Frogs – A Chorus of Colour

By Tracy Bigelow My son and I recently had the opportunity to preview the newest exhibit at the Canadian Museum of Nature called Frogs - A Chorus of Colour, thanks to Kids in the Capital!! The exhibit officially opened today, September 25th, however we had the chance to see it a day ahead of schedule!

I'll be upfront and say that our review is probably biased - my son (Luke, age 7) adores frogs and so no matter what, he would have given this exhibit two thumbs up. I, on the other hand, am a little harder to please. Yet, I too give this exhibit very high scores!

The most engaging parts of the exhibit were actually the frogs themselves - with almost 80 live frogs to view in very natural, native habitats! Most of them are species that we'd never get the chance to view in the wild. There were colorful dart poisonous frogs, tomato frogs and my son's personal favorite: Jabba the African bullfrog! They were, in every sense, the stars of the show!

As the mom of a home-schooled child, I appreciated all of the educational elements within this exhibit. The virtual dissection really brought back memories of my junior high biology class and my 7 year old son really played around with that feature for a while. He recently learned that humans have four heart chambers and so it was neat for him to learn that frogs have three.

There are recordings of various species of frogs for the kids to listen to; and my son especially appreciated the mini putt game where you need to dodge frog predators. Luke also loved the art station, and I was reminded of yet another school day memory - do you remember the paper origami frogs from grade school?! There are instructions to make one!

This exhibit totally captured my son's interest and engaged him from start to finish. It’s quite rare for us to say this - but there were no parts of the exhibit that we wanted to 'gloss' over! It is obvious that it was designed with children in mind, and yet all of the adults in the exhibit with us were just as equally enthralled as the children were. A definite winner!

I'm glad that this exhibit will be here till May 2014 - because we already have at least one more visit planned before it ends.

Winter Soups: Chicken Tortilla

One of my favorite winter meals is soup. There is something warm and comforting about sipping a hot bowl of soup while the temperatures drop outside. I like to make big batches and freeze some for later. This makes it easier on the days that I just don’t feel like cooking (which, if I’m honest, is most days). One of my favorite (and easiest) soups to make is chicken tortilla soup. I love the slight spiciness and the crunch of the tortilla strips on top. I've found recipes that need you to mix all the spices together but one of my tricks is to use the canned tomatoes with the chili spices already mixed in.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 small onion, diced
2 tablespoons minced garlic
3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 (14.5-ounce) can of chili spiced diced tomatoes
1 (14.5-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 (8.5-ounce) can of corn, drained
3 raw chicken breasts, boneless and skinless cut into bite sized pieces
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 stalk of green onion for garnish
1 (8-inch) flour tortilla, grilled, cut into thin strips (or for us lazy ones, use the store bought tortilla chips, crushed)
1 cup shredded Monterrey cheese (optional - we aren't a cheese family here)
 

Directions

In a large saucepan heat the vegetable oil. Add the onions and cook for 2 minutes. Once the onions have softened add the garlic and cook for another minute. Pour the chicken broth, tomatoes, beans and corn into the pot and bring to a boil. Once at a boil lower heat to simmer and add your chicken breasts. Simmer soup for about 2-3 hours. The chicken will be nice and tender.

When you’re ready to serve, ladle the hot soup into bowls and sprinkle the chopped onions and tortilla strips on top. If you’d like, you can add the cheese (or not).

What's your favourite winter soup recipe?

Talking to Kids About Tragic Events

It was an abnormal day. Daddy was home when the Kid woke up and she got to spend some quality time with him and I got to sleep in. A little after 8 am we left to take Daddy to the train station so that he could go to Toronto for work. The Kid wanted to stay in the parking lot and see the train so we waited, and then she declared she had to go to the bathroom. I picked her up and walked to the station and just before we reached the doors I saw the train coming, so I pointed it out to her and that's when I realized that something was wrong – the train was coming towards the station on an angle. My immediate reaction was to say "oh my god." By now everyone reading this has heard about the crash between the train and the bus that morning. We didn't realize at that moment what was happened on the other side of that train. We went to find Daddy and check in because clearly his plans would have to change.

I'm a news junkie as it is, and seeing an incident made me want to know that much more about what was happening and the news got worse and worse through the morning, but I knew immediately that I had to be very careful about what my three year old saw and heard.

