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
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?
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?
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.
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!
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.
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
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.â€
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!
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:
Enjoy your treat.
Place your BOO on your front door.
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.
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!
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? 🙂
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?
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. 😉
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!)
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.
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?
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.
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!
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:
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!
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!
