A great start to summer

The first two days of summer have been pretty much perfect so far.  Yes, it was raining cats and dogs the first day and yesterday saw a cold wind blow in but that has had no affect on the perfection rating.

On Friday, we met lots of friends at the Museum of Science and Technology where we let our kids run wild and free and took in  a great physics demonstration by one of the excellent museum demonstrators/teachers.  I whispered to my friend that the kids probably learned more at that demonstration than they'd learned the entire last day of school. They were all really engaged with it and two of our group got to go up as volunteers.  Anna was even brave enough to risk having her face smushed by a swinging bowling ball.

I ended up coming home from the museum with more kids than I went with (thank you, Mazda 5, for making this possible).  The rest of the day was a whirlwind of playing, movie, playing, tea party, playing and then a very wet walk to the library in the rain.  It was such a great day and aside from two of my own kids being a bit whiny at times, everyone got along like a house on fire.

The crazies having lunch

I think they need to work on the drainage system at the park.

Yesterday I took the kids strawberry picking to Ovens Berry Farm in Osgoode.  We'd never been there before but we will certainly be going back.  The berries were great, there were very few people picking berries (it was threatening to rain... I have to assume that it is normally busier) AND they have rows and rows of Saskatoon berries as pick-your-own as well.  And no one but us was picking them! They also have pick your own rhubarb and lots of raspberries that they'll be starting to pick next week. The farm has to be the tidiest berry farm I've come across.  And thankfully they have a little play structure for the kids when they give up on picking (about 15 minutes into the process).  It's a small farm, just the right size for me.

Filling our baskets

Henry tried it out too but found he was better at sitting and eating.

Three batches made and more to come.

After we got home, the kids played Wii for a while and helped me make freezer jam (I am amazed how quickly Saskatoon jam sets) before we headed to our local wading pool.  Unfortunately it was closed - I continue to be flummoxed by how arbitrarily our wading pool is closed.  It seems to be at the discretion of the lifeguards but really? It wasn't raining, it was a bit on the cool side but there were kids there when we arrived who were equally disappointed that they couldn't swim.  The sprinkler park kept Henry happy while the girls played on the playground.  We ended the day with three very tired kids and more freezer jam.

Henry brings a lot of joy to the sprinkler park.

March Break 2012: Friday

Wow, March Break flew by quickly!  Too quickly, in my opinion.  The girls and I both have wished out loud that there was another week off.  That must mean that they've had a great time at home.  In other words: mission accomplished... and with very little stress or distress for me!

Yesterday was a day full of adventures.  We left the house by 9:30 to get to the giant Asian grocery chain near us, T&T Supermarket in order to get a few things for the pad thai I was making for dinner last night.  Unfortunately, T&T has a pathetic assortment of South Asian supplies, focussing more on Chinese and Korean products.  I had to get tamarind or the pad thai wasn't going to happen so I made the decision that we'd have to head to Chinatown at some point yesterday.

But first, it was time to make our way to the Museum of Science and Technology for the Franklin reading by author Paulette Bourgeois.  Pulling into the museum parking lot, it looked as though every other family in Ottawa had the same idea.  Turns out that most of them were there to see the usual exhibits and we were near the front of the line for Franklin and only had to wait about five minutes before they opened the doors to the auditorium.  We had second row seats, a perfect view of the stage.  We were all excited!

Hard to tell but I did brush her hair before leaving the house!

Old enough for his own seat now.

All ready for the big show.

Paulette's reading chair.  Reminds me of The Friendly Giant.  As you can tell, we were up close and personal.

And out came Paulette who does a great presentation about how she came up with the idea of Franklin, with an excellent slideshow to go along with it. And, unlike some authors who read their own work, she is GREAT at reading to an audience, doing different voices and adding little tidbits of information to the story. 

Smartly, they projected the pages of the book on a big screen.

Paulette laughing with big, creepy Franklin.  A girl behind us was in tears.

