This post is a part of my ongoing series about “Ottawa’s Hidden Treasures.” I love this one because you have no doubt walked or at least seen a part of this route dozens of times before – but have you ever taken the time to walk the entire loop from the Alexandra Bridge to the Portage Bridge and back? Because if you haven’t, I’m telling you — you must!

I’ve had this blog post half-written for a while now, and I just needed to add the pictures to finish it off. Okay, so I was not exactly lacking for pictures. It was kind of a time and organizational thing that got in the way. Because when I first started writing this post, it was looking kind of like this outside:

And now it looks a lot more like this:

Which tells us two things. First, I am WAY behind on my blog postings! But more importantly, it confirms that Ottawa is a spectacularly beautiful city no matter what the season. And whether you’re a resident or a tourist, this walk is too gorgeous to miss.

Our walk takes advantage of an easy 5K loop on paved paths – perfect for strolling, strollers, roller-blading or biking. I like to do it on my lunch hour and it takes almost exactly an hour – when you don’t stop every 15 meters to take a photo. I cannot believe that I’ve worked downtown for the better part of my career and never walked the full loop before this year.

I start at Majors Hill Park, beside the National Gallery, which is conveniently close to where I work. If you follow this route, you’ll walk across the Ottawa River on the 112 year old Alexandra Bridge, which is also known as the Interprovincial Bridge (no wonder we can never figure out which bridge is which!) Did you know it was originally built as a train bridge by CPR, and that it had a dedicated trolley lane for decades? It also has a gorgeous panoramic view of the Parliament Buildings if you stop and look back over your shoulder about 3/4 of the way across.

At the foot of the bridge, find the bicycle and walking path that leads in behind the Museum of Civilization, to the left off the bridge. You’re now on the Voyageurs Pathway, part of the Trans Canada Trail. Follow the path down in behind the curving walls of the Museum of Civilization, back to toward the river, and you’ll see the best views of the Parliament Buildings. I love this spot!

Keep following the path behind the museum and you’ll see the (sadly now no longer operational) outdoor section of the children’s museum, and the ruins of the old EB Eddy digestor tower – a nod to the industrial history of the area. Keep walking, but cast an occasional glance back toward the Parliament Buildings – they’re beautifully framed by trees at certain spots, like this!

Eventually, the pathway will bring you up to the foot of the Portage Bridge, where you can admire (ahem) the monument to bureaucracy that is the government’s Place du Portage complex on your right. Turn left and head onto the bridge and stare at the beauty that is the river to erase the Portage complex from your brain. To your right further upstream you’ll see the Chaudière Bridge and the Asticou Falls – a great way to extend your walk if you’re feeling adventurous. We’ll take the shorter route, though, and make our way across the Portage Bridge. The views of Parliament continue to be stunning from this perspective, and my camera(s) just love them no matter the season nor angle.

As you cross back into Ontario, you’ll see the new Mill Street Brewery in a 140 year old former grist mill on the right (what’s the rush, I’m sure we’ve got time to stop for a beer!) and the ruins of the old carbide mill on Victoria Island on the left. I love this spot. I’m fascinated by the ruins, and find this particular spot one of the most evocative of Ottawa’s history. You’ve got the old grist mill and the carbide mill in the foreground and Parliament Hill in the distance, the commercial heart of the city just over the rise, an homage to the First Nations people at your feet, the government complex behind you, and the mighty Ottawa River flowing through it all. How can you not feel the history of the place?

From here, you have a choice to make. You can walk up to Wellington Street and finish your walk in an urban way, wandering up the sidewalk past the Supreme Court building, Library and Archives, and eventually promenade past the front of the Parliament Buildings. It’s a gorgeous walk in any season, but it will bring you up hill – there’s a reason they call it Parliament HILL.

Or, you can opt for the nature route, and follow the pathway back down to the river. I’ve grown fond of this route, especially this time of year. You see a different sort of Ottawa tourist down here.

And let’s face it, while I do love the energy of downtown, there is something calming about walking along a river path on a sunny summer day – even if you do have to be mindful of the hundreds of other people who also had the same idea.

This may be an outlet for the city’s sewer system, but it’s still quite lovely! One of the many curiousities to see on this route.

As you hug the river, downtown rises up beside you. Soon, the Parliament Buildings seem like they’re towering above you. You can take one of a few sets of stairs embedded into the cliffs behind the Parliament Buildings (not for the faint of heart!) and visit the feral cat colony that lives near the West Block, or you can stick with the river path and catch glimpses of the Library of Parliament perched above you, which reminds me of a whimsical sort of treehouse.

And finally, you’ll end up at the first set of locks where the Rideau Canal meets the Ottawa River. Ahead of you is the Chateau Laurier, of course.

Have a couple of extra minutes? I’ve been meaning to check out the Bytown Museum for years. One of these days I’ll get around to stopping in! To finish our walk, we’ll hike up the steps to Wellington Street, circle in front of the Chateau and return to Majors Hill Park.

I think this may be the most beautiful walk in the whole national capital region. What do you think? Can you think of a better one?

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If you’ve been reading for a while, you know one of my favourite events of the summer is the annual Blog Out Loud Ottawa event organized by the irrepressible Lynn. She has managed to make this event better every single year since its inception in 2009, and I can’t wait until this year’s edition.

We won’t have too long to wait, though, because BOLO has been bumped up from July to a new earlier date this year, with a new location, too. Here’s the skinny on BOLO 2012:

What: 20+ bloggers read their favourite post of the year; photo bloggers display their art
Who: Anyone who likes to hear good stories or see amazing images is invited to attend
When: Thursday, June 14, 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Where: The Arrow and Loon, 99 Fifth Avenue

Want to be in the BOLO spotlight this year? (It’s way, way fun! Trust me!) Lynn and her crew of acolytes are accepting submissions until May 14. That’s only a couple of days away, no time to dither! C’mon, you know you want to be like these cool kids! (I’m praying the Arrow and the Loon doesn’t have an evil deep red background wall like last year’s location did!)

