Flash Back: It's Maple Syrup Time

by Natasha

Spring is just around the corner, I can almost see the sunshine at the end of this icy winter.

One of my favourite things to do when the snow begins to melt is visit a sugar bush.  Maple syrup season “officially” starts in late February, and I’m just going to wait a little bit before heading out with my family.

We love visiting Stanley’s Olde Maple Lane Farm.  It is a wonderful way to spend a beautiful day, and is short distance from Ottawa. Parking is free too!

If you head down early, you can enjoy a delicious all-you-can-eat-pancake brunch before you start exploring the farm.  The brunch is nothing short of a feast that includes pancakes, french toast, beans and sausages served. They have a few other items on their menu as well for those looking for some variety.

My favourite part about Stanley’s Olde Farm - besides brunch- is the number of activities available to help pass the day and enjoy the outing.

For example, you can ride in a horse-drawn sleigh through the farm to see all of the maple trees. This is an especially enjoyable activity around the last few days of snow, as you get to see the trees and hills covered in white. The ride will set you back $4.75 per person.

Stanley’s farm is of course, still a farm. So it’s natural that they have animals around for little children to visit and see. The barns are filled with horses, pigs, cow and sheep and is free to visitors.

And of course the point of visiting a sugar bush is to see how the sap turns into syrup, and eventually ends up on your pancakes. Stanley’s not only let’s you see the the process, but also has some delicious taffy in snow for you to try at $2.50 per serving.

Don’t sit too long on the idea of visiting the sugar bush, as maple syrup season ends in early April. You have just over a month to get your fill of winter-fresh maple!

Details: Stanley’s Olde Maple Lane Farm 2452 Yorks Corners Road Edwards, Ontario K0A 1V0 613-821-2751

It’s open on weekends from 9am to 3pm and they are open most of March Break (closed Monday) from 10am to 2pm.

Kids in the Capital: Call for Events

by Karen We're calling on our community a LOT this year! We hope you enjoy and find the changes we're implementing to be very useful.

Our latest announcement is one that I am quite excited about. The Kids in the Capital blog focuses on events and activities that families have done and who want to share their experience with the community.

We want to enhance our offering to provide information about upcoming events in the Ottawa area so we've created a brand-new Events page!

This page is going to be community curated. If you know of something that's going on that would be of interest to families with children of all ages, we'd love for you to share it with us for the community. (There's a form below the calendar with all the fields of information we need to know.)

Given the awesomely active community that we have around Kids in the Capital, I'm certain that this calendar will become a go to resource for family-friendly fun in Ottawa!

And we thank you all for your help!

How To Make Reusable Non-Toxic Dryer Sheets and More

by Gwen Since I've discovered Pinterest, I can't begin to tell you how many new recipes I have tried, how many DIY's I have done and how many new things I have learned. It is such a great way to share the millions of ideas found on the internet and an even greater way to bookmark, or "pin" what interests you so you can come back to it later.

In the past week, I have pinned lots :) Here are 3 of my faves:

How to make reusable and non-toxic dryer sheets - We all know that store bought dryer sheets are not healthy for us right? Follow the step-by-step instructions in this post to make your own eco-friendly, safe and effective dryer sheets.   Image credit: Live Renewed Blog

What to Do With Broken Crayons - If you have kids, you have broken crayons lying around your house. I know I sure do. This post lists 10 eco-friendly and creative ways to re-use them. No need to keep throwing them out!

DIY Felt Food - I have a thing for felt food. I just think they are all so adorable! And yes, my kids love them too :) So when I came across this  DIY felt food kit on Etsy, I took note and pinned it. The price is very reasonable for what you get and once you are finished making everything, you'll have the satisfaction of saying you made them with your own 2 hands!   Image credit: sweetemmajean on etsy

Do you have a favourite eco-friendly pin? If so, please share it in the comments!

Gwen is a mom of 2 and owns/operates Nayla Natural Care, an online store that specializes in carrying the best organic, natural and eco-friendly products.

Making Treats For The Birds

by Nicki Having grown up in a rural area, with nature loving parents and grandparents, feeding the birds was just something that we did.  My mom still has numerous bird feeders that she keeps filled and between her and my grandfather, her father, can identify just about any bird that flies into their yard.  They both loved teaching us kids about the birds that visited. Living in a rural part of Ottawa, I now have followed in my mother's footsteps, I usually have three feeders hanging my yard for the winter, Liam and spend lots of time sitting at the dining room window, watching the birds nibble at the seeds we put out for them.  Liam was thrilled to get his very own bird feeder as a Christmas gift from my aunt and uncle! This past fall, on a blustery, cold day when Liam insisted on going out side to play, he discovered the pine tree at the end of our front yard.  And the discovered treasures . . . pine cones!  In typical little boy fashion, he NEEDED to collect as many as he could and thought that they all needed to come into the house.  We agreed (and by agreed I told him) that we would bring them in but not to play with.  We would save them for the winter and make treats for the birds with them.

So, when he found the bucket of pine cones not long ago, how could a resist when he asked to make treats for his birds.  We spent a fun filled, messy hour making these tasty bird treats!

Unfortunately, we didn't get to see the birds munching on these, there were signs that they had been eating seeds when we weren't looking and then a silly squirrel (well, we are assuming it was a squirrel by the foot prints in the snow) stole them all!  But, I guess squirrels need treats sometimes too!

Pine Cone Bird Treats Materials:

pine cones, peanut butter, bird seed, string

Directions:

1. Attach a string for hanging to pine cone.

2. Spread peanut butter over the pine cone. 3. Dip pine cone in bird seed. 4. Hang outside for birds to nibble.

*****  For those of you who may have a peanut allergy in the family, you can substitute lard, shortening or any other spreadable, edible product for peanut butter!***

Nicki is mom to 3 year old Liam.  She is an ECE,  who loves to garden, scrapbook, write and take photos. She blogs about the randomness that is her life at Perils of a Working Mom

Tumbling into Fun

by Alison One of the first school birthday parties my daughter was invited to was at Tumblers Gymnastics in Orleans. She was hooked. We signed her up for the next session and haven't looked back. I really enjoyed watching her learn the various gymnastics moves, and have fun running around the gym. Each class would start with a warm-up on the centre mats, including running and stretching. Then the class would move through stations. Usually, there were stations set up in 3 different areas of the gym and the stations related to the theme of the week. This gave the children lots of opportunity to try the apparatus and see what they liked best. The coaches were very good about showing children the correct movement and helping them to the best of their ability.

During the last class of each session, the parents are allowed into the gym area. During a regular class parents are kept outside and can watch through newly enlarged windows and 2 television monitors. On parents day, there's great opportunities for photos and seeing up close how much your little gymnast has learned.

We've done both the TumbleTykes classes for 3 and 4 year olds and the KinderGym for 5 and 6 six year olds. Tumblers also offers competitive programs starting at age 7, and a Kinder-elite program for advanced 4 to 6 year olds. The best part about gymnastics is that they offer classes during the day, and the gym is much quieter. For those under 3, Parent and Tots classes are available. They've added a new Tiny Tots for children 12 to 18 months. I know my son would have loved this class.

Tumblers offers a March Break Camp, either full day or half day. You can sign up for the full week or just a day. I found that the summer camp program had a good mix of gymnastics, crafts, and camp games. The camp is for children aged 4-12. Both boys and girls are welcome, but there were definitely more girls the week my daughter went.

March Break camp registration is ongoing and the Spring session registration opens on February 25th.

*****

Alison is the mom of two wonderful kids, 6 and 2. She's recently relocated to the Pacific Northwest but considers Ottawa home. She blogs at Ali's Adventures