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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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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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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This week, CBC Ottawa has been doing a series on savvy spenders, featuring ways to save on your groceries and on your clothing budget. And today, they’ll be airing a segment on free activities for families in Ottawa — featuring me and the whole family! It’s been about three years since I wrote what was to become one of my most popular posts: 40 (mostly) free family fun ideas, the post that caught CBC’s eye. I’ve updated it a few times, but I thought it would suit the theme of the CBC segment to repackage it as the story was originally pitched: seven ideas for seven days of free family fun in Ottawa.

Day 1: Be a tourist in your own town

When’s the last time you went up the Peace Tower? Walked around the paths between the Ottawa river and Parliament Hill? Said hello to the feral cat colony near the West Block? Visited Maman the Spider? (And now there’s a brand new Haida totem pole right across the street from Maman.) Not too long now and you can bring your skates for a trip down our very own UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Rideau Canal.

Day 2: Visit the RCMP Stables

We still haven’t gotten around to this one, but it’s definitely on my list! At the RCMP Stables and Musical Ride Centre, you can meet the majestic horses and be charmed by their beauty and friendly temperaments, tour the stables where the training begins, stop by the Riding School, visit the farrier station and see the stately carriages used in royal escorts of Her Majesty the Queen.

Day 3: Enjoy free City of Ottawa programs

Did you know the city of Ottawa offers 247 (!) free outdoor skating rinks — or at least they will if this absurdly warm fall ever gives way to winter. And there are dozens of free splash pads and wading pools for free family fun in the summertime.

Day 4: Find freebies galore at the Ottawa Public Library

Everybody knows you can get books for free at the library, and most people know you can now borrow music on CD and movies on DVD. But did you know you can also borrow Wii, Playstation and Xbox games? After all those video games, you might also want to borrow a pedometer! Or how about museum passes for family admission to the National Gallery, Museum of Science and Technology or the Museum of Nature or even a three-in-one pass for the War Museum, the Museum of Civilization and the Canadian Children’s Museum? And that’s not even mentioning all the cool stuff you can download for your handheld devices! Phew!

Day 5: Go for a nature walk

Ottawa is criss-crossed and surrounded by gorgeous open spaces with easy walking paths perfect for families and even easily negotiated with strollers. Stop at the Bulk Barn and invest 35 cents for a big bag of bird seed, then head out to Mer Bleu Bog in the east, Hog’s Back trail in the middle of town, the Stony Swamp in the west and spend some time feeding the chickadees. Simply put a little seed in your hand and the chickadees will land on your fingers to feed — I’ve yet to meet a kid or adult who wasn’t charmed by this one!

Day 6: Take advantage of free museum days

Starting in December through the winter months, the animal barns at the Agriculture Museum (aka the Experimental Farm) are open on a pay-what-you-can basis. And the fabulous Children’s Museum at the Canadian Museum of Civilization and the National Gallery are both free on Thursdays after 5 pm.

Day 7: Visit free local attractions

Did you know that Watson’s Mill in Manotick is haunted by the bride of the first owner, killed tragically just days after the Mill opened in 1851? Or that there is a free Currency Museum in the heart of downtown Ottawa? Other free local attractions include the Nepean Museum, Pinhey’s Point (admission by donation), the Goulbourn Museum, the Osgoode Township Historical Society and Museum, and Vanier’s Museopark.

Isn’t that amazing? So entertaining the family doesn’t have to break the bank! If you’re looking for more ideas for free or inexpensive family fun in Ottawa, try these posts for some ideas. And please do feel free to share your ideas for frugal family fun in Ottawa in the comment box!

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Ho! Ho! Holy Christmas, can you believe it’s that time of year again already?! Time for the 6th annual Christmas/Santa/Holiday Parade round-up! Wheeee! (I’ve pinned this post to the front page for the Christmas season.)

Did you know that a truly dedicated Santa fan could visit sixteen holiday parades this season in Eastern Ontario alone? Or that the busiest weekend for multiple parades is November 25 through 27, with a dozen parades over three days – from Brockville to Gatineau! If you’re up for the challenge, here’s this year’s schedule, in chronological order:

Kanata Santa Claus Parade
Saturday, November 12 2011, starting at 10:00 am. The parade will proceed onto Castlefrank Road, turning onto Abbeyhill Drive and on to Hazeldean Mall.

