Sing Along with Sharon & Bram (and Friends) at the NAC!

My daughter knows Sharon & Bram through me. She constantly hears me breaking out into “One elephant went out to play, upon a spider's web one day!” As well as singing the words (and doing the actions) to I Am Slowly Going Crazy and Skinnamarink. So, when I heard Sharon & Bram were coming to the NAC Southam Hall on Sunday, September 23, 2018 at 2 pm I got so excited!

These Canadian treasures will be celebrating their 40th anniversary with this special show and will be joined on stage by a full band! This show is a great opportunity for all fans of Sharon & Bram to see them live and celebrate their anniversary through the songs we all know and love.

If you are unfamiliar with Sharon & Bram, here’s a bit of background: Since 1978, Sharon Hampson and Bram Morrison have been pre-eminent in all aspects of family entertainment across North America as members of the trio “Sharon, Lois & Bram”. Together, the threesome produced over twenty recordings, beginning with their iconic One Elephant, Deux Elephants. They have appeared in every major concert hall in Canada, and many United States including Carnegie Hall, The Lincoln Center and the White House in Washington. They have received countless awards, including Gold and Platinum Records and JUNO awards for Best Children’s Album. To date, they have sold over 3 Million Albums worldwide.

For their years of work providing the best in participatory music for children and their families, Sharon and Bram have been inducted into The Order of Canada, the highest honour in the country. 

You don’t want to miss out on this concert. Tickets start at a very affordable $29.50 and watching Sharon & Bram (and friends) with your kids is something the entire family will enjoy and will not soon forget!

For more information and to get your tickets, visit NAC Event Page - https://nac-cna.ca/en/event/18672

Make sure to follow Sharon & Bram online for the latest news and information about these beloved children’s entertainers:
Web - http://www.sharonandbram.com/
FB – https://www.facebook.com/sharonandbram   

Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by the National Arts Centre.

The Art of the Brick at the Canada Science and Technology Museum

We all grew up with LEGO® and our kids are doing the same. Which means the both the kids and the kid in you are going to love the Canada Science and Technology Museum’s brick-buster exhibition, THE ART OF THE BRICK.   

Named one of CNN's Top Ten "Global Must-See Exhibitions", THE ART OF THE BRICK by artist Nathan Sawaya is a critically acclaimed collection of inspiring artworks made exclusively from one of the most recognizable toys in the world: the LEGO® brick.

It is literally the world’s largest display of LEGO® art, with original pieces including an immense Tyrannosaurus Rex and re-imagined versions of the world’s most famous art masterpieces, including Van Gogh’s Starry Night and Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa. 

The exhibit features a gallery showcasing an innovative, multimedia collection of LEGO brick infused photography produced in tandem with award-winning photographer Dean West and kid-friendly, hands-on LEGO® fun at the Brick-Party.

From child's toy to sophisticated art form and beyond! ART OF THE BRICK is on now through September 3 at the Canada Science and Technology Museum. For more information visit 

Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by the Canada Science and Technology Museum (one of our favourite Ottawa museums!)

Pool games just got sweeter with the Watermelon Ball JR!

We have had a great summer to spend time in a pool. It’s been hot and mainly dry, which means my daughter and many of her neighbourhood friends are water logged from spending so much time in the pool! We love having fun and safe water toys for the kids (and adults) to play with in the pool. Some of our favourite pool toys include:

1) Smart Noodles® Link’Ems™

Smart Noodles® Link’Ems™ are just like real pool noodles but you can link them together to create mini rafts and fun objects. If your kids love to use their imaginations, they will create tons of fun things for these smart noodles – we have seen mini cars on ours, as well as frogs using them as safety rafts until they get close enough to the side of the pool to escape. And, of course, they are handy to hold onto to just float around the pool.

2) Inflatable Flamingo

Who doesn’t love a good old fashioned floaty toy - but made more fun? Admittedly, this inflatable flamingo belongs to me. I bought it three summers ago at Tag Along Toys and unlike some of the discount store brands, this one is made from durable plastic that has survived many kids twisting its neck as they try to climb on. My pool time always includes my flamingo!

3) Pool Toypedos

Toypedos move super fast underwater and then they sink. It’s the perfect "sinky toy" for advanced simmers who love the challenge of swimming fast to catch things before they sink. You can get them at many local toy stores.

4) Original Watermelon Ball®

This ball looks, feels and behaves like a watermelon in water. Really! We tested it last summer and a real watermelon sinks to the bottom and then floats back up to the surface just like this ball (I don't recommend trying it at home). The Watermelon Ball® is simply safer, cleaner and a lot more fun to play with. You simply fill the ball with water and you’re ready to go! We love playing underwater pass with the ball (it travels super fast under water). It is heavy though, so we have a “no throwing it up in the air” policy to avoid it accidentally coming down on someone’s head.