If you’d like to be considered for a spot on the roster, here’s the deets from the BOLO blog:

Want to read? Here’s what you do:

1.Pick out your favourite post from the past year (May 2011 through April 2012). Note that you must have blogged at least 10 times in this time period.

2.Send the link to your selected reading to lynnturtlehead@gmail.com by Monday, May 14, at midnight.

3.Wait to be notified (via email) on May 21st if you are a selected reader. That’s it!

What kind of post should you pick? We like posts that tell a story, express an opinion, argue a point, capture a moment, inspire passion. All types of topics and subjects are welcome. Just pick something that has meaning for you.

Your selected post should be able to be read out loud in about three to five minutes (I’d suggest no more than 1200 words as a good guideline, but we’re flexible).

How will the readers be decided? Half the spots are selected by a panel of judges (to a maximum of 11 spots). The remainder of the spots are selected by random draw. So don’t be discouraged – everyone has a chance! Everyone is welcome – small bloggers, famous bloggers, new bloggers, bloggers that have been kicking around forever. Come one, come all.

We did a slide show last year, too, with some great shots from our local photography community. If there’s enough interest, we’ll do that again, too, so please let Lynn or me know if you’d like to submit some photos. You’ll have to speak up by May 15 and have your photos to me before May 31 if we’re going to make this work.

In prior year at BOLO, I’ve laughed so hard my sides hurt and wept in empathy and felt every emotion in between. This is a great night out for the Ottawa blogging community and I can’t wait to see what surprises this year’s BOLO might offer.

Will I see you there?

(And speaking of great community events: PS, just a quick reminder that Kym Shumsky’s Les nôtres vernissage for her 100 strangers project is this Wednesday at Irene’s Pub!)

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I‘ve been hearing about community supported agriculture (CSA) for quite some time, and meaning to do it for a while. The way it works is that you buy a “share” in a local farm early in the year, and then you get a regular selection of the fruits and/or vegetables harvested from the farm at a lesser price than you’d pay at the farmer’s market or roadside stand.

I am a strong believer in buying local food. I’ve blogged before about how much I like the Manotick Butcher for their local, sustainably-raised meat. I will drive out of my way for SunTech cherry tomatoes (oh my, have you tried them? They’re like candy!) But I have been reluctant to get involved with CSA before now for one reason: we are not adventurous eaters. I really don’t know what I’d do with a box of kale.

I’ve been hearing about Roots and Shoots farm since we moved to Manotick (they’re also behind the new Manotick farmer’s market I mentioned earlier), and a few times I stopped by their weekly farm stand in the village. It was serendipitous clicking that brought me to their website on the weekend, where I finally dispelled the “box of kale” myth by reading the anticipated contents of a weekly share in July: arugula (ok), pak choy (um, what?), beets (Beloved and my mother love ‘em), carrots (check!), Swiss chard (sure, why not?), radish (yes please!), green onions (yum!), zucchini (love it!), peas (see above reference re: candy), lettuce (mmmm) and herbs.

Nothing too intimidating there, and it only gets better in August (add cucumbers, tomatoes, eggplant, peppers and beans to the mix) and September (add spinach, potatoes, and mini-watermelons to the mix). Yummity yum yum.

I love this for so many reasons. First and foremost, I love the idea of having a steady supply of fresh, local healthy produce for the summer. There are enough familiar foods to satisfy my comfort level, and enough new foods that I won’t be too intimidated to try something new.

I’ve been struggling with one boy in particular who doesn’t like vegetables, and I think this is a terrific way to engage him. I don’t seem to be quite organized enough to build that backyard vegetable patch I’ve been dreaming of, but this may be the next best thing. How fun is it to be driving past “our” farm regularly, talking about what’s growing and anticipating harvest time? And Roots and Shoots is open to visits, so we can bring the boys to see where and how the vegetables actually grow.

As if fresh, nutritious foods that come with built-in teachable moments is not enough, I have to give props to Roots and Shoots for following organic farming processes: “Certified Organic protects not only the health of the consumer, but also the health of the farmer, the ecosystems that produce the food, the waterways on the farm, and the biodiversity of the farm. It is for this reason that Roots and Shoots Farm supports and adheres to Certified Organic standards.”

Although we’re pretty excited about our farm share, we simply weren’t sure if we’d be able to consume the full weekly share of produce. Lucky for us, there’s also a half-share option. With a full share option, you get a share of produce each week for the 16 week harvest season. We chose the half share, so we get one share every two weeks. At $290 for the summer, I think that’s an amazing deal.

Aside from everything above, I think it’s the idea of co-commitment that most enamours me. From the share contract:

You as the Shareholder, commit to understanding the challenges of growing seasonal vegetables. If the forces of nature make certain crops less available, you will accept that with grace and understanding. We the farmers commit to working with a large variety of vegetables so as to minimize any potential effects of losing a crop or two. We commit to using our many years of experience, good techniques and equipment to provide you with the best quality of vegetables for the duration of the season.

You as the Shareholder, commit to reading all of the CSA information found on this website, to educate yourself about what being part of a CSA is like. We the farmers commit to providing you with information from the farm throughout the season through weekly newsletters. We commit to providing you with opportunities to visit the farm and take part in vegetable growing should you want to.

Together we commit to contributing to a more healthy, safe and sustainable food system that is locally-oriented, and that inspires community interaction around food. We, the farmers, look forward to getting to know you and enjoying the season together.

And very best of all, it provides me with a season worth of blog fodder! Come along for the ride as we answer pressing questions like “what exactly is pak choy and what do you do with it” and “who will win the dinnertime bean battle”? I’m thinking we need a new category for these posts, but my Muse must be out hoeing the back 40. Feeling inspired, bloggy peeps? What can I call a series of posts based reaping the benefits of a CSA harvest?

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It started a few weeks ago when Fitz’s Fries on Bridge Street opened for the season, and I noticed that the deck chairs and lifeguard stands are out at the Long Island Aquatic Club. Now I’m excited! This Saturday, spring officially arrives in Manotick!