Kemptville Kinsmen Santa Claus Parade
Saturday, November 19 2011, starting at 1:00 pm. The parade will begin to travel east on Clothier St. before turning right onto Prescott St. Floats will entertain parade-goers the length of Prescott St., before turning right into the University of Guelph-Kemptville Campus.

Ottawa Help Santa Toy Parade
Saturday, November 19 2011 starting at 5:00 pm. The parade will start at the National Archives on Wellington street, head east on Wellington Street and then turn right on Bank Street. It will continue south on Bank Street then turn left on Laurier Avenue, continue east on Laurier Avenue past City Hall and onto the Queen Elizabeth Driveway. New toys (no used toys, please) and cash donations will be collected by the Ottawa Firefighters.

15th Annual Barrhaven Lions Club Light Up the Night Santa Claus Parade
Sunday, November 20 2011, starting at 5:30 pm. The parade runs down Strandherd Drive, starting at Beatrice Drive and ending at the park n ride, where it turns north for dispersal.

Gatineau Santa Claus Parade
Friday, November 25 2011, starting at 7:00 pm. A tradition that goes back several years, this light-filled parade that departs from the Aylmer marina attracts crowds from the entire region.

Brockville Santa Claus Parade
Saturday, November 26 2011, starting at 2:00 pm.The Brockville Rotary Santa Claus Parade will start at North Agusta Road and Pearl Street then travel West on Pearl Street E. to Park Street, South on Park Street and lastly, West on King Street to Gilmore Street. The parade will feature many floats, bands, horses, clowns, community groups, dignitaries and finally the star attraction, Santa himself. Volunteers will collect non-perishable goods, snowsuit donations and letters to Santa.

8th Annual Carleton Place Santa Parade
Saturday, November 26 2011 starting at 5:00 pm. Thousands of spectators, over one hundred floats, and one jolly St. Nick will meet downtown Carleton Place on Bridge Street for the largest Santa Claus parade in the Ottawa Valley. This year’s theme is ‘A Christmas Gift.’

Pembroke Santa Claus Parade of Lights
Saturday, November 26 2011, starting at 5:30 pm. The theme of this years’ parade is ‘Twelve Days Of Christmas.’

Orleans Parade of Lights 2011
Saturday, November 26 2011 starting at 6:00 pm. Once again the Ottawa Professional Firefighters Association will be hosting Santa’s Parade of Lights on St-Joseph Blvd. in Orleans. Toy and cash donations will be collected by firefighters along the route.

Arnprior Parade
Saturday, November 26 2011 starting at 6:00 pm.

Embrun Village Santa Claus Parade
Saturday, November 26 2011 starting at 6:30 pm.

Stittsville Parade of Lights 2011
Saturday, November 26 2011 starting at 7:30 pm.

Smiths Falls Santa Parade
Sunday, November 27 2011, time unknown.

Russell Village Christmas Parade
Sunday, November 27 2011, starting at 1 pm.

Rockland Christmas Parade of Lights
Sunday, November 27 2011, starting at 4:30 pm. Parade runs on Laurier Street

Casselman Santa Claus Parade
Sunday, November 27 2011, starting at 5:00 pm

Vankleek Hill Christmas Parade of Light
Friday, December 2 2011 at 7:00 p.m. Watch for Santa on his float! Visit with Santa before the Parade! Santa’s village will be from 4:30 to 6:45 p.m. at The Review, 76 Main Street East, Vankleek Hill. Santa will be on hand with his helpers and will have goodies for each little visitor! The street lights will be turned off for this Special Occasion. Come out and enjoy the Christmas Spirit. (Hey, did you know Vankleek Hill is the Gingerbread Capital of Ontario?!?)

Richmond Santa Claus Parade
Saturday, December 3 2011, starting at 11:00 am. Later that night at 6 pm, enjoy the annual “Lighting of the Park.”

Osgoode Santa Parade
Saturday, December 3 2011. Don’t miss “Christmas in the Village” while you’re there!

