Belated Canada Day

Canada Day isn't typically celebrated in the United States, obviously. However the kids wanted to recognize the country their Dad grew up in.

Oh Canada!

Wordless Wednesday

Halifax Discovery Center

We made time in Canada to visit the Discovery Center. You can never have enough Science in your life! Yes, we were all wearing jackets. Even inside. Canada is much colder than we are used to.

Watching bees in a hive 

Lion

Moose - when in Canada...

Sand table with topography software

Where did her body go?

Inside a giant bubble

Make your own roller coaster

The big kids were building next to him. At first he realized there was going to be a problem and suggested they change their track. They ignored him. About 10 minutes later they discovered the problem he had mentioned and came back to ask for help. Then for the next 30 minutes Sweet Son was in charge of design while the older kids would run to get him pieces or do what he told them. It was impressive for a number of reasons.

Cow's Ice Cream

On all of our previous trips to Canada we had never been to Cow's because the line was too long. This trip we made the time. There is a reason the line is so long and it is worth it. First let me explain what is different about Cow's when compared to other ice cream stores. The ice cream is considered "Super Premium" which is how they describe the 16% butterfat. (Most ice cream is 10% and soft serve is around 5%.) They also make the waffle cones fresh. You see them pour the batter into the waffle maker, take it out hot and shape it as you are going through the line. Add that to the 32+ flavors and you can understand why the line isn't always fast.

The front with part of the line shown

He approves

She approves

Hyper kids after ice cream

Duck Boat Tour

We did something that was new to all of us. We went on a duck boat tour of the city. We drove through the city seeing the sites, then it drove into the water giving us a tour of both sides, then drove back on land to return us to the start.

Our reflection on the building as we go into the water

We sat at the front in the shade... and got a bit wet on the splash

Daddy/Daughter with skyline

Mommy/Son with boats and bridges

(He didn't want a photo, he wanted to look around.)

Friends in Canada

After our trip to Poland, we flew to Canada to visit friends. The kids make friends anywhere we go.

Legos

Cars, trucks, trains

Adults candlepin bowling

Kids candlepin bowling

Playroom

(Yes, I'm covered in a blanket. It's cold in Canada, even in July.)

Playing together

Playground

Wordless Wednesday

Halifax, NS Waterfront

One of our other favorite activities when visiting Halifax is going to the waterfront. Since we don't live near a coastline, this is a reasonably unique experience for our kids.

Here we are on the Dartmouth side getting ready to take the ferry across. You can see the entire Halifax skyline.

Sure, you could sit in one of the plastic chairs. You could sit on the bottom deck and not be in full sun and wind. OR you could stand right against the glass for the closest view possible. You can point out every boat, every wave, and every duck you see. While there was a light rain, if you are shorter than the railing it is angled so you stay dry. However if you are slightly taller, you will get wet from the rain and the spray from the boat. At least the kids loved it.

This awesome playground is right on the Halifax waterfront. My kids are in the photo somewhere, though with so many ways to get up and down and hide on top and inside, we did lose track of them a couple of times. 

Forcing the kids to pose for a photo with us before we feed them lunch. Food is a great motivator... haha 

Look! It's Theodore Tugboat. If you are Canadian this may have some sort of meaning for you. It has been explained to me that this is a popular children's show that was on the air in Canada from 1994-2009 (broadcast network). It appears it was also on in the USA from 1994-2002 and 2007-2009 (cable only), but I had never heard of it. My kids were happy to see a smiling, hat wearing tugboat. Then they were frustrated that it wouldn't talk to them. Ah, the life of a two year old.

CARES harness

Happy 4th of July! I don't really have a patriotic post for this because we were flying that day.

Our kids fly a lot. Since we always need their car seats at our destination, we have always just used them on the planes. This has made the kids more comfortable. However, those seats are heavy. They are great for the kids, but they are kind of a pain for us. Once they were big enough to use the CARES harness we decided to give them a try.

The CARES harness hooks over the back of the seat making it a 4 point harness and helps hold them in more safely. Though, you do still have to make sure they don't unbuckle the bottom and take it off. Amazingly, they can still sleep while wearing it. It is light, portable and simple to install. I highly recommend using them if you don't need a car seat at your destination.

I'm sure you noticed the one thing I added in the last paragraph. We will take these and use them anytime we are flying somewhere we don't need car seats. However, on this trip we had checked the car seats for the flights home and let the kids use these. It was international (Canada to USA) and we had a connecting flight. We had to do customs between the two flights, so we had to get the seat in between to move them. At that point the car seats were fine. We were able to see them and check and there were no issues. We happily checked them back in for the second flight.

