Soloway JCC: Kids in the Capital's latest sponsor

by Brie We are very excited to welcome a new sponsor to Kids in the Capital: The Soloway Jewish Community Centre (JCC) of Ottawa!

The JCC has lots of great services and programs on offer for kids and families. From its salt water pool to its youth programs and birthday party packages, there is sure to be something of interest for every family.

Through friends I have heard great things about the JCC summer camps. In fact, two friends have already registered their kids for summer camps and the snow is nowhere near ready to leave us. The JCC of Ottawa runs a variety of different camps throughout the summer including Day Camps (age 2-15). Each week of the day camp program has a unique and exciting theme, like Magical Scientists, The Joy of Cooking or Tropical Paradise, so you can pick a theme that would be the best fit for your kids and not worry about repetition when you send them for multiple weeks.

Traveling Sports Camp (age 7-15) offers kids a totally unique experience as it is the only camp in the city that takes campers on a field trip every day. Traveling Sports Campers spend the morning at the Soloway JCC where they learn about a wide range of sports and have instructional swimming lessons. After lunch they hop on a bus for a different adventure every day. Some of the trips planned for this summer include Calypso Water Park, horseback riding, ice skating, bowling, go-karting, water skiing, NCC beaches and more. The Traveling Sports Camp and Day Camp include instructional swimming lessons plus a free swim every day.

Finally, there are 13 Specialty Camps (age 5-15) throughout the summer.  Specialty Camps include: Girls on the Go, Fit Kids Have Fun!, Horseback Riding Camp, The Great Adventure, Dryland Hockey Camp, Tennis Camp, You Go Girl!, Triple Threat, Soccer Camp, Summertime Splash, Basketball Camp, Girl Power Camp and Last Blast.

Seriously. Can I go to camp?

If you haven't started thinking about summer yet, and let me tell you I am thinking about the hot sun of summer everyday, you may want to start. And sign up for some of the awesome summer camps offered by Soloway JCC before they fill up!

A  big welcome to the Soloway JCC!

Social Media Monday : A Twitter Workshop

by Lara Brie and I REALLY believe in Social Media (hence the Social Media Monday posts :))  We really believe that it can make a difference in the parenting experience; that finding support in our online community can make things better when they are really hard.

We've outlined the whys, hows and whos of Twitter in a series of Social Media posts but sometimes what really makes a difference is some hands on help.  So we developed a workshop!

What: Intro to Twitter

I will explain the whys and hows of Twitter and walk you through getting you started!  If you don't have an account yet, we will sign you up together.

Before the evening is done you will:

- be following interesting people - have interesting people following you - have interacted with people on Twitter - have deciphered the foreign language that is "Twitter speak" -  know how to say something of value in under 140 characters - have learnt how to build relationships and have meaningful conversations with like-minded people

You must bring a laptop or tablet with wireless capability.  The library has free wifi for anyone with an Ottawa Public Library card.  If you do not have a library card, let me know and we will make sure we can get you access.  If you do not have a laptop but would like to attend, please contact me at lara.wellman@gmail.com and we can make arrangements to get you one for the evening. If you would rather not pay by paypal, email me and we can make alternate arrangements.

When: March 22 at 7pm Where: Ottawa Public Library - Gloucester North branch Cost: $25

Here is the link to the Eventbrite listing to sign up.  I hope to see some of you there!

Soon you'll be tweeting like a pro and it'll make perfect sense. I promise.

Winter Wandering Adventures

by Ezmy It’s crazy difficult to find things to do with a baby in the winter months. Most activities are geared towards toddlers and big kids, and for good reason. Still, I thought, there must be something that my eight month old, Budsie, and I can enjoy doing together at this time of year. So one day last week, I packed up Budsie in his carrier, tossed some gear into a purse and hit the road. I wasn’t sure what adventures we would get up to, but I figured anything would be better than another day spent sitting on the floor with blocks and stacking cups.

First, we hit up Winterlude. My husband and I had taken Budsie to Winterlude on the previous weekend, but he had slept the whole way through. Since he was up and cheerful on this day, I figured why not try again. We wandered around looking at the ice sculptures, me explaining to him what each one was, and Budsie pointing and laughing at the sculptures and passers-by. Good fun!

For lunch, we had sandwiches and soup at Bridgehead. I used to love coming here for lunch before I had kids but wasn’t sure if Budsie would find it as fun. Boy was I wrong! I had packed a few toys in my purse, but I needn’t have bothered; between shoveling tasty sandwich into his mouth and smiling at all the people, my boy was pretty happy.

Next, we strolled up Sussex Drive to do some window shopping. Budsie was particularly fond of Zone, a housewares store full of sparkling chandeliers, silvery knickknacks, and of course the ever-popular mirror! Hundreds of Budsies smiled back at my boy as we walked around the shop. He was most pleased. Afterwards, we took a gander around the Byward Market. Heaps of people for the boy to smile at! We went to Tea Store, where Budsie chuckled every time I sniffed a tea (he simply loves the sound of someone sniffing). We also checked out Frou Frou, where the shiny beads were a super huge hit.