5) Watermelon Ball JR®

Warning - you and everyone who plays with this will love this pool toy!!! Just like the original, but easier for little hands to hold, the Watermelon Ball JR® is new this year and is smaller and lighter. It is also much more colourful, making it easier to spot in the water. My daughter and her friends love dribbling, kicking, passing and intercepting the ball under water. This is by far one of her new favourite toys to play with in the pool. It is also very durable, which comes in handy when someone accidentally tosses it out of the pool and onto concrete.

Similar to the original, you simply fill the ball with water and it’s ready for play! As noted on their website, you can pass the Watermelon Ball Jr.® “up to 10 feet underwater and even bounce the Watermelon Ball JR off pool walls for trick passes and winning moves!” It’s a water toy the entire family will love year after year (recommended age is 6+)!

We love playing underwater soccer with the Watermelon Ball JR® - we section off "goal nets" using whatever is near by that can easily sit on the concrete around the pool and the opponent has to try and get the ball past the goalie. Our rules include - no above water passes and we make an "invisible line" that the person with the ball cannot pass. It's a lot of fun for swimmers of all ages and abilities. It's a lot of fun (and a good workout too). ;)

 

For more information on the Watermelon Ball JR, including where to get one, visit the PlaSmart website, follow PlaSmart toys on Twitter or like their Facebook Page!

Disclaimer: PlaSmart provided us with a Watermelon Ball JR® for the purpose of review, but the countless hours of fun are all ours!

Family Travel: A Trip to Washington DC

KITC would like to welcome back guest blogger, Stephen Johnson.. Stephen Johnson is an Ottawa writer who loves to write about family travel.  During the summer, you will most likely find him and his family at a local fair or festival.  During the winter, a beach in Mexico is a likely bet.  

National Air and Space Museum

It is impossible to see everything that Washington DC has to offer in one, two or even three trips. The number of museums and historical monuments is simply overwhelming. Our family recently took a trip to DC and here are a few of our tips and highlights to maximize your time.

The best way to get around DC is by metro or bus. The first thing you will want to do is buy a SmarTrip card which you can load up for rides on the Metro or bus. A great way to get around the national mall is by city bus known as the DC circulator. For one dollar, the bus will take you to most of the major sites including the Smithsonian museums and monuments.

For a more in-depth visit to the city, our family would recommend taking the BigBus Washington DC It is a hop-on hop-off bus service that has three routes. We took all three routes and felt we had a much better appreciation of the city. The bus routes are enhanced by audio guides that give an explanation of the sites.

National Air and Space Museum

Most people visit DC for all the great museums. All of the Smithsonian museums are free and most do not need any advance reservations. We made it to the National Air and Space Museum and the National Museum of American History. Both museums could warrant an entire day on their own.

We decided to also visit two museums that had an admission fee since they looked so interesting. We started at the Spy Museum which aptly covers all things about spies. The museum presented the material in a fun and hands-on manner making it accessible for all ages. By the end of the visit, I didn’t know who might be watching me!

The second museum we checked out was the Newseum. As you might imagine, the Newseum is all about all things news and how the news is reported. Outside the museum, a visitor is greeted by cover stories from newspapers around the United States and the world. We started our visit by checking out the Berlin Wall display. The exhibit has the largest unaltered portion of the wall outside of Germany. It was a great introduction for our son, David, to history before he was born.

Photo of Berlin Wall at Newseum

We then moved on to the terrace that gave a stunning view of Pennsylvania Avenue and the Capital building. The day we visited, there was a vibrant bbq festival taking place on the Avenue reminding us that DC is a city outside of just museums and politics.

Terrace at Newseum

Other highlights of the Newseum included the Pulitizer Prize Photographs Gallery and the News Corporation News History gallery that gave a chronological overview of how we have collected and shared the news through the centuries.

I would recommend the museum for adults and older children who are interested in current events. David is interested in history and politics thus the Newseum was a perfect fit.

One last tip I will share is eating in the U.S. capital. Near the national mall and the Smithsonian museums, it can be difficult to find an abundance of restaurants. Most museums do have food options but we did not try any. We really liked going to Union Station which is a completely remodelled train station. It has many food and shopping choices plus, it has the splendour of a turn-of-the-century train station.

A great place to start any trip-planning for Washington DC is at Destination DC: www.washington.org

David received assistance from Destination DC for the purpose of this article; all views are his own.

