Summer of Awesome - Pinto Valley Ranch

So my girls are still heavily into horses, and the Olympics did not help matters any. So to (hopefully) further dissuade them against the whole idea, I took them out to Pinto Valley Ranch. The ranch is located in Fitzroy Harbour, which makes it a bit of a hike - it's about 1/2 hour north of Kanata. What makes it worth it, though, is that it's one of the few places around where amateurs can have a go at horseback riding.

They have several ponies on hand for younger kids. You can pick out a pony, then take a 10 minute or 20 minute ride around the paddock - your pony will be guided on the ground by an experienced rider, and your child will just be able to get the feel of a gentle walk and enjoy visiting with the horses.

Once you hit 11 years old, you're old enough to qualify for their trail rides. The trail rides are for all levels of riders - their horses are seriously so gentle and easy that even total beginners will be safe and sound. The horses and riders travel as a group along a pretty trail for about an hour, so you and your child can get a good feel for what it means to be on horseback.

The ranch is a quiet, laid back kind of place. It's not like other in-town attractions, where you're running from one high-octane activity to the next. Besides the horse riding, there's nothing "to do," per se.

But just being out on the farm was a surprisingly fun experience for the kids. There are plenty of animals about - llamas and goats, funny loud roosters in a pen, pigs that are allowed to roam free (my kids LOVED them), kittens in the barn. If you're lucky, you might bump into a free-running peacock or two. You're free to walk up and down the stalls in the barn, too, visiting quietly with the horses, stroking then on the nose, imagining you own one and it sleeps in your bedroom and you ride it to school every day and Mommy, can I please please please have a horse???

Sigh.

There's a small tuck shop where you can sit inside and have a snack, and buy treats or drinks. There's plenty of outdoor toys for little ones to explore. It's quite pleasant to just sit and enjoy the barn smells and sounds. A slow-going afternoon in the country, if you will.

We were there for about 2 1/2 hours total - enough time for a pony ride, a snack, a visit with the other animals...and then another pony ride. I am a sucker.

If you are at all interested in the ranch, now is the time to go, and I mean like now, today. The ranch is facing some hard times right now - first of all, the drought this summer has caused a massive hay shortage in the area, and the ranch is looking at selling up to half its horses to make ends meet. Secondly, the owners' kids are all in full day school now, so they're starting to wonder when (or if) it's time to hang up the saddles. It's too bad, as it's the perfect place to introduce a possible horse-loving child to these kind, gentle animals.

Also I should mention, they have day camps all summer long where your child can spend a week learning basic horse handling skills in the summer; and in the winter, you can head on out for a sleigh ride (advanced booking required).

So go, now, today, while you still have a chance to support this great local business.

Some important details: The day camps run in the mornings, so the rides are only open to the public from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. in the afternoons. You can show up any time for a pony ride; trail rides run in the summer on this schedule. IMPORTANT NOTE: if the temperature is above 30 degrees, rides for that day are cancelled due to the weather being too dangerous for the animals. They're open every day in the summer, then Thursdays through Sundays for September and October.

The pony rides are $10 for 10 minutes, $20 for 20 minutes; trail rides are $40 per rider (no double riders allowed). A wee bit expensive, but it's the only expense you'll have there, and it was SO worth it to my girls.

Shout out to Ponyboy and DotCom - best horses ever. You'll live forever in my daughter's dreams.

Lynn is mom to three tombliboos and blogs over at Turtlehead.

Summer of Awesome - Mini Golf Gardens

It took me years, years to admit that I have a secret love: mini golf. Oh, I try to play it cool, act like it's no big thing, it's "for the kids." But I have to admit that it's me who loves the putt putt. It's not even about the competition or the personal challenge of achieving par or the thrill of the hole-in-one. It's just about the mental challenge of calculating the angles. And also, the little coloured balls. I'm a junkie.

So I took the kids to check out Mini Golf Gardens, which is an outdoor mini putt place at the corner of Merivale and Colonnade, that's only open in the summer months (April through October). It's straight up mini golf here; two courses, each 18 holes, and nothing else. Just you, the putter, and open expanses of fake green grass.

