fabulous and I cannot thank you enough. I've watched the slideshow three times and can't get through without bawling my eyes out!! You captured a side of my family that I know, but no one else gets a chance to see - it's there now in the look of the eyes and off guard poses....they are absolutely fabulous pictures. I will have to look at the slide show everytime the kids are driving me nuts...

 

That's why I do this... to make moms cry!

In all seriousness, my goal for each session is to do just what that client described... to capture the true personality of my subjects. Nothing overly posed. Nothing formal. Nothing contrived. But rather unguarded, genuine moments between people who love each other.

For this Father's Day Giveaway through, I'm offering a gift certificate for $250 off one of the following:

BASIC SESSION FEE   |  $250

This session includes a 1-3 hour on location session for up to 6 people ($25 for each additional person) with 30-40 images presented in your online proofing gallery.  This includes a $50 print credit. This may be a family, newborn, baby, child, maternity or engagement session.

MATERNITY + NEWBORN   |  $350

Includes  maternity and newborn sessions on location. While a maternity session may be as short as an hour (depending on if there are children involved or not), newborn sessions generally last up to three hours. This price also includes a $75 print credit. 15-20 maternity and 30-40 newborn images will be presented in a personal online gallery.

WEDDINGS   |  $1200

Includes unlimited pre-wedding consultations, up to 10 hours of wedding day coverage, 75-100 images presented in your online proofing gallery, a $200 print credit and a CD of full-resolution, creatively edited images in both colour and high-contrast black+white. All weddings receive 8 to 12 hours of post-processing time to ensure the highest quality printable images.

*Each package includes a credit for prints ordered through a pro print company. Other prints may be ordered a la carte, however you will also receive a DVD of high quality, full-resolution, professionally edited images for your own viewing/sharing/printing pleasure.

 

 

 

 

Amy from Muddy Boots Photography is a wedding, engagement, and lifestyle photographer including maternity, newborn, babies, children and family portrait photography. She specializes in black & white and colour photography done on-location using natural light. Muddy Boots Photography is based out of the Ottawa and Gatineau region serving Gatineau, Hull, Alymer, Buckingham and the greater Ottawa area.

 

 

 

For more information or to book a session, please contact Amy at 819.503.5456 or at muddybootsphotography@live.ca .

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Thanks Amy! We couldn't have said it better ourselves.

To be entered in the Father's Day giveaway leave us a comment about your favorite way to celebrate Father's Day.

For two extra entries:

- Become a fan of Muddy Boots Photography on Facebook

- Tweet the following: I entered the @kidsincapital giveaway to win a $250 gift certificate for a photo shoot with @muddybootsblog http://tinyurl.com/382guh8

Please leave a separate comment for each extra entry.

Please note that the giveaway is open only to residents of the Ottawa area.

The giveaway closes Thursday, June 24th at 8 pm. The winner will be contacted by email shortly after.

Happy Father's Day everyone!