Manotick Christmas Parade
Saturday, December 3 2011, starting at 1:00 pm.

Pakenham Santa Claus Parade
Saturday, December 3 2011, starting at 1 pm. The Pakenham Santa Claus Parade is always a wonderful event that takes one back in time. The parade begins in front of the Stewart Community Centre. Santa and Mrs. Claus will make their way to the Upper Hall of the community centre following the parade where they will be available to meet with children of all ages. Complimentary hot chocolate and hot dogs will be served. There is also free public skating from 2 to 3 pm following the parade.

Perth Santa Claus Parade
Saturday, December 3 2011, starting at 5:00 pm.

Hawkesbury Santa Claus Parade
Saturday December 3 2011, starting at 7:00 pm. Let yourself be carried away by the magic of this beautiful tradition which will unravel on Hawkesbury’s Main Street.

Picton Santa Claus Parade
Sunday, December 4 2011, starting at 1:00 p.m. The parade route begins McFarland Drive (at the Beer Store) and continues through Main Street to the intersection of Highway 33, Talbot & Lake Streets (at the LCBO), there will be great viewing along the entire route.

Almonte Santa Claus Parade
Sunday, December 4 2011, starting at 1:30 pm. The parade begins at the Almonte Community Centre Parking Lot. Santa and Mrs. Claus will make their way to the Upper Hall of the community centre following the parade where they will be available to meet the children. Hot chocolate and hot dogs will be served compliments of the Almonte Lions Club. There will also be free public skating from 2 to 4 pm. Enjoy an afternoon of celebration and fun.

Carp Santa Claus Parade
Saturday, December 10 2011, starting at 1 p.m. Parade Route starts at The Diefenbunker (3911 Carp Rd) and follows Carp Road to Juanita Street to Langstaff Drive, then turns right onto Donald B. Munro Drive to Carp Road finishing back at the Diefenbunker.

Note: I had to drop a few towns this year as I couldn’t find any information about Metcalfe, Gananoque, Cornwall or Rockland. If you have any info about these parades, please let me know and I’ll update the listings!

And don’t fret if you can’t make it to the parade – how about one of these other fun family events with a holiday theme in our region?

Santa’s Arrival Pajama Party at St Laurent Mall
Stay in your PJ’s and welcome Santa to the St Laurent Mall on Sunday, November 13th from 9 – 10 a.m in the food court. Santa will stay at the mall until 4 p.m. that day. Festivities include a pancake breakfast, holiday craft-making, live music and prize giveaways, including Ottawa Senators tickets. Tickets are $7, free for kids under age two, but all the proceeds go to the Ottawa Food Bank.

Christmas Lights Across Canada
Each year, the National Capital Commission coordinates the Christmas Lights Across Canada program. The Christmas Lights program was launched in 1985 to brighten the Ottawa winter, and at first the lights were only on Parliament Hill, but over the years the program expanded. Now, Ottawa and Gatineau glow each winter with more tha 300,000 Christmas lights at over 60 sites along Confederation Boulevard. The program also includes all 13 provincial and territorial capitals, making it Christmas Lights Across Canada. You can watch the lighting ceremony on Parliament Hill on Thursday December 1, starting at 6 pm. Here’s my shivery, embarrassingly amateur video of the 2006 lighting ceremony (you can see why I’m a photographer and not a videographer!!)

Upper Canada Village: Alight at Night
Over a quarter million lights adorn the heritage buildings, trees and fences of Upper Canada Village creating a one-of-a-kind magical backdrop for its annual Alight at Night Festival… a true winter wonderland! See the lights Thursday to Sunday from 4:30 pm to 9:00 pm starting December 2, 2011, and then nightly from December 19 – January 7 2012. (Closed December 24 & 25, 2011)

Manotick’s Olde Fashioned Christmas
Saturday December 3 and Sunday December 4, 2011. The Village is transformed into a Village of Yesteryear. There will be a Victorian Tea and Penny Sale, horse-drawn wagon rides, pictures with Santa, face painting, strolling carollers and more. I’m looking forward to the Sunset Carolling at Watson’s Mill!