First, Watson’s Mill opens for the summer season on Saturday. Throughout the day there will be historical interpreters and milling demonstrations, and a BBQ from 11:45 to 1:30 pm. The Mill is raising funds this summer to replace its leaky roof, so some local politicians will be on hand to support the Raise the Roof campaign.

And when the Mill is open, so is the terrific little used book sale in the carriage house building across the street. We spent a lot of time perusing its stacks last summer and have been waiting patiently through the long winter for it to re-open. If you’ve made the trip out, wander a block or two south on Dickinson to Tighe Street and check out My Toy Shop and maybe get an ice cream at the delightful HodgePodge Shoppe.

Edited to add: Was just out and about and noticed that also on Saturday, the Hodge Podge Shoppe is celebrating their 1st anniversary with door prizes, balloons, Dino Reptiles and the Junkyard Symphony. Fun!

Did you hear that there will be a new farmer’s market in Manotick this summer?

The farmers’ market is sponsored by Watson’s Mill and will be held in Dickinson Square outside the museum from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Saturday morning beginning June 23. This year’s market is a pilot project run by volunteers rather than the usual board of directors, and could expand in the future if it goes well.

Although the details haven’t been ironed out, Roots and Shoots Farm proprietor Robin Turner, who spearheaded the idea with several local farmers, said the market will offer a beneficial alternative for residents.

“We’re gearing to make it a market where people can get a good part of their groceries for the week,” including vegetables, fruits, cheese, eggs, meats and baked goods, he said.

It will be a “producer market” meaning the vendors actually produce the food they sell, Turner added.

“There’s no reselling allowed, which means its all going to be local products. There’s an emphasis on finding producers who are as close to Manotick as possible,” he said.

I don’t know whether I’m more excited about this – a two-minute walk from my house, no less! – or the new CSA share I just signed up for from Roots and Shoots farm – which I’ll blog about as soon as I find another minute or two.

It’s shaping up to be a terrific summer in Manotick!

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Wouldn’t it be great if there was a comprehensive database of information about services, companies, events and other resources relating to raising a family in Ottawa?

Well, thanks to our newest bloggy sponsor Help! We’ve Got Kids, now there is! Help! We’ve Got Kids was founded in 1994 as a print directory and evolved into an online database for parents and caregivers with a comprehensive listing of the products and services for kids and families in the Greater Toronto Area. They’ve since expanded to several Canadian cities, and as of this spring, they are establishing a presence in Ottawa as well.

I’ve been following the Help! We’ve Got Kids twitter stream for quite a while, and I was happy to help promote the Ottawa launch. On the Help! We’ve Got Kids website, you’ll find information and resources about birthday parties, camps, after-school programs, sports, schools, amusement centers, indoor playgrounds, support services, parenting articles, event calendars, parenting resources and more. You can even get a free basic listing for your own business or submit an event.

In addition to the services and parenting resources, there are deals, coupons, events and contests, and even a couple of blogs to follow. And of course you can follow them on Facebook or Google+ as well. Looks great, doesn’t it?

Disclosure: This post was sponsored by Help! We’ve Got Kids. The opinions are completely my own based on my experience.

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Okay, this? Best parenting advice I’ve read in a long time, and very in line with my ever-strengthening philosophy of giving kids room to be kids. Thank you to my friend and longtime reader Kim for sharing this article in the weekend Globe and Mail: Bucket list for kids: 50 things to do before they’re 12

I love this, because I think each and every one of these is an excellent activity — and yet it makes me sad and kind of tired. Do we as parents really need to make an itemized checklist of experiences our kids must achieve? Meh, maybe the grey Ottawa skies and cold, damp temperatures are making me cantankerous. It actually sounds like a road map to a pretty great summer, if spring ever decides to return.

Here’s the official list, editorialized with my own local spin:

1. Climb a tree

2. Roll down a really big hill (Mooney’s Bay has a great one for this!)

3. Camp out in the wild (did you know there’s a campground on Prince of Wales just north of Hunt Club? Practically downtown!)

4. Build a den

5. Skim a stone (I recommend Britannia Beach for this one!)

6. Run around in the rain (or puddles, maybe?)

7. Fly a kite

8. Catch a fish with a net

9. Eat an apple straight from a tree (we love Kilmarnock and Cannamore orchards)

10. Play conkers

11. Throw some snow (can we wait until December for this one, please?)

12. Hunt for treasure on the beach

13. Make a mud pie

14. Dam a stream

15. Go sledging

16. Bury someone in the sand

17. Set up a snail race

18. Balance on a fallen tree

19. Swing on a rope swing (the rope swing is hands down the kid-favourite feature in our backyard)

20. Make a mud slide

21. Eat blackberries growing in the wild (there are – or were – wild raspberries growing along the boardwalk at the Chapman Mills Conservation Area)

22. Take a look inside a tree

23. Visit an island

24. Feel like you’re flying in the wind

25. Make a grass trumpet

26. Hunt for fossils and bones

27. Watch the sun wake up

28. Climb a huge hill

29. Get behind a waterfall (or maybe go caving?)

30. Feed a bird from your hand (bring some seed to the Lime Kiln Trail or Hogsback Falls for this one!)

31. Hunt for bugs

32. Find some frogspawn

33. Catch a butterfly in a net

34. Track wild animals

35. Discover what’s in a pond (Mud Lake is great for this!)

36. Call an owl

37. Check out the crazy creatures in a rock pool

38. Bring up a butterfly

39. Catch a crab

40. Go on a nature walk at night

41. Plant it, grow it, eat it

42. Go wild swimming

43. Go rafting

44. Light a fire without matches (um, no thanks)

45. Find your way with a map and a compass

46. Try bouldering

47. Cook on a campfire

48. Try abseiling

49. Find a geocache

50. Canoe down a river (although you might want to wait until they’re older than 3 and 5 yrs old!)

I figure the boys have a good half of the items crossed off, and I can tell you for sure I won’t be taking them abseiling any time soon – although the zip-line at a local aerial park is not out of question. What do you think? Is there anything on here a child of 12 can or cannot live without doing? Something you’d add to the list?

