Wordless Wednesday: A Happy Halloween Monkey and His Grand-Minion!

Camp Spooky: Kid-Centric Hallowe'en Fun at Canada's Wonderland! #cwcampspooky

Following our first visit in August, my family got to spend another day at Canada's Wonderland this month to enjoy Camp Spooky, the park's not-quite-so-scary daytime Hallowe'en experience for young children! For the month of October, the fun factor of kids' area Planet Snoopy has been elevated with the addition of a treasure hunt, costume parade, several mazes, a Peanuts-themed Trick-Or-Treat show and many other themed activities. (Note: the true thrills and chills for the 13+ crowd are reserved for the Hallowe'en Haunt, which takes place in the evenings.)

Our almost 3-year-old daughter S is quite the fan of creepy things (especially skeletons, which she calls 'dem bones'), so this experience was right up her alley! Her 7-year-old cousin H (who joined us) got a kick out of the festivities too!

Here are a few highlights:

 S test driving her spider costume!

Touring the "friendly vampire" maze!

 Score! Found treasure spot #3! 

Twisting through the corn maze 

"Who's this funny guy?" 

Of course we got in some non-Hallowe'en fun too!

H hangin' with Snoopy and Sally!

Checking out one of many life-like animatronics at Dinosaurs Alive.

Having a ball on Peanuts 500, one of S' favourite rides, along with fellow blogger Little Miss Kate and her wee man!


Want to get in on this fun with your own family? As of this writing, Canada's Wonderland (and Camp Spooky) is open for one more weekend (Oct 26/27) - so grab your tickets and get down there! :)


Disclosure:  My family received admission to Canada's Wonderland and Dinosaurs Alive at no charge, however I received no financial compensation for this post and was under no obligation to write it. The opinions expressed are my own and may be different from yours.

Canada's Wonderland: A Fun-tastic Experience for Young Children!

Canada's Wonderland (near Vaughan, Ontario) is home to Canada's largest and most diverse collection of rollercoasters and other exciting rides, so it's a natural hotspot for thrillseekers. As a coaster lover myself, I made the trip countless times throughout my older childhood and teenaged years.  But how does it measure up for families with very young children? Well, I had the opportunity to find out, thanks to an invitation I received earlier this summer to bring my own family (including hubs, 31-month-old daughter, 7-month-old son and the kiddos' fun-lovin' nana and papa) down for a visit!

We set things up for a weekday in early August. As our scheduled day approached, the forecast looked ominous, and indeed it was pouring as we pulled into the parking lot. But thankfully things cleared by mid morning and we enjoyed beautiful weather for the remainder of the day. And, as a fringe benefit, the rain also thinned the crowds so lines were nice & short!

All in all, the day went very smoothly and our whole group had a blast! Over a month later, our daughter continues to talk excitedly about her favourite parts of the day, and the rides she still needs to grow taller to enjoy. While I can think of a few improvements which would have made our visit even better, overall I feel that Wonderland is, indeed, a worthy experience for familes with very young children. We'll definitely be back many times with our own kiddos!


The Fun Factor

While the whole park is peppered with attractions of interest to younger guests, there's a huge dedicated section called Planet Snoopy. It includes over 20 rides, a colourful maze, a large playground and the Playhouse Theatre featuring kid-oriented entertainment. Naturally, since our visit was centered around S' enjoyment, we spent the majority of the day in this area.

I was super-eager to see how our daughter would react to the rides, hoping she'd inherited my own genetic material - not my motion-sensitive husband's! Nevertheless we started slow, with a relaxing glide around Swan Lake. Next up, an easy spin on Sally's Love Buggies. While S enjoyed both of these, it wasn't until the decidedly more intense Peanuts 500 (a car rides which whips you around corners, wild mouse-style) that her eyes lit up and she broke out into the biggest grin. That's my girl!! Her subsequent excitement was contagious as we chased her from one ride to the next. Most of the rides were walk-ons so we were able to get on every one she was tall enough for (about 15 total), some multiple times.

Her favourites were definitely some of the more "interesting" rides - in addition to Peanuts 500, she also loved Lucy's Tugboat, a rocking boat ride with a fairly disorienting twisting motion, and Boo Blasters on Boo Hill, a ride-on haunted house in which the passengers shoot targets to activate ghoulish scenes and rack up a high score. Despite S' affinity for skeletons (or "Dem Bones" as she calls them), I questioned my parenting skills upon entering the latter, as it quickly proved itself to be quite creepy! But, happily, S didn't get frightened at all, and as we hopped off, she gave me mad props for my shooting skillz. :)

When we realized she wasn't quite tall enough to ride Taxi Jam (the kiddo coaster), I'm not sure who was more disappointed - me or her! On the bright side, it has since provided her with some strong incentive to eat her veggies. ;)

In addition to the rides, we watched Charlie Brown's Jungle Journey, a Peanuts-themed musical playing this summer at the Playhouse Theatre. The performance was fun and energetic, and the theatre is sheltered which gave us a nice break from the sun. When they're not on stage, the Peanuts gang can be found wandering around Planet Snoopy, meeting the kiddos and posing for pics! Upon running into Lucy, S was a little shy at first, but warmed up for a photo once Nana jumped in there with her!

