Splish Splash

by Erin We just got a brand new splash pad in my neighbourhood!! It was added to an existing park with a play structure and swings.

Did you know that the City of Ottawa has almost 100 splash pads?

You can find a map of all the locations here.

Miss K has been a little...ummm..."weary" of the water this summer. I believe it might have something to do with an unfortunate incident during out spring visit to Newfoundland where Mommy sat her on a large rock on the beach as the tide was coming in. I did get some awesome photos until she realized that there was water pooling up around her and fell off said rock in an escape attempt. (Note: I was within arms reach, and the water was very calm and shallow. I am a good parent, I promise.)

I had hoped that by taking her to some of the Ottawa's awesome splash pads I might get her reacquainted with the water and boost her confidence. Luckily, my plan worked.

If you haven't already spent some of your summer hanging out at a Splash Pad, I highly recommend that you plan a visit or two before September comes. I have seen children of all ages, from babies to tweens, having a blast playing in the water. Even if you don't currently have one in your neighbourhood, the is bound to be one within a short driving distance.

Don't forget your sunscreen!

Erin is mom to 2 (almost 3) year old "Miss K" and 6 month old "Mister J". You can read her blog at My Suburban Adventure

Playgroups are for playing, and community

by Krista We love mondays in our house. Mondays mean playgroup in the park day. Our park is Kingsmere park, in the neighbourhood of Glabar park.  It is one of the reasons why we bought our house, before we even had children.  It has all the bits you need - sand, a play structure, swings, a wading pool, lots of room to run around, big trees for shade, and benches for mom and dad when we get a minute to sit.  The community playgroup makes it all that much more perfect.

Most weeks we arrive at the park a little after 10:00 am.  There are a good number of wee ones and their moms or dads by that time, usually at the swings or in the sandy/playstructure area.  Most of the children in the group are under the age of four, but that changes in the summer and the older children come as well.  The parents tend to gather in little groups in the shade when not joining in the fun.  We talk over coffee about the week that has passed, the new things our little ones are up to, about the struggles we face, and life in general.  This was especially important when my little people were much younger and I NEEDED to talk to adults, about adult things.  Now I can offer that to the newest moms and dads in the group.

The older children tend to roam farther as the morning progresses, so the parents break up in small groups that follow. They don't often follow their own children, just the children that seem to need help at the time.  It's great that I can help out another parent and push their child on the swing, knowing that someone else pitches in with my children and plays with them on the slides.

Snack time is a free for all, with all the little monkeys dipping in to each other's snacks.  I know that it is safe for my peanut allergic son, as there are several moms who have allergies in their own homes, and we all look out for each other.  My guys love it, as they often find the snacks of others to be tastier than their own.  Even if we offer the same!! As an added bonus, it teaches them to share, and they love to do it.

Playgroup is free, and open to anyone, not just those living in our neighbourhood.  We meet as early in the spring as weather permits, and keep going until the snow flies.  We have met a local gym in previous winters, but when that is not available, we try to meet at people's houses. This isn't as successful, and makes us appreciate the times in the park all that much more.  For more information, or to get added to the mailing list, see the Community Alliance's website.

We are always sad when our friends start to drift home for lunch, but we know that we will see them the following monday, if not on one of our other visits to the park in the course of the week.

I think that the best part of the playgroup is that you get to know your neighbours, and build relationships in the community.  We are meeting the families that live in all corners of our community, regularly enough that we really know who they are. We are all building friendships that will hopefully last for a long time, as our children grow together.

Krista is married to Willy and mom to a 3 year old son, Woo, and 1.5 year old daughter Goose.  You can find her on twitter @kgraydonald

Playtime at the Park

by Brie Last summer we stumbled upon the Centretown Community Health Centre's (CCHC) free Summer Park program. I was very glad we did. And I am glad to say that they are back again this summer!

Mondays in the month of July and August will find the CCHC team out in force at two downtown Ottawa parks. With them comes craft supplies, sand toys, balls, bubbles and books. It is a great discovery if you are planning to be at the park anyway, but it is even worth going out of your way for. My one and a half-year old and three and a half-year old both had a great time exploring all the new treasures to play with, but I think this is particularly entertaining for older kids that are looking for something different to do.

