Flashback : Victoria Day Festival

Here's a great post by Sara about the Victoria Festival from a couple of years ago. I'd never heard of this festival until she first wrote about it! Don't miss out on the Victoria Day Festival which runs from May 11 - 21. We haven't been this year so all the descriptions may not be exactly accurate for what they've got going on this year. ~Lara by Sara

The Victoria Day Festival is the perfect opportunity to combine kid-friendly fun with tulip gazing at Dow's Lake.  The Festival runs from May 13th to May 24th and culminates with a fireworks show on the final evening.  The festival is being held at Queen Juliana Park (corner of Carling and Preston), which is across the road from Commissioner's Park on Dow's Lake.

On the weekends there is a charity breakfast from 7 am to 11 am and all proceeds are donated to CHEO.  The festival opens weekdays at 4 pm and free parking is available (evenings and weekends) at the Sir John Carling building across the road as well as the Dow's Lake NCC parking lot and Dow's Lake Court parking lot (intersection of Champagne and Carling)

We arrived just as the midway opened at 11 o'clock and took advantage of our early start: the boys were oftentimes the only kids on the rides.  The rides are best suited to preschool and elementary children, with only two stomach-churning spinning contraptions on site.  There is a 7 metre high Ferris wheel, which gives you a birds-eye view of Dow's lake and the tulips and several midway games where you can test your hand-eye coordination (for the record, mine is sadly lacking).  My boys especially enjoyed all the vehicle midway rides and took turns driving a fire truck and big rig.  I was greatly appreciative of the seatbelts on every ride, which kept my almost two year old in his seat.

There is a small petting zoo and pony rides at the back of the park, where a very loud turkey is currently in residence.  While we were admiring the sheep, we were treated to a show by the three ducks, who took turns bathing themselves in the water trough.  Even my animal-phobic four year old peered through the fence to check out the action.  Along with balloon animals and concession stands, there is live music everyday starting at 12 pm.

The festival gave the boys a chance to burn off their energy before we ambled through the tulips in Commissioner's Park.  I wasn't expecting so many tulips to still be in bloom and was pleasantly surprised that there were still so many flowers to admire.  The boys enjoyed running along the pathways and through the park and took turns (gently) smelling some of the flowers.

Summer is scheduled to make a return this week so I encourage you to get out and enjoy both the Victoria Day Festival and Tulip Festival before both events end on the 21st.

Sara is mom to a 6-year-old firefighter and 4-year-old monkey.  You can find her at her blog, My Points of View

Flashback: Parenting tip: Bargain hunting at garage sales

by Lara Garage sale season is back in full swing! Will you be checking any out this weekend?

Kids and their stuff can cost a lot of money. They move through clothing and toys so quickly it can be painful.

Shopping at consignment stores and sales is one way to save money but in the spring and summer months in Ottawa another great way to save money is to hit garage sales.

I am VERY lucky because my mother is practically garage sale royalty. She knows the tricks to not only get great stuff, she gets it for great prices. And passes it on to my kids! I would guess that at least 80% of the clothing and toys my children have are from garage sales.

I go out a few times a year too though and am thankful for the strategies and tips my mother has passed along to me. And now, with her permission, I pass some of them along to you :)

My 3 cuties, all in garage sale found outfits

- Knowing where you're going ahead of time saves lot of wasted time trying to figure out where the garage sales are. You can look up garage sale postings online the night before and figure out what route makes most sense for you to take to be most efficient.

For me personally, I stick to the big community sales to get the most bang for my buck.

- For kids' stuff you can do drivebys. If you drive by a garage sale and see an exersaucer or any other big children's item, the chances are they have more stuff for kids and it's worth stopping and having a look.

Q in a garage sale rocking chair and sleeper

- Bring exact change. Lots of loonies and toonies, a few quarters and $5 (depending on how long your list of items is). And for any large items keep the maximum amount you're willing to pay with you. You don't want to ask for change after you've been bargaining a person down.

