favourite activities - Farewell Stranger

Time Travel Smiles

May 19, 2013 By Robin 11 Comments

A simple post today, inspired by Sarah at The Sunday Spill and her post Because Everything Feels Lighter at Present.

We stayed here —the Banff Springs Hotel—last night. It’s incredible.

My mom worked in the dining room here in the 60s. The hotel is celebrating its 125th anniversary and she went up for an alumni weekend, except—crazy lady that she is—she didn’t stay the second night and gave it to us instead. AND she took Connor home with her; we kept Ethan and had a lovely night to ourselves.

Banff is where we went for the day on last weekend’s ill-fated Mother’s Day and, at the time, we had no idea we’d be back again so soon, and in such a beautiful setting. We met my mom in the afternoon after her visits and tours etc., and had a chance to wander around and go for dinner. She told us stories about working at the hotel, some of which I knew and some I didn’t. She talked about how she ended up there and what she did. She told us who her friends were and why that time in her life mattered.

This morning we had breakfast in a beautifully furnished lounge with windows that look out over the mountains, which we had to ourselves because apparently no one else had discovered that you can sit in there. Rich mentioned that he had wandered through the gallery that showcases the history of the hotel and saw a 1920s-era picture of people sitting on the ledge right outside the window we were sitting by. The view, apparently, looked almost exactly the same. I found myself wishing someone had perfected time travel so we could go back and surreptitiously stand there as they were having their picture taken. Wouldn’t you love to have the ability to take everything you know now and go back in time to appreciate a place as it was years and years ago? I would spend a lot of my time popping invisibly into scenes and pondering what life would have been like in the same places but at very different times.

And so it was, as you can imagine, a lovely day. An unexpected, quiet night at a nice hotel is a beautiful thing, but I’m especially grateful that I got to see my mom and hear her stories in that environment. It made me smile. It’s as close as I’ll ever get to travelling back in time to be there with her when she was young.

Filed Under: Happy things Tagged With: family, favourite activities, gratitude, living life, weekends

Bring on the Elephants

May 14, 2013 By Robin 26 Comments

Sometimes when I think about what I want for my kids I get caught up in the idea of a typical (stereotypical?) childhood. You know, like riding bikes all over the neighbourhood and…whatever else it is that kids are “supposed” to do. (Clearly this is not a well-thought-out angst.) In any case, I feel like we put one important piece in place on the weekend.

We went to the circus!

It’s possible that Rich and I were as excited about this as Connor, but he was totally excited. He was dying to see the elephants. As in, kept asking when we were going to see them. Ah, to have no patience whatsoever. But, boy, did we get to see the elephants.

We got VIP passes, which got us a behind-the-scenes tour of what goes on in and around the big top before the show starts. Connor—who normally won’t sit still for anyone—loved the ringmaster when we got to hear him talk about the circus. (And he wasn’t even in full costume at that point.) He told everyone we saw the next day that he got to meet the ringmaster. Maybe if I put on a sparkly coat Connor would listen to me better…

Anyway, then (I feel like we need a drum roll here) we got to visit the elephants.

They were having a bath when we first got there.

And then… Oh my, and then we got to feed them.

Well, Ethan didn’t. His aim with a banana isn’t very good. But Connor loved tossing a banana over the fence and watching the elephant pick it up.

Too bad the little bugger wouldn’t let me take his picture. But—ha ha—too bad the little bugger didn’t see the photographer there.

Love the joy on his face. Magic childhood moment, check.

But it got even better inside when he got to have a ride on an elephant. The kid was in heaven. (As was his dad, I think.)

The show itself was really good. I’m always in awe of what these performers can do.

See? Awe. (And kind of enjoying watching with my biggest boy on my lap.)

The acrobats were amazing. But man, oh man. Better them than me.

Especially this guy. The grand finale was the Wheel of Destiny, and I was sure this guy was destined to end up taking a tumble. But nope. He walked around on that big ol’ spinning wheel and made the rest of us hold our collective breath. Grand finale indeed.

The elephants were awesome. The acrobats were incredible. But what I thought was especially cool is that this circus tour is the Zerbini family’s 250th anniversary. Can you imagine? A family business that goes back that far… Their stories at Thanksgiving must be something else.

I have a feeling we’ll be talking about this one at our dinner table for a while too.

Disclaimer: I was gifted VIP passes to the Royal Canadian Circus for my family, but our love for the circus (and the beloved elephants) is entirely our own.

The Royal Canadian Circus is in Calgary for a few more performances May 16-20. You can buy tickets through their Facebook page, and the code “FUN” will get you 2-for-1 general admission tickets.

Professional photos courtesy Kevin Yee, KISSPHOTO INC.