Throughout the day, we did manage to sneak in a few adult rides including the spectacular Leviathan (on which my stepmother kept her eyes sealed shut and face contorted in a grimace the entire time, but then proclaimed afterwards that she enjoyed herself!), and White Water Canyon, which never fails to deliver an impressive soaker. (Though at least this time I wasn't so drenched that I felt inclined to wring out my underwear which, admittedly, I've done in the past! :O ) As a side note, having more than two adults along on a child-oriented visit is a Good Thing if you want to ride any non-kiddo rides. Otherwise mom and/or dad always have to ride solo.

We also checked out a couple other "all ages" performances, including the Kinet-X Dive Show...

and the British Invasion at the International Showplace. This one was particularly fun with its lively dancing and impressive arsenal of old and new hits from the UK. We opted for lawn seating as the lush, well manicured grass was comfy and allowed the boys to get in a quick power nap. :) S had already finished hers so she was right into the music!

Finally, a day at Wonderland isn't complete without playing some games - fun for big and little folks alike! S loves Angry Birds so when we caught site of the fiercely familiar fowl at one of the booths, we knew we had to take a shot! Dads tried first and came up empty-handed, but our preschooler turned out to be a sharp shooter, knocking down all six cups on her first try! She adored the Angry Birds mini-basketball she selected as her prize.

One area we didn't visit on this trip was Splash Works, a 20 acre water park included with general admission which (similar to the rest of the park) has many attractions for all ages - for example, a plethora of both thrilling and relaxing waterslides, a huge aquatic playground and Canada's largest outdoor wave pool. We could have easily spent half or more of the day there alone. Definitely something to check out on a future visit!

Yet another attraction we didn't hit up was Dinosaurs Alive!, an interactive animatronic dinosaur park which opened in 2012. It sounds pretty cool, but probably something best enjoyed by older children and adults. Since it's an extra-cost attraction ($5/person) we want to ensure that everyone in our family gets the most out of it if/when we do check it out!


Good (and Not So Good) Eats

Canada's Wonderland is rife with places to chow down, and traditional "kid friendly" options such as hot dogs, chicken fingers, ice cream, etc. are abundant, particularly within Planet Snoopy. Unfortunately, more nutritious options are not so easy to find.

One option does stand out, and that's the Marketplace International Buffet (located in the Medieval Faire section of the park). As part of our admission, we received lunch tickets to eat here, and while I wouldn't call the dining experience "upscale" (as per its description), the food options here were varied, quite tasty and decently healthy. The most nutritious choices included bean salads, steamed veggies, fresh fruit and roasted chicken. There was also pizza, pasta, a taco station and a dessert buffet (including soft serve ice cream), among other offerings.

I wasn't thrilled by the beverage choices, however, which appeared to be limited to soft drinks and water. The salad bar was also lacking in variety and flavour. But overall, the meal wasn't bad as buffets go. It's also worth mentioning that the staff members were very attentive and friendly, the items were regularly replenished and the establishment was clean. All in all, I'd definitely bring our family to eat there again - especially when considering the lack of alternative "real food" options available at the park which, as health-conscious eaters, we found disappointing.

I have to say I was particularly bummed by the lack of nutritious options within Planet Snoopy. This, to me, sends the message to young kids that junk food = "fun" food, but this doesn't have to be the case. How about a burrito station (with fresh toppings) or a real fruit smoothie hut? Or perhaps a place to get fruit, veggie and cheese snack packs? I realize the logistics of offering fresh, real food at an amusement park must be tough, but I feel it's gotta be doable and would certainly be appreciated by families like ourselves. Here's hoping we see some improvements in this area! In the meantime, packing a cooler is always an option (if you drive, that is), but this means making the trek out to your car and back, which can shave considerable time off an already jam-packed day.

Finally, Wonderland does deserve credit for maintaining a Special Dietary Needs webpage which would certainly be helpful to those individuals with allergies, intolerances or particular diets due to personal or religious reasons.


Getting Around, Amenities, etc.

Wonderland definitely makes it easy on young families in this department! Everywhere we went was stroller-accessible (for example, there were ramps leading into the International Marketplace), and all bathrooms we came across (mens and womens) were equipped with changing tables. We were able to bring CJ's purees into the park without hassle, and I found quiet places to nurse him pretty readily including a dedicated, private area within the KidZville section of Planet Snoopy.

(Speaking of CJ, here's proof that he actually came along on our trip. ;)

While we brought our own stroller, we noticed many other folks carting around single and double rentals which cost $15 and $20 for a single day, respectively (plus a $5 refundable deposit). A nice option for families who don't own a heavy-duty stroller, prefer not to lug it along or are visiting the park via an alternative method of transportation.


Want to plan a trip with your own family?

Hop over to the Plan a Visit section of Wonderland's website to view the operating calendar, purchase tickets, browse places to stay (for multi-day trips) and check out other helpful info. The park is still open this year on weekends until the end of October. Note that evenings from October 4th onward will feature the super-creepy Halloween Haunt which isn't for the youngest guests (as much as my daughter might insist she wouldn't be scared, given her affinity for the Boo Blasters!). The suggested age for this experience is 13 & older.

Or if you'd rather make the trip in 2014, the older members of your troupe will get to experience Wonder Mountain's Guardian, a super-cool sounding 4-D interactive attraction which will be unveiled at the beginning of the season!