- Keep in mind what is being sold is generally not the latest in styles. For kids they're typically what was being sold 3-5 years ago

- Know what things are worth. Check the ads. My mother's  recommendation is that you don't pay more than 25 cents on the dollar... sometimes the asking price can be as low as 5 cents on the dollar. Once my parents bought a very large set of building blocks for $4. Before they bought it they talked to the seller and she told them that a few specific pieces were broken/missing.They weren’t concerned about those pieces and so for them, it was a great buy.  When they looked things up on the Internet, they found that the original price for a slightly newer model was $80.

- Some sellers are happy to negotiate and others are not. Don't be afraid to try to negotiate and don't get upset if people seem offended you're trying to negotiate. You have a right to ask, they have a right to say no.

Q in a garage sale outfit and exersaucer

- If the price is higher than the maximum you set before you left home and the seller isn't happy to negotiate into your price range, keep walking.  Sometimes, I'll feel the need to explain. Phrases like "that's more than my budget, but thank you so much" can be helpful. My mother often talks of the biggest price difference. She saw a highchair she liked and was told it was $40. She walked away and found exactly the same highchair 4 doors down for $10.

- Ask if the price can be negotiated if you buy a lot  (of the same thing or of different things).

- If items are not priced, find out the price of 2-3 specific items before you start to look through. The first 2-3 that come to hand are just fine. What you want to avoid is spending 15 minutes selecting things, then finding out that their firm price is five times more than your planned price.

K in a garage sale outfit sitting on his garage sale IKEA chair.

- If the buyer really doesn't know what they want to charge for something, suggest a price (like the 25 cent on the dollar rule). They may accept this or there may be a round of negotiation.

- Remember that all sales are final. Take the time to check items out carefully.

It's an amazing money saver and worth the time to head out and do the work a couple of times a year.

Do you shop at garage sales?

Lara is mom to five year old Kiernan and three 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.

Mother’s day in and around the Capital

by Jenny After spending a lovely morning at the Billings Estate museum Easter weekend, we knew, as a family, that it was a place we wanted to visit again. Centrally located on a gorgeous property, the museum was a perfect venue for my kids, 3 and 5. The staff was welcoming, friendly and had really thought of everything. There was a chocolate Easter egg hunt (complete with a nut-free option for my eldest), face painting, a giant hopscotch board, an egg basket sewing session and all-natural egg dyeing. We went around from station to station, my kids keeping track to make sure we didn’t miss a one. The Easter Bunny was also on hand for pictures and encouragement on the egg hunt.

While this Sunday is my day (to sleep in a bit, I hope), I can’t wait to get out and explore another one of the great museums in Ottawa. Here are some of the special Mother’s day events they have going on this Sunday, May 13. Take note of the mini-manis & chocolate offerings at the Deifenbunker! Mother’s Day Tea at Billings Estate What better place to celebrate Mother’s Day than on the idyllic lawns of Billings Estate National Historic Site? Enjoy a Victorian tea service in the garden, stroll through the grounds, and explore the new Victorian medicine exhibit in Ottawa’s oldest wood-framed building. Tours, crafts and live music will take place from 10a.m to 4p.m. There will also be a flower and plant exchange from 11a.m. to 1p.m. Mother’s Day at the Diefenbunker :  A celebration of the women who served in the Diefenbunker.  A special women's history tour will be given every hour in English, featuring clips from the Diefenbunker's oral history project. Mothers can relax at the mini-manicure station as children craft. Mini-manicures will be offered to mothers and children from 12-3. A colourful display by Ottawa’s own Cold War artist, Marcia Lea, will surely be a thing to see! And what’s a women’s day out without chocolate? Of course, the Diefenbunker will be partnering up with local and surrounding chocolatiers and bakers to offer fabulously themed desserts. Program runs from 11am-2pm.

Cumberland Heritage Village Museum - Famous Funnies-Family Cartooning Workshop It’s the good guys versus the bad guys as the super heroes take over a family cartooning lesson led by our professional artist! Families can discover early cartoon super heroes like Superman and characters like Little Orphan Annie. Young visitors can dress in their favourite character costumes. Program runs from 1pm to 3pm. Cost: Regular admission applies plus $10 workshop fee.

What are your plans this Mother’s day? Any special requests or are you just looking forward to a day with your family?