2010 Canadian Pacific Holiday Train
The Canadian Pacific Holiday Train hits the rails again in November, visiting over 140 communities. Since the program’s inception back in 1999, more than $5.6 million and over 2.45 million pounds of food has been collected in Canada and the United States. The goal of the Holiday Train is to collect food and money for local food banks and to raise awareness in the fight against hunger. At each event, the Holiday Train provides a box car stage, a line up of great musical talents and a corporate contribution to the local food bank. The community, in turn, is encouraged to donate food and funds, all of which stays in the community. Local stops include Smiths Falls at 8:00 pm on November 27 and Perth on November 28 2011 at 9:40 am.

Trees of Hope at the Chateau Laurier
Visit the Chateau Laurier for the tree lighting ceremony and silent auction November 28. The silent auction features over 300 items and the trees will be on display throughout public spaces of the hotel from Monday, November 29th to Wednesday, January 5th. During this time, the public is invited to drop by , vote on their favourite tree, and make a donation to CHEO.

Alexandria Festival of Lights
November 26 to January 1st, from 5 to 10 pm nightly. This is a community event that not only brings forth colorful trees but unique and individual displays from businesses, schools, and local organizations. There is no entrance fee into the festival for either the exhibitors or the public. Events include wagon rides, pictures with Santa and a scavenger hunt, plus fireworks on New Year’s Eve.

If I’ve missed anything, or if you’d like to share information about your family-friendly Ottawa Christmas or Holiday event, please feel free to leave a comment or e-mail me at danicanada (at) gmail (dot) com and I’d be happy to add them to this post!

Let the holiday craziness begin!

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Had a great afternoon out picking pumpkins at Miller’s Farm again this year! Want more details? See last year’s post.

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I simply had to interrupt my series of post-Blissdom Canada posts to share this awesome Halloween fun idea with you!

Last night, I was loading the dishwasher and checking homework and doing laundry and preparing lunches and all the other fun things we do between dinnertime and bedtime when I heard a very faint knock on the door. I figured it was Beloved, who had been teaching late, and that one of the kids had slipped the lock on the door, so sent Lucas to open the door for him. When Lucas reported that nobody was there, I stuck my nose out, wondering if maybe the screen door had come loose again.

This was sitting on the porch:

A plastic cauldron filled with inexpensive Halloween treats and toys, dropped anonymously on the porch — how amazing is that?! The boys and I were tickled orange and black! Also in the cauldron were two pieces of paper. One had a big black BOO printed on it, and the other had a happy little Halloween poem and a set of instructions that said:

1. Enjoy your treat.
2. Place your BOO on your front door.
3. Now you have 24 hours to copy this twice, make 2 treats, copy 2 BOOs and secretly deliver them to 2 neighbours who do not have a BOO on their front door.
4. Then watch how far this spreads by Halloween.

Is that not AWESOME? I’d never heard of anything like this, but Twitter seemed to have heard of this and called it “ghosting” and “BOOing” — apparently it’s a thing now. And don’t you want to totally start it in your neighbourhood? Well, you should! And to help, I’ve scanned the original poem and BOO sign and saved them as PDFs in dropbox, so you can print out your own copies and start the BOO flowing in your neighbourhood!

What fun! Now I’m off to BOO two of my neighbours, too!

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Wow, did you see the forecast for this weekend? I don’t know if I’ve ever eaten Thanksgiving dinner in shorts before – yowza, it’s going to be a spectacular weekend!

Here’s five quick ideas of ways you can get out of the house and celebrate Thanksgiving in Ottawa:

1. Admire the fall foliage at Gatineau Park
The National Capital Commission is offering a program called Follies of the Fall Forest, a two-hour guided hike along the Sugarbush Trail including lessons on identifying trees and discussions of why exactly leaves change colour. And it’s FREE!

2. Manotick Harvest Festival
This runs Saturday October 8 from 11 until 4 pm. There will be horse-drawn wagon rides, pumpkin painting and face painting for kids, a harvest market, and you can visit Watson’s Mill, among other activities. The village is beautiful in the fall – well worth the drive!