How about you? Have you been to Canada's Wonderland with your own children? If not, which attractions do you think your kids would enjoy the most?


Disclosure:  My family received general admission to Canada's Wonderland and lunch tickets at no charge, however I received no financial compensation for this post and was under no obligation to write it. The opinions expressed are my own and may be different from yours.

Wordless Wednesday: Cottage Life

Sand Gone: A Must for Beachgoers! - Review & Giveaway (Closed)

While growing up, my family vacationed frequently at destinations along the Atlantic Ocean. These trips left me with many fond memories (riding frothy waves on our boogie boards, strolling along the shore searching for shells and burying family members up to their necks in sand) but I also remember what a cumbersome process it was to remove salt and sand from our skin after a day at the beach! Grit ended up all over towels, car seats and hotel room floors (apologies to the maintenance staff!) and, inevitably, some would remain behind and chafe at us until we had the chance to grab a shower. Luckily, beachgoers today have an alternative option  - a nifty little product called Sand Gone! Consisting of vegetable and plant starches (plus a little fragrance) Sand Gone is a non-toxic powder which removes sand and salt from the skin without using water. The product was invented by a mompreneur named Tiffany who knew there had to be a better way after many years spent wrestling with her own post-beach sand-covered children!


Product Info (from website):

SAND GONE is a dry body powder that, when applied to sand covered skin, removes the sand and leaves the skin soft and smooth while feeling fresh and clean.

Sand Gone comes in an attractive eight ounce jar with a screw-able lid. Within the jar is a microfiber applicator. It is extremely soft but also durable. It can be cleaned by household washers and dryers when necessary. The applicator also has a strap across it to help secure it to the user's hand as the powder is applied.

The dry, white powder is both non-toxic and non-talc. It also contains a hint of coconut fragrance. Sand Gone is best used when cleaning up while leaving the beach. However, Sand Gone works perfectly well when cleaning up after the sand box, playground or wherever one encounters sand. It is like having a "dry shower" from a jar. In addition to removing the sand, Sand Gone also removes the salt from your skin after a day at the beach. No more uncomfortable "scratchy feeling" under clothing during the drive home.

After using Sand Gone, you will quickly find that it becomes one of those must-haves at the beach, sandlot or park. You will know to bring your sunblock and shades...but also your SAND GONE.


My Review:

For review purposes, I received an 8 fl oz Sand Gone plus applicator.

The powder itself is very soft and delicate, and the coconut scent is nice - you definitely notice it but it smells natural and isn't overpowering. The applicator is plush, sturdy and large. One side has a ribbon "handle" and the other is smooth across the whole surface.

Our first experience using the product was quite spontaneous! I'd just received it a few days prior when my husband, following a lengthy backyard play session with our 2 1/2 year old, called in through the screen door - "Quick! I need something for S! She's all full of sand!" I thought ahhh, perfect and grabbed our unopened Sand Gone off the counter. About one minute and several wipes later, she was indeed sand-free!

This first experience was successful but involved just sand and water. As our next experiment, I was curious to see how the product performed over mineral-based sunscreen which we use when outside mid-day. Mineral-based sunscreens (e.g. containing zinc oxide) leave a barrier on the skin versus "standard" sunscreens which get absorbed, so there's a bit more to contend with for a product like Sand Gone! I'm happy to report that the product works in this scenario too, as the following video demonstrates.

Next up - the Hairy Man Arm Test. (Thanks to my ever-helpful husband for this suggestion. And, for volunteering a Hairy Arm.) Unfortunately, as you can see, this was somewhat of an Epic Fail.

It would appear that Sand Gone definitely prefers a smooth surface to work with.

A few other comments & observations:

• Kids love using Sand Gone! We're (ever so appropriately) at the cottage right now, and following a product demo both my daughter and her two cousins have requested using it on a few occasions. They all agree that it works well and love the scent!
• It works best to use a "moderate" amount - i.e. you don't need to cake the powder on there but you do want a light covering across the applicator.
• Longevity-wise, we've used the product about 15-20 times now and the tub is about 1/3rd empty, so you do get quite a few uses out of it. Tiffany mentioned that one tub lasts her family about one beach season (and her family's at the beach regularly!)
• We've admittedly been sporatic in applying it here at the cottage, and as such there's been a lot of sand trekked across the floors. To prevent this scenario (especially in one's home or a cottage not quite as rustic as ours ;) an idea that comes to mind is to designate a single "sandy body" entry point and leave the Sand Gone there so that everyone can easily clean up before entering the building. 

 Finally, a few issues and improvement suggestions:

• Although effective at removing grit, the powder itself sticks around on your skin and get can on clothing, floors, etc. Not a huge issue as it washes easily, but something to note.
•  Given the product's open-faced application method, it would be quite easy for the entire tub to spill out (especially if children are using the product). A shaker style applicator might be a better option to prevent this.
• Although the coconut scent is advertised as being non-toxic, the actual ingredients aren't disclosed thus some individuals with fragrance sensitivities may have trouble. As such, it would be nice if the product was available in an unscented format as well.

All in all, Sand Gone's a neat product that works quite well as advertised (hairy man arm test aside ;). If you're tired of continuously wrestling with sand-covered family members and corresponding grit inside your home, cottage, tent, etc. definitely give Sand Gone a shot!