After her reading was done, she invited everyone to get in line for her to sign books (we brought a few with us) and to have photos taken with the giant Franklin guy (some guy in a Franklin suit).  The line was huge so we went into our favourite exhibit: the light tunnels, which have a better name than that but I can't remember it.  After a snack break, we headed back toward the line.  Still too long!  We decided to forgo getting the books signed and head to Chinatown for our ingredients (and maybe a fun lunch).

I parked right near the newish (okay, not that new... but new in the last five years or so) Chinatown gate which I love and reminds me of the gate in Edmonton.  Kowloon Market, our destination was very close as was the dim sum restaurant and an all-you-can-eat sushi place.  Everything was at our fingertips it seemed. 

Posing with the lions who welcome you to Chinatown.

The big newish gate.

Chinatown is a great mix of old standbys, like the place pictured above, and newer restaurants (none of which, thankfully, are chichi). 

Lots of this in the windows.

We went to Kowloon first.  I used to shop there semi-regularly when we lived on Preston St.  It was close and was the best Asian market in Ottawa, in my opinion.  But them we moved south and T&T opened closeby and I never go to Kowloon anymore.  I think that may change.  First, T&T is always so crowded and I find it so hard to find anything because there is so much product.  While Chinatown parking isn't always easy, the drive to get there is about the same and I can find everything I need, including lots of tamarind!  In different forms!  Even different brands of the same product.  Hooray!  And, for added entertainment, the live fish, clams etc are all at kid's eye level.  Everyone was happy! 

We left Kowloon with our purchases and looked at the menu at the sushi joint and decided to try it.  I'm so glad we did.  The food was great, ordering easy and delivery fast, the kids all found something they loved (even Hope who decided that she loves plain old cucumber rolls while Henry ate his weight in edamame).  Emily and I snarfed lots of different kinds of sushi.  Ye's Sushi in Waterloo is still my favourite all-you-can-eat sushi but this is at least an Ottawa replacement.

Henry trying out his chopsticks.

Hope found spearing the sushi was the best way to do it.

The afternoon consisted of cleaning and preparing dinner.  We had some good friends and their kids over last night.  Fun had by all.  And the pad thai was spectacular!
It really was a great March Break.  We did a lot but didn't break the bank and the kids were really happy to stay at home this year.  Hope was not interested in reliving the barfing-in-the-car-travelling-to-Papa's experience this year.  And neither was I.

I think you can call it a successful break if everyone is left wishing for more.

March Break 2012: Thursday

Yesterday was largely another at-home day. I spent the morning doing some cleaning and allowed the kiddies to lounge in front of the t.v. for a while.  After I put the kibosh on that, it was craft time and play time.  I continued to clean while the kids played.  In fact, I did a major spring clean project: I took everything out of the front hall closet (I should have taken before and after photos), mopped the floor inside the closet, cleaned the baseboards, sorted through things and reorganized.  It felt so good to have that done.

Soon after that, John came home and I packed up our swimming stuff and put Henry to bed.  Turns out that he wouldn't nap at all and John had to eventually retrieve him and bring him to the basement to watch a little b-ball.

Meanwhile, the girls and I headed to Splash Wave Pool for some super-duper wave action fun.... along with every other family in Ottawa, apparently.  I have never been to that pool when it was so busy.  Even over Christmas holidays it wasn't as busy as it was yesterday.  It was total insanity.  Which meant the wave pool was a mixture of squeals of delight as we were lifted up high by the waves and annoyance as people rode on top of us with their foam surf thingies. 

Our system was to rotate from wave pool to water slide (super fun!) to warm pool and back to wave pool again.  My personal favourite was the water slide.  I could have done that over and over again but I could only convince Emily to do it once so we had to take that out of our rotation.  Boo.

The girls had a great time and felt going to Splash was the big outing of the week, making up for the decision to not go to Cosmic Adventures (a huge indoor playground).  I'm so glad I opted for this instead as it saved a bundle of money - Cosmic would have cost about $60 not including snacks while Splash cost $14 plus about $8 more for a stop at Starbucks after for some warm drinks.  Value for money!  And who can really put a price on being swum over again and again?

