{"id":9516,"date":"2014-06-26T06:52:43","date_gmt":"2014-06-26T11:52:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/danigirl.ca\/blog\/?p=9516"},"modified":"2014-06-25T07:05:23","modified_gmt":"2014-06-25T12:05:23","slug":"canada-day-in-ottawa-tips-and-suggestions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/danigirl.ca\/blog\/2014\/06\/26\/canada-day-in-ottawa-tips-and-suggestions\/","title":{"rendered":"Canada Day in Ottawa: Tips and Suggestions?"},"content":{"rendered":"

W<\/span>ith dozens, probably hundreds, of posts over the last ten years about family-friendly things to in Ottawa, can you believe I’ve never blogged about Canada Day in Ottawa? When we were young and childless, we used to go downtown and do the Hill all the time, and I think I remember battling the crowds once or twice with a stroller, but I just realized that we’ve never brought the boys downtown to enjoy the quintessential Canada Day experience. That will have to wait for another year, as we’ll be in PEI celebrating the sesquicentennial<\/a> of the Charlottetown Accord in Charlottetown on Canada Day 2014. Three more sleeps!!<\/p>\n

This year, my brother and his family will be visiting Ottawa to celebrate Canada Day (nice how they come to town when they hear we’re leaving, eh \ud83d\ude09 At least Willie will have company while we’re out of town!) and they were asking for ideas, so I thought I’d pull together some ideas. Then my bloggy friend Elise mentioned she and her family are planning a special trip to Ottawa to celebrate their first Canada Day as Canadian citizens. How amazing is that? It makes me feel proud and patriotic, and reminds me how easy it is to take our very Canadianness for granted. (Did you know that new Canadians get special cultural passes that allow them free family entry to several Canadian museums and a 50% discount on a ViaRail trip? I love that!)<\/p>\n

Anyway, what we have here are two families who are Canada Day in Ottawa virgins (well, with the exception of my brother, who has done Canada Day on the Hill with me many moons ago), and they need some ideas and suggestions. I’ve pulled together a few links, but what I’d love from you are your tips, ideas and suggestions for navigating the madness downtown with kids. One family will be staying right downtown, and the other will be driving in from Manotick.<\/p>\n

\"Postcards<\/a><\/p>\n

Here’s five great sources of official information for things to do in Ottawa on Canada Day:<\/p>\n

1. Chris Hadfield at the Canada Space and Aviation Museum<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

If I were in town, I’d brave the crowds for this one! Canada’s favourite astronaut will be at the Canada Space and Aviation Museum as part of a fun Canada Day lineup that also includes the Army’s SkyHawk parachute team and Canada’s beloved Snowbirds. I’m sad to be missing this one!<\/p>\n

2. Canada Day in Barrhaven<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Although it’s been years since we’ve been downtown, we’ve enjoyed the Canada Day party in Barrhaven quite a few times. There will be a midway, facepainting, kid crafts, food and more.<\/p>\n

3. NCC information on Canada Day in Ottawa<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Check this link for the official scoop on things to do on Parliament Hill, Majors Hill Park and Jacques Cartier Park.<\/p>\n

4. Capital museums celebrating Canada Day<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

The NCC has put together a big list of museums and other institutions offering Canada Day activities throughout the region, from the Bytown Museum to the Mackenzie King Estate to the NAC, with a nice hourly timetable so you can schedule your day by the minute!<\/p>\n

5. OttawaStart.com’s big Canada Day listings<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

I saved the best for last. You can always count on OttawaStart.com for compiling the best lists of local activities. Check out their list of various community celebrations and more.<\/p>\n

So all of that is a pretty good idea of WHAT to do. Now I need your help, bloggy peeps. Can you share your tips and tricks on HOW to do it? How do you approach the logistics of maneuvering your kids through hundreds of thousands of people on Parliament Hill? Do you go early and\/or stay late? Where are the best places to park your car downtown? Are there some Hill vantage points that are better than others? What are the family-friendliest businesses open for Canada Day? What should you bring, pack or leave behind? What should you avoid at all costs? What did you learn the hard way?<\/p>\n

Please share your best tips, bloggy peeps! I promise I’ll keep it just between us and Google. \ud83d\ude09 And Happy Canada Day to you all, too! <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With dozens, probably hundreds, of posts over the last ten years about family-friendly things to in Ottawa, can you believe I’ve never blogged about Canada Day in Ottawa? When we were young and childless, we used to go downtown and do the Hill all the time, and I think I remember battling the crowds once … Continue reading “Canada Day in Ottawa: Tips and Suggestions?”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73,33],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9516","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ottawa-family-fun","category-ottawas-hidden-treasures"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/danigirl.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9516","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/danigirl.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/danigirl.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/danigirl.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/danigirl.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9516"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"http:\/\/danigirl.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9516\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9525,"href":"http:\/\/danigirl.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9516\/revisions\/9525"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/danigirl.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/danigirl.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/danigirl.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}