Heaven.

Both courses are really pretty, with waterfalls and streams and trees, and also well thought out. It's not the kind of place with giant windmills and or loop-the-loops for the balls. Instead, the course relies more on wacky bumps, bridges, and barriers to make it interesting. I personally found the two courses to be the perfect combination of challenging and fun. The kids were well able to handle it - my nine-year-old and seven-year-old were able to get par a few times, and finished the courses in about 65 strokes, which is not too shabby.

The five-year-old did a lot of stick-handling moves with her putter. We were down with that, too. Meanwhile, I got three holes-in-one. I ROCKED it.

It's a lovely little course, a nice place to spend a morning or afternoon outside, and a good challenge for both kids and adults. It will take you about an hour and a half to do both courses. Plus, I'd recommend stopping halfway through for a visit to the tuck shop, which features ultra-rare banana slushies, along with other drinks and treats. It's a little exposed in spots, so be sure to wear sunscreen and bring hats.

Mini Golf Gardens is probably not the cheapest miniputt in town - $9 adults, $7.50 for kids under 12. But for a junkie like me, it was well worth it - definitely my favourite of all the courses we've done in Ottawa.

We'll be back. I have like, five other ball colours to get through!

Lynn is mom to three tombliboos and blogs over at Turtlehead.

Summer of Awesome - Altitude Gym Clip and Climb

The Altitude Gym is a rock climbing gym over in Hull for serious rock climbers. Athletes in training can get out the chalk and the fancy sock-shoes and climb a variety of walls that are intensely challenging. Not too kid friendly.

But! They have a totally awesome, one-of-a-kind, kick-ass back room: the Clip and Climb.

A mecca for little climbers everywhere. WHOO WHEE!

It's several funky, offbeat, fun climbing walls and structures meant for amateurs and kids. You climb just in comfy clothes and regular running shoes.

You climb, and you climb, and you climb.

There's easier walls and more challenging walls. Walls with lights, walls with doorknobs, walls that are made of velcro that you climb with velcro gloves.

There's glow-in-the-dark walls, lego-themed walls, and timed walls for racing purposes. There's also a series of pillars you can climb and those ones near the top are HIGH, OMG. Also wobbly. O. M. G.

The Clip and Climb is meant for families and it's especially great for a single parent with several kids in tow. That's because the kids are able to clip themselves in, and once they are checked by a staff member, they're free to climb. They don't need anyone to hold the rope ("belay" is what the cool kids call it) at the bottom.

Why is that? Each wall in the Clip and Climb room has a giant retractable pulley thing at the top that holds the rope you are clipped to. As you climb, the rope coils up and stays taut, giving you a bit of support.

When you hit the top, you just let go, and the pulley thing provides counter weight, lowering you slowly to the ground. You tether the climbing rope to the ground, unclip your harness, and you're free to run off to the next wall and climb away.

Now, some caveats: my kids were quite tentative at first, and even though they were allowed to climb on their own, they felt much more comfortable with a parent at hand. The Clip and Climb is not cheap, and Sir Monkeypants and I did not do a whole lot of climbing on our own, so if you are coming in with a lot of kids, it's probably worth it not to climb yourself, and just act in a supervisory/supportive role. On the other hand, it did encourage our kids a lot to see us climbing ourselves, so that was worth it for inspiration purposes.

Another warning: the pulley system will definitely catch you when you let go...but, there's a couple of feet of free fall before it kicks in. You really have to find the heart to trust the system and it can be a little scary the first time. The free fall thing actually did not seem to bother my kids at all, they were soon climbing then swinging away from the wall in a carefree manner. I personally, however, found it a bit alarming and every time I hit the top of a wall, I had to spend a minute or two talking myself into letting go. I am a HUGE WUSS. It was good for me, though.

