A Special Treat: Pretty Handsome Salon and Spa

My daughter has been asking for a spa day recently. In the past we've had home spa days where I've taken care of her feet and done her nails. We've had spa days where we go out to a spa near our house that does manicures and pedicures for kids (which will make it into another post here soon). But when I asked a few questions this time I found out what she wanted was to have her hair done. 

There used to be a salon for kids near our house, but that one shut down and I've been taking her to our local discount hair place for cuts. That wasn't what she wanted this time! She wanted a real hair style, a special treat, and since we're celebrating our summer of awesome I decided to look for a place to take her. 

I remembered that during our visit to Ottawa's Baby Show last year she had gotten a very fancy braid done at one of the booths, and a quick search led me to Pretty Handsome Salon and Spa. The website lists all sorts of services - from first haircuts to "mom and me" manicures and pedicures - but most importantly (to me, anyway) they do fancy braids. 

I made an appointment for a shampoo (to save me the fight at home), a blow dry and a fancy braid. 

We were greeted as soon as we walked in and off she went to get her hair washed - something that doesn't seem to bother her when I'm not the one doing it. 

Daisy car seat 

Pretty Handsome is located in Barrhaven, so it's a bit of a drive from our home in Stittsville, but the service and the result proved good enough to make the trip every once in a while. Even when she started crying because the braiding hurt a bit, or when she wasn't sure if she liked it and she was afraid to start again because she was bored (and she also might have been a bit over-tired), the staff was great and her stylist was very patient. 

The result was just perfect. 

Worth a Visit: Almonte

One of my family's favourite day trips when we have the time is a visit to Almonte. I started going there as a kid because my Great Uncle and his family lived there. Later, my grandparents moved there and we visited more often.

 Almonte is a lovely little town not too far from Ottawa, with a lot to offer. We usually start our trip with lunch at the Robin's Nest. They make simple sandwiches, great soup and I can guarantee your enjoyment of any of their desserts. 

While you're waiting for your lunch you can go right through to the shop next door, Keepsakes, home of little toys, gifts, jewelry and other knick knacks. Keepsakes is one of many great and unique shops on Mill Street.

The best place in Almonte (my must see), is Mill Street Books. Mill Street is one of only a handful of independent bookstores still open in the region, which is one great reason to support them. Another great reason is the selection, particularly of books for kids. I can't remember the last time I went in and didn't manage to find a great new read for the kid and me. 

We've discovered a lot of great new writers because of the friendly staff at Mill Street Books. And I've found a lot of great books for myself there too. (We really need more bookshelves). 

If you're visiting Almonte on a Friday or Saturday, you're probably going to want to drop by HFT for some doughnuts while you're there. And if you're picking up doughnuts you might as well grab some coffee at Equator Coffee Roasters too. 

I also highly recommend a visit to Mississippi Mills Musicworks if your kids love instruments. The staff is friendly, they have a wide array of instruments, lots of music books and a friendly dog. (They also offer music lessons). 

And if you're in the Almonte area, you might as well visit Pakenham, not too far away. Pakenham is home to the truly awesome Scoops Ice Cream and the best cinnamon buns any general store has to offer. 

Have you visited Almonte? Leave a comment and tell us about your favourite place to go!

Hosting an Art Party with Tracy's Art Studio

By Amy

I have always made a point to host my daughter's birthday outside of our home. Partly because we keep the mess out that way, but also because I'm not very creative when it comes to dreaming up activities for my own kid, let alone a small group of them. 

Hosting a birthday at another location also limits the number of guests she can invite, which makes things manageable. 

For her fifth birthday she originally wanted a skating party, but I pointed out that some of her friends might not be able to skate, and suggested maybe we find something else. While we brainstormed I remembered there was a new place that just opened not too far from where we live: Tracy's Art Studio. 

My kid loves arts and crafts.

I did a quick check of Tracy's website and found out that she does host birthday parties, talked to the kid and decided to book it. 