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I‘ve toyed with changing the name of my “Life in Ottawa’ blog category to “Love letters to Ottawa.” I like to think that a lot of this blog is exactly that. But while my love letters are about the places in Ottawa, the things to see and do and visit, Kym Shumsky’s 100 strangers project is sort of like 100 love letters about the people of Ottawa.

You may remember last year, I wrote a post about being a part of Kym’s project. I was just re-reading my post about it for the first time in a while, and it brought me right back to that night, how much fun it was and how nervous I was and how pleased I was with the final results.

It amazes me to think I was just one per cent of Kym’s crazy project, just one of 100 interactions and photo sessions that Kym has had over the past couple of years in her epic project. In Kym’s own words, her 100 strangers project was “about style, but not just style. It’s also about telling the story of Ottawa’s people right off the streets of Ottawa herself. This town is more than meets the eye. Over the next several months I want to meet, talk to, and photograph 100 strangers. Pictures will tell one story. People will inspire the other.”

But because she is such an inspiring person herself, she has turned this into something more. Now that the photo taking is done, there is a book, and framed prints, all of which will be raising funds for Operation Rainbow Canada.

I think my very favourite part of this is how Kym’s project has gone from “Le Mien” (French for “mine”) to “Les nôtres” (French for “ours”).

I’ll be there, will you?

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It was a year ago this week that I took one of my favourite pictures of all time, Lucas jumping in the puddle.

We were on our way back to the house, having just walked the big boys to school. Remember how wet and rainy last April was? And I was going to try to keep Lucas out of the puddle as we walked by, but I had my camera with me (as always) and so I figured, what the heck, we’re not going anywhere but home. Let him have at it. And did he ever! I knew the second I clicked the shutter that it was a winner. Sometimes you just *know* when you’ve nailed the shot.

This photo is the closest I’ve ever come to going “viral”. It’s all over Pinterest and Tumblr, largely without my credit. Every now and then I do a google search on it, and recently found a Tumblr post where it has nearly 600 likes and reblogs. Oy! When I posted a comment on another blog that (mis)credited the Tumblr blog as the source, I wrote that in fact I was the original photographer, and the image is not only copyright but for license on Getty, and would she mind please removing it from her blog. To my surprise and utter delight, she asked my permission to buy the rights to the Web size, so she could keep the image in her blog post. How awesome is that?

This was photo was among the first set of images invited for license from Getty Images, and among my first sales, too. It’s sold four times now, as a matter of fact, earning me well over $100 in royalties. In fact, a fellow Getty Images contributor posted this comment on the Flickr photo just yesterday:

I’ve been looking at this image for months every time I’m at the checkout at my local sainsbury’s supermarket in the UK. I knew I’d seen the image on flickr somewhere and only realised it was yours when you posted in this months sales. It’s on a leaflet for some service they are offering. Have you seen the sainsbury’s use? If you haven’t i’ll pick up a leaflet next time I’m in and take a photo of it for you.

How fun is that? He’s just outside of Glasgow, Scotland (where my mom was born) and he’s kindly offered to send me a few copies of the pamplet next time he’s out doing his groceries. Edited to add: And here it is!

But that’s not the most awesome thing that has come out of this silly, happy picture. Check THIS out! Last autumn, I received an e-mail from Brian Seed, a local painter and member of the Manotick Art Association. He had come across the picture I don’t even know how, and wrote me a lovely e-mail asking my permission to create a watercolour painting from it. Really, awesome or what?

But, I wasn’t sure if I could give him that permission. By licensing the picture through Getty, I gave them the right to decide who could or could not create a derivative work. I wrote a very apologetic e-mail, saying I wish I could have given the rights, and explaining the situation. To my delight, he replied that the fee was entirely reasonable and the next month there was the sale on my royalty statement.

Fast forward to today: Mr Seed sent me a quick note to let me know the painting is done, and will be featured in the Ottawa Watercolour Society juried show next week at St Brigids, and in next month’s Manotick Art Association annual show next month, if it doesn’t sell first. And he sent me a photo of the finished painting:

Is that not the most awesomest thing ever? I can’t even begin to express how delightful this is – such an honour, and such a lovely painting!

I have to admit, even though I’m annoyed at the unsourced use of this picture all over Pinterest and Tumblr and the rest of the Internet, I do love that the joyous abandon of the picture has so resonated with people. My lesson from all this? Take your camera with you EVERYWHERE, even on a rainy grey day on a route you’ve walked dozens of times before, because you never know where beauty and joy (and potential royalties!) might be waiting to leap out.

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Did you know it’s just over three weeks until Mother’s Day? And you know what would make a really terrific Mother’s Day gift? Family portraits!

I’m absolutely delighted and really quite excited to offer another year of perfect porch mini-sessions at our home in Manotick. These were a huge success last year, and I’ve got some great new ideas for this year.

So what’s a mini-session? Here’s what you can expect:

• a 30-minute session on my porch and in the yard and gardens
• 10 – 15 custom edited proofs to choose from
• one 8 x 10 or two 5 x 7 prints
• high-resolution digital negatives to match the prints you choose
• Cost is $125
• Gift certificates are available

This is a great package for families, kids, teens, grads, or even engagement photos – and of course, it makes a wonderful Mother’s Day gift. Sessions are available by appointment evenings and weekends, with very limited weekday availability – and it’s first come-first served! Contact me or send an e-mail to danicanada(@)gmail(dot)com to book your appointment today!

Here’s just a few of my favourite Perfect Porch Mini-Session photos from 2011:

Here’s what some of last year’s clients had to say:

“We really had a great time with you, and we just love the photos. Thanks again!”
~ S., October 2011

“Thank you so much!!! We loved working with you and looking forward to working with you again soon!”
~ J., September 2011

“LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!! [We] just looked at the pictures together [...] They are absolutely gorgeous. You did such a great job! I can’t believe how well the family shots turned out…thanks for making us all so comfortable!!”
~ J., July 2011

“Words cannot describe how much we love the pictures. They are amazing! [...] Thank you so, so much. Seriously, we were all blown away by how great a job you did (far exceeding my admittedly high expectations).”
~E., July 2011

Don’t wait, book your Mothership Photography Perfect Porch Mini-Session in Manotick today!