3. Celebrate the harvest at a local farmers market
Is there any better way to celebrate the harvest than fresh, local food? This weekend marks the last weekend for many local farmers’ markets, so it’s time to get out and stock up! This website has a great list of local markets with hours and locations.

4. Saunders Farm
It’s Haunting Season at Saunders Farm, with a list of activities that seems to grow each time I visit the website. Giant jumping pillows, fairy gardens, pedal racing, mazes – there’s more than a full day of fun here.

5. Take some family pictures
The autumn light is soft and flattering, and you simply can’t beat the backdrop of colourful fall foliage. Why not get out and take some family portraits this weekend! (That’s what I’ll be doing!) Last year, I wrote a post with five suggestions for great places in and around Ottawa to take family portraits, but heck, at this time of year it’s hard to find a bad location for pictures!

Got any other tips to share? What will you be doing to celebrate this summer – erm, I mean AUTUMN long weekend?

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As you know, I’ve embraced the semi-rural life on Ottawa’s outskirts. It seems this time of year is rich with festivals, fairs and farmer’s markets. Here’s three suggestions for fun family activities outside of the city’s urban core this weekend!

1. Manotick’s Picnic in the Park and Soap Box Derby
Come out to Centennial Park in Manotick on Sunday from noon until 3 pm to see the soap box derby races, and stay for the old fashioned family picnic games! The Manotick Village and Community Association provides food, fun for the kids and music in the pavillion. Visit their website for more details.

2. The Richmond Fair
The Richmond Fair runs all weekend at the Richmond Fairgrounds, 6121 Perth Street in Richmond. There will be a midway, petting zoo and pony rides, as well as a lawn tractor pull, demolition derby and musical entertainment. We loved it last year!

3. Osgood Museum’s Fall Harvest Festival

The Osgoode Museum (7814 Lawrence Street in Vernon) will be hosting their very first Fall Harvest Festival on Saturday September 17 from 10 am to 4 pm. There will be fruit, vegetable and craft market vendors, local corn, apple cider and pumpkin pie. Go bobbing for apples and participate in the scarecrow-making contest and horseshoe tournament. Admission is free – you can’t beat the price!

It’s going to be a beautiful weekend – how will you get out and enjoy it?

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Apple-picking is one of my favourite summer-into-fall family traditions. On a crisp autumn day, there is nothing better than blue skies, green grass and fresh red apples. And there is no better snack than a tartly sweet juicy apple – I’m drooling just thinking about it!

The apple-picking season is just getting underway here in Ottawa, and there is no shortage of great places to go — so no excuse not to get out and enjoy the fresh air before another endless winter is upon us.

I found this great list of apple orchards in and around Ottawa - there are more than a dozen of them! Here’s a few of our favourites.

1. Kilmarnock Orchard

This is my hands-down favourite place for apple-picking. Kilmarnock is about an hour south of town, along the Rideau River just around the corner from Merrickville. It’s picture-postcard lovely, and after you’ve picked your bushels full, you can poke on over to Merrickville, the “jewel of the Rideau” for lunch and boutique shopping. I wrote this post after our first visit in 2005, and here’s another one from 2009. (Stay tuned for the 2011 version soon!)

2. Cannamore Orchard

While Cannamore Orchards, also a little less than an hour south of town, may not be *quite* as picturesque as Kilmarnock, it has a lot of other fun stuff to engage and entertain kids of all ages. There are wagon rides, mazes, play structures, and even a few animals to pet. I blogged our Cannamore adventure from 2007 here.

3. Apple Hill Fruit Farm

If you’d like something a little closer to home, how about the Apple Hill Fruit Farm on Jockvale, just off Prince of Wales beside Stonebridge/Barrhaven? The Welch family has been operating this small pick-your-own and pre-picked apple orchard for more than half a century!

What say ye, bloggy peeps? Any other hidden apple orchard treasures in the national capital region worth checking out?

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You know how you set out at the beginning of summer with a kind of a checklist in your mind called “fun things we must achieve as a family in order to consider this summer a success”? What, it’s only me that sees summer fun as a project to be achieved?