I have no photos of our adventure yesterday.  My camera is not waterproof and change-room photos are just creepy.  So, today's post is a photo-less update but tomorrow!  Stay tuned for photos of Paulette and Franklin!  Today's the day!

March Break 2012: Wednesday

There is always a day in a week like this where things don't fall into place as you planned.  Wednesday was that day.  It was still a good day and we had lots of fun but it didn't turn out as we expected.

Our plan was to go to the Science and Technology Museum to hear Paulette Bourgeois read from one of her very famous books, specifically Franklin's School Trip.  Apparently there would be a person dressed up in a Franklin costume, too.  The girls picked out a few Franklin books to have the author sign.

Just before heading out the door, I went online to confirm the time the reading would take place: 10:30.  On Friday.  Oops! 

New plan: Little Ray's Reptile Zoo!  Not far away and I had a Groupon. 

I went online again to retrieve my Groupon only to find that it isn't valid during March Break (of course, should have known).  Oops again! 

Discussion: what should we do today?  Not surprisingly Emily voted to stay home for the day but I insisted we leave the house (for my own sanity).  We settled on something simple: go to The Glebe and check out the chocolate shop, Truffles and Treasures, that I went to the other night with friends and on the way there or back we'd finally drop off all the stuff that's been crowding the car at Salvation Army.

We parked the car and started walking down Bank Street towards the chocolate shop when we found a new-to-me bike shop that seemed to focus a lot on kids and family bikes.  We popped in to look at their helmet selection and left with a very cool new helmet for Hope.  The shop was called Joe Mamma and I will definitely be going there again.  The staff was really friendly, knowledgeable AND there was adog in there that kept Henry so distracted that he didn't knock any bikes over.  Miracle!  I'm thinking we may get Henry a scoot bike for his birthday and I'll definitely be getting it there.

Henry took an immediate shine to Hope's helmet and wore it like a uniform for the rest of our time in The Glebe.

This is Henry's usual pose for having a photo taken.  Don't know why but it's darn cute.

All read to try some chocolate.

We finally arrived at Truffles and Treasures.  The kids were mesmerized by the chocolate-making video that was playing.  I was taken (yet again) with the colours, smells and displays. 

Not only does the place smell sensational but it's a feast for the eyes as well.

These are the chocolate pieces they use to make hot chocolate... my neighbour comes here just to buy them to make hot chocolate at home.  It's that good.

I bought the chocolate-dipped marshmallows last time I was in and the girls claimed they were homemade marshmallows and the best thing ever.

Next time, I'll be trying this...

....or maybe this... if I have a team to eat it with me.

The colours of the Turkish Delight were gorgeous and reminded me of Spring.

We ordered hot chocolate from their amazing list of hot chocolate offerings, deciding to split them between us (the cups are huge).  Hazelnut for Hope and Henry and peppermint for Emily and me.  Emily also chose out some chocolate-covered gummie bears to share (ew).  And I bought a Nutkin to share also.

Look at those choices!  So hard to decide.

I did try one.  My verdict was "weird."

The truffle case... I could spend a lot of time taste-testing.

By the time we were done, Emily and I had stomach aches from the sweet richness but we were fueled!  They honestly have the best hot chocolate in town... a bit rich, but a decadent treat.  I highly recommend the peanut butter hot chocolate I had last time.  Although the pepermint was great also.  I also recommend sharing.

This map by the cash shows all the place people have sent or eaten their chocolate.  Wow!

After that little adventure, we headed home with a quick stop at Salvation Army for our drop-off. 

Soon after we got home, it was time to walk across the street for the girls' haircuts.  A woman on my street has a mini-salon in her basement and does great work (and very reasonably priced).  Henry was again entertained by a dog and the girls are neat and tidy for a while now.

During Henry's nap, I sat down with the girls to work on some of Emily's Brownie badges and had Hope do them too, just for fun.  We made time capsules and book posters.  Two more badges completed!

Hope's time capsule.  Seems fitting to use a Girl Guide Cookie box.

The contents of Emily's time capsule.  She had a hard time choosing what to put in there.

