Keeping Busy and Having Fun!

Fall is here in full force and even though we are sad that Summer is over we are taking Fall head on! September has always felt somewhat of a New Year and fresh start for me. Back to a routine with scheduled activities and classes, my business really picks back up, we start looking at the year ahead for travel plans and commitments, etc.

With a new fabulous nanny three days a week who likes to take the children to activities and with our regular scheduled activities on the other days we definitely needed a calendar this September to keep track of where we are going and when!

Here are some of the fun activities that Dominic is participating in throughout the Ottawa area……

1. Ontario Early Years Family Literacy Centre
This is a wonderful place that Dominic has been enjoying as part of his every Monday morning routine. They go to the one at Cambridge school. Set up like a preschool or kindergarten classroom children are welcome to go around to various stations or free play. For ages 0-5 and available 9-2 Monday to Friday it is enjoyed by many.

Swim lessons- With numerous swim lesson options with the City of Ottawa and Gatineau we decided to take part in both for twice the fun! Monday’s evenings Dom participates in a low ratio swim class. With only 3 children and one fab teacher it has been well worth the extra money!  Thursday mornings he also participates in a parent and tot swim class with our wonderful caregiver. The class is en francais and he has tons of fun.  Because Gatineau programs are soooo cheap (well in comparison to what we are used to paying in the past for other programs) we have also noticed that classes fill up very very fast. We were lucky to get in to a class!

Making Music Together – Tuesday mornings at the Old Town Hall is a popular spot for children ages 0-4. With the first class filling up they quickly added a second due to the demand.  Dominic enjoys play with instruments, exploring music and singing in songs.  According to our caregiver he also enjoys playing with the other children and sometimes flirting a little bit with another little girl!

Monkey Rock– Wednesday mornings the kids and I head over to Monkey Rock in the Glebe for 45 minutes of singing, dancing, moving, drumming, shaking and more!  Their are smiles on the kids faces the entire time and even little Bella really enjoys the class. This is a fantastic class for children of all ages.

Gatineau Library- The Gatineau Library offers a fantastic program for toddlers that Dominic has been enjoying for almost a year now. They enjoy 30 minutes of story time, a craft that connects to the story and then some songs and an activity. He always comes home with a wonderful craft, an extra colouring sheet to do with the story and excited about the stickers he has received.

Gymnastics– Jumping today mommy? Time for gymnastics? This is quite often a question heard in our home as we love the program at the Ottawa Gymnastics Club.  I have taken children to various gymnastics programs and centres and the one at the Ottawa Gymnastics Club in Westboro has been the best. Structured so the children are learning new skills while still having fun.

Soccer- who wouldn’t want to run around in a room with 2 year olds and a hundred soccer balls being kicked around?! ha!  This 45 minute program is held at an outdoor park on nice fall days and inside a community centre if the weather is not cooperating.  For under $40 this has been a program enjoyed by the whole family as its time for Dominic to socialize with other children, be active and have fun as we participate together.

We are already looking at Winter registrations (gah! Already….I know!!) and are excited for some new programs.  So what programs do you enjoy with your little ones?

Water Fun at Mont Cascade

I am joining in the Summer of Awesome fun that was started by Lynn at Diary of a Turtlehead.  My friend Sara at My Points of View joined in and I decided to jump on board as well!

Mont Cascade is a very short drive from our home and we decided to take a venture over to Mont Cascade with the babe for some afternoon fun.  We went on Fathers Day and I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn’t over crowded even though it was the weekend and the sun was shining brightly.  At $12.95 for an adult admittance fee, a steal in my mind for a waterpark, how can you not go?!

The baby pool has a nice shallow beach entrance that makes it enticing for the wee ones.  I dislike the grainy pool bottom as I find it is not comfortable to sit on and definitely not made for kneeling while splashing with tots.  There are 3 little slides that come down into the baby pool and 2 slightly larger slides that come down into a small pool of water within the slide that bring you to a stop.  With the 3 slides that come down into the baby pool you have the option of a very wide one where multiple people can slide at the same time, one that enters straight into the pool and a third that is curvy.  The 2 large slides that are still made for small children are slightly faster but babe still thoroughly enjoyed whipping down on my lap and continued to point back to the slide to go again!

After our first afternoon there (we spent 2 hours there and that was more than enough with the babe) we purchased a membership on our way out which meant our days admittance fees were subtracted from the membership fee.  At $32.99 we have already paid off our memberships in the 3 times we have gone since Fathers Day!

As a former lifeguard, and NLS instructor, I know that the lifeguards hired at waterparks do not need to have their NLS and most have their bronze cross.  I will say that from what I have seen the last 3 times I have been there I would not let your child go any further than your arms reach.  I have seen a lot of hair flipping, bathing suit strap fixing to ensure no tan lines, chatting with patrons with their back to the pool and sitting in a guard chair with their head lazily resting against their arm.  It scares me to see this because dangerous things happen when around the water very easily.

Take your lunch and snacks as food is allowed on site and the parking lot is very close to the entrance should you wish to leave stuff in your car to get later!  There is also a snack bar and a place to buy drinks but we haven’t checked that out yet as we have been going before dinner for a few hours to cool off and kick back.

We haven’t ventured to the bigger slides yet as we enjoy our time as a family while we are there. But they do look like much fun!! Maybe one day we will bring somebody else along with us so mommy and daddy can enjoy a big slide or two!

I would love to plan a meet up and know some people have already expressed interest! Let me know if you are interested in coming for some waterpark fun!

The Big Move

We are finally settled into our new family home (with a few boxes left to unpack and lots of dream renovations to putter away at) and I am loving every single moment of it. It is exactly what we hoped for. Lots of “projects” to do but we are eager to do them and make the house our home. We saw the potential with this house and can’t wait to follow everything trough that we want to see happen.

We took possession of our new house on a Tuesday and didn’t have to be out of our other house until the Friday at noon.  This was a great set up for us with a newborn ensuring we did not have to rush to be out of one house and into the next on the same day.

On the Tuesday my father, brother and his friend were incredibly helpful in moving large boxes and very big washer and dryers. Baby boy was wonderful as we drove all over the city and did lots of moving. Wednesday my mom was here and stayed until very late Thursday night. Not only did she give babe lots of grandma snuggles she unpacked boxes like they were going out of style. 

Thursday night we travelled back to the Ottawa house at 10p.m. and scrambled to throw any last minute items into our cars to bring back to Gatineau home.  We were tired, it was late and babe screamed the whole way from one house to another.  I almost hit my breaking point but took a few deep breaths and carried on.  We had a great first night sleeping in our new home as a family and where off to sign and finalize papers Friday morning at the lawyers for our Ottawa home.

It was bittersweet. This was our first home that my husband and I purchased together. It was the home we came home to after our wedding, after the birth of our first child and all the events in between.  I can vividly remember walking in the front door with Dom when we came home from the hospital on a late Saturday night. But, it was time to move on, move forward and start a new adventure together this time as a family of 3!

As I unpacked boxes in our new home it was reconfirmed to me that we made the right  best choice for our growing family.  We have a lovely home that we are making our own and have lots of room to grow.  Dominic has a safe place to play outside with a fair-sized fenced in yard and tons of space to learn to crawl, walk and run!

Here’s to another chapter of our lives!

Thanks to everyone for your advice on moving with a baby and making it a smooth transition. Also huge thanks to all those who came to help pack, unpack, snuggle with babe and share in our new journey.