Filed Under: Happy things Tagged With: family, favourite activities, weekends

Explore: Life in Pictures, Vol. 4

May 2, 2013 By Robin 8 Comments

Alternatively titled: How to Make a Thursday Feel Like a Saturday

We had an adventure last week. The exploring kind. More for me, I guess, since we went somewhere I hadn’t been before that Rich had (and he has the scar to remember it by). It was somewhere I’ve wanted to go since we moved here and now that we’ve been I have no idea why we didn’t go sooner. It’s a town not all that far from here that’s best known for its dinosaurs. The real kind, and, as it turns out, the kind people put on signs to make the most of the millions-of-years-old tourist attraction dinosaurs create.

I figured it would be fun to go, and a dinosaur-themed day was sure to be a hit with Connor. Rich suggested a couple of other stops along the way and, like any good explorer, I was game.

And, oh, was it a good day.

Here, then, is how to make a Thursday feel like a Saturday. It’s really not hard at all.

1. Put your kids in the car and drive for an hour and a half until the landscape looks like something from another planet.

hoodoos3

2. Climb up high.

3. Take the opportunity to admire the view and get some perspective.

Hoodoos-above

4. (If you do it on the day your baby gets his first tooth, you end up with a sad little dinosaur.)

5. But he’s a good sport about it, so play with him anyway.

5. Find the world’s largest dinosaur.

5. Climb into its mouth. (Resist the urge to add to your four-year-old’s terror over the situation by making loud roaring noises.)

5. Decide to see what happens if you take the aforementioned scaredy-cat child to a museum with actual dinosaurs.

tyrrell

6. Clarify that the dinosaurs aren’t really real, because the four-year-old thinks real means alive and he seems convinced that the Tyrannosaurus is going to eat him. (Secretly think he’s lucky he’s behaving well that day, otherwise you might have been tempted to see if T-Rex wanted a nibble.) Then measure him next to a dinosaur’s foot (but don’t point out that the dinosaur could crush with one toe any small boys who throw things at their little brothers).

7. Watch your boys draw. Smile.

drawing-Tyrrell

8. Then get up close and personal with a wooly mammoth (without the wool).

9. Head back out and find some dirt to play in.

dinosaurs-mud

10. Ponder life and the elements and the meaning of time in the context of evidence of the millennia that created amazing things.

Hoodoos

11. Be grateful you live in a place that offers such diversions close enough to do them as day trips with your kids.

Hoodoos-landscape

12. Finish exploring and hit the highway so you’re home in time for dinner.

But stop for ice cream first.

Filed Under: Happy things Tagged With: family, favourite activities, gratitude, living life, One word, photos

Kiwi Crate: Crafts for the Uncrafty

April 10, 2013 By Robin 13 Comments

Let’s just be honest: I suck at entertaining a four-year-old. I think I’ve reached my limit for LEGO and my attention span for playing cars is about 4 seconds. I’m really trying, but this is one part of motherhood I find totally hard.

In theory, I think crafts are great. Connor actually likes them and I don’t mind pretending I have some crafty talent. The problem is that I don’t really have the craft gene and, while Connor likes doing crafts, he’s often entertained only slightly longer than I am playing dinosaurs so it’s a little disheartening to find craft ideas and gather all the stuff and not have it take more than six minutes.

But hark! I hear the gentle call of a crafty fairy godmother.

The lovely folks at Kiwi Crate got in touch to see if I’d like to try one of their kits. Um, yes please! If someone wants to send me a box of stuff that will help me play with my kid I will not say no.

I’m going to tell you about our experience, because I really like what they offer, but first here’s what Kiwi Crate is in their own words:

Kiwi Crate is a monthly subscription service, targeted at kids ages 3-7. We deliver a box to your child each month that’s designed around a certain theme (think dinosaurs, garden, superheroes, space.) In each box are 2-3 carefully designed and kid-tested projects, which cover a range of developmental areas and subjects, including art, science, and imaginative play. All the materials and inspiration to encourage creativity and curiosity are included – you just supply the kid!

Now, a box of craft supplies is fab enough. But one that is fun, artsy and with a science or learning element? That totally scores me points in my Am I a Good Mom spreadsheet. And these kits are done really well.

We got a box that had two crafts - a wind sock and two wind cars. See?
kiwi-crate-box

The box has EVERYTHING you need. Even bits of tape where tape is called for. And I love that they include scissors because, while we happen to have our kid scissors accessible, they could very easily be buried in our craft box in the basement.

Connor chose to do the wind sock first, so we checked out all the supplies and pulled out the pieces we needed for that one.

kiwi-crate-supplies

Next up: decorating the sock with the full set of oil pastels provided (which gave me a serious case of nostalgia). Connor loved this part and used ALL the colours.

decorating-wind-sock

Then there were some steps that I didn’t get pictures of because there’s only so much multitasking an uncrafty mama can do. We glued the ribbons on (using glue dots – easy peasy) and got the wind sock all put together. I helped a little bit but the little dude could really do this whole thing almost entirely on his own.

