Kids CBC Characters at Tall Ships Festival

Join Kids' CBC characters at the Tall Ships Festival 2012 in the CBC Pavilion tent along the Halifax waterfront, on Saturday, July 21.

Come out and join in the fun meeting your favorite Kids' CBC characters like Mamma Yamma, Bo on the Go, Fresco Del Greco of Pirates: Adventures in Art, Lunar Jim and Canada! Meet Jeremie from Artzooka! in the Artzooka! craft zone on the Saturday and Sunday. It's guaranteed to be lots of fun.

We love our friends at CBC Kids and wish we were in Halifax to help celebrate like we will be at  Kids CBC Days in Toronto on July 18-19th.

Traveling with Kids: Peggy's Cove

After we left Peggy of the Cove and the wonderful painted house, we made our way to Peggy's Cove. I was so looking forward to seeing this "IN REAL LIFE" as I actually have two paintings in my house that were given to me as gifts, so it was time to see this place for myself. Our first stop was the swissair flight 111 memorial at Whalesback. I was a bit concerned that my oldest would be worried about taking the plane home after attending this memorial, but she seemed fine.

enjoying a snack and the view

Peggy's Cove in the distance

We really appreciated how the memorial blends in with the beautiful surroundings, with amazing views of the ocean and Peggy's Cove in the distance. It is lovely, understated and a beautiful memorial.

Peggy's Cove was next just a 5 minute drive and we were there... such a small place with lots of tour buses!! Luckily we chose a cloudy day so the crowds were not crazy! Regardless it is a beautiful place! I was told that it was not kid friendly, as you cannot get a stroller onto the rocks and well they will just be bored... but we did just fine!

The two older girls explored the rocks, CAREFULLY, with our two year old holding our hand the entire time, and we managed to get a few pictures of us as well, but not of the whole family...

Four out of Five family members

Safely exploring with a two year old (hand in shirt)

In almost all of the pictures of our two year old, she has her hand in her shirt, or my favorite, that I didn't notice until we got home, with her hands in her pants!!... I had no idea why she kept doing it, until near the end of our exploring she said "Mommy big owie Tummy!" and then the mess! Thank goodness for the Huggies Wipes we packed and the tourism information place and their bathrooms with a large change table!!

Sometimes it is the small things that really make the trip, especially when traveling with kids, right? 

Where is your hand??

So how do you deal with a "runny tummy?" In our house we have competing views, my husband's the Zimbabwean "remove all food until better" and my "Canadian" BRATY diet. Any other tricks?

Traveling with Kids: Discovering Peggy of the Cove

Our family was looking for a great cloudy and rainy day activity, so off we went to explore Peggy's Cove.  We expected that we would spend a couple of hours and then go home and spend the rest of the rainy day relaxing... This was not the case at all.

On our way to Peggy's Cove, we had some grumpy girls in the backseat, so we were looking for a place to stop and just calm then down when we saw a sign for a museum called Peggy of the Cove and then came across this painted house, and decided that this would be a great place to stop.

the Painted House

We weren't event sure it was open, so I sent my husband in to investigate, and saw a sign on the door that said to come in, and if Ivan wasn't there, just call him, he would be across the street! Can you imagine? ha ha

Ivan entertaining his guests

 What a great discovery this was!! Ivan is a local artist, photographer, framer and writer. He has written a few books about "Peggy of the Cove" bringing the story to life with bits of the folk tale and his imagination.  He gave us a tour of his childhood home, played the piano for us, let the girls find treasure, and then tell us all about his books. Well our oldest was enchanted, and had to spend her money on TWO of his books on Peggy.

finding treasure

On the property is a very fun photo opportunity that of course we couldn't ignore!

caught in a lobster trap

Then it was time to get to the famed Peggy's Cove. It is a beautiful drive along the coast on the way, and wow! It is just as wonderful as all the pictures I have ever seen.

Stay tuned for the continuation of our family adventure exploring in and around Peggy's Cove!

Traveling with Kids: Lunenburg

We set out after breakfast heading to the historic fishing Village of Lunenburg.

On December 6, 1995, Old Town Lunenburg was inscribed on the World Heritage List of the UNESCO Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage. Inscription on this List confirms the exceptional universal value of a cultural or natural site, which deserves protection for the benefit of all humanity.

Old Town Lunenburg, founded in 1753, is an outstanding example of British colonial settlement in North America, in terms both of its conception as a model Town plan and its remarkable level of conservation. The Town's cultural evolution based on shipbuilding and the fishing industry can be seen in the buildings and spaces that exist throughout the Town.

Is this a family friendly place? Will our two youngest daughters 28 months and 10 months be bored and grumpy all day?

NOT AT ALL!

Touring around the town, there are lots of hills, so the stroller (or Pram as my Zimbabwean husband calls it) was a welcome addition to carry the two youngest, The hills are steep and the sidewalks are slim, so no room for a doddling toddler.

We explored the old buildings, found the dollar store to purchase forgotten sunhats, and enjoyed the scenery. When it was time for a picnic lunch, we found a wonderful little park right next to the Heritage Bandstand.

After a beautiful sunny morning and lunch, the rain started so we made our way to the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic. What a gem! It kept all of the girls occupied and intrigued for hours while it rained! The aquarium was a place I am sure the girls would have stayed all day, then they tried their hand at "ship building, and then just exploring all the museum had to offer. Our "almost 9 year old" loved all the information about the boat on the dime... the Bluenose.

One of my highlights of the day was being able to explore old fishing boats and a wooden schooner, set up as they would have been in their day. For someone who has lived in Alberta for most of my life, it was an awesome thing to experience!

We couldn't leave without seeing the Bluenose II, so this was our last stop of the day.

I was told that we could maybe spend 2 hours in Lunenburg with the kids, and we spent 6 and didn't see it all! It was a great family Day trip and would definitely go back!