The summer park programs rotates between St.Luke's Park (Elgin and Gladstone) and Dundonald Park (Somerset and Lyon). More information is available here.

Brie is the mom of a 3.5 year old daughter “the girl” and eighteen month old son “the boy”. You can read her blog at Capital Mom.

Swimming through the heat wave

by Joanne Dovercourt is a refuge from the heat!   Just a quick post to say that the Dovercourt is having free swims to help with the heat wave until Sunday!   All swims in the pool are open to all ages and are free of charge until Sunday: - Swims are: Friday 12 to 1, 230 to 345, 630 to 730 pm - Saturday 7 to 8 am, 1 to 4pm - Sunday 7 to 8 am

Wading pools are always free but they have extended the hours! - Mckellar Park, Friday: 10am-7:30pm (extra 1.5hrs) - Westboro Kiwanis Park, Saturday and Sunday 10am-5pm   Joanne the proud mom of Amélie (8 years old) and Mathieu (4 years).  She is new at blogging and you can find her at Our Money Pit.

Daytripping – camping without the camping!

by Shawna Did you love to go camping as a kid? The day at the lake/swimming pool broken up by lunch at a brownish-red-painted picnic table under the trees, and treks along dusty, pine-scented paths to the local campground store for icy cold bottles of pop and dime freezies (that you could get by returning the bottles for the deposit)?

Now that you’re grown-up, and you know the adult hassles that come with camping – the packing of clothes for hot/cold/wet/sunny weather and water/non-water activities that may or may not involve hiking, the organizing of coolers to make sure everyone stays nourished and hydrated, the drive to and from potentially far-flung destinations, and the laundry that comes home with you, not to mention the difficulty of getting the kids (and yourself!) to sleep in an unfamiliar environment (often a tent that has to be put up and taken down at your campsite, then put up again to dry thoroughly once you’re home before being taken down again and packed away) – you may not relish the idea of camping as much, particularly when you only have a limited amount of days you can book off from work in a year. Camping can be doubly daunting when your kids are still in diapers, but are mobile and seem to lack any kind of self-preservation instinct that stops them from wandering off cliffs or straight into the lake.

If you are an intrepid soul that has no idea what I’m talking about because you think nothing of portaging your way into the middle of Algonquin park to take your triplet toddlers canoe-camping, you will likely want to skip this entry, but if you’re like me and the second paragraph sounds eerily familiar, this information may change your life: you can go to a campground for the day and not, you know, actually camp.

Just imagine it: no tents to erect, no camp dishes to haul out – you can get by with a cooler of drinks and sandwiches for one day – and you know what the weather will be like because you only need to hear the forecast for the day you go, so no packing of raingear. You tire out the kids and everyone sleeps in their own, welcoming bed at the end of the day.

A quick search of the internet has turned up a number of places with pools and/or freshwater beaches within an hour of Ottawa. Day admission fees seem to run about 10 to 12 bucks for a family of two adults and two kids, and swimming and use of casual recreation facilities are included.

For example (and these are just a few of many - check for yourself!), Sandy Mountain is only ½ hour from where I live in Barrhaven, and has both a large pool and wading pool, as well as a games room, a playground, and a place to buy ice cream. You can play horseshoes for free, or pay the extra fees to mini-putt or even full-on golf. (They don’t post prices for just the day because they don’t consider themselves to be a public pool, but they do have day rates if you ask.)

Wildwood is not much further, and I enjoyed many a weekend day in the pool there with my grandmother when I was a child (the pool there is better for older kids who can reach the bottom in the shallow end and/or swim well) though, alas, they now only allow non-campers during weekdays (Fridays only until noon) and only for 2 hour stints.  

On the July long weekend we’re meeting up with my in-laws a little further afield: Pleasure Park near Mallorytown, which has a water trampoline, a dock for swimming, and large playground.

I’m not saying you should never go on any overnight camping adventures – it’s a fantastic thing for kids to experience and worth the effort. But you don’t have to wait until that expedition to Kilimanjaro; while you’re doing all the planning for your Big Trip, you can sample the camping life with daytrips here and there. It’s cheap, it’s fun, it’s easy, and it’ll make memories that last. What could be better?

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 never appreciated the work her parents had to do to take her camping until she had kids of her own.