On a related note: if you're a frequent beach-goer, check out this list of 10 Must Haves for the Beach put together by Tiffany and a few other companies. From totes to toys to thirsty tots, this list covers many key needs and wants for a fun day in the sun! :)


Buy It:

Sand Gone can be purchased directly from the product website as well as on Open Sky and at various beach and gift shops. From the website, shipping is available to Canada and the United States.

Win It:

One lucky Manager to Mom reader will win an 8 oz family size container of Sand Gone, including a soft soothing applicator! Open to CAN/US.

To enter, fill out the Rafflecopter form below. Please follow all instructions within each entry option to ensure your entries are valid.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure:  The prize is being provided and shipped to the winner by Sand Gone.  I received no financial compensation for writing my review or offering this giveaway, although I did receive the sample item free of charge.  This is my completely honest opinion above and may be different from yours.

(Not Quite) Wordless Wednesday: We Won a Christmas Tree!

A community service group in our town holds a Tree of Light celebration each holiday season. It's a fun event for kids as there's Christmas caroling galore, free apple cider and hot dogs, and Frosty the Snowman makes an appearance too! Most importantly, it's the largest annual fundraiser for the group. During the weeks leading up to the celebration, group members accept donations at various venues and a $5 donation earns a light on the tree and an entry into a raffle for a fully decorated (artificial) Christmas tree donated by a local garden center.

While shopping at Sobey's about a week ago, I made a donation not really thinking about the prize - but then received a call a few days later that we'd won! Apparently there were hundreds of donations made so we got quite lucky indeed. (Though Chris said maybe it was good karma for all the great stuff I give away here at M2M? ;)

Here we are with Frosty and our beautiful tree (currently displayed in a local shop window until the logistics work out for us to bring it home) on Sunday night following the Santa Claus parade!

Old Christmas Card Collage - A Toddler and Kid-Friendly Craft!

While it's always nice to receive festive greetings from loved ones each holiday season, those piles of Christmas cards can certainly build up as the years go by! To keep things manageable, I generally hold on to hand-made cards and store-bought variants with meaningful personal content and recycle the remainder, however this year I came up with an idea for repurposing these. Now that our daughter's 2, she's starting to "get" the concepts behind holidays and her fine motor skills are at a level where she's able to be more  hands-on with crafts, so I thought it would be a fun project for her to convert some of our old cards into a Christmas-themed collage! It worked out fabulously. :) Here are the deets, for those of you who'd like to give this a try as well!

Note - the steps listed assume you're doing the project with a toddler. For an older child (e.g. 4-5+ years), you can adjust the steps so that they're more hands-on - e.g., encouraging a child to cut out their own images, write their own name/message, etc. 

Christmas Card Collage

Materials:

• 15-20 old Christmas cards with different images/designs
• Large piece of paper (we used a 12"x18" sheet of finger paint paper)
• Glue stick
• Scissors
• Christmas stickers to decorate smaller areas (optional)
• Non-toxic, washable markers and/or sticky letters

 

Steps:

1. Lay out materials on a flat surface
2. Ask your child to choose a card image they'd like to include next. Cut out the image.
3. Have your child assist in gluing the back of the image, and allow them to paste it wherever they want on the collage.
4. Repeat steps 2-3 until all large, blank areas of the paper are filled with images. Ask your child about each image as it's added. (What/who it is, colours, what they like about it, etc.)
5. If you're using stickers as well, allow your child to add some of these to jazz things up further.
6. Add a holiday message and your child's name using the markers and/or sticky letters. Allow your child to add some free form details with the markers if they want.
7. Voila! Encourage your child to show off their work of art to friends and family!

Our completed collage!

Comparing her own candy cane to mouse's candy cane on her picture!

So tell me... what do you do with your old Christmas cards? Can you recommend other fun holiday art projects that are toddler-friendly?

Wordless Wednesday: RAWRRR!!!!

My Sinfully Delicious Summer Vice(s)

OK I'll admit it. Despite many recent strides toward leading a healthier lifestyle, I've become totally hooked this Summer on something not so nourishing: McDonalds iced coffees.

I can't help it. The'yre delicious and they're "only a dollar, all Summer!"

To be fair, I do make some customizations to my version so it's less unhealthy. Milk instead of cream (woot, extra calcium) and half the syrup. So I don't feel too bad about having a large one about every other day. :O

My teeth, however, aren't too happy about this. If I'm not super diligent with coffee and tea, the front ones get stained. And needless to say, I haven't been too careful, so I now have a mid-August appointment booked with my dentist to polish 'em back to their normal pearly white state.

There's also this Mom & Pop ice cream shop down the road called Swirls which makes soft-serve treats (similar to DQ) but using REAL ice cream - not ice milk. So they're fattier, but much richer, creamier and tastier! And everything at Mom & Pop Shop prices. FTW! I love their "Razzle" - the Swirls equivalent of a Blizzard. Let me just say they do NOT skimp on the toppings!

So what's your sinfully delicious Summer vice?

Travel & vacations with baby - tips & lessons learned!

Well, we're back from our fun & sun-filled cottage trip, and as usual it went way too fast! It's after 12:30 AM so I *should* be in bed, however I thought I'd quickly whip out the post that was percolating in my head during our drive back.