Cool, right? And what I loved about this one is that we also got a (kid-friendly) Beaufort scale and an observation card to see how strong the wind is. (0 = Calm, no wind. Your wind sock is completely still. 1 = Light, barely a wind. The ribbons on your wind sock move a little. 2 = Light breeze. Leaves are moving and rustling lightly. You can feel the wind on your skin. And so on.)

We hung the wind sock on a tree on our deck and watched the wind blow the ribbons. It’s still there, actually. A nice little burst of colour outside the window.

The next day we donned our Superman jammies and made wind cars. This craft was great because there were supplies for two (so you can race them), which meant I got to make one of my very own and the four-year-old didn’t get any input into the design. Ahem.

We got to decorate both the base and the sail, and putting the cars together was a cinch – wheels, straws, tape, and some dough. (Can you tell which one is mine?)

The idea is to make them go using your breath.

Seriously, these kits are fantastic. We had enough supplies plus some extras just in case. There are cards inside with ideas for parents to talk about the concepts (e.g. What else can make your car go? (A fan?) If you put something on your wind car, is it easier or harder to blow the car?) and the Kiwi Crate website has even more resources.

Kiwi Crate was recently featured on Good Morning America, the Today Show, In Style, Parents Magazine, and they have a partnership with Pottery Barn Kids. They were also just recently named one of Dr. Toy’s 10 best creative products of 2012, and I can totally understand why they’re getting all this attention. It takes a lot to make me rave about something, but I’m raving about this.

You can get a monthly subscription or an annual one, and they offer sibling add-ons (the “no fight” crate – brilliant!) as well as options for giving this as a gift. I think this would make a really good gift. *bats eyelashes* (And Canadians, you can get these too. Kiwi Crate is a U.S.-based company but they’ve just started shipping to Canada.)

And—last thing!—Kiwi Crate has a big giveaway going on Facebook right now where you can enter to win everything in Kiwi Crate’s DIY Materials craft shop and a brand new craft table from Pottery Barn. (Worth $750 and is open to US and Canada.)

And that’s my rave review. Gold star. Two thumbs up. Recommended wholeheartedly by this mom.

Disclosure: I was provided one Kiwi Crate box to try and tell you about, but the side effects of inspiration and sanity saved are all my own.

Filed Under: Happy things, Stuff I like Tagged With: favourite activities

Good Times

April 4, 2013 By Robin 13 Comments

If you turn left off our street and then drive just around a short bend, you’ll be driving straight towards a wall of mountains whose view fills the entire horizon. On a clear day every peak and every sheer face of ice and snow is visible. On a sunny day, the light actually reflects off of them.

To get to my parents’ house—20 minutes from here in the adjacent town—I turn right at the end of that road and then take a left. The road leads up and I drive, picking up speed to reach the faster limit as the road turns into highway. My adrenaline and excitement pick up speed as well, and I smile when this sunny song comes on the radio.

A very good friend of mine
Told me something the other day
I’d like to pass it on to you,
‘Cause I believe what he said to be true

We’re here for a good time
Not a long time (not a long time)
So have a good time
The sun can’t shine every day

There’s something about this road. To the south is a valley where the land dips out of sight, making it feel as though this highway is at the top of the world.

I love this drive.

It never fails to leave me paused in time, especially on a sunny day (which, around here, come often). Tucked behind trees I see houses and imagine living in them in this beautiful location just beyond the city. Here and there are abandoned barns and the occasional piece of rusting farm equipment. It’s a landscape that speaks to me despite having grown up in a city known more for flowers and ocean than wide open spaces and bales of hay.

Where do you live? Do you notice what’s around you or does the scenery fade into the background of your days? Does anything ever catch your eye?

It’s easy to be overwhelmed by all the stuff we have to do. The first part of my day today was a rush of tidying and cleaning after Connor had a massive nosebleed in the middle of the night. We had blood on clothes, beds, carpets. I was desperate to get the laundry’s critical path right before leaving for a walk with a friend in the afternoon lest we end the day with no sheets and a pile of sopping wet bedding. I managed to get all the beds stripped and one load of laundry started and then another load started and the first load finished before I had to leave the house.

I walked with my friend in the crisp spring air and after our walk I hit the highway.

…Every year has its share of tears,
Every now and then it’s gotta rain

Things aren’t perfect. There’s always laundry and the dishwasher seems to require emptying every time I turn around. Rich has been sick and Connor has been sick and I’m tired. But life can’t be perfect all the time.

We’ve had our share of rain. I certainly did in my last postpartum phase. That wasn’t just rain – it was a massive, ongoing deluge.

But right now life is good.

The sun can’t shine every day, but the rain brings perspective.

I believe that to be true, so while my sun is out I’m going to bask in the good times.