Jenny is mom to 5 (and ¾) year old Ryan and 3 year old Jaime. A communications specialist with a love for food, wine and outdoor fun, you can find Jenny on twitter @jblatts or in the Kids in the Capital Facebook group.

Yoga for kids

by Jason My 3 year old daughter enjoys going out with us and trying different activities. So when I was invited to the Moksha Yoga Orleans Grand Opening Celebration  and I heard they would be offering Kids Yoga, I thought of her right away. She already enjoys doing gymnastics once a week at Starr Gymnastics, so I figured yoga would be no different. I told her that we were going to a party, she was obviously excited to hear that, and that she would be doing some yoga at this party. She didn’t quite know what yoga was all about, but just knowing that it would be at a party was good enough for her.

To my surprise, there must have been 30 kids with their parents in the room. We started out with poses in standing, such as the tree pose, chair pose, and warrior pose 1 and 2.  I was quite surprised that my daughter was not only able to do the poses, but was able to hold them for an extended length of time. The poses then changed to positions in sitting. My daughter and I shared a number of smiles as we were holding the various poses. This signaled that she was having a great time.

Her favorite part of the entire session was when we started doing animal poses. The staff would ask the kids for their favorite animals, and we would then get into the pose and make the sounds for each animal. We quickly went through some of the most common animal poses, such as the dog, cat, monkey, and lion. We had fun during this part of the session and the noise was so thunderous as everyone was roaring loudly like a lion; the subsequent echoing of everyone’s participation surprised my daughter.

We finished with a nice cool down to relax from all the excitement. After 20 minutes of yoga, the session came to an end. I told my daughter that the yoga was done and that we would go find mom. She informed me that she wanted to do it again and actually had a disappointed look on her face. It’s at that point that I knew she really enjoyed the activity we did together.

Typically, Moksha Yoga Orleans doesn’t offer a kids yoga class, they did it as a special feature for the grand opening celebration. However, a friend of mine owns Little Lotus Yoga, and they provide yoga programs with the entire family in mind. They offer classes for children and adults of all ages and levels. If you haven’t done yoga with your child yet, it is an activity that I would strongly suggest doing together. Yoga is not only a good way to unwind and relax together, but also share a few smiles.

Jason is the father of Emilie, age 3 and Sophie, age 1. He's a Physiotherapist and Manager of the Orleans Family Physiotherapy Centre . You can find him on Twitter @JasonBPT or read his blog at Physio Made Easy.

Camp Wannahaha!!!

Despite the weather of late, I have been looking into summer activities for the kids.  there is no shortage to choose from, either through the City of Ottawa or local churches and organizations.  This year we chose two from the City and one called "Camp Awesome" through one of our local churches.  I hear it's "awesome"  hee hee. This is all well and good, but summer can be LOOOONG for a mom of two demanding active children.  Last year I came up with a way to make summer both fun for my lovelies as well as easy for me to get things done without being "ON" 24/7.  Summer camp at home!! We did as all good camps would do, we planned out each weeks activities from crafts to excursions.  We came up with a fancy camp name "Wannahaha"  Then we made a flag and a sign which we hung outside the house.  We made up camp rules and chores for cleaning up.  Then we made a camp shirt.  That took care of the first week.  There were also door labels to put up in the house.  The kids thought is was awesome.

I made three jars with labels.  Each morning the children had to pick an activity from each jar.  They were labeled "Chore", "Craft/Science" and "Extra".  The kids had to do the chore first and then we could go onto the other activities.  The "Extra" category is a mixture of things that everyone wanted to do. ie: trip (great for touring the city), cooking, outdoor activity (sprinkler), movie etc...  If the children chose to do more than one chore, they could earn an extra activity a week - although this year I will make a BONUS jar instead. It will have big things in it.  For example - go to a movie, the beach or a big cost item.

For the most part, I tried to keep the activities close to home (or AT home more like) and on the lowest cost side as possible.  it may sound like a daunting task, but in fact we had way more activities to do than we had time.  Here is the list we used last here.

I have also since found new sites that have low or no cost activities at home than can be used.  Like this one.

I almost think this is more fun than going to a camp for younger children since it is tailor made for your individual children and they get to program all their own activities.

With summer fast approaching, what are some ways you're planning to keep your children entertained?