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It’s no secret that I have a bit of an addiction to vintage, antique and retro stuff. Beloved and I spent a fun day earlier this month looping around Eastern Ontario on a fun antiquing jaunt that I managed to document in photos here but never did get around to blogging.

You don’t have to spend hours in the car to find some really neat stuff, though. This weekend right here in Ottawa you can check out Antiquing at the Fieldhouse at Carleton University. From the presser:

The event features forty thousand square feet of fabulous. Designer handbags, garden décor items such as arbors, pedestals and seating, one-of-a-kind furnishings, decorator finds, Classic jewellery from names like Tiffany, Cartier, Van Cleef Arpels and Bvlgari, ultra cool Manhattan glass, silver accents, glowing walnut wood, vintage fashion, country quilts, Maritime art, tons of fashion jewellery, Persian carpets, art, cottage pine furniture, and much more.

It sounds like an eclectic collection — I can’t wait to go! If you’d like to go, here’s the show details:

Friday March 30 through Sunday April 1, 2012
Fri. 5-9, Sat. 10-5, Sun. 10-4
Location: The Fieldhouse at Carleton University, Bronson & Sunnyside, Ottawa
Admission is $8.00. Free re-admission. Under 18 free. Parking: Fri. $6 after 5pm, Sat/Sun $2/day

AND! I have two pairs of passes to give away! If you’d like to win these, just leave a comment below telling me your favourite place in Ottawa to find antique, retro or vintage treasures. I’ll select two winners from all entries received using the random number generator at random.org. If you win, your name will be added to the will-call list at the show.

(The giveaway is now closed)

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Looking for a fun idea for family fun this weekend? How about hopping over to the Ottawa Humane Society to celebrate spring during their open house? Here’s some info:

Come visit our new shelter and enjoy lots of family-friendly spring activities – including an Easter egg hunt, crafts and having your photos taken with the Easter Bunny!

When: Sunday, April 1, 2012
Where: 245 West Hunt Club Rd between Merivale and Price of Wales
Time: from 11am-2pm

Leap over to the OHS with your friends and family. For more information check out our website at: http://ottawahumane.ca/events/easter.cfm. If you still have questions, call 613-725-3166 ext 298 or email programs@ottawahumane.ca.

I love this idea, as I haven’t been out to see the new OHS since their renovation — but I fear I would not make it home without another furry, photogenic addition to our family!

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It’s not every year one starts thinking about gardening in mid-March (okay, maybe some of you do, but I’m a late bloomer!) but now that we’ve leap-frogged over winter and early spring and landed in what feels more like May, it seems perfect timing to have the Ottawa Home and Garden Show scheduled for March 22 to 25.

This year, the show will be at the new CE Centre off Hunt Club. (Have you been yet? I’m curious to check it out.) According to the pitch I received, here’s what you can expect from this year’s Ottawa Home and Garden Show:

There’s lots of new and interesting features such as a foodie fair, the unveiling of the new Natur-I Bonneville Home, a Davis Landscape and Design Dream Garden, as well as an international product showing. Not to mention there will be lots of interesting presentations from local celebrities including former Montreal Canadians Patrice Brisebois.

You can read more about it on the show website.

Would you like to go? I have three pairs of tickets to give away! Today’s giveaway goes to those with the quickest fingers — leave a comment below and tell me you’d like to win, and the first three people who respond will each win a pair of tickets.

Here’s the details:

1. This giveaway is for a pair of tickets to the 2012 Ottawa Home and Garden Show, which runs at the CE Centre from March 22 through 25.
2. The first three people who comment on this post will win a pair of tickets.
3. To win, you must leave a valid e-mail address.
4. If you win, you must be willing to provide me with your full name via e-mail. Your name will be added to the “will call” list at the show.

(And don’t worry if you missed this one, because I’ve got tickets for another fun event next week! Stay tuned!!)

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Holy cow, did you see the weather forecast for March Break in Ottawa? Sunny and 10C to 15C! Glad we’re staying in town to enjoy it!

If you’re also staying around town and looking for ideas to keep the kids entertained, here’s a handful of ideas for you!

1. RCMP Musical Ride Stables
I wrote about the RCMP Stables earlier this week, and I said then that it shot to the number one spot for my recommendations for FREE family fun in Ottawa. Gorgeous horses, a bit of history, and completely free. You can read the blog post here!

2. Movies and Popcorn
The Rainbow Cinema at St Laurent have some fun kids movies playing this week, and admission is only $5 per person (or $2 if you go on Tuesday!) This week, you can see The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn, Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked, Hugo and (yay!) The Muppets.

3. Visit a Museum
Do your kids like airplanes? Visit the Aviation Museum. Animals? Visit the Experimental Farm. Dinosaurs? They’ll love the Museum of Nature. Art? Take ‘em to the National Gallery. Trains and rocketships? You’ve got to go to the Museum of Science and Technology. Really, you could spend the whole March Break museum-hopping and not double-up once!

4. It’s Maple Season!
I’m a fan of the Log Farm sugarbush off Cedarview Rd in Barrhaven, but there are tonnes of sugar shacks around Ottawa. We’ve been to Stanley’s Old Time Farm, too. It will be great weather to get out and enjoy one of Canada’s best seasonal treats!

5. Take a day off
It’s fun to be doing stuff, but it’s also fun to be doing nothing. Make sure you schedule some downtime with quiet activities like board games, crafty projects and other fun stuff that doesn’t require you to get dressed and leave the house!

Still looking for ideas? Check out these blog posts in my archives for more suggestions!

Five warm and frost-free indoor places to visit on Family Day

Seven days of free family fun in Ottawa!

Five crafty ideas to keep kids busy

What will YOU be doing this March Break?

