Shopping & Sweets happens December 1: 10 reasons to attend

Shopping & Sweets will hit Ottawa once again this Saturday December 1st and in case you aren't too sure if it's the right event for you, keep reading! 10. Support Local Businesses – Small businesses need our support in order to keep doing the wonderful things they do. All of the businesses taking part in Shopping & Sweets 2012 are local small businesses. It is important to give them our support all year round, and especially during the holiday shopping season.

9. Great Event to Attend With Friends – Chatting, shopping, cupcakes…all fun things to do with friends. Give a friend you haven’t spent time with in a while a call and come on down!

8. Holiday Shopping – We have a large variety of vendors participating in our event, so there’s a very good chance you will be able to get many on your shopping list checked off! (and maybe even pick up a few things for yourself!)

7. Learn something new – We bet that by coming out to the Shopping & Sweets event that you will discover a new local business (or two…or more!) you didn’t even know existed! They may even offer something that you had been looking for. Who knows? Come on out to see what you will discover!

6. Goodie bags! – The first 50 shopper to arrive to Shopping & Sweets will receive a bag filled with coupons, promotions, samplers and great info from all of our participating retailers & service providers.

5. Prizes! – We have had some very generous businesses donate pretty amazing prizes in order to make things a little “sweeter” for you, the shopper. All items will make up our grand door prize. All you need to do is show up and fill out a ballot at our welcome table for your chance to win!

4. Baz’Art- Once again, we will be running our show at the same time as the annual Baz’Art show, an event designed to showcase local artists and artisans. Baz’Art will be taking place on the lower level of The Shenkman Arts Centre. Read more about Baz’Art.

3. Change of scenery– We all know what the malls and their parking lots are like at this time of year. Yikes. Shopping & Sweets will be taking place at the gorgeous Shenkman Arts Centre. Parking is plentiful and the building is beautiful, spacious and decorated for the holiday season. There will also be a Christmas Choir performing throughout the day. You’ll love the festive atmosphere.

2. Charity – 100% of the proceeds from our cupcake sales will go directly to our charities and in addition, all proceeds from table sales (after expenses) will also be donated. Win win for everyone involved!

Our chosen charities for 2012 are: The Caring and Sharing Exchange: Christmas Exchange Program, and the Orleans-Cumberland Community Resource Centre. These organizations helps families in need during the holidays and as we all know, this is the time of year that they need us the most.

1. Cupcakes – We are very excited to be working with Kim and Doreen, the two talented bakers behind the local Orleans business, Vanilla Gourmet Cupcakes. Take a look through their creations for a little taste of what you will be able to purchase at the event.

Hope to see you on Saturday December 1st!

Shoppers: Free Admission!

Date: December 1, 2012

Time: 11am - 3pm

Where: Shenkman Arts Centre, Orleans, ON

At first I was disappointed.

by Jayda I was delighted to receive a message asking if I wanted to attend the opening show of Beauty and the Beast. Um ya! Eight pm start, yikes a bit late for my kiddos, but worth the late night right? DH was not up for a night at the theatre due to a case of shingles. Great so DS4 can stay home with DH and I will take DS6 and a friend to the show. Perfect. A Mommy and older kid date night. I love it. A quick text and our night was planned.

One small hitch, DS6 doesn’t want to go.

What?

Nope, not at all.

At this point I am pretty disappointed.

Me: Jack, we are going to go watch Beauty and the Beast with E and S!!

DS6: I don’t want to go?

Me: Why?

DS6: I just don’t. Besides I need to get some rest for Halloween.

(Who’s the parent here?)

Me: That’s ok. This is a special opportunity so we can make an exception.

DS6: I don’t want to go. I know what happens. A girl falls in the love with a beast. The end!

Plan foiled. No big deal, my friend can bring her 5 year old daughter, who was devastated that she couldn’t come, according to the initial plan.

Hours before we are scheduled to depart for the National Arts Centre I get a phone call. Another change of plans! My friend’s daughters are no longer able to attend the show. Initially, I have to admit I was a little upset. But my friend had a back up proposal; GIRLS NIGHT OUT! Three (adult) friends and one friend’s 12 year old daughter threw themselves together in record time and hit Beauty and the Beast.

When we arrived at the NAC I was relived to see that there were very few children attending the show. Of course, I was still disappointed that DS6 didn’t want to come.  I was really looking forward to sharing this experience with him.

We weren’t 10 minutes into the show and I was relived DS6 was peacefully snuggled up in bed sound asleep. He is a very sensory sensitive child. The sights and sounds coupled with tiredness would’ve been a one-way ticket home. At this point, I was able to relax and thoroughly enjoy the rest of show.  In the end, despite my disappointment, it turned out to be a fantastic Girl’s Night Out.