By the time we made it home one of the seats was broken. A large chunk of the corner had come off. You know the corner that give the seat it's stability when it's installed? The one that would dig into the seat? This was not a cheap plastic car seat. This was a steal framed seat. (For those outside the U.S., not all of the approved seats here are steal framed.) We spent a ton on these seats because they met my many requirements - they are not only approved for use in the U.S., they are approved by the FAA for plane travel, and they are approved in other countries (Canada, most of Europe) where we travel. Canada and Europe both have much higher standards for car seat safety.

So at the airport at home we had to try tracking down someone to file a damage report. We found tons of people from American Airlines, but we flew on Canada Air. They had apparently left the airport already. It took more than an hour, with us paging people in the airport as well as being on the phone with customer service in Canada before we were able to file a report. In the end, we did get a settlement check from them. Canada Air is one of the few airlines that will pay for damage to a car seat. For most airlines if you check a car seat you agree they are not responsible for any damage and they will not pay. The entire process took more than a month and tons of inconvenience.

So, I would highly recommend the CARES harness if you don't need to travel with a car seat. We have used them since this trip and will continue to do so anytime we are traveling somewhere we only need public transportation. The only down side is checking the car seat, which certainly isn't CARES fault.
 

Halifax, NS beach

During our trip to Halifax, we went with friends and family to the beach. My kids have been to the beach before. My kids have been in the ocean before - in Mexico. We tried explaining that this was the same ocean, but it would be a little cooler since it's much farther from the equator.

Walking down the path to the beach. Three toddlers and four doting parents, with the fathers both taking photos. I should note that these two fathers have been best friends for years. Even living almost a full continent apart hasn't changed their friendship. This was the first time getting their kids together to play, so they were both excited.

This is a photo of both kids screaming and crying because the water is too cold. They were so happy to go in, then the water hit their feet. For the record, I also only got my feet in because it was so cold. In fact, I wanted to go back to the car for my jacket, but they wouldn't let me.

This was their first time building sand castles. This was the warmest activity at the beach.

The kids play together mostly oblivious to the cameras, but clearly the adults all notice.

 

Getting buried in the sand is a requirement at the beach, right? At least it slowed them down for a few minutes. haha

She is so proud of her sand castle.

The only thing better than being buried in the sand? Finding your cousin buried in the sand. My kids kept walking around him like sharks getting ready to go in for the kill... Overall it was a great day at the beach, but would have been better if the water was warmer. The next time we went to a warm beach we really had to convince the kids to try it again because they were afraid it would be cold like in Canada.

Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo

As promised, this post is about another way we celebrated Canada Day. We went to the Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo. I had never heard of this before visiting, but it was an incredible amount of fun.

We sat in a luxury box, which gave the kids room to move around and not bother others.

So what exactly is it? "The Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo is a week-long event held every year in Nova Scotia. The two-and-a-half hour family show is fast-paced – every scene only lasts about 3-6 minutes, so there is always something new to see and experience. Looking for a taste of true Nova Scotia? There’s bagpipes, highland dancers, la culture de l’acadie and military traditions. Hoping for something more modern? The Tattoo also features innovative acrobatic acts, modern music, contemporary dancing, trampoline routines and cutting-edge videos."

For the finale, all of the acts came out together.

 There were some loud parts (cannons being fired) that our kids didn't like, but that was fairly easy to anticipate and cover their ears. There was music, dancing, acrobats, and even a race to disassemble, carry through obstacles, and reassemble large pieces of artillery. It really did have something for every one. As promised, it was fast moving and kept the kids attention much better than I had expected.

Our group of family and friends together after the Tattoo.

If you find yourself in Halifax the first week of July, I highly suggest attending this show. While it's not a kids' show, they will be entertained.

Happy Canada Day!

I'm sure you are all aware that today is Canada Day! A day celebrated far and wide... at least in Canada. We went to the ever popular Canada Day parade in Halifax, NS.

Waving patriotic flags waiting for the parade to go by!

I admit this was my first time seeing a maple leaf zombie.

This was the kids favorite part of the parade. Sweet Son said, "That silly dog is driving a truck!" Sweet Daughter replied, "Dogs are only allowed to drive in Canada, not in America." 

This afternoon I will post another way we celebrated. How are you celebrating today?