Last tip: there are two structures in the Clip and Climb that cost extra. One is a giant slide - they pull you up on a hand hold to the top, then you let go and literally fall straight down before sliding out the curved end. It's SUPER FUN - all three of our kids LOVED it - but a tad expensive at an extra $4 per slide. Then there's the Leap of Faith - a tower with a crane where you can climb up to a platform, then leap out into space and try to catch the swing on the end of the crane. Again, it costs an extra $4 to try this stunt and it's a real test of your mettle - we saw a few smaller kids back out.

This is the giant slide - I was too gutless to try it, but the kids loved it.

Now, let's talk details. First, you need to reserve a spot for the Clip and Climb; your reservation covers 15 minutes of safety instruction and then an hour of climbing. You can usually call one or two days in advance and have your choice of time slots; I should mention that the Clip and Climb is only open on weekday evenings from 5 to 9, and on weekends from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Your one hour of climbing isn't cheap; the cost is $13.95 per person (regardless of age), and don't forget the giant slide and Leap of Faith are extra. All in all, we spent close to $100 for our family-of-five Clip and Climb experience, so it's not the kind of thing we'll do every week; still, it was a unique experience, we loved the fact that our kids got to do something new and something physical. Since it's indoors, it's a great place to take antsy kids on a rainy or snowy day to blow off some steam, and it's great if you've got a wide range of ages, since older kids and teens can have the run of the place on their own while you're helping any youngsters.

Children under 5 require a one-to-one parent supervisor; however, I'm not sure I'd go much younger than five for this activity. Precocious four-year-olds who really love to climb and have a lot of energy would have a good time; younger than that will likely find the walls too tough and maybe too scary.

Our own five-year-old is a tentative little girl, and she required quite a bit of coaxing just to go three or four feet up in the air on a handful of walls. She's still quite anxious to go back, though. OF COURSE.

Overall, we all give the Clip and Climb a Summer of Awesome Must Do.

Hey, that's me!

Lynn is mom to three tombliboos and blogs over at Turtlehead.

Summer of Awesome - Paul's Boat Lines

A few weeks ago, some friends of mine from high school had a reunion here in town. One of the events was a tour of the Ottawa River on Paul's Boat Lines. At first I wasn't going to bring the kids, because I thought they'd be bored. But when they got wind of the fact that Mommy was going Boating, they were IN. I have no idea what they were picturing, but apparently the concept of a boat ride is romantic and exotic and SUPER FUN - and actually, it turned out to be pretty much just that.

The tour lasts for about an hour and a half, and leaves from the dock right at the tip of the Rideau Canal. Just getting there was half the fun - you have to take the stairs down from the bridge that's beside the Chateau Laurier, then walk all along the locks to the very tip. If it's a weekend, you're likely to see the locks in action, with dozens of pleasure boats travelling through; if you're not in a rush, you can also check out the Bytown Museum, which is along the path. We were lucky enough to be heading out on the Civic Holiday Weekend, which is the weekend of the Rideau Canal Festival, so the entire path to the boat was paved with musicians, artists, crafts, and activities - bonus!

Once you reach the dock, it's time to board, and the tour begins right away. There's an upper and lower level on the boat - the upper level is cooler (it's shaded), and a better place to sit to see the sights and hear the (charming and funny) tour guide. The lower level has booths, so it's a good place to relax with a drink (the boat is licensed) or strike up a card game with antsy children.

We sat up top and were dazzled by amazing views and fascinating trivia.

The best view of the Parliament Buildings ever. The Rideau Falls - I'm ashamed to say I did not actually know that these existed. The Prime Minister's house. SLIGHTLY bigger than mine. My daughter having a King Of The World moment.

This is just a fraction of the cool places we saw. Did you know that the statue on the peak by the Art Gallery is of Samuel de Champlain, and that he is holding his astrolabe upside down? Did you know that the Ottawa River used to be called the Mighty Kitchississippi? Did you know that SO MANY foreign ambassadors live in PALACES (OMG). Did you know that Gatineau is the prettiest little town ever?

Our kids actually enjoyed seeing the sights - my middle daughter in particular can't stop talking about the "big house with five chimneys" (that's 24 Sussex). They also just loved being out front on the boat, feeling the breeze from the river and comparing all the bridges. It was just a really pleasant, quiet way to spend a hot summer afternoon.