Edited to add: Ha! Listen to the scheduling mom with a plan (me), a bunch of kids and a laid-back dad named Pedro are all approaching March Break from our own perspectives with this fun clip that aired on CBC radio Ottawa Morning today. Warning – funky music alert!!

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I have been blogging about raising a family in Ottawa for seven years and this? May be the best discovery of them all. I’ve recommended a tour of the RCMP Musical Ride Centre a couple of times as an excellent idea for free family fun in Ottawa, but I’ve never actually gotten around to doing it before now. This one has just shot to the top of my list of awesome (free!) things to do with kids in Ottawa!

Most people have heard of the RCMP’s Musical Ride, featured on the back of the Canadian $50 bill, but did you know the stables where they keep and train those magnificent horses is right here in Ottawa? I’d been meaning to take the boys down there for ages, but never got around to it. On Sunday morning, we were invited to join Simon’s Beaver scout colony for a private tour, and I have to tell you, I was amazed that I don’t hear more people raving about this.

There’s a bit of a museum, with a history of the Musical Ride, and a tack station and a farrier’s station. You can see the landau that Princess Kate and Prince William promenaded in when they visited – it was hand-crafted in 1890 in Austria and is still used for ceremonial transport of heads of state. But the real treat is the horses themselves. They’re beautiful, friendly, docile creatures (with a few exceptions!) and I was completely enamoured by Turbo in particular. He was so tall I had to stand on my tiptoes to pat his downy forehead, which he willingly crammed his face into the bars of his stall to allow me to do!

Our tour guide was Constable Ben Macconnell (how cool is THIS? they even have their own Musical Ride trading cards!), and I wish I could remember half of the interesting tidbits and lore he shared with us. For example, did you know the RCMP’s horses are at minimum 16 hands tall, which is a couple of hands taller than they were even 20 years ago, and they’re always black, and have been since, um, a former RCMP Commissioner at some point in the past (sorry, I forgot to take notes!) decreed they would all look the same. Each year, 16 new RCMP members train to join 16 existing members of the team, and they tour Canada and the world as the Musical Ride. Some members who join the team have never even been on a horse before, and they go through an intensive training program and during their 18-week lead up to touring season they spending hours each day putting the horses (and the riders!) through their paces. This year, they will be travelling to England to perform for the Queen for her diamond jubilee. (Can you imagine the logistics of getting 36 horses across the pond? Yikes!)

Since we toured on a Sunday morning, we didn’t get to see the exercises, which is why we’ll be heading back during the March Break! What a great March Break activity, eh? Here’s a peek at our tour.

This is my new number-one favourite Ottawa family activity, and I can’t recommend it highly enough! I’m not entirely clear on whether you can see the horses and riders going through their paces all the time or just in the 18 weeks that lead up to the summer performance season, so you might want to check ahead of time. Here’s the information from the Musical Ride Centre website:

Musical Ride Visitors’ Centre information: tours@rcmp-f.ca

Tours are available:

May 1 – August 31: daily 9:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
September – April: Tuesday and Thursday 10:00 – 2:00 p.m.

Don’t miss this one!

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It’s hard to believe a whole ten years (!) have passed since I showed up for my first Strollercize outing at Boomerang Kids on Bank Street. I can barely remember being that girl, shy and still overwhelmed by being a new mom, looking for any excuse to get out of the house and interacting with grown-ups for a change.

I remember showing up clutching my signed waiver, trying to stand near the back and getting pulled in with a warm welcome. I remember loving the circuitous loop we did along Queen Elizabeth Drive and the Canal, and the way the instructors made it possible for everyone to work at their own speed and their own level while still challenging us and keeping us energized. I remember sitting in the sun on the grassy bank near Lansdowne Park doing stretches, and doing pushups against benches and the rail along the Canal. I remember those outings becoming the highlight of my week. And I remember in October of that year I ran my first 5K, pushing Tristan’s stroller in the CIBC Run for the Cure, something I’d worked toward that whole summer at strollercize.

It’s a shame, really, that I haven’t blogged about how great that experience was before now. I’d more or less forgotten all of it, though, until I got an e-mail a few weeks ago from Jules Hilliker. She’s the coordinator for the (completely FREE!) strollercize program offered through Boomerang Kids stores in Ottawa, and the energy behind Fitness with Jules. You can’t read an e-mail from Jules without feeling energized and enthusiastic — she’s got that infectious kind of energy that radiates out of even her written words. And when she asked for my help to spread the word about the strollercize program, I couldn’t help but say yes. Jules’ e-mail said in part: ‘Over the years hundreds of new families have found Strollercize through word of mouth, the only thing that saddens me is when a Mom shows up with an 8 month old and says, “This is amazing, how come I did not know about this earlier?”‘ And I was smiling, both from Jules’ enthusiasm and from the warm memories from my own strollercize experience.

Strollercize runs all year long out of the Bank Street location, but the program will be returning to all stores in March. If you’re looking for a fantastic FREE way to get out of the house, meet other moms and get a little exercise, I can’t say enough great things about it. Interested? Here’s the details from the website:

WHAT you need…

The baby!
Comfortable walking shoes
Dress appropriately for the weather – we walk rain or shine
Water bottle (for you)
Small snack

HOW to join…

Just show up on the day of your choice, and bring the signed waiver (available at the stores, or download one from the site).

Call Boomerang Kids if the weather forecast is calling for +30C or -30C.

Thanks to Jules for reaching out and reminding me about this terrific program. Makes me want to have another baby — or maybe I can borrow one and join in?

If you’re looking for another great suggestion for free outdoor fitness, stay tuned! I have a great suggestion for you coming up. No babies required!!

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Looking for a great way to spend next Monday, Family Day, in Ottawa? Head downtown and make your way through these three fun events!

Start out on ice and join Mayor Jim Watson for a Family Day skating party from 11 am to 2 pm at the city’s new Rink of Dreams in front of city hall. It’s free, and there will be hot chocolate too!

Then warm up at the National Art Centre with an afternoon of fun “for children age five and up and the people who love them.”

