Flashback: My Park: St. Luke's Park

Over the last two years we've had some great park reviews.  If you would like to submit a post about your park we'd love to share it with our readers!  Email us at kidsinthecapital(at)gmail(dot)com

by Zach

St. Luke's Park might not look like much if you're walking by on Elgin Street, but it certainly is worth checking out.

For kids and parents, the layout of the main area is nearly perfect. The park has a wading pool in the centre, which can be its own play area for hockey / soccer / random ball games for ten months of the year (though a concrete, uneven one, so toddlers might need some watching), and a well-supervised swimming area while the public schools are out. For some reason, swimming season ends near the middle of August, so try to get the most out of July that you can. As of summer 2009 many of the lifeguards there have been working for several seasons, are well-known among the parents, and are excellent with the kids.

There are some trees providing shade, but sight lines are still great within the main area. There are two play structures on the south side, a smaller one for kids aged 2 to 5, and a larger one for 5 to 12-year olds. On a busy day, try to count the two- and three-year olds flinging themselves down the twisty slide on the larger structure.

Both play structures are exceptionally well-designed, with plenty of climbing surfaces and slides. They're easily my favourite play structures of all the parks we visit.

The surface on the south side of the park is sand, which allows for castles, soft falls, and moats made with swimming pool water, for the really motivated.

The west side has three swing sets, for babies, mediums, and big kids. The small and medium swings are old school, facing in just one direction, and set low to the ground to maximize the swinging arc and parental back pain. The swings have great shade from nearby trees, and the St. Louis Bar and Grill right behind will torture you with smells of fried food. The Second Cup is right next door for quick caffeine hits.

The north side of the park is a large grassy area, with a picnic table. The city quietly and quickly hacked down a beautiful old growth tree in the summer of 2009, so the area isn't nearly as shaded as it once was. We'll give the city the benefit of the doubt as to why it had to go, but that tree is sorely missed, and its scrawny replacement is probably something your great-grandkids will enjoy. The grass tends to be under-used, except when the pool is open, when finding a free patch of grass for your beach towel becomes challenging.

The east half of the park is taken up with a basketball court, field house, and then another grassy space between the field house and some tennis courts. Kids who aren't paying attention, or who want to use the field house bathroom (open when the swimming pool is open), might dart into the middle of a game, so keep an eye out.

The grassy area in the east half of the park is a blessing and a curse. It's an old bowling green, and it's nice to have a dog-free, relatively level play area. You can see Frisbee, soccer, football, yoga, and boot camp fitness classes being held there, but bigger kids can also dart behind the field house and out of a parent's view with remarkable speed.

Overall, St. Luke's is an excellent park, and the number of parents and kids there on a nice day (and even less nice days) speaks to its well-deserved popularity.

Zach is the dad of a 3.5 year daughter "the girl" and eighteen month old son "the boy". Zach doesn't have his own blog but he is blogged about at Capital Mom.

ABC: Reviving the photo challenge

by Lara One of the very first things I did when we launched Kids in the Capital was start a photo challenge. It was such a great success that I managed to put together a lovely book of photos from so many of our readers to highlight at Blog Out Loud Ottawa in 2010!

I was really happy with my photography that year. I pushed myself to get regular photos and to improve the photos I was taken.  I've slipped since then and with summer vacation around the corner (heck, it's standing outside my door and already rang the doorbell) I've decided to start a new photo challenge!

The concept is exactly the same.

In the next 14 weeks I will get at least one photo I am proud of in each of the categories (in no particular order) in my following ABC list (I'm re-using the list, I think the themes will be fun to try again).

Every week I will present you with photos from 2 categories and I will highlight a few of your photos too. I invite you to join me, post your photos on your own blog, and add them to our Flickr group. (aside: did you know that the lovely photos rotating in our sidebar are kids in the capital reader submitted in our Flickr group? You should join!)

The list:

Art Books Climbing Discovery Eating Friends Green Hugging Inside Jumping Kisses Laughing Mealtime Night Outside Playing Quiet Riding Swinging Trees Umbrella Vehicles Wet Xcited (OH! Cheater!) Yellow Zoom

Will you join me?

A Little Recreation Time

by Amy I recently quit my job and bought a house. These two moves meant that I have been at home looking for activities for the kid and me in our new neighbourhood.

There's a park close to the house and a few things around, and we've been going swimming at the Kanata Wave Pool. My kid was born to be in the water, it's something she's always loved, but at Kanata I found that the slope of the pool was good for her but hard on my knees. So I took to the city website and tried to find another pool close by, and that is how we happened upon the Goulbourn Recreation Centre and their fantastic pool.

The centre is in Stittsville, just off Hazeldean and about a five minute drive from our new house. The pool is built for all ages. There is a shallow area for younger kids, with a palm tree that rains on you and another contraption that shoots water out at all angles. This shallow area leads into the wide open part of the pool for older kids (and, when you attend the preschool swim, an aquafit class). There is also a great big water slide, but the kid is still a bit young for that.

My husband and I took the kid to the pool on Sunday afternoon and it was pretty busy, but there seemed to be room for everyone. On Thursday I took the kid to the preschool swim and we only had to share the pool with the aquafit class and a few other moms with their toddlers.(The preschool swim is one of the best things I've discovered since taking on my new role).

The Goulbourn Rec Centre is a wonderful addition to our lives and I'm looking forward to enrolling the kid in some of the classes there in the fall.

Do you have a rec centre nearby that you're in love with?

Amy is mom to two year old Maggie and a 6 year old schnauzer named Henry. You can read her blog at amyboughner.ca where she writes about motherhood and anything else that’s on her mind. She also shares a blog with her husband at boughner.ca where they talk together about parenting a daughter.