Anyway, this summer took an odd turn when I found out on the day before I went on vacation that I had to invest a good portion of my summer holiday preparing for my French exam. It all ended well, but it was definitely one of the more stressful summer vacations, and the summer family adventure checklist went out the window. While we had lots of little excursions, I feel like the list of ideas in my head has more left undone than done. It’s kind of a vacation version of my eyes being bigger than my stomach — my perception of our capacity for summer adventures was a little out of alignment with the actual circumstances of our summer. Having said that, here’s five ideas for Ottawa family adventures that we didn’t quite get around to doing this summer.

1. Port Elmsley Drive-In Theatre

I’ve been twitchy to go to eastern Ontario’s only drive-in theatre for years. We used to go all the time as kids and later as teenagers — I’ve always loved the drive-in. This one is about an hour’s drive from Ottawa, just outside of Smiths Falls. This is the last weekend of the season, and they’re playing the Smurf movie. We’ll definitely have to put this one near the top of the list for next summer!

2. EcoOdyssée

This is another adventure I’ve been meaning to check out for years. It’s a mixture of a pedal-boat adventure, mazes and a sort of eco-scavenger hunt. From their website:

Located on an enchanting site, Eco-Odyssée is a water maze that comprises an estimated 60 intersections spread out over more than 6km. Choose the adventure that suits you and enjoy the splendor of the marsh environment from your paddle boat. Learn to identify the numerous animal and plant species that live in the marsh, concealed within the forest’s greenery. You will be charmed by this journey of discovery.

They’re located just past Wakefield in Quebec, about half an hour from downtown Ottawa.

3. Dow’s Lake pedal boat and canoe rental

Don’t feel like the full-meal-deal for the EcoOdyssée? How about a leisurely pedal across Dow’s Lake? You can rent pedal-boats, canoes and kayaks. I may still find the time to cram this one in!

4. Lafleche Aerial Adventures and Caves

This one is on the Quebec side of the river too – maybe that’s why we never quite got enough momentum to make our way over there? Regardless, this seems like an awesome day of adventure to me! Lafleche seems to offer something for everyone — treetop rope bridges, zip lines, rock climbing, and cave spelunking. I can’t wait to check this one out some day!

5. Chasing the sunset at Britannia Beach

The beach is officially closed for the summer (boo!) but you should take advantage of the earlier sunset and take the family to watch the sun set from the point at Britannia Beach.

There are rocks to climb, ducks to chase (or, erm, feed) and stones to be skipped into calm waters. For those of us who spent a summer landlocked, it’s a beautiful way to enjoy the spectacular beauty of the sun setting across the water. We may yet head out this weekend, if the weather holds out.

While summer may be over, I have lots of ideas left to share (and apparently lots of adventures yet to achieve!) If you enjoyed these, I may continue the Friday Family Fun series on a more sporadic basis through the fall and winter. And if you’ve got insight into any of the adventures I mentioned today, I’d love to hear your thoughts!

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Here’s a quick and simple idea for Friday Family Fun: pop some popcorn, find some sugary snacks and pop a movie into the player of your choice. Such a simple pleasure, and the boys LOVE it when we do this. It’s especially delicious if you’re willing to let them stay up half an hour or an hour past their bedtime on movie night. Is there anything better than snuggling under a blanket, sharing a popcorn bowl and watching a movie together after a busy day of summer fun?

To give you something new to share on your next family movie night, I’m happy to offer brand-new-in-the-wrapper copies of Diary of a Wimpy Kid and the sequel, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Roderick Rules, thanks to our friends at GCI Group.

Want to win one? Here’s how!

1. To enter, leave a comment on this post suggesting a great movie choice for a family movie night.
2. One entry per person.
3. The prize is a set of two DVDs, Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Roderick Rules.
4. Contest opens today, August 19 and runs through Tuesday August 23, 2011 at noon EDT.
5. One winner will be chosen via random.org and announced on this post by Wednesday, August 24.
6. Winners must reside in Canada or the USA. You must be willing to share your mailing address with me to receive the prize

.

Good luck!

Edited to add: It pays to be quick! Congratulations to commenter #1, Steve Wynn! Enjoy the movies!!

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In a way, it feels like summer is almost over. I’m back at work this week, while Beloved has one week left. The boys have another two weeks after that, but really, the sun and warmth of summer carries on for weeks after that.

