Midway Birthday Parties

by Eric For Kiernan's third birthday we went to the Midway Family Fun Park located near the Museum of Technology off St. Laurent Blvd. They have an assortment of birthday packages that will have your children and guests talking about it for a long time, perhaps forever associating birthday parties of others with Midway, and asking to go to "my birthday again, with the castle." But maybe that's just Kiernan.

Attractions

We chose the Double Fun package, which got us unlimited play on 2 attractions - the indoor maze of elevated tunnels were one attraction, and the outdoor activities all counted as another attraction. Outside the kids rode the Kiddie Train, slid down the giant inflateable slide, and drove bumper boats around in circles.

Other attractions to choose from include go carts and mini ATV racing, bumper cars, rock climbing and mini-putt.

Each party-goer gets 10 tokens to use on the giant assortment of arcade games, and the birthday boy or girl gets to spin the giant wheel with a chance to win a prize (Kiernan won more tokens).

Lunch

Our smaller party room was a tiki-themed gazebo, but larger party rooms are available. Lunch was provided to each of the kids as a choice of pizza, chicken nuggets, pogos or hot dogs, with pitchers of juice to drink. We paid extra for coffee for the parents - they were able to buy their own food as well. Peanut-free cake was an available option, though we brought our own - and the staff assembled and served it once the meal was cleared.

Security

Staff members were very helpful, guiding the kids through the tunnels and sliding down slides with them. If kids didn't want to stick with a counsellor, they were free to go through by themselves, with two doors locked from the outside to keep them from wandering into the arcade area by themselves.

As well, when you enter, everyone will get their hands stamped with invisible ink, and you can't leave with your child unless your stamps show up under the UV light. Or, you know, if you show up later with the birthday cake and the staff thinks you're a delivery person and not actually part of the party and don't mention any sort of stamp, then when you stay an extra hour with the birthday boy then try to leave, you just need to be grateful your child is not playing shy and and tells the teenage girl at the counter that you're his dad and remembers the full name (including middle name) which is on your driver's license and they eventually let you go. Hypothetically speaking.

Midway is fun, affordable, and cleanup is included! The only downside of the experience according to Lara, was that the party coordinator was not responsive to emails, so you may want to give them a call instead.

Eric is dad to 3.5 year old Kiernan and 1 year old twins Quinn and Juliette.  He also blogs at (slightly) less cynical.

The Baby Hawk

by Vicky I don't really consider myself a baby-wearing Mama, since I don't wear my babies for long periods of time. But I do have several slings, and they have all served their purposes: a Baby Bjorn for the brand new, uncurled baby phase, a pouch sling which was great for rocking my daughter to sleep, and a Baby Hawk mei tei. And I looooove my Baby Hawk. Here's why:

You can custom design your very own Baby Hawk. There are 17 strap colour choices, and dozens of accent fabrics to choose from, which makes literally hundreds of colour combinations possible! The design centre lets you play around with different options too!

It goes up to 40lbs! That's a lot of baby, or a lot of child if you're so inclined to carry your 3 year old on your back. I tried it once recently, lasted all of 5 minutes before he wanted to get out!

The padded headrest can be folded down when your baby is old enough to support his/her head.

You can wear your baby on your front, or your back.

It's light weight, and folds up easily to store in the car or backpack.

Baby Hawk has also recently come out with the Oh Snap, which is a new soft structured carrier that features the same great style as the traditional Baby Hawk.

You can find the Baby Hawk at the Extraordinary Baby Shop, which is where I got mine, or order your very own custom designed one directly from the website. The traditional carrier retails for about $99, and the Oh Snap $140.

Vicky is the mom to 3.5 year old son named Joel and 11 month old daughter named Mieka. You can read her blog at blog Some Kind of Wondermom.

All About Kids

by Vicky When I was a child, the only toy store around was a small Toy World at the local mall. I remember saving my birthday money to buy myself a Pogo Ball. Remember those? It was my favourite toy until it got a slow leak and never quite bounced the same way.

Another favourite toy was my Cabbage Patch doll. She had gold coloured hair and blue eyes, and wore a teal dress with lace around the edges. I remember the day she became mine, like it was yesterday. We were on a family vacation in the states, and stopped in at Toysrus. I stood in front of a towering stack of Cabbage Patch dolls and my mother said 'pick one.'

Fast forward 25 years, and I still get that rush of excitement when visiting toy stores - especially when it's All About Kids! All About Kids is the mother of all toy stores. You will love it. It is my first stop for birthday presents. The selection is remarkable, and the toys are good quality. It's an educational supply company, so they carry a very large selection of art & craft supplies, games, puzzles, and equipment for daycares and preschool. You'll find all the big names there, like Little Tikes, Melissa & Doug, Plan Toys, and Playmobile. But they have THOUSANDS of items to choose from.

The front has a good selection of outdoor toys and structures, and a play area for kids - but who are we kidding here, you try telling your kid they have to stay put in a huge warehouse! The back of the store has teaching resources galore - lots of posters, borders, and anything you could possibly need for your classroom.

What I love about buying toys here is that you can find such a variety of things that you don't see at the other big box stores. You won't be bombarded with all the latest Pixar characters on every toy. You won't see aisle after aisle of battery operated toys that break before the batteries wear out. You'll find quality toys like this marble run game for example; it was a huge hit for both my "boys"

Or this set of wooden playfood that Joel gave Kiernan for his last birthday.

