Unlike most Canada Days, spent aimlessly finding our way through 100,000 people on Parliament Hill, waiting two hours to sit on a patio in the market and then sitting amongst Ottawa's best drunks during the fireworks...we decided to take a bit of a different approach this year and see what Canada Day was like from the "family perspective"! Hence, Jim, Kelly and our three adorable nephews came up for the weekend and crashed in our 640 square foot apartment for two days of Canada Day fun through the eyes of a two year old!
They live in the small little town of Leamington in Southwestern Ontario and our three nephews, Noal (4 yrs.), Brennan (2yrs.) and Kellen (4 months) all spent ten hours in a car so they could come to Ottawa and see what all the rage was about! Hopefully, we didn't disappoint!
Since everyone was up bright and early (I do believe the clock said 6:15am when I first opened my eyes!), we headed downtown at 9:30am (because that's how long it takes to get three little ones ready in the morning...you're amazing Jim and Kelly!) and introduced the Leamington Smyths to the likes of downtown Ottawa on Canada Day!!! Given that we couldn't get anywhere with two strollers and two year olds aren't interested in seeing horses on a big screen, we thought that we would head down to Jacques Cartier Park on the Quebec side of the Ottawa River. Neither of us had ever ventured over to the "other side" before and found it to be as much an adventure for ourselves as it was for the boys! As it turns out, the Quebec side of the river is all about catering to families and their little ones (and let me just say that there were plenty of them!!). We got to play in the old fashion circus, bouncy castles, see ridiculously oversized clowns and indulge our senses in too much cotton candy and rainbow suckers!
After lunch we decided to brave the Museum of Civilization's Children Museum and the fact that it was free admission for the day. It was a good idea on paper but, apparently, 2,ooo other families shared our sentiments as well! Three words sum it up nicely...OUT OF CONTROL!
Truth be told, we had an amazing time there with the kids. There was so much for them to play with and see but, there is something about the combined energy of hundreds of little kids under the age of five that makes the decibel level increase more than I ever thought possible!! We spent a good couple of hours there and while the adults suffered through the heat and crowds to make our way home, the kids all enjoyed a nice nap along the canal (it really is a hard life when you're little!).
As fireworks time quickly approached and we were dreading the idea of being stuck downtown, we ended up discovering a new hidden jem of a place to catch the action! Sitting right in front of the new War Museum gave us a perfect place to set up our chairs, steer clear of the mosquitoes, have a perfect, inobstructed view of the show and still stay far enough away that the kids could handle the noise. All in all, a best kept secret!
I have to say though that we have had many visitors over the years to join us for Canada Day and no one endured it better than the boys did! In past years, we have always been back home by early afternoon for lunch and a much needed nap while in this case, we made it home in time for dinner and the kids still had energy to spare. Unbelievable!
They live in the small little town of Leamington in Southwestern Ontario and our three nephews, Noal (4 yrs.), Brennan (2yrs.) and Kellen (4 months) all spent ten hours in a car so they could come to Ottawa and see what all the rage was about! Hopefully, we didn't disappoint!
Since everyone was up bright and early (I do believe the clock said 6:15am when I first opened my eyes!), we headed downtown at 9:30am (because that's how long it takes to get three little ones ready in the morning...you're amazing Jim and Kelly!) and introduced the Leamington Smyths to the likes of downtown Ottawa on Canada Day!!! Given that we couldn't get anywhere with two strollers and two year olds aren't interested in seeing horses on a big screen, we thought that we would head down to Jacques Cartier Park on the Quebec side of the Ottawa River. Neither of us had ever ventured over to the "other side" before and found it to be as much an adventure for ourselves as it was for the boys! As it turns out, the Quebec side of the river is all about catering to families and their little ones (and let me just say that there were plenty of them!!). We got to play in the old fashion circus, bouncy castles, see ridiculously oversized clowns and indulge our senses in too much cotton candy and rainbow suckers!
After lunch we decided to brave the Museum of Civilization's Children Museum and the fact that it was free admission for the day. It was a good idea on paper but, apparently, 2,ooo other families shared our sentiments as well! Three words sum it up nicely...OUT OF CONTROL!
Truth be told, we had an amazing time there with the kids. There was so much for them to play with and see but, there is something about the combined energy of hundreds of little kids under the age of five that makes the decibel level increase more than I ever thought possible!! We spent a good couple of hours there and while the adults suffered through the heat and crowds to make our way home, the kids all enjoyed a nice nap along the canal (it really is a hard life when you're little!).
As fireworks time quickly approached and we were dreading the idea of being stuck downtown, we ended up discovering a new hidden jem of a place to catch the action! Sitting right in front of the new War Museum gave us a perfect place to set up our chairs, steer clear of the mosquitoes, have a perfect, inobstructed view of the show and still stay far enough away that the kids could handle the noise. All in all, a best kept secret!
I have to say though that we have had many visitors over the years to join us for Canada Day and no one endured it better than the boys did! In past years, we have always been back home by early afternoon for lunch and a much needed nap while in this case, we made it home in time for dinner and the kids still had energy to spare. Unbelievable!
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