We ended our fun-filled day with a stop off at Chapters. Here, Budsie was able to mess around in the kid’s section, making friends with other babies and staring in awe at walking toddlers. We read a few books, picked out one to take home, and enjoyed a snack. Then we hopped on the bus home, where my boy passed out on the front of me, completely tuckered out by a day of people watching.

I am really looking forward to future winters, when Budsie and I will be able to go sledding or skate on the canal. But this winter has been a great opportunity for us to get to know each other. For instance, on this day I discovered what Budsie and I have in common while he’s in this stage of life: a love of shiny things and people watching! So as long as it’s sunny out, you’ll find my boy and I going on people-watching adventures all around Ottawa this winter.

Ezmy is a new mum to son Ewan (aka Budsie). When she isn't working on her master's thesis, or playing games with her boy, she's blogging furiously about life as a stay-at-home mum in our nation's capital. Follow Ezmy on Twitter (@ezmytweets) where she posts daily resolutions and updates on life with an active and very vocal baby.

Dining with kids at the Elgin Street Diner

by Brie Once upon a time I was a food snob. I loved good food. I liked to eat in nice restaurants, you know, with tablecloths. I hated to pay for bad food. Then I had kids. Now I am a food snob of a different kind.

We don't go out often to eat with the kids. When we do, given the frantic nature of the meal, there are certain things that we look for in a restaurant. Luckily we can find everything we are looking for at the Elgin Street Dinner.

Here are my top 5 reasons that the Elgin Street Diner is a great restaurant for kids.

1. The food comes fast Diners are the perfect choice for kids because the food is fast to come out from the kitchen. In fact I sometimes feel like I am waiting longer for the food to cool enough for the kids to eat it then I am for it to be brought to the table.

2. Distractions are plentiful The crayons and place mats for colouring that are handed out to all the kids when they arrive help to pass the time while you wait for the food. We usually bring some books with us too. If neither of those interest your kids you can probably keep them entertained for awhile watching all the people coming and going. A diner is perfect for people watching.

3. The servers are used to kids I am always thankful that the servers are used to kids. They know to bring extra napkins. They understand when we ask for the bill half way through the meal. They don't even look surprised when a glass of milk gets spilled. I am pretty sure they have seen it all at the Elgin Street Diner and that dinner with my two kids isn't the worst of it.

4. There is something on the menu your kids will eat Elgin Street Diner has an extensive menu, and with all day breakfast you can't really go wrong, but our kids are always happy to order off the kids' menu. In fact they always order the same thing. My 4 year old daughter gets the grilled cheese sandwich and my 2 year old son gets the macaroni and cheese. Once they totally threw me for a loop by switching their orders. Thankfully once the dishes arrived they decided to switch again and the order of the universe was restored. Phew, they had me going for awhile there.

5. It's loud. My kids are loud. They aren't even trying to be, they just are. I really, really appreciate being able to take them to eat somewhere where the noises from the kitchen and other patrons are as loud as they are. It means that instead of spending the whole meal being the mom that says "shhh" I get to actually eat my food.

The Elgin Street Diner is definitely an Ottawa institution.If you haven't been there since a 4am trip for poutine after a late night at the bars, I think it is time you stopped by. With the kids.

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.

The National Gallery - For Moms

by Sasha

The National Gallery isn't the first place most people think of when it comes to activities for kids. But kids can appreciate art too. I'm thinking about the younger set. The much younger set. I don't know how much a baby gets out of the National Gallery, but I can tell you that it can be a nice place for mom.

Last week I visited the gallery with a couple of other moms, and our kids (aged 6 weeks, 6 months, and newly-walking 9 months). I'm not an art afficionado, but it was a nice place to walk around and just take in the ambiance. Basically a mall, with culture-cred.

I am actually sitting in the middle of the gallery right now, in an indoor garden space reminiscent of a medieval cloister. Not bad for midwinter in Ottawa.

Whenever baby gets fidgety from sitting for too long, we move on. In fact, I've moved twice so far in this paragraph :).

In practical terms, the gallery is a good place for a new mom. It not only provides a break from "four walls and a baby", there are change tables in the washroom, it is nice and quiet and has comfortable chairs to nurse (I recommend the arm chairs in the entrance to the Canadian Gallery). It also has underground parking, a real perk during an Ottawa winter.

And if, like me, you know nothing about art, I'd encourage you to take in one of the Docent's Choice talks, a ten-minute talk about a single piece of art.  My primary goals in today's trip were to get out of the house and to get this post written, but much to my surprise I wound up falling in love with a painting - so much so that I bought a gallery membership (I sure wish I'd known that before paying admission).

The other big concern for a mom with a new baby is the potential disruption if baby gets fussed.  Thankfully, I didn't have that issue today - when baby got fussy all I needed to do was keep moving.  The docent's talk was a particular worry for me.  But not only was baby well behaved, I got the distinct impression that, had it been any different, I would have gotten nothing but sympathy.

Have you been to the National Gallery with your kids? Where do you like to go to get out of the house with baby?