The National Arts Centre English Theatre is proud to present its second annual celebration of family on Monday, February 20, 2012. This special family day event, launched in 2011, features a cornucopia of hands-on activities for children and the people who love them…and it’s all free!

Join us for a memorable day of stories, games, interactive displays, homemade treats and special workshops throughout the NAC lobby. The NAC English Theatre family day event is proud to be a part of Winterlude 2012 festivities.

Come and be part of the NAC Family on February 20.

Join us for:

storytelling
theatre and dance workshops
large-scale interactive games
activities with themes of creativity and environmentalism
arts and crafts
button-making
ArtsAlive website demonstration
face-painting … and much more!

Monday, February 20, 2012 from 12 – 4 p.m. in the NAC Lobby

See the NAC website for more details!

And finally, drop by Old Navy in the Rideau Centre for the Funnovation Imaginarium.

Kids from all over the Ottawa area are invited to this special in-store event to experience the Funnovation Imaginarium, a place where you have insane amounts of fun while being crazy creative. Highlights include:

A Crazy Cookie Bar!
A Funky Floor where kids can show off their dance moves
An accessory creation station
A Funnovation Catwalk to model their wacky accessories
A Funnovation Lab to create crazy creatures and monster machines; and
A free gift with purchase

Disclosure: Smile for the camera while you’re there — I’ve been hired to photograph the Funnovation Imaginarum event!

Do you have any ideas to share for Family Day fun?

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On Friday night, Simon and Tristan and I made the trip out to Scotiabank Place for our first-ever Ottawa Senators game. Can you believe I’ve never been before? I’d always had the intention to go, in a civic-duty kind of way, the same way you feel like you should haul your sorry self down to the Canal at least once each year for a skate. The parking thing seemed like a hassle, though, and it’s not cheap to bring a family to a game, and by the time we got out it would be way beyond the boys’ bedtimes, and (whine) it’s just so faaaaar…. yeah, I know. Pathetic, right? We are just so not a sports family.

Anyway, when the boys’ school sent home a note that they were organizing a Sens game night back in the fall, it seemed like a great opportunity to bring the boys out to their first game. Because really? Everybody ought to, at least once. While we’re not particularly sporty, Sens fandom does infuse kid culture. When Daniel Alfredsson visited the school last year, the boys talked about it for days, and even though we decided against enrolling the boys in hockey, they still love to play in the driveway.

I figured the whole game experience would be a little too much for Lucas, so I bought three tickets, and for most of this week Beloved and I engaged in a loose game of “I think YOU should take the boys because…” While the idea of the game seemed like a great time in theory, especially three months ago when we bought the tickets, actually hauling ourselves out there on a Friday night after an exhausting week seemed like more work that it was worth. In the end, I agreed to go to the hockey game if Beloved agreed to take Simon to his first reconciliation later this week. Seems a good trade to me!

I’d been dreading the parking situation, and it figures that Friday was the night Beloved had to teach late, so we couldn’t even leave particularly early. We left the house around 6:30 for the 7:30 game, and I was cautioning the boys that we may miss the opening face-off. Instead, we had absolutely no problem zipping right in to a parking lot and entered Scotiabank Place with at nearly 30 minutes to spare.

Our seats were WAY up in the 300 level, only three rows from the rafters. I think we may have sat in the same seats for a Tragically Hip concert a decade or so ago, and with Beloved’s fear of heights, it was probably for the best that I’d agreed to take the boys after all. It was a lot of fun sitting with the families from the boys’ school, though. I found out too late that our $25 tickets had also included a hot dog and a drink, which is actually a decent deal for the entertainment value of the night.

Funny, when the game started it took me a minute to get used to the lack of colour commentary. I’ve watched plenty of hockey on TV but I’ve never been to a live game before, and at first I thought it would be harder to follow the action without the commentary. I was surprised, however, at how captivating the live action is, even from waaaaay up in the bleachers. I was also surprised at how quickly the game flew by, even during the intermissions. Watching hockey on TV is something to be endured for the sake of finding out the outcome, I find, but watching it live is unexpectedly captivating.

The boys really surprised me, too. I’d expected them to be fidgeting and restless, but they were also completely engaged by the experience. Simon seemed to enjoy the cheering and the company of his friends, but Tristan spent the entire game sitting forward in his seat, his attention riveted on the action. He really surprised me the next day, when I showed him a picture from the game in the sports section, and he pointed out one of the Islanders and said, “Oh, there’s number 27. He’s the one that got hurt.” I was amazed not only that he had paid enough attention to notice his jersey number at the time, but that he’d retained it. Then again, little boys are known repositories of hockey stats and trivia, right?

I have to admit, I’m at heart a baseball girl. I can tell you why the infield fly rule is invoked, and when you should sacrifice bunt, and more than you ever need to know about the history of the game. I’ve read Ron Luciano’s entire oeuvre, and all of WP Kinsella’s too. Hockey, on the other hand, is a bit of a mystery to me. I have a vague grasp of the concepts of offside and icing, and that’s about as sophisticated as my knowledge of the game gets. And yet, I had a great time at the game. Way better, in fact, than I had expected.

The boys were particularly excited when Spartacat made the trip up to the rafters to visit us in the third period. I stepped on a water bottle trying to catch this photo and had a bad millisecond of imagining myself tumbling the entire way down to the ice like something in a Looney-tunes cartoon, but Tristan was enchanted. “Did you see? He had his hand on my head! I’ll never wash my hair again!” Simon felt the same way about the hand that Spartacat had high-fived.

As we drove to Scotiabank Place, I’d told the boys we’d consider leaving at the end of the second period. With a 7:30 start time, we’d already be way beyond their bedtime at that point, and I was dreading the post-game traffic. I’d figured two periods would give us a good taste of the game experience, but still have us home at a reasonable hour.

The game flew by so quickly that as the end of the second period approached, I began to think we’d probably be sticking it out until the end of the game. And then, with just a few second left in the period, the Sens scored the first goal of the game, and I knew we weren’t going anywhere. The Islanders tied it up in the third period, though, and when we got to the end of regulation time we were done. We snuck out, and heard the wails of dismay from the parking lot when the Islanders scored the gamewinning goal a few minutes into overtime. Ahead of the crowds, we zipped out and were home by 10:30, with both boys asleep in the back seat.