She knew from my immediate reaction that the train wasn't supposed to do that. She said she wanted to stay to see the next train and we had to explain that trains probably wouldn't be moving any time soon.

But at an age where she picks up on everything we're saying, how to I continue to protect her from the news? And what about as she grows older and understands more?

When I dropped her off at preschool I informed the teacher of what she had seen, and that she had mentioned the train again a couple of times and might bring it up at school. The first question I will need to ask her when she gets home will be if she has any questions and doing my best to answer them. I will be mindful of things she says over the next few days.

If she were older I would tell her that a bad accident happened and people got hurt, that there are ways people like us can help, like checking in with our friends, donating blood and sending thanks to our emergency services workers.

I don't believe in shielding my child from the world because I know that someday it would all come crashing down around her, but I do believe that there are things she can handle at this moment in time and things she cannot. This is a house where we pay attention to the news so I can't just keep her in the dark.

At any age talking to her will be key. Talking to her about these things will teach her that talking helps and is always allowed.

I sought out some resources that I wanted to share:

• Sesame Street has a parents section on their website with tool kits for dealing with different issues and they have produced some videos for parents as well;
• A handout for parents from the National Association of School Psychologists;
• A post on the New York Times website for teachers about helping students deal with difficult events in the news;
• A post from PBS Parents with strategies for speaking to your children and
• A post from the Mayo Clinic about talking to children at different ages.

I'd love to get a conversation going about this to find more.

Fall Leaves in Ottawa

One of the best things about living in the Ottawa-Gatineau area in the fall is the changing of the leaves. As sad as I am to say goodbye to summer, I love this time of year. I love the sweaters, the hot cider and watching the leaves change color (which doesn't mean I’m ready for winter at all!)

The end of September and all through October are the best times to see the changing of the leaves.  In Gatineau Park, there are tons of trails to explore and there are also quite a few special events occurring during its annual "Fall Rhapsody" celebration, which honours all things outdoors. My favorite place in the Gatineau region to get an absolutely awesome view of the leaves and the whole Ottawa Valley is, of course, the Champlain Lookout.

There are more than 90 kilometres of trails and bike paths in Gatineau Park! If you really want to learn more about the coloured leaves as you hike, you can head up on Saturdays and Sundays in September and October for “Follies of the Fall Forest”, a free guided tour. It is fun for the whole family with an introduction at the Gatineau Park Visitor Centre followed by a guided walk on the Sugarbush Trail.

For those adventurous hikers, the Eardley Escarpment rises 270 metres from the floor of the Ottawa Valley and extends over more than 30 kilometres. Also, Lusk Cave, in the Philippe Lake area, is an easy hike along but the 10-kilometre round trip takes about four hours to walk.

For those with little ones who want a really nice nature trail to walk, there are lots of places around Ottawa like the Stony Swamp trails near Bell’s Corners, Green’s Creek, to the east of Ottawa and Pine Grove, to the south of Ottawa.

No matter where you go in the Ottawa-Gatineau area this time of year, you’re pretty much guaranteed a great view of the leaves. By next weekend, Fall Rhapsody will be in full swing so don’t forget to get out there and enjoy one of the things that makes living in the Ottawa area so great!

Where's your favourite place to see the leaves in Ottawa?

Apple Picking at Mountain Orchard

It's that time of year again. The air is getting crisper and the kids are settling into their school routine. For me, fall always means apple picking. Every fall for the past several years, my girls gather a bunch of friends and we go apple picking. Mountain Orchard has always been our orchard of choice. It's a great place for families, it's close to Ottawa (only a short 40 minute drive on the 416 toward Kempville) and the majority of the trees there are actually the direct descendants of the original McIntosh tree, first discovered by John McIntosh in Dundela, Ontario, in 1829. I think that's pretty cool.

Mountain Orchard is about more then just apple picking. There are corn maizes, wagon rides, a hay jump and (best of all) the hot fresh apple cider donuts that are made right in front of you. They are the real reason we go back every year. Well, that and the fresh apple cider.

My girls love climbing into the apple trees to get the apples and there are trees for kids of all ages - with ladders for the older kids to climb and low hanging branches for the little ones.

No matter where you go apple picking, it's a great way to spend time with your family and friends and get outside to enjoy the fall weather. All the apple orchard near Ottawa are open now and many, like Mountain Orchard, are open every day until the apple picking season is done (usually by the end of September).

Have you been apple picking yet? We're going again this weekend!