Today’s Friday Family Fun is a great summer treat, but you might want to choose one of those fresh fall days instead of the breathlessly muggy day we chose. We trekked out to Karter’s Korners go-karts and mini-golf and had one of our best adventures of the summer.

I’ve known of Karter’s Korners, eastern Ontario’s largest go-karting track, for years. We have friends with older boys, and have heard them talk about how much fun they had. I was a little concerned about whether our boys were old enough to enjoy — or even accomplish! — go-karting. As usual, I needn’t have worried.

They have two types of go-karts. Riders taller than 54” tall can drive their own kart, and they have a handful of doubles so younger riders can ride with a parent. It worked out perfectly for us that Lucas and I shared one kart while Simon and Beloved shared another, and Tristan drove his (eek!) own.

O!M!G! Did we ever have fun! The track is just a smidge short of a mile long, with a couple of bends and corners and at least one hair-pin turn. We’d bought one of those groupon-type deals that gave us each four loops around the track and a round of putt-putt, which was just the right amount of fun for us.

At first, I was concerned that Tristan might not be able to drive his kart on his own, but he did a fine job. This is me taking a picture of Tristan while zooming around in my own kart, one arm around Lucas, one hand on the camera, one hand on the wheel, tearing down the track at a speed I’d rather not consider. Don’t tell my mom!

After that, we got the boys each a ball and putter and set them loose on the putt-putt range, one of those fun old-skool ones with a windmill and a loop-the-loop and other classic obstructions. It was pretty much pandemonium, and I’m sure the boys managed to break every official rule of mini-golf (Lucas was especially funny, picking up his ball randomly and placing it within six inches of the hole so he could putt it in!) but they had a good time and didn’t bother anyone else so we didn’t care.

Karter’s Korners also has a mini-ATV track where kids under 54″ can drive their own vehicles, a driving range, an arcade, and a little canteen. In other words, pretty much everything you need to keep the kids engaged for a full afternoon of fun. It’s not an inexpensive family outing, but it’s frankly comparable in price to what it cost to bring everyone to the movie theatre last week, and way more fun. Plan your trip for a discount Tuesday and save a few pennies — or play a little longer!

I don’t know who had more fun, the kids or the grownups. Beloved is already talking about heading back and trying a few more laps. Karter’s Korners truly is an Ottawa adventure the whole family can enjoy!

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I love the idea of camping. Fresh air, change of scenery, the great outdoors, campfires and sleeping under the stars. Unfortunately, I’m a bit of a princess and also love nine hours of sleep. In a bed, not on the ground. And not within arm’s reach of my entire family.

That’s why I really love the idea of a backyard camp out — the less diva-ish members of the family (that is, everybody except me!) can sleep in a tent, but there’s no 500 meter hike to the nasty outdoor loo in the middle of the night, and if it pours the farthest you have to run is across the patio to safety. Also? No bears.

Yesterday was just about the most perfect day imaginable for a camp out. Warm sunny day, cool dry night. We had a camp-ish supper of sausages, salads, and (I swear, I didn’t plan it maliciously!) beans. Then we stoked up the fire pit and had s’mores for dessert. If you don’t have a fire pit in your back yard, you can always do these on the BBQ, too!

The kids couldn’t wait to get their jammies on, and Beloved and I laughed at the steady stream of “mandatory” supplies that migrated into the tent: favourite blankies and pillows and stuffies and comic books and more blankets and more books. One handheld electronic game was intercepted and denied. The kids couldn’t wait to get to bed – should have thought of this years ago!

I listened with half an ear most of the night, expecting to hear the patio door sliding open and little feet seeking softer beds, but they all made it until dawn in the tent. Lucky for me, I was already awake — Willie couldn’t find anyone else to torment at 5 am and had been chasing dust motes across my bed for more than half an hour when the kids tumbled in, boisterous and happy after their night in the tent.

And the best part of backyard camping? You don’t need to re-stoke the fire to have that first, and very necessary, cup of coffee in the morning!

