Family Day Roundup

Not sure what to do on Family Day Weekend? If you're like us, you haven't planned anything yet and are looking for ideas! Check out some of these great activities in and around Ottawa

1) Children's Wish FUNGANZA - Monday the 17th

2) NAC English Theatre Family Day - Monday the 17th

3) Vanier Winter Carnival - Saturday the 15th

4) Last weekend of Winterlude!

5) Valentine's Party at the Humane Society - Saturday the 15th

6) Free Pancake Breakfast (Monday the 17th) with Phil McNeely: 7:30 - 8:30 a.m. at 1825 St. Joseph Blvd, Community Pentecostal Church. A magician will be in attendance!

7) Portobello South Winter Family Fun Day (Monday the 17th) from 1:00 - 3:00 p.m. at Portobello Park in Orleans. Free horse-drawn sleigh rides, snow games and hot chocolate! Bring your skates!

Did I miss anything?

Fall Leaves in Ottawa

One of the best things about living in the Ottawa-Gatineau area in the fall is the changing of the leaves. As sad as I am to say goodbye to summer, I love this time of year. I love the sweaters, the hot cider and watching the leaves change color (which doesn't mean I’m ready for winter at all!)

The end of September and all through October are the best times to see the changing of the leaves.  In Gatineau Park, there are tons of trails to explore and there are also quite a few special events occurring during its annual "Fall Rhapsody" celebration, which honours all things outdoors. My favorite place in the Gatineau region to get an absolutely awesome view of the leaves and the whole Ottawa Valley is, of course, the Champlain Lookout.

There are more than 90 kilometres of trails and bike paths in Gatineau Park! If you really want to learn more about the coloured leaves as you hike, you can head up on Saturdays and Sundays in September and October for “Follies of the Fall Forest”, a free guided tour. It is fun for the whole family with an introduction at the Gatineau Park Visitor Centre followed by a guided walk on the Sugarbush Trail.

For those adventurous hikers, the Eardley Escarpment rises 270 metres from the floor of the Ottawa Valley and extends over more than 30 kilometres. Also, Lusk Cave, in the Philippe Lake area, is an easy hike along but the 10-kilometre round trip takes about four hours to walk.

For those with little ones who want a really nice nature trail to walk, there are lots of places around Ottawa like the Stony Swamp trails near Bell’s Corners, Green’s Creek, to the east of Ottawa and Pine Grove, to the south of Ottawa.

No matter where you go in the Ottawa-Gatineau area this time of year, you’re pretty much guaranteed a great view of the leaves. By next weekend, Fall Rhapsody will be in full swing so don’t forget to get out there and enjoy one of the things that makes living in the Ottawa area so great!

Where's your favourite place to see the leaves in Ottawa?

To School Or Not To School

by Nicki Do I send Liam to junior kindergarten or not?  That is a question that has been on my mind for quite some time.  For many parents there really isn't a decision to be made.

My son was born on Christmas Day, 2008, this means that Liam is eligible to start Junior Kindergarten this September at only 3 years and 8 months old.

For us, this makes the decision very difficult.  Do we send him this year, based on his age?  Do we wait another year?  If we do, should he start in Junior Kindergarten or Senior Kindergarten?

If he does go this year, I worry about it being too much for him on many levels at such a young age.  The structure, the independence in self help skills (including using the bathroom), the long days without a nap, can a three year old cope with these things?  Not to mention such a small child riding on the school bus.

If we do wait until next year, which is what we are leaning towards right now, where do we put him?  JK where he will be the oldest and in theory most advanced in the class?  Or SK where he will be the youngest but still with kids born the same year as him.  Will he be too advanced and bored if we start him in JK?  But at the same time, he could be too far behind if we start him in SK.  Either way, our decision will effect his whole school career.  Thinking way into the future, if he starts JK this year as a 3 year old, he will be due to go off to college or university at only 17! Looking back, there was no way I could have gone off to college at 17!!!

Really, I know there is no right or wrong answer to this dilemma.  it is one of those things that every family with an end of the year baby has to make for themselves.  However, I would love to know how other people have handled this issue.  Please share your experiences as a parent or as a teacher!

Nicki is mom to 3 year old Liam.  She is an ECE,  who loves to garden, scrapbook, write and take photos. She blogs about the randomness that is her life at Perils of a Working Mom

Kids in the Capital: Call for Contributors

Not long ago, we published a call for pictures and you all made my day (several days in a row) with lots of beautiful pictures that will soon grace the top of the Kids in the Capital Web page. We're hoping you'll want to join us more regularly to share your stories of being a family in the Ottawa area.

In just a few months we'll be celebrating our 2nd Anniversary. We've covered many great activities in and around Ottawa, but we're nowhere near done! There are many more stories to tell and a never-ending list of activities to do around homes and communities all over the city.

If you're interested in writing for Kids in the Capital, please email us at kidsinthecapital@gmail.com! We'll be updating our regular contributors page over the next few weeks and we'd love to see your name added to the list!

Kids in the Capital: some changes

Brie and I started Kids in the Capital a year and a half ago to talk about the things we love to do in the city with our kids. And we've loved doing it! As parents with a million things on the go however, it isn't always possible to keep doing all of the things that we love to do, not well anyways.

Due to this lack of time to do everything, I'm sad to announce that Brie is stepping back from Kids in the Capital, though hopefully we will still hear from her and about all the amazing things she does with her kids!  She is still blogging at Capital Mom - a blog about her journey through parenting that is not to be missed.

Karen has agreed to step up and help with the running of the blog and we're thrilled to have her! Karen's personal blog, Karen's Chronicles, is a place where she documents everything from her thoughts about life in general to her adventures in living with the two men in her life - her husband, Matt, and son, Brandon. She recently started a blog about social media called The Media Mesh that allows her to explore one of her favourite subjects on a regular basis. You can expect to get to know her better in this space soon as a contributor as well.

But we can't keep this place hopping without you guys.  If you are interested in writing regularly, or just sharing something great you've done now and then, we'd love to have you send us a post at kidsinthecapital(at)gmail(dot)com.

Please join me in thanking Brie for all the hard work, sweat and tears she put into building this blog.  It wouldn't be what it is without her, and it certainly won't be the same without her.