On the day of the party all we had to do was show up, bring some munchies and the cake. Tracy's Art Studio has a large, nicely decorated activity room in the back with a large table for all the kids to sit around.

And the floor is perfect for jumping up and down waiting for your guests to arrive too...

When all the guests had arrived Tracy's handed out clay for the project they were going to do – making clay dogs. The kid got to pick this as her birthday activity out of a list, they also could have painted, done drawings, or worked with mixed media.

When the dogs were all done Tracy's took them off to put them in her oven and the kids got to eat and chat and play a bit. All the plates, utensils and cups were provided, and for an extra cost they will put together loot bags for you with some more great art supplies for the kids to take home.

After the party we decided that the kid could also attend the March Break camp at Tracy's. Now I'm considering booking one of her art parties for MY birthday. 

Tracy's Art Studio is on Iber Rd. in Stittsville. She offers classes as well as parties and camps. 

A Quick Start Hockey Program

My husband and I are big hockey fans. I think one of the reasons he fell in love with me was because of my behaviour at our first game together. (While the rest of the crowd was yelling about the offside call, I pointed out quietly that our team had, in fact, been offside). Our daughter came home in a Senators sleeper and spent her late night/early morning feedings watching sports highlights with Daddy. One of her first full sentences was 'Go Sens Go.'

We really, really wanted her to be a hockey fan. 

Now, I can't skate, but my husband grew up playing hockey and being coached by his dad, and has coached as well. I knew that he didn't want to pressure our daughter, but I also knew that he would love to share that same relationship with his daughter. 

She's a very active kid. We've tried her in all sorts of activities, from soccer to T-Ball to dance and gymnastics, but every summer she's taken swimming lessons and every winter, she's done skating. 

But hockey isn't a thing you can just try out, right? You enroll in a league and you practice and play, and it costs a lot of money and time. 

Except this year I found out that's not true. While exploring the City of Ottawa Recreation Guide I saw an Introduction to Hockey class for children aged 5 to 7. (They have another for children ages 7 to 12). 

It's once a week and a one time fee, and the kid can learn some skills and see whether she really like to play hockey (or just like the idea of playing hockey.) 

We're a couple of weeks in and it's been great. The teacher-coaches are awesome and I was very glad to see that a majority of them are women, which makes my daughter a bit more comfortable. There's also a great ratio of coaches to kids. 

I can already see her confidence growing on the ice in her equipment and the pride she feels in doing something new that's hard but fun. 

If you have a child who thinks the maybe they want to play hockey but just isn't sure, I highly recommend checking out this program. It's being held at a few different arenas in the city. 

Puff Paint Decorations

I am not very good at coming up with ideas for crafts that I can do with my daughter. She's four now and she's much better than I am at sitting down with paper and scissors and glue and getting creative. This is why I have created a board on Pinterest called 'Things to do with the kid' where I can go for ideas when she wants to do a craft together. It was on Pinterest that I found this idea, that worked out very well and helped to decorate our home for the holidays. It's very simple and all you need are puff paints in whatever colours you like, wax paper and copies of designs you want to follow. Put the design under the wax paper and start copying your design with the paint. I taped the wax paper down to make sure everything stayed in place while we were painting.

Once you're happy with your painting, let everything dry thoroughly.

This might have been the hardest part, it took a full day and the kid was getting rather impatient. When it's dry, you can peel your design off the wax paper and stick it to your windows.

I was actually really impressed by how well they stuck, though some of our artwork didn't peel off the wax paper as easily as I had hoped.

We started out with snowflake designs – simple ones and more complicated ones – but you could decorate your window with any number of designs. I even took a shot at doing some freestyle designs that I was very happy with.

This craft was easy for the kid and will brighten up our house a little bit. It was also easy to clean up afterwards. Now that I know this is something that she enjoys doing together, we can decorate our house for different seasons and holidays if we feel like it.