Family Travel: A Road Trip to Lake George, New York

KITC would like to welcome back, guest blogger, Stephen Johnson. Stephen Johnson is an Ottawa writer who loves to write about family travel.  During the summer, you will most likely find him and his family at a local fair or festival.  During the winter, a beach in Mexico is a likely bet.  

Our son, David, thought Six Flags Great Escape would have to be our next travel destination after seeing the names of a few of the rides.  Roller coasters with monikers like The Steamin’ Demon and The Comet would appeal to almost any nine year old.

With our holiday plans set, we loaded up the car and started making our way to Lake George, New York, home to Six Flags.   Along the route, I wanted to make a pit stop at the Wild Center. Set in the Adirondack forest, the Wild Center is perhaps the best natural history attraction we have ever visited.   There are plenty of interactive exhibits but the most unique feature is the outdoors Wild Walk.  The pathway is elevated nine metres above the ground.  From this perspective, you can see the canopy of the Adirondack forest for kilometres.

David loved the walk, especially the net that resembled a spider’s web.  David jumped up and down testing its strength. He also enjoyed swinging on the suspension bridges and just generally, making his parents nervous!

After finishing up the Wild Walk, we hit the road and pulled into Six Flags Great Escape Lodge.  The following day, David woke up at the crack of dawn as if it were Christmas and his birthday combined.  We had a quick breakfast and were almost the first people through the gates. The first ride David wanted to check out was a twelve storey mega-coaster called Flashback.  David queued up for the ride and sat down as my wife, Sandy and I held our collective breaths. The ride delivered all the thrills as promised and at the end, David had a look of pure elation. The rest of the morning pretty well followed the same routine with David trying the rides with maximum scare value and Sandy and I trying not to be helicopter parents.

By the afternoon, I had worked up enough courage to try out the a few of the family rides.  I thought I was up to trying the Canyon Blaster coaster and the Raging River whitewater river rafting adventure.  After trying both, it made me yearn for the days when David was three or four and the merry-go-round was a big adventure.  I must give Sandy full credit for having the nerves to try out the Comet wooden roller coaster with David. Part of the famous coaster was built in 1927.  

There was plenty of entertainment to keep us busy in between rides including a 50’s musical revue and high-flying divers.  

A full day of rides had made us tired.   After a bite in Lake George, we headed back and checked out the indoor water park at the Great Escape Lodge.   I had a perfect view of David trying out the water slides while I sat in the hot tub.

The following day, we wanted to see more of Lake George.  The town has been a mecca of tourism for a long time. It is easy to understand why with the lakeside location and the surrounding Adirondack mountains.  We started the morning by driving up Prospect Mountain and were treated to a panoramic view of the region. Making our way back into town, we took a stroll along the beautiful lakeside boardwalk.  David saw the Minnie-Ha-Ha Paddlewheeler on Lake George so we decided to check it out.  We took a beautiful one hour cruise on the lake as we learned fascinating information about the area.

We finished our day with an activity that made me feel more like we were in Texas than New York State.  We made our way to the Painted Pony Championship rodeo located about ten kilometres outside Lake George.   During the summer season, they hold a full rodeo three times a week.  Of course, nothing goes better with a rodeo than a Texas BBQ. We pulled up to the Painted Pony with the smell of bbq in the air.  I am glad to say that the ribs and chicken tasted as good as they smelled. After eating enough to last us two days, we headed to the rodeo grandstands.  Along the way, I checked the license plates to make sure they read New York state and not Oklahoma or Texas. The rodeo was as good as anything I have ever seen.  We watched bareback bronco riding, bull riding and steer wrestling amongst other events. With our best yee-haw, we finished our time at the rodeo and went back to the lodge.

The following day,  we followed the Hudson River all the way to Peekskill New York.  Even though Peekskill is one hour from New York City, it feels like it is a world away.  The charming town has a compact downtown with a number of funky restaurants. We obviously decided to try the tacos.   They were almost as good as Sandy’s, who is from Mexico City. We ended our time in Peekskill taking a boat cruise on the Hudson River.  We knew we were in good hands with Captain Mary Driscoll who had spent eleven years in the United States Coast Guard Reserve and twenty-five years as a ship captain.  She provided us with a lot of information about the Hudson River and surrounding area. Cruising peacefully down a river seemed the perfect way to end our trip after our adrenaline filled roller coaster rides and rodeos.  

For more information about Lake George, check out, www.visitlakegeorge.com   See www.visitwestchesterny.com for more information about the Hudson River area north of New York City.  

Special thanks to Lake George Tourism for providing David for assistance with some attractions for the purpose of this article; all views are his own.