There's a small tuck shop on the lower level, so warning: there will be pressure to purchase chips. Chips on a boat taste better, don't you know?

Paul's isn't the only boat tour company downtown (there's a few fancier ones, and there's also Lady Dive, the bus that turns into a boat), but Paul's tour of the Ottawa River was the perfect size and duration for our kids. There were several of us on board who were actually from Ottawa, and we all learned stuff we never knew and saw stuff we'd never seen, which boggles my mind.

Paul's Boat Lines also offers a slightly shorter tour of the Rideau Canal - that one is going on our next year's Summer of Awesome list.

Tours run from June 28 through September 2; the daily schedule is here. Tickets are $23 adults, $14 for children aged 6-12 (five and under are free), and group rates are available. You can buy tickets at the kiosk downtown which is right across the street from the Chateau Laurier; unless it's a holiday weekend, you can likely just head downtown on the day-of and get tickets for the next boat.

Ahoy, mateys!

Lynn is mom to three tombliboos and blogs over at Turtlehead.

Summer of Awesome - RCMP Stables

Recently my two daughters have become obsessed with horses. They both claim that they want to learn to ride - no doubt they have images in their heads of their hair flowing in the wind as they race towards the sunset, bow and arrow in hand just like Merida in the film Brave. I have to admit, I am pretty skeptical that their reaction to riding a real-life horse will be quite so dreamy.

So I thought I'd ease them into it by visiting the RCMP Stables. It's where they train the horses for the Musical Ride, and I was hoping an up-close-and-personal encounter with an enormous, black horse would knock the request for riding lessons right out of 'em.

The stables are in Rockcliffe and are open every day in the summer from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. This is where they train and house the horses for the famous Musical Ride. During the summer, the 36 horses that are part of the Musical Ride are on tour, but there are still about 60 other horses in the stables - these are horses that have been retired from the ride, or young new horses who are just starting their training.

So the first thing you need to do when you get there is find the entrance, which (memo to the RCMP) is not very clearly marked. Here's the building:

The entrance is the one on the far left hand end, behind the giant tree, that has a sign that says, "Lost and Found." OF COURSE.

The door leads you straight into the gift shop (OF COURSE), and you have to go through the gift shop to get to the museum part. The museum is a few small rooms that talk about the history and function of the RCMP, and the details of the Musical Ride.

We learned about the RMCP's bomb disposal unit:

The kind of horses that are picked for the ride (must be almost all-black, 16 hands high):

And we saw the carriage that is used for visiting heads of state, including Will and Kate last year on Canada Day:

There's also a video playing with footage of the actual Musical Ride, if you've never had a chance to see it.

A tour leaves about once every half hour from the museum section and lasts about 20 minutes. You'll get a chance to see the Musical Ride practice area:

(This area is also open to the general public, you can come and watch them practicing which takes place most weekday mornings in the winter - call them for the schedule.)

You'll see the tack room and the ferrier's workshop:

You'll see horses (yay!):

You'll learn about how they name the horses (did you know there's a naming contest every year, in the spring?), how they choose the horses, and how the selected officers learn to ride.

After the tour, you're welcome to walk behind the stables where they have a training area. When we were there, two riders were working with a new young horse and we were allowed to watch if we were VERY quiet.

Out front, two RCMP officers in full uniform allowed us to get up close and personal with the horses:

That was probably the best part. We were able to pet the horses, chat with the officers (SO NICE), and we learned a few extra details, like how they brush-in a maple leaf pattern on the the horses' backsides before taking them out on rides. Cool.

I liked this visit because it felt like we were really learning something about Canada. We have, unfortunately, never actually seen the Musical Ride itself, so this was a great introduction. However, it was a pretty small place - we were able to cover the whole museum, the tour, and the visit with the officers in about an hour and a half. So it fits nicely in between naptimes, but if your kids are older, you can probably combine this visit with another event.

Also, word of warning: your secret plan to avoid riding lessons may backfire, and the budding love of horses may turn into full blown adoration.

Lynn is mom to three tombliboos and blogs over at Turtlehead.