After that, it was outside play time.  The girls scooted, I started supper and then brought Henry out after he woke up.  I showed him his new-to-him bike helmet (I know, I know, you're not supposed to transfer helmets from one kid to another.  Moving on....) and he went bananas for it... as you'll soon see.  He was also MILDLY taken with his first ride on the tricycle, throwing a minor fit when I told him I had to go in to cook supper.  Today there will most definitely be more tricycle time.

And for the rest of the day, Henry insisted on wearing his helmet.

While he watched shows on the iPad.  While he ate supper.

Wednesday nights are John's night class.  So, given that it's March Break, I declared it a movie-and-supper-in-the-basement-night.  We watched Barbie Princess Charm School (sounds horrible, I know... but not nearly as bad as I thought... I liked the attempt to focus on character over looks, although there was still a lot of hair, dresses and shoes going on) on my computer as I couldn't figure out how to burn it to DVD, which I've done MANY TIMES so don't think I'm a total computer loser... I just couldn't get it to work last night.  I think my Mac doesn't like the discs we have.   Anywho....

The sweetest moment came when Henry got in trouble for trying to yank Hope's cookie out of her hand and after crying on my lap for a few moments, ran right over to Emily (who wasn't involved in the altercation as victim or disciplinarian) for comfort.  It was so cute.

And that was our Wednesday.  It's funny how things turn out.  I was slightly concerned in the morning that it would turn out to be an "I'm bored!" kind of day... but it didn't at all. 

Today we'll be home during the morning and then I have a surprise planned for the afternoon.  John's coming home early to stay with Henry while I take the girls to the Splash Wave Pool. 

Hopefully it will actually happen!

March Break 2012: Tuesday

We had another lazy morning yesterday.  In fact, it took a lot of convincing to get the girls out of their pyjamas.

Our gorgeous kiddies enjoying the ride together.  Hope looks healthier, doesn't she?

We drove over to our local O-Train station and boarded the train towards Carleton.  John met us at the platform and we walked over to the food court to have lunch together.  The lunch options at the Carleton food court have expanded a lot in the last year or two.  I had a decent red curry chicken over rice.  John had Singapore Vermicelli.  Emily had sushi.  Hope had an A&W hamburger and fries.  Henry oscillated between hamburger, fries, pizza and chocolate milk.  The kids drew a lot of smiles and laughs from the students sitting near by.  I remember how odd it felt to see little kids when I was in university because you almost never see them when you are squirreled away studying and attending classes.  It was always a refreshing glimpse into real life.

Enjoying our lunch in the Carleton Food Court.  We were a spectacle, especially when Henry started doing laps around the tables.

Henry's hair, back view.  He has the most gorgeous curls.  I could just smush my face in there all day long.  Sometimes I do.

We walked John back to his office, where Henry contaminated the elevator and part of the History Department's hallways, before heading back to the train.  When we got back to our stop, we made a quick stop at Bulk Barn where everyone got to choose a small bags of treats to take home.

Henry went for his nap, the girls got to indulge in t.v., I lounged on the couch.  After that rest time, Emily and I headed out into the beautiful sunshine to finish her bird feeder that we've been working on this week.  The girls were really keen to do some woodworking this week and these kits from Rona fit the bill: no cutting required - just gluing, measuring and nailing.  Hope eventually came out too and we started and finished her birdhouse in one afternoon.  The birdhouse kit is definitely the quicker project of the two.  I can see us doing this in Brownies next year.

Emily's bird feeder.  I'm sure the squirrels will really enjoy it.

Hope's almost-completed bird house.  This one was really fun and easy.

After that is was scooting with the neighbours as Henry came out from his nap and played in the "ball pool" and on his cars.

Oh... balls!

It was a simple, easy and wonderful day.  The girls declared it "the best day ever," further evidence that doing something simple but out of the ordinary (meeting Daddy for lunch) can be the most special event of a week.

Today: heading to the Science Museum to meet Paulette Bourgeois, the author of the Franklin books.  Or calling a plumber.  Hopefully the former.