Birthday parties: Bowling Bash

by AmandaY A few weeks before his birthday J and I were discussing what kind of party he would like to have.  He started by saying he wanted his grandparents and aunt and uncle to come over for supper.  I told him we would do that too, but I was really asking what kind of kids party he would like to have.  His eyes nearly popped out of his head, such was his surprise.

"A kids party?  I can have my friends at a party?"  He was so happy about that simple fact that he really had no clue what kind of party he should have.  So I gave him a few choices (based on my cost analysis research) and he ended up picking a Bowling Party at Merivale Bowling Lanes.

First of all, bowling is a great activity for kids.  It is active, fun, and really not all that hard to do.  They put bumpers on the lanes for kids so there are no gutter balls to discourage them.  This way, they hit the pins a lot more making it more fun for everyone.

The bowling balls are smaller, not as heavy so the kids can handle them fairly easily.  I don't recommend it for kids under 3-4.  There is music blasting, lights are low and the shoes glow in the dark!  Such simple things to enhance the experience. (Young or very sensitive children may be a bit scared or overwhelmed by the music, lights and noise of the bowling alley.)

My son invited six of his friends, 3 boys from school and 3 kids he's known since he was very little through my friends and daycare.  The kids dove into bowling with lots of enthusiasm, they picked up quickly when it was their turn and how to keep track of their scores, and at one point we had a mini mosh pit of little boys rolling around on top of each other.  Birthday boy was at the bottom, of course.  His friends were all so excited that they just piled on top of him to wish him happy birthday!

Merivale Bowling lanes did a really great job with my son's birthday party.  They were well organized, had a hostess assigned specifically to our party to facilitate our experience there.  We had one hour to bowl and one hour in the restaurant for lunch and cake.  Our hostess organized all the kids with their shoes, programmed all the lanes with names and such and checked in with us regularly to make sure things were going smoothly.  When we were done with bowling we went to the restaurant and the table was set with all the gifts at one end, and the food was ready so the kids didn't have to wait for anything.  They could dive into their pizza, bash open their bags of chips (yes, there were chips everywhere!), and they were all thirsty and so there was apple juice for all sitting at their places.  Presents were opened and cake was served.  Overall, the food was really good and they did a great job on the cake.

We would definitely go back again, both for just family bowling and likely for another birthday.  The cost was really very reasonable, it saved me a whole lot of work, all we had to do was bring the loot bags for our guests.  We bought gift bags in bright colours and filled them with fun items from our local Dollarama.  At the end of the party everyone seemed happy and the birthday boy was thrilled with it, which was, above all, the whole point.

Have you taken your kids bowling?

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.

It's summertime! Let's all stay safe when swimming

Over Victoria Day weekend, my family had an impromptu invite to go to a friend's cottage by the lake. So, I packed up the car, threw Brandon in and we escaped! (Kidding...we gave my dear husband a chance to get caught up on tons of stuff he wanted to do.)

Today, my friend texted me this picture that was taken on our trip to the cottage and I uploaded it to Instagram because Brandon was so cute concentrating on swimming. It prompted the following conversation:

@alisonjette He needs to learn to swim *very well* before I'll let him near the water without his life jacket.

— Karen Wilson (@Karen_C_Wilson) June 12, 2012

My little chat with Alison got me thinking, though. Swim safety is so important to prevent anyone from having an incident in the water, but it's particularly important for children who are naturally the most vulnerable. According to the Lifesaving Society's 2011 report [PDF, 1.9MB], approximately 500 people die each year in Canada from drowning, and most are swimming when they get into trouble.

Get the proper equipment for water activities, starting with a good lifejacket for weak or non-swimmers and any child under 5.

Having a cute swimsuit is fun, but a functional life-saving device, a.k.a, lifejacket, is more important. Anytime he was by the lake, Brandon had to be wearing his life jacket. He floated out beyond where his feet could touch the bottom numerous times, thinking it was a fun game when our host pushed him back to shore with the dinghy. If he hadn't been wearing a good lifejacket, that "game" wouldn't have been fun at all.

I also consulted the Lifesaving Society's drowning and water safety guidelines and here's what they had to say for children:

• Restrict and control access to the water. Enclose backyard pools on all four sides with a fence and a self-latching, self-closing gate; drain bathtubs when not in use; empty unattended wading pools and buckets.

• Wear a lifejacket when boating. Toddlers should wear a lifejacket anytime they are near water.

• Stay within arms’ reach of young children when they are near water – in the backyard, the beach and in the bathroom.

• Go to lifeguard-supervised beaches and pools.

• Learn to swim. Enroll children in swimming lessons and in a swimming survival program such as the Lifesaving Society’s Swim to Survive.

• In the winter, check ice before going out on it – clear, hard, new ice is the safest for travel. Avoid slushy or moving ice and ice that has thawed and refrozen.

HA! That last one just amuses me at this time of year, but it's serious business in the spring and fall.

BONUS! Don't forget to pack the sunscreen and drink lots of water.

I do not tan - never have, never will - and my son has inherited my pale genes, but even if you do tan, it's not safe to stay in the sun for prolonged periods without some protection. Trust me - after a sunburn that blistered (badly) when I was twelve and forgot my sunscreen for a canoe trip, I do everything I can to avoid getting burnt.

These recent hot, hot, hot days are great if you like the heat, but don't bask in it too long without staying hydrated.

What other rules do you have for water safety in your family?

*****

Karen Wilson is a wife to Matt and mom to Brandon (4), who blogs about her life at Karen’s Chronicles. She can be found at Wellman Wilson, helping business use social media more effectively. Lately, she’s also busy planning a little conference and doing her part to keep the coffee industry alive.