Or this set of Gears! Gears! Gears! that we gave one of Joel's preschool friends for his 3rd birthday.

I'm thinking Mieka might just NEED to have one of these dolls for her 1st birthday.

All About Kids is tucked away on Canotek Drive, in an East End industrial park, so it's not obvious to find. But it's definitely worth a stop in!

All About Kids 5369 Canotek Dr - Map (613) 742-0308 www.allaboutkids.info

9:30 A.M. to 6:00 P.M. Mon. to Fri. 11:00 A.M. to 3:00 P.M. Sat. Closed Sundays.

Vicky is the mom to 3.5 year old son named Joel and 9 month old daughter named Mieka. You can read her blog at blog Some Kind of Wondermom.

The Green Door

by Brie For a long time we never ventured out to restaurants with our kids. When the boy was a baby, the girl was two and in that stage where she never wanted to sit quietly. Now that she is almost four she is a perfect restaurant companion. It is her little brother who won't sit still for longer than he has too.

We have started eating out anyway, but we are careful in choosing our locations. Food courts are great for a quick meal. I avoid any where with table clothes. And my restaurant of choice is always The Green Door.

Located at 198 Main Street in Old Ottawa East, The Green Door is perfect for kids. The wait time to eat is only as long as it takes to serve yourself from the buffet and pay which means kids aren't cranky by the time the food hits the table. There are always a few dozen different dishes to choose from, guaranteeing that there will be something that every family member will like. The options are healthy and made, when possible, with locally grown ingredient so you can feel good about what you are feeding your kids.

On our last visit the kids ate some of their favorites. The girl loves the spanakopita and will eat an entire one herself.

The boy liked the sushi and the noodles.

Me? I like everything. But just remember when you are piling your plate that you pay for your food by weight!

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.

Wabi Sabi, not to be confused with that new sushi restaurant

by Finola In January we hosted N’s eighth birthday party. N is a very crafty little girl, and the poor thing has a mother who absolutely cannot stand doing crafts. I even hated doing them when I was a kid. I could never cut the shapes the right way, and my gluing skills were just embarrassing. I never knew what the next step was supposed to be, and I remember dreading art class days at school. So when it comes to doing crafts, N and her little sister B are on their own, or else they are farmed out into someone else’s more dexterous and patient hands.

Last year N had her birthday party at Gotta Paint on Kirkwood Ave and Richmond Rd., where the girls painted ceramics, and N would have been happy to go there again because she liked it so much. I would have been fine with that too, because they did quite a good job of entertaining a pile of girls for a couple of hours.

Over the Christmas holidays, however, we wandered into Wabi Sabi, which is a knitting, spinning, and weaving shop located on Wellington St. West in Hintonburg. We knew a little bit about Wabi Sabi because we know the lovely Carol Secord who owns this store. As soon as you walk in, you feel peaceful and calm. The colours of the fibres on display are rich and warm, and the layout is open and very welcoming.

From Wikipedia:

Wabi-sabi represents a comprehensive Japanese world view or aesthetic centered on the acceptance of transience

This is a most accurate description of Wabi Sabi, the store.

I knew that Wabi Sabi hosted different workshops for children right in the store, and so we decided to look into this idea for our crafty daughter’s birthday party. We asked N what she thought, and she was absolutely sold on the idea.

There were a few options to choose from for the party, none of which were knitting per se, but all based on fabric and needles and making things, so really there was no way to go wrong here. N decided that she wanted to make pencil cases, which we thought was an ideal project. Fun and functional. We called Carol and set it all up, and out went the invitations.

Making the pencil cases involved “felting”. When we arrived at the store on the day of the birthday party, the zippers had already been pre-sewn to the felt for us. The girls then decorated their felt pencil cases by taking fluffy fibrous material and attaching this material to the felt using a poking-with-needle technique (sorry to be so technical here). A few fingers were damaged in the process, but there was nothing too serious and only a very small amount of blood. Tony and I helped some of the girls who were overly ambitious with their fluff additions, so that they could finish poking in the material before it was time to go home. It was quite relaxing and relatively low stress. The next step was to sew up the pencil cases using a blanket stitch, which even I was able to pick up fairly quickly, even though I never did get the hang of changing the thread.

The girls all worked at their own paces, and the party flowed smoothly and very quickly. We took a break to eat pizza and cake, and then the girls could keep working on their projects. There was no time in the two hours to open presents, which suited us just fine. Some girls finished their projects with plenty of time, while others had to bring their pencil cases home to finish sewing them. The party facilitators were both kind and helpful and my girls definitely had a great time.

To make the party a bit more festive, we brought along N’s mp3 player and hooked it up to her new iPig (which is completely adorable). Most of the songs were the pop fare preferred by the pre-tween set, but I did manage to get a couple of songs that I like on there too. And surprisingly Punk Rock Girl by the Dead Milkmen is boppy enough that it didn’t totally stand out from the Miley and Taylor songs, though the party attendees did seem to notice the difference and were looking a little skeptical when that one came on. Hmm.

I loved Wabi Sabi and I loved N’s birthday party. I would really like to take up knitting again and I am going to look into signing up for one of their workshops for grown-ups.

Finola is the mother of two crafty girls aged 8 and 6. You can find her at www.finolablog.com