A Day at the Museum

Yesterday we went to Waterloo Region Museum.  I really like this museum because it's one of those ones like Beamish in England where they've rescued old buildings and made a little village dating from around 1914.  You can visit all the little businesses and houses and all the staff are in period costume, even the blacksmith who doesn't wear plastic safety goggles.

I wondered how long I'd manage to keep the kids engaged but there were different activities to do every half hour so in the end we were there pretty much there all day.

To keep it short, here is a pictorial list of what we did.

Bought train tickets to Toronto for a train that never moves.  I can never get over how massive theses trains are, imagine seeing one for the first time roaring over the plains when you'd never come across anything bigger than a bison before, it must have been terrifying.

Made paper pinwheels which apparently were used instead of scarecrows as well as as toys.

Tried on costumes, Jacob declined but Rose tried on a few.  Looks like she's on the naughty chair for wearing gold sandals to school.

Made indigenous pots out of play dough.

Pretended to be a lady doing the lady walk.

Took rubbish selfies.

We also ate lunch and ice creams, learned about the naming of Kitchener and also how to do the Charleston, Shim Sham and the Hustle.  Jacob has a video of Rose and I doing the hustle, I'm not posting it, I'll just say that John Travolta has nothing to worry about.

We didn't make bread, butter, ice cream, steel poppies or scarecrows or help with the laundry or the farm chores.  If we get bored next week we might go again to try and finish it all up!

Ottawa

For the last couple of days we've been 'doing' Ottawa.  I can't decide if I like it best with numb hands in the rain in November or in the melting heat of 34 degrees in August.  I'm wondering about trying to come here sometime when the weather is normal.

Here's what we've done.

We went to the National Art Gallery, the buildings are amazing, this is the ramp up to the first floor.

And this is the atrium roof and some weird child with several chins.

I really enjoyed the collection of Picasso etchings although they were a bit disturbing, and the indigenous gallery, and also the Chris Cran exhibit, especially the self portrait series.  However, I won't say that seeing Tom Thompson's The Jack Pine was my only reason for coming to Ottawa but I was gutted to discover that the Canadian Art section was closed for refurb ready for the confederation celebrations next year. I guess we're visiting again.

We viewed the parliament buildings from the outside.

It's quite neat right now as they are renewing some of the copper roofing so large parts of it look like they're covered in shiny new pennies.

We watched part of the daily parade up to parliament hill, I do like a good marching band.  Even at 10am the humidity has been making it feel like the high 20s, I think they should have military sombreros for this weather.

And finally, last night we went to the free Thursday night version of the Museum of Nature.  It was good but nothing special really.  Jacob saw a narwhal tusk thing...

And a moose tried to lick his head.

We've also done some shopping (well Rose and I did while the men stood around looking bored), got hot, walked a lot, got hot, eaten some good food (too much of it), got hot, and have been swimming a hundred times.

Today we are going halfway home, the heat is finally set to break and we may have some good storms.  Glad I'm not driving!

Gatineau Park

Today we crossed the river to visit Gatineau Park.  I believe (although there is a good possibility that I am mistaken in this) that we drove through French speaking Hull (or should that be 'ull) which is the name of the part of Ottawa across the river in Quebec.  We (Jacob) noted that the electricity pylons look different and the traffic lights are sideways, perhaps they are tired or just a bit more laid back.

We took a walk around Pink Lake which is not pink but a truly mesmerizing shade of green.  The lake is surrounded by quite steep cliff faces in many areas so there is a trail of boardwalks and I'm going to guess at maybe 800 wooden steps.  Arghh, I pretended to be fit at the time as Gary was bounding up and down them like a spring chicken on caffeine energy drinks but I will pay tomorrow.  Here he is running ahead with the kids.

Pink Lake is a meromictic lake which is apparently a rare phenomenon where a lake is very deep and in this case, very sheltered so the bottom layers of water never mix with those at the top.  This means that a special sort of green weed lives here that helps to give the lake it's amazing colour.  Here are another couple of attempts to capture it.

I don't think the kids noticed much but we saw turtles, frogs a chipmunk and I think a distant loon, the feathered sort and my first.  No wolves and bears which wasn't surprising given that our children were not the noisiest there.  Now that was a nice change of pace.

Jones Falls

So I'm just going to try to slip in another post while the menfolk sleep and the wifi is working (touch wood!).

Yesterday we took the scenic route from Kingston to Ottawa through cottage country and stopped off at Jones Falls Locks which is part of the Rideau Canal that links Ottawa and Kingston. Before I get into any boring history I'm just going to say that it was very cool and quite beautiful.

I'm having a bit of trouble with this as the literature says that 'The Rideau Canal is the best-preserved 'slackwater' canal in North America' and I'm unable to find an adequate definition of slackwater.  Basically I think that it's a river where all the rapids and waterfalls and other dangerous, unnavigable bits have been replaced with locks so you end up with a stretch of water with no excessive currents that is accessible to shipping.  It is very different on the map to a quintessential British canal as it just looks like a river with all the wiggles and lakes in tact.

Anyway, as it is still in use as a recreational waterway it's looked after by Parks Canada.  At Jones Falls there were footpaths and bathrooms and a tiny interpretation centre and as it is a bit out of the way there was nobody there apart from the people with boats going through the locks, it was lovely.  My words are getting boring so here's a few pictures.

These locks were built between 1827 and 1832 and all the Victorian technology is still intact and in use.  Parks Canada even supply 2 strapping young men to do all the muscle work with this ginormous winding equipment, how considerate!

We also found some fake wildlife.  Don't be fooled by the smiley face, the incessant moaning by both children made me wish we didn't have to bring them.

Kingston

We are on our way to Ottawa for an interesting and educational summer break.  In order to break up the journey and save me from inevitable insanity sitting in the back of the car all day with the kids we stopped off in Kingston.

Kingston was established in 1673 and is therefore the oldest European settlement in Ontario.  There are some beautiful old buildings (which I did not take pictures of) and with the lake view and fountains and all the patio seating outside the restaurants it was a lovely place for wandering around on a warm summer evening.

There was a surprising amount of wildlife, first we spotted a bear...

Then a moose...

We went on a cruise around the harbour and some of the islands, it wasn't up to the Georgian bay cruise as the scenery was not half as spectacular.  Rose got bored and took about 50 selfies.  Here are a couple of the best.

Made by Me Monday

Last week Rose and I went to Fabricland for some bits and pieces.  I had no particular intention of getting anything for Rose but was somehow coerced into a dressmaking  project for her, to be honest it didn't take much as I like sewing and she always chooses good colours.

She chose McCalls pattern M7343 and some rather fabulous fabrics.

It's a remarkably easy pattern, the worst part was hand finishing the hem as the circle skirt went on for ever and I didn't want to make a mess of it with the machine.  I have to say that I think ours looks better than the models, the trainers and animal print socks really set it off.

It's a shame we've not been invited to any garden parties.

And to prove that Jacob is still with us after a week of camp here he is assisting in provoking a fight while we were at Guelph Arboretum this afternoon.