As those of you with kids would surely agree, travelling and vacationing with babies (and older kids too, I would certainly imagine!) is quite a bit different than with adults exclusively. While we got a taste of this during our weekend trip to Picton, it really hit home during our cottage vacation. As such, I thought I'd share some of the lessons we learned and helpful tips we discovered!

• Scheduling travel time during baby's sleeping hours is ideal! We decided to leave the Bruce tonight after dinner and S slept the entire ride home. This was a stark contrast to our return trip from Picton during which we frantically rotated toys and busted out every song in the book in an attempt to coax her out of her "I hate being restained in this seat!" crying fit.
  

• Stackable and sortable toys are the bomb. They take up less space, provide a versatile playing experience (so baby is probably less likely to get bored of them) and are sand (and other grime) resilient. S was content to independently play with her stacking cups and Fisher Price shape sorting box on many occasions during our trip!

• Getting organized and establishing schedules/routines early on in your trip is super-helpful. For example, if your baby is on solids, find a convenient home for her food & accessories as soon as you can and institute an efficient cleaning routine. I brought along our kitchen wetbag which really came in handy for S's used bibs and wash cloths.

• When packing your vehicle, order & accessibility of key items becomes much more important! Food & water, diaper bag and toys (in particular) need to be easily within reach.
   

• Cloth diapering while traveling / cottaging is totally doable - particularly if you have access to a washer. (Otherwise I can see it being much more of a PITA.) I filled one entire suitcase with S's stash, laid out her portable change mat on the couch in our room, threw a pillow on the floor to cushion the knees and voila - accessible and at least moderately ergonomic changing station! :)

• While on the topic of cloth diapers, disposable liners are a nice diapering accessory on the go. As my husband put it, a liner is basically a diaper sprayer in another form. :) Although they're not perfect (bunching & whatnot), they can definitely make poopy diaper changes less messy in lieu of said sprayer. (We learned this firsthand at the Timmy's north of Espanola.)
  

• Don't expect to catch up on sleep during your trip! In our case, S nipped any desire for this in the bud by falling asleep later, waking up earlier and napping for shorter stretches. Kind of makes sense as she was exposed to so many exciting new sensations and experiences, but a little exhausting at the same time! Luckily we had many other family members eager to spend time with our li'l monkey which allowed us to get in some R&R!
  

• Finally, if you're like me, vacationing can help you realize that babies are, indeed, quite robust and that a little dirt truly isn't a bad thing. S enjoyed a speedy motorboat ride, splashed away in quite frigid lake water and took advantage of the (decidedly non-pristine) area rugs at each cottage to work on her crawling (and associated face planting). But ehhh - through all that, she's just fine. :)
  

Anyone have any other helpful tips or lessons learned when it comes to travelling and vacation with little ones? Feel free to share!!

Menu Plan Monday: Cottage Edition!

Day 3 at the cottage and it's a rainy one! Since we're stuck indoors anyway, it's a good time to do a l'il blogging!

Last year at the cottage I wrote up a menu plan for the week and it really helped organize our shopping trip and daily meals. So we made another one for this trip. With 7 adults and 2 kids (well 3 including S, but she still has her own meals so doesn't "count" :), it's all about convenience, simplicity (no recipes!) and having plenty to go around!!

The first thing we did was take stock of the meal-appropriate food everyone brought along (meat, pasta, veggies, etc.). We then arranged these into individual dinners, breakfasts, etc. based on factors such as BBQ vs. non-BBQ, mixing things up day-to-day and how perishable each item was. Finally, we filled in the gaps to add in salads, sides, etc. for each meal.These "gap" items, along with breads & cheeses for simple lunch sandwiches (to round out the numerous cold cuts brought along), healthy and non-so-healthy snacks and other items comprised the master shopping list. We ended up spending less than $200 total, and the food should last us the majority of the week - not too bad!

The cottage menu plan actually started on Saturday with Taco Night, which Chris' sister brought the fixings for - a nice, easy and tasty way to start off the week! We me end up reordering the meals from that point onward based on the weather, what people feel like, etc. but we'll use the ordering below as a blueprint.

Oh, and I'm linking up again this week! Check out other MPMs here:

Saturday
- Hard and soft tacos

Sunday
- BBQ - hot dogs, sausages and side salads (coleslaw and pasta)

Monday
- Ribs, potatoes, carrots and garden salad

Tuesday
- Pasta, garlic bread, leftover garden salad

Wednesday
- Marinated chicken & veggie kebobs

Thursday
- Steak, stuffed mushrooms, broccoli & cauliflower

Friday
- Eat out!!

So what are you eating this week? Who else is BBQing? Anyone else at the cottage?

Vacay, here we come!

Tomorrow we're headed up to St. Joseph Island for a week of cottage-y goodness with Chris' family, followed by a ride on the Chi Cheemaun down to Tobermory in the Bruce Peninsula and another weekend of cottage-tasticness with my Mom, stepfather and family friends on Look About Bay. Yay for cottaging!