Beauty and the Beast was fantastic! Everything, the set design, the music, the costumes, the special effects, everything exceeded my expectations. My inner child has been satisfied.

I look forward to being able to share the theater with my children...when they are ready.

Jayda Siggers is a Mom of 2 ( JWS, 6 and LLS, 4), a nutritionist, a coach at Clean Plate Cleanse, a master mediator living under a co-dictatorship, whole food advocate, trying to live a little greener everyday.

Butterfly Show!

By Shawna I almost hate to let you in on this little secret, because I’m afraid of it getting too crowded, but as a faithful Kids in the Capital contributor, I cannot keep it to myself: Carleton University’s Department of Biology hosts a free butterfly show in their greenhouses every fall, and it’s on right now, right now, right now!

That’s right, every day from September 29 to October 8 inclusive, from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm, you can bring your kids to see a fluttering, flittering, flapping display of gorgeousness free, free, free!  (Donations, however, are appreciated of course).  It’s also a great chance to grab some pictures of exotic, colourful butterflies that aren’t native to the area.  Or some pictures of your kids.  Or, best of all, some pictures of your kids interacting with exotic, colourful butterflies!  I went last year with the kids, and it was a big hit.  Sage in particular was utterly thrilled when a butterfly landed on her.

Here are the details!

You’re welcome.  Now don’t tell too many people…

Shawna is mom to 4-year-old Sage and 2-year-old Harris.  She has  been writing online since 2003, and her latest project is a fledgling photography blog.  She plans on visiting the butterfly show twice this year: once with her kids and camera, and once with just her camera.

Come and tumble, jump and play with us at Starr Gymnastics

It has been a long time since we've put together an event but this September we've got a great one for you!  Starr Gymnastics, one of our wonderful sponsors (we couldn't run this blog without them!) is welcoming us for an afternoon of fun at their Orleans location. What: One hour of gymnastics activities followed by one hour in the party room

When:  September 9 from 3 - 5 pm

Where: Starr Gymnastics, 520 Lacolle Way, Orleans

Who: We can accommodate 35 kids (plus their parents) and it will be first come first served. We ask that kids be at least 2 to participate in the activity. Please do add yourself to the wait list if the event is full though, we often get last minute cancellations.

Cost: FREE (though we would love if some people brought some peanut-free pot luck snacks to share in the party room)

How: Register for the event on our eventbrite page.

See you there!

Flashback: RCMP Sunset Ceremonies - Free and Fun!

The musical ride is a highlight for many every year. This year it runs from June 26 to the 30th.   by Josee

I've lived in or around Ottawa most of my life, but I'd never seen the RCMP Musical Ride until last spring. My husband Dan and I decided to take our kids (our then two-year old daughter “B.G.” and three month old son “Bonhomme”) to the RCMP Sunset Ceremony at the Rockcliffe Stables.

The ceremony was slated to start at 7:30 p.m. and we arrived (later than planned, as usual!) at about 7:00 p.m. We managed to park on St. Laurent Boulevard, close enough to the stables so that BG was able to ride on Dan's shoulders the rest of the way to the stables. We found a shady spot and set up our lawn chairs, and Bonhomme and I guarded our spot while Dan and BG went exploring. There were lots of displays to check out. Dan enjoyed sitting in an airplane cockpit (I think it had once been part of a fighter jet) and BG came back waving a poster and stickers she'd gotten from an RCMP officer.

The show began with a comedy routine, which I admit I wasn't able to follow because we couldn't see the whole ring, not to mention the fidgety three-year old sitting in my lap, asking question after question. Then we noticed an airplane circling above, and suddenly parachutists from the US and Canadian armies started dropping out of the sky. They circled so close overhead that we thought they would get caught up in the large tree that was providing our shade. Everyone around us laughed when an excited B.G. pointed to a parachute and shouted out, “Mommy, I want one of those!”.

After that came the marching band; that was also a huge hit with BG. Then, finally, the RCMP musical ride. I have to admit that by the time the ride started BG was done with the sunset ceremony, and we ended up leaving before it was over. But even though we didn't get to the end, we had an amazing time. BG still talks about the parachutes!

The RCMP sunset ceremonies are back this year and run from Wednesday, June 23^rd to Sunday, June 27^th, from 7:30 to 9 pm  June 23 to 27.We're planning on going back this year, but we'll (hopefully) head out much earlier and bring a picnic supper, so that we can snag a spot a bit closer to the ring and keep both kids occupied until the show starts. Maybe this year I'll manage to catch the whole show!

Josée is mom to three-year old daughter B.G., and one-year old son Bonhomme.  She is always searching for fun and frugal Ottawa events and activities, and puts her research to good use at her website, www.frugalfunottawa.ca.