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I absolutely love this idea! I was recently asked by the Manotick Village and Community Association to help spread the word about a fantastic family event coming up the third week in September: they’re staging their annual Picnic in the Park, and one of the new features this year will be a soapbox derby. Is that awesome or what?

A soapbox racer (originally built from a wooden soap or orange crate and rollerskate wheels) is simply a non-motorized car that uses a slope, gravity and a big push to power it. You can build your own based on the specifications on the Manotick VCA website, or there are kits available for purchase online. Or maybe there’s one tucked away in grandpa’s shed, waiting for a little WD40 and TLC? Wouldn’t it be fun spending a few days this summer building, test-driving and decorating a soapbox racer with the family? No batteries, no wires, no video screens allowed!

Here are a few of the details:

• registration costs $25 per racer, and you must register before August 31. However, there is a limit on number of participants, so register early to ensure you get a spot!
• the derby will be held Sunday September 18 starting at 10:00.
• minimum age of a driver is 7 years.
• each racer is guaranteed four races, and you don’t have to have the same person driving for each race.
• racers must wear a helmet with chin strap, eye protection and gloves. (The mom in me needed to get that part out there!)

And even if you don’t build and enter a racer, come on out to the Picnic in the Park in Manotick’s Centennial Park on September 18 to cheer on the racers. A picnic and an old-fashioned soapbox derby? I don’t think it gets more family-friendly than that!

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I was in Costco the other day and they had the back-to-school supplies out already. Nooooooo! I’m not ready!!! Yeesh, summer has barely begun!

And yet, when the kids are restless, those long summer days can seem less like something to be enjoyed and more like something to be endured. For this week’s version of Friday Family Fun, here’s five crafty ideas that will keep kids engaged – for a few minutes, at least!

1. Make-yer-own sidewalk paint

I love this craft, and had no idea how easy it would be to make nor how easy it would be to clean up!! I wrote a post all about how to make-your-own sidewalk paint with nothing more than corn starch, water and food colouring last year.

2. Make-yer-own moon sand

Confession: we haven’t tried this one yet, but I’ve seen it all over the Interwebs this summer. Apparently, if you mix 4 cups of sand, 2 cups of corn starch and 1 cup of water, you get the equivalent of that mouldable Moon sand stuff. I think this would be really fun to try with that fancy Crayola coloured sand, which would give more than enough for each boy to have his own bin full.

3. Make-yer-own playdough

If moon sand isn’t your thing, how about some home-made playdough? We got this kool-aid playdough recipe from Simon’s nursery school years ago, and I really like how it turns out. You’ll need

1 1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup salt
1 pkg unsweetened Kool-aid (the mini-ones)
1 cup boiling water
1 1/2 Tbsp vegetable oil

In a bowl, mix flour, salt and dry kool-aid mix. Boil water and add with oil to dry mix. Be careful, it’s hot! Allow to cool a bit but while still warm knead with hands for about 5 minutes. Will store for up to two months in a Ziploc bag.

4. Beads

We make a trip out to the local bead store each summer. Once upon a time, I thought of beads as more of a girl thing, but I couldn’t be more wrong – all the boys I know love to make beady crafts. And you don’t have to limit yourself to jewelry, either – the boys make nametags for their backpacks and lunchbags, zipper pulls for their jackets, and even name collars for their Webkinz pets. I usually buy a big bag of pony beads and alphabet beads and some elastic cord at the dollar store, and let them choose half a dozen or so fancy beads each from the bead store, and we’re good for at least an afternoon of entertainment.

5. Rock painting

This is another one on my to-do list for the summer. You’ll need some bright colours of tempra or acrylic paint (not watercolours), some brushes, and various sizes of rocks. Tip: collecting the rocks can be a great way to waste an afternoon – erm, I mean, another way to spend some quality time with your children! You can be ridiculously fancy like Martha Stewart, or aim a little lower and just hope more paint ends up on the rocks than the kids. You can guess which end of the spectrum I fancy!

I also found this neat idea on Pinterest: Use a stamp kit, stencil or transfer to create a whole bunch of alphabet tiles made from small stones. Isn’t that a fun idea?

So there you go, that should keep the wee beasties busy for at least another week, right? As always, please feel free to share your ideas for crafty family fun in the comments!

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