Pinteresting my way through summer vacation

by Lara I'm not always the most creative when it comes to finding activities for the kids.  With them home with me full time this past week I have leaned heavily on Pinterest for indoor activities.

What I love about so many of the pins is that just a photo of an activity idea is often enough for me to run with it (psa: when pinning, remember to pin to the URL to the exact post you're referring too.  Too often I click through to a front page of a site and can't find anything about what I thought I was clicking through to see).

Here a couple of the crafts we tackled this week:

Ours may or may not have turned out as nicely as those photos ;)

This particular pin has me inspired to maybe tackle a bigger project next week:

And in case you didn't know, Kids in the Capital has it's own Pinterest account where we try to share all things kids.  Come on over and join us!

Leave a comment sharing what some of your favourite kid activity pins have been lately!

ABC Challenge: Inside and Zoom

by Lara My camera died! Apparently 6 years of being tossed around like it wasn't an expensive piece of photography equipment finally took it's toll on the poor thing. Fortunately, my iPhone camera quality is quite exceptional!

Inside and Zoom

Z is for zoom - in Grandpa's boat around the lake.

I is for inside - the kids have spent hours in these buckets through this hot summer.  Cheapest/easiest swimming pools ever!

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

Cell-phone photography tips

Here are a couple of articles with great tips on cellphone photography - check them out!

How to Take Camera Phone Pictures

Cell phone photography tips

Other participants' photos

M is for mealtime - by Amy Boughner

J is for jump by Ang from the dock

Will you join in next week?

Question of the Month: Baby, it's HOT outside!

This year has got to be some kind of record for heat advisories in Ottawa! It makes it challenging to keep kids active and safe too. (Water, sunscreen, hats - they're all absolute essentials this summer.)

Since you can't possibly stay home day in and day out, what are some ways you're keeping busy this summer without getting overheated outside?

Are you going to indoor attractions? Cozying up to friends with pools? Installing your own pool? Haunting the local splash pad?

Tell us how you're coping in the comments!

Out of town activities: The Granby Zoo

by Lara A few weeks ago we took our first overnight road trip with the kids in two years to go and check out the Granby Zoo with some friends.  The zoo is literally a 5 minute drive from where I lived when I was in highschool so heading to the zoo was also an opportunity for me to catch up with old friends which very nice :)

The zoo was fabulous!  Not so huge that we felt run off our feet (especially with little kids) but lots of stuff to see and do.

We started in the South Pacific where we got to touch/pet Rays (optional - I chose not to :) and see some very cool other sealife. We then headed into the Kaila show, which is a very cool sound and light show.  I'd heard great things about it, but it costs extra and my three olds were more petrified than entertained so if you have nervous kids who don't like loud sounds, I don't think I'd recommend it.

We saw lions and hippos and zebras and giraffes (which apparently I didn't go much photographing of, hence this not particularly good shot of a rhino :)

The tram around the zoo was a huge hit with the kids, and so were seeing cool and different animals.

We ended the day in the water park where the kids got to enjoy the wave pool and lazy river (I forgot my bathing suit - sigh) which was the perfect way to cool down after a long day of walking in the heat.

A few tips:

If you have small kids, you can rent wagons or strollers there. If you (or your spouse) worry about your own strollers getting stolen, it might be worth paying for a rental you know nobody will steal. Also, I was grateful to be able to wear my son for part of the day, so bring carriers even for slightly older kids.

Food is, unsurprisingly, expensive. Bring food, snacks, drinks, etc.  I also like to bring electronics to entertain the kids during said meals.

Don't forget your bathing suit. (sigh)

I highly recommend it as a nice trip that isn't too far away (I know people who make it a day trip.) It was a great day! I wasn't even discouraged that the twins' favourite things were the slides and the ducks :)

Disclosure: the Granby Zoo did provide free tickets for my family.  All thoughts are my own (I always say that but I always also think - nobody would ever think I was fed the ridiculous things I write about as PR lines ;)

Flashback: Brewer Park

We love hearing about the great parks around the city. What's yours? by Sara

Despite several nearby parks, we regularly make the trek from Orleans to Old Ottawa South to take the boys to Brewer Park.  Its located across the street from Carleton University, tucked away behind the City of Ottawa Brewer Complex.  There is a large parking lot off Bronson Avenue but you can also park on the many shaded side streets off Sunnyside Avenue, which are right beside the park.  If you use the parking lot, you need to walk across two soccer fields to access the park.

Brewer Park is divided into five areas:

1) A  fenced-in (but not impervious to adventurous toddlers) area with two play structures suitable for the littlest members of the family.  The fire truck play structure is a big hit with my two boys.

2) A play structure on rubber mats for preschool children

3) A multi-level splash pad (there is a large ramp and bridge to access the upper level and water slide)

4) A larger play structure for elementary aged children

5) A sandy area with wheel-chair accessible sand tables, activity walls, and swings.

There are also several shady spots to set-up blankets for snack time and picnics as well as one large covered picnic area in the middle of the park.  The only disadvantage is that the play structure for older children is separated from the rest of the park (by the splash pad), which makes it hard to supervisor children of different ages.  One last important detail: there are (clean) washroom's located next to the toddler area.

What I love most about Brewer Park is the variety.  Both my boys have very different interests and Brewer is one of the few parks where they are easily occupied, entertained, and safe.  Their play structures have fewer death-defying drops and are generally safer for small kids, which is one of the drawbacks of our neighbourhood parks.  My 2-year-old can explore and climb without me hovering right behind him.  While my four-year old love splash pads, my 2-year old hates spraying water; however, at Brewer there is a splash pad and water slide, which means they're both happy to play in the water.

Unlike a lot of parks in new suburban areas, the play structures at Brewer are protected by shade (depending on the time of day), which makes it a great place to visit on really hot and humid days.  It's often busy because camps and daycare's frequent the park so be prepared to keep a close eye on your kids, as its easy to lose them in the melee of swim-suited bodies running around.

Sara is a photographer and mom to a 6-year-old ” firefighter”, 4-year-old “monkey”, and a third boy, “bug”, due in May.  You can also find her at her blog, My Points of View.