This will be S's first extended vacation. She did well during our weekend trip to Picton but the drive to SJI is more than twice as long. Due to this, we've elected to head off "dark & early" (4 AM ish) tomorrow morning so that she (hopefully) sleeps for about half of the drive. *Crossing fingers*

I'm bringing my laptop so might get in a li'l blogging during downtime, but will need to play this by ear. Otherwise, we'll be back on the 18th and I'll be posting some great new giveaways starting then, as well as a bunch of other posts I have on the radar. Ahhh time, you continue to elude me...

In the meantime, I leave you with sunset on the Bruce Peninsula. Ahhhhh.....

Wordless Wednesday: Canada Day Fun & Food!

The Great Canadian Blog Bash (#TGCBB) - Follow Up!

 

Well, the 2011 Great Canadian Blog Bash (#TGCBB) has come to an end, and what fun it was! Thanks to everyone who entered my giveaway for a $25 gift card to M&M Meat Shops. Kristen (comment #93) was the winner out of 247 total entries - congrats Kristen! 

I loved reading everyone's favourite Canadian food comments. As one might expect, frequent mentions included Tim Hortons, poutine, beaver tails, maple syrup and Swiss Chalet! Here's the full list of comments to whet your appetite! :D

• There is a local restaurant that our family goes to frequently. Their prime rib is the best I have ever had. Besides the great food, another reason we go is that they donate half of all the tips made to charity. They choose a new and deserving local charity every year. I love the generosity of Canadians. They are always willing to lend a hand in any way they can.
• I love the local strawberries that are out at this time of year, and am looking forward to when my son is big enough to go strawberry picking with me. There's something about them that always reminds me of Canada Day BBQ's with friends.  

• I love wine and cheese, I make my own wine some times. :) I also am a lover of back bacon and lobster, poutine and smores. Can't get more Canadian than that lol 
•  Not entering but how can you mention Canadian foods without mentioning the oddly named but super-tasty pastries... BeaverTails??? 

• omg fresh fruit from Kelowna, it's just drips down your chin!!
• I definitely LOVE the *VERY* healthy Canadian poutine :D And I love Timmie's Iced Capps, yum yum :)
• I am completely addicted to Tim Hortons coffee. I would rather have a one cream/one sugar coffee than any other drink! Mmm Mmm
• Ohh a fave Canaidian food...Does Shaw's icecream count? :)  
• Back bacon  
• Canadian Lobster from the east coast is food I like the best. 

• I really love Beaver Tails! Whenever we are in Ottawa, we will go and buy it! 
• I love Maple Syrup! 

• my fave Canadian winery is Mission Hill in Kelowna BC
• I can't ever get enough of Tim Hortons coffee! Yummy!
• It's Tim Hortons sour cream glazed donuts that I love the most!
• POUTINE!!!! 
• Mmmm... who doesn't love a great poutine?
• Wow ~ where do I start! I love poutine ~ with chunks of chicken added ~ to-die-for! I also cannot go without my Timmies in the morning and wanting to try the 2 new timbit flavours ~ hopefully this week! The cheese festival sounds fantastic and with a little vino makes the day just perfect.
• I love timmies iced caps. No summer is complete without stopping at tim hortons to pick one up on the way to the lake

• My favourite Canadian things are poutine, Tim Hortons, and maple syrup!
• My Fave Canadian food has to be POUTINE! I mean, how can you not love cheesy, gravy goodness, right? YUM! Happy Canada Day!!

• I'm from NB Canada and when I moved to NS for 5 years the thing I missed the most was Garlic fingers with Donair sauce... I missed it so much lol. Thank goodness I moved back to NB and have not craved it since lol.

• I love me some poutine and beaver tails! 
• I love the Winona,Ontario peaches.Every year we go to the peach festival and get a peach and strawberry sundae.
• poutine!
• poutine!!! nanaimo bars!! :) 
• My favorite Canadian restaurant is Swiss Chalet

• Can't go wrong with a Timmie's Ice cap! :)
• I've been liking Timmy's Iced Coffees lately!
• bwahaha! timbits flavour?! LOVE it!
  I'm an old-fashioned glaze girl!
• I Love poutine!
• I love poutine!
• I love our local farmer for their fresh Canadian produce
• I love beavertails :) 
• Love timbits 

• I love my Tim Hortons (Timmies)
• The honey glazed and chocolate Tim Bits are my faves!!
• Mmm Timbits..... crueller timbitss 
• My favourite Canadian restaurant is probably Swiss Chalet, and of course I love all my local Niagara wineries! 
• Well I love my timmies but the Maple Leaf Restaurant is great too although I haven't been there in a long time. 
• One of my fav. Canadian "foods" is Dieu de Ceil smallcraft beer from Montreal. Worth planning a return trip. Yum.

I also heard back from all three companies I featured on my TGCBB giveaway post: Black River Cheese, Empire Cheese and The Sprucewood Handmade Cookie Company! Based on their responses, I'm thinking we'll need to take another foodcation in Prince Edward Country!

From Black River Cheese: Thanks for this!  We are so glad you like our cheese and that you were so taken with Prince Edward County as well.  We're pretty proud of our community.  If you come to the county again, be sure to stop by our Retail store for a great selection of our award winning aged cheddars and flavoured mozzarellas as well as lots of other 'County' products.  And our cheese is available in many Metro Stores and Sobeys stores as well as specialty shops from London to Ottawa and north to the Kawarthas.  We will be revamping our website in the near future and plan to list the stores where you can find our cheese.  Also, generally we make fresh curd on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday so if you come to see us, make sure to get some!