If you haven’t been, you really ought to go. It was Metro family night when we went, and I’m already considering picking up a set of tickets for the family game night in mid-March. And maybe this time the Sens will win!

Surely I’m not the last person in the city to have ever been to a game. Have you brought the family out? What did you think?

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I read somewhere in the Ottawa media recently that today, January 19, is the official “dead of winter.” Today is the date with the lowest average daily temperature of the entire year, and the average daily temperature creeps upward from here. So now we can officially say that winter is more than half behind us.

I was trying to pacify myself with that thought as I scraped that merciless ice off my windows at sparrow’s first fart yesterday morning in the rampaging wind. Summer is coming!!

Since winter is on it’s last legs (heh, maybe a little too optimistic?) you might as well get out and enjoy it during Manotick’s official winter carnival, Shiverfest! It runs next weekend, January 27 through 29.

There will be horse-drawn sleigh rides, a chili-cookoff, a photography contest, a trivia night, bands, reptiles, a kids’ play area and more! You can check out this PDF for details on the full weekend of activities.

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The kids may be counting down the sleeps until Christmas, but I’ve got my eye on the calendar for another reason, too. Only one more week until the solstice, the shortest day of the year, and then the days finally start to get a wee bit longer. Despite the lack of snow, it seems like it’s been a particularly gloomy December, don’t you think?

So I got curious and looked on the weather channel and sure enough, the sun is setting right about as I’m typing this – 4:20 in the afternoon, Ottawa time. Sigh.

And then, because there are a million other things more pressing but less interesting than researching useless data on the Internet, I wondered how much shorter the days will get in the next week, and I stumbled upon a bright little fact that makes me rather happy.

Turns out, while the days will in fact get another three or so minutes shorter in the next week, the extra daylight get lost in the morning. In fact, 4:20 pm is as early as the sun will set this year, which it will do today, Thursday and Friday. Then on Saturday, it sets at 4:21, which it does for another couple of days, before setting a whole ‘nother minute later at 4:22 on the solstice. And it only gets better from there!

Hooray! We may be in the midst of the darkest time of the year, but there’s long sunny summer evenings on the way…

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It was a dark and stormy night in Ottawa, but it was dry and bright with brilliant colours inside the new Ikea during the special media sneak peek last night! ZOMG, what an awesome, enormous store!!

It’s laid out on two levels – if you walk the maze through both levels, you’ve traversed an impressive 1.3 km! At the entrance, there’s a giant sort of foyer area with a huge kiddie play area along one wall and an escalator up to the showrooms. There are 55 inspirational room settings, and three full living areas (ie complete condo/apartment layouts with bedrooms, living room, kitchen and bathroom), and 29 (!!) kitchens set up. Here’s @MrsLouLou and @missfish standing in my dream kitchen. *covet*

(I figure it’s a year, maybe two, before we find ourselves sitting at one of the dozen or so lovely little consultation areas near the kitchen inspiration section. One of our cupboard doors fell off last week, and other is wobbly. And really? The faux painted brick backsplash from the 70s has got to go! Once the furnace replacement is paid off, the kitchen reno project is next on the list, and I am giddy to get started. I can’t imagine starting a kitchen reno anywhere BUT Ikea!)

Everything about this new Ikea is bigger, better and brighter than the old store. There are more parking spaces (1200, half of them covered), more shopping carts (600), more seats in the restaurant (640), more space (from 113K to 427K sq ft), and more stuff: from 4500 products to 9500 products. There were 12 beds laid out in the old Ikea; there are 31 in the new one! As the manager of the bedroom furniture area said, “That’s a lot of beds to make each morning!”

The new store has a lot of stuff that the old store simply couldn’t make room for. They have a fabric section, for example. (The carpet section in the new store is the size of the entire textiles section in the old store.) The fabrics are laid out on the back wall here:

The whole store is epic, rather jaw-dropping in its proportions. Store manager Isabelle Auclair explained that the new Ottawa Ikea is now more in line with some of the other stores, with the inspiration rooms laid out across the upper floor and the “Marketplace” with the smaller, non-flat-packed items spread out through the lower floor. I could have spend days (and dollars!) just wandering about the kitchen and bath sections. Oooo, pretty colours!!

I think if you went through my house and rounded up all the empty picture frames, you’d find more than a dozen. Maybe even two dozen. I have this weird compulsion to buy them, and then I get all non-committal and have difficulty deciding what to put in them or where to hang them. Still, this frame section made me positively drool with covetousness.

Did you hear they are expecting 13,500 visitors the first day? Not in the first week, or month. The first DAY alone. Yikes! So I’m guessing you’ll wont see the checkouts looking quite so empty for some months to come!

But, there’s an impressive 36 cash lanes, and they’ve hired an extra 100 or so “co-workers”, adding about 50 per cent to their staff for the new store. Here’s another neat fact from the press kit: more than 45 per cent of the co-workers at the Ottawa store have been there more than 10 years. And you could really see the pride of the managers showing off their setions last night — it was a really neat insight into a company I’ve always been curious about.

There are a few more pictures on Flickr, and more information about the grand opening festivities on the Ottawa Indoor Beautification Facebook page. I’m grateful to Ikea for the chance to have a sneak peek and Ikea is sponsoring the blog this month, but as always all opinions are entirely my own.

The night got a little hectic for me when I realized that my iPhone was not, in fact, in my coat pocket where I thought I left it. I had a few very unhappy minutes when we went out to the car and found it also not there, and I was sick with the idea that I’d lost it. We made one last quick stop at the Starbucks where Beloved and I had met before the preview — and someone had found it and turned it in to the baristas there.

So thank you, Ikea Ottawa, for the amazing preview to your new store. I will be spending many, many hours there in the months and years to come. And thank you, kind Starbucks patron, for finding and turning in my lost iPhone. Together, you made a dark and stormy night bright and warm.

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