From Empire Cheese: Thank you for the kind words in your blog about Empire Cheese.  You should consider a trip to Trent Hills (made up of the communities of Campbellford, Warkwarth and Hastings).  You could visit the Empire Factory and purchase the freshest curd  and then visit Sprucewood Cookies all in one trip.   We also have a fabulous bakery, a  butter tart factory and World's Finest Chocolate.  If you like beer, we have Church Key Micro Brewery.  It is definitely worth the trip.  Once you have all of your treats you can picnic along the Trent Severn Waterway which runs right through the middle of Campbellford and Hastings. 

From Sprucewood: This is so thoughtful of you! I'll take a look and report back. To buy more cookies, we are exhibiting at The Cobourg Waterfront Festival this Fri-Sun at the harbourfront in Cobourg.  This is a great crafters event!
 

I hope all my Canadian readers had a wonderful and food-filled Canada Day long weekend! And Happy 4th of July to my readers South of the border. Cheers! :D

Our Intentional Summer Fun List!

In my last Memorable Monday post, I featured this great article from Simple Mom on Getting Organized for an Intentional Summer. It's all about planning to do what you want to do and not just letting yourself get caught up in the inevitable whirlwind of events that you feel you have to do.

I was inspired by this article (especially now that we have a little one to join us on our Summer adventures!) and ended up brainstorming with my husband to create our own "want to do" list. Thought I'd share it with you here!

• Purchase and install above-ground pool in our backyard! ALMOST DONE - we ended up buying the Bestway HydroSoft soft-sided 15' pool & related accessories from Canadian Tire and Chris has been working hard setting it up! Should be ready this week. :D
  
  
• Attend the KW Multicultural Festival in Victoria Park. DONE - S and I met Mom & Norm there today! We sampled lots of tasty international dishes and S enjoyed her first taste of lemon (yes - actually enjoyed it surprisingly.We were expecting a sour, scrunched up expression but nope - she just licked her lips and reached out for more!) I could have spent hours and hours (and lots of $$$) in the merchandise tents - especially loved the amazing hand-crafted jewelry and beautiful, exotic dresses and other clothing.
  
  
• Attend the Canada Day events here in New Hamburg this Friday including the delicious AYCE breakfast, duck race and possibly the fireworks. Looks like we're going to work in a BBQ at our place as well so it'll be an action-packed day, but lots of fun!
  
  
• Cottage-y goodness - spend a week on St. Joseph Island with Chris' family from July 9 to 16 and then take the Chi-Cheemaun ferry down to Tobermory and join Mom & Norm for a weekend in the Bruce. Fishing, biking, hiking, boating, lounging, bbqing - ah!
  
  
• "Trial camp" with S in our back yard - sometime in August?
  
  
• If all goes well with the trial camp, go camping for realsies later in August or early September!
  
  
• More boating/fishing closer to home (this is a Chris item - I'll probably get my fill of boating up at the cottage! :)
  
  
• Spend a weekend in Ottawa visiting friends
  
  
• Take S to African Lion Safari and/or the Toronto Zoo
  
  
• Take my best friend M out for a "girl's night" birthday dinner! (this is a Kristy item :)
  
  
• Go on at least a couple dates with Chris! Perhaps hit the Stratford Festival, use our YukYuk's WagJag, go out for some fancy shmancy dinners - whatever we decide floats our boat!
  
  
• Get a family photo shoot done - somewhere outdoors would be wonderful! (I scored a sweet Dealfind for this.)
  
  
• Host and attend a few BBQs with friends and family - and possibly invite our neighbours for a drop-in event. We'll see how ambitious we get. ;)

 So what are your big "want to dos" this Summer?

The Great Canadian Blog Bash! (+ Hungry for a Giveaway?) (Closed)

Hosted by: Whispered Inspirations, Mom vs. The Boys, Pampered Patty, Good Girl Gone Green and Kat’s Confessions.

For a few weeks now, I've been following the TGCBB buzz and have planned to check out the patriotism and hopefully win m'self some great Canadian swag. But then this morning, it hit me - why not take part myself? I love my country, I love giveaways, and I super-super-love connecting with new bloggers - especially fellow Canucks! So if you're here for the first time, thanks so much for hopping by and hope you enjoy what you find here! And if you've been here before, so glad you popped back in! Now I invite all my visitors to grab yourselves a Blue or a Timmy's, settle on into that comfy chesterfield and read on, eh? Oh forgot to mention - for a mere toonie, you can snag some tasty poutine and a pop from the the fry truck outside.

OK I'll stop now. :)

With the Canadian-isns, that is. But I'm going to continue talking about food (or more specifically, Canadian food), as that is the theme of my TGCBB post! So let's get to it!

Early this month, my husband whisked our family away on a wonderful surprise trip - to the Great Canadian Cheese Festival in Picton, Ontario!

Although I've lived in Ontario all my life, I had never been to Prince Edward County until this trip. And boy, was I missing out! This is an extremely charming and picturesque area of the province renowned for its fine wineries, gourmet restaurants, sand dune beaches, artist studios and galleries and, of course, !!!CHEESE!!!

Here are a few pics from our trip:

At the festival, we tasted some most excellent wine and nibbled on utterly scrumptious cheeses and other delectables. Some of the products we tried were SO memorable that I decided to highlight them in this post!

First up - Black River Cheese!

We found their cheese to be SOO fresh and flavourful! Their pepper jack was especially tasty so we picked some up to bring home. They also make a maple cheddar (how Canadian is that?!) which I wasn't the biggest fan of myself but is apparently a top seller.

A bit more from their website:

The historic Black River Cheese Company is located in picturesque Prince Edward County, Ontario, Canada. It was started in 1901 by local farmers and is still a small production facility dedicated to preserving a tradition of making superior cheese.

Black River Cheese Company's award-winning cheese continues to gain loyal customers including Natural Health Food stores and specialty sections of supermarkets. We have a fine selection of naturally aged cheddar, mozzarella, brick, fresh curd, and flavoured mozzarella specialty cheeses and we only use animal-free rennet.  At our factory outlet there are gift cheese boxes and baskets available year round, cheese trays for entertaining and a variety of gifts and souvenirs.  Soft and hard ice cream is available in season.

Next - Empire Cheese!

These guys make the tastiest, SQUEAKIEST cheese curds I've ever tried! Unfortunately when we tried to pick some up on the way home at a nearby Sobey's, the store was out of stock. No wonder - I bet these bad boys go within hours.

A bit more from their website:

At Empire, our cheese is made in the traditional way in open-style vats which in our opinion gives the cheese and curd a better flavour. We use no additives to boost production and there are no flavours added to our Cheddar. It is all natual, with no preservatives added.

The cheese is vacuum-packed in our modern facilities to preserve the special flavour. A true mix of tradition and modern technology to give our customers the best product possible.

Last, but certainly not least - The Sprucewood Handmade Cookie Company!

O. M. G. If I were to suffer death by cookie, it would most certainly be by the utterly additive, melt-in-your-mouth handmade shortbread cookies made by these fellas. They offer a divine selection of both sweet and savoury shortbreads. My personal flavourites (ha!) are Dark Chocolate, Raspberry and Spicy Thai. One of the best things about these cookies is that they actually contain very little sugar; the focus is on capturing the flavour essence.

We ended up buying 8, count'em, 8 boxes of these cookies to bring home. Do yourself a flavour (har I did it again!) - visit their Where to Buy page and then march over to the nearest retailer and pick some of these up for yourself. You won't be sorry!


In addition to the good eats at the festival, we also enjoyed breakfast twice at Chesterfields Homegrown Cafe, an eatery in downtown Picton run by friends of my husband. Chesterfields strives to use local ingredients whenever possible and the dishes are prepared from scratch so the food is fresh and delicious. Their B.E.L.C.H brekky sandwich (bacon, egg, lettuce, cheese & ham) is particularly popular. The cafe's ambiance is hip & funky yet non-pretentious, and there's always a great selection of music accompanying the dining experience. I wish we had a Chesterfields here in the 'Hammy!

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Hungry yet? Well, how about a giveaw-eh??

In the spirit of the Canadian food theme, one of my readers will win a $25 gift card to M&M Meat Shops!

From their website:

M&M Meat Shops is proud to be Canada's largest retail chain of specialty frozen foods with locations coast to coast. We offer a delectable selection of more than 375 mouth-watering products. You’ll find your trusted family favourites plus exciting new tastes to satisfy the most selective palates. And, the majority of our dishes are ready to thaw-and-serve or heat-and-serve to make meal prep easier for you.

To enter, please leave a separate comment for each entry, and include your email address with each one. The number beside each action denotes how many entries it is worth, so make sure to leave the corresponding number of comments if you complete that action. I'll be checking each entry for validity, so please ensure that you complete all actions as indicated.

Mandatory entry:

• Tell me something you like that is Canadian food or drink-related - your favourite restaurant, winery, product, timbits flavour, etc. :) (+1)

Additional Entries:

• Follow "Manager to Mom" publically via Google Friend Connect (see right sidebar); include your first name and last initial (+1)
• Like "Manager to Mom" on Facebook; include your Facebook first name and last initial (+1)
• Follow @managertomom on Twitter; include your Twitter username (+1)
• Subscribe via email (see right sidebar) (+1)
• Subscribe via RSS (see right sidebar) (+1)
• Grab my button for your blog and leave the link where it can be found (see left sidebar) (+3)
• Blog about this giveaway and leave the link to your post (+3)
• Vote for me on Picket Fence Blogs; can be done once daily. (+1 each)
• Tweet this giveaway; can be done once daily. (+1 each) Please use the following tweet or create your own; must contain @managertomom, #TCGBB and a link to this giveaway post: 

Canadians, are you hungry for a #giveaway? #Win a $25 M&M Meat Shops gift card from @managertomom! http://tinyurl.com/6bz5wh8 7/1 #TCGBB

Open to residents of Canada.  This giveaway will end on July 1, 2011 at 11:59pm EST. Winner will be chosen by Random.org, emailed, and announced on my blog shortly after giveaway ends. The winner will have 72 hours to respond to my email before a new winner is chosen.

Disclosure:  The prize is being provided and shipped to the winner by me.  I received no financial compensation for writing this post or offering this giveaway.  This is my completely honest opinion above and may be different from yours.