• family - family travel

    Cancun

    March 10, 2010 - By 

    The quest for affordable family fun this year led us to Cancun, Mexico and a great new resort called Great Parnassus Resort and Spa. This one stunned us with the service, staff, family activities, food and great price. Everything exceeded our expectations from start to finish. The Parnassus is a 12-storey sprawling family destination on one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen. The food was remarkable and the flavour very cosmospolitan. Many tourists here hailed from all over the globe and spoke a variety of languages, which was lovely exposure to numerous cultures for our children –…

  • family - family travel

    London Regional Children’s Museum

    January 18, 2010 - By 

    Still one of my favourite places to take the children, London Regional Children’s Museum, has a new exhibit that’s an homage to our coming Olympics. Starting last week and running until March 28th this exhibit lets little ones take a turn at bobsledding and skiing, skating and, well so on..So if you are looking for some relatively warm indoor fun this winter drive to our museum and test your athletic prowess. While there don’t forget to visit The Street Where You Live, a replica city that’s just the right size for children under 10. Jellyfish Junction, caves and Discover Dinosaurs…

  • family

    Weekend Roundup – January 15th

    January 15, 2010 - By 

    Well as promised here it is just in time for the weekend. My weekend roundup of all the excellent sales. (If you live in London get to Cherryhill Village Mall this week. Sidewalk sales are superb. Ellen’s Children Shoes. Huge selection of running shoes, cute walking shoes and sandals $30.00.) Gymbucks are currently being redeemed ay Gymboree. If you’ve got them use them. Many new spring styles in store now and on line. Old Navy has a deal where you can save an additional 50 % off all clearance items until Jan. 18th (Monday). Children’s Place: amazing selection of $5.99…

  • family

    Save and Scrimp Fridays and Disney On Ice

    January 8, 2010 - By 

    So here it is Friday again and I’ve got a couple of excellent hot tips for you to help kick off the new year/decade. First off go visit your local library right now if you live in London. The Disney On Ice/Monster Jam reading contest is on right now and I’ve gotta say this is one of my favourite times of the year. From the time my girls were two years old we have managed to see Disney On Ice at the John Labatt Centre for free. Yes, that’s right. $0. Sweet deal, right? So follow these tips and you…

  • family

    Funderland

    December 30, 2009 - By 

    This is one you won’t want to miss if you are having a winter staycation with kids and are hunting for stuff to do. Western Fair Agriplex has a Winter Funderland running this week. I plan to check this out asap with my crew. The indoor kids carnival runs until the end of this year and there is a special New Year’s Eve bash. The Western Fair location is at 845 Florence Street in London and this is a limited time event. Cost for a ride all day pass is $20. Open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Presumably at…

  • family

    Alvin and The Chipmunks The Squeakwel

    December 29, 2009 - By 

    My two girls have been pestering me to go see this movie for the last couple of weeks, so we decided to take them today. Apparently a very popular choice as it was packed at Rainbow Cinemas in the Galleria Citi Centre downtown London this afternoon. While I have read some questionable reviews of this Alvin sequel and despite the fact that I would have happily chosen a different Disney show (Princess and The Frog) I was happily suprised by the movie. Alvin and the Chipmunks are now a major rock band performing at venues througthout the world when Alvin,…

  • family - Parenting

    Building Adoptive Family Traditions at Christmas #adoption

    December 23, 2009 - By 

    People are forever writing and asking about traditions this time of year. I didn’t always feel as strongly as I do now about creating family memories and traditions. In fact there was a time I would have scoffed out loud at that kind of talk. My traditions in my family of origin were sometimes fun and sometimes, as a child, they seemed painstaking. Many were aimed at pleasing adults and a lot were centred around eating and sitting around the Christmas tree. When I got married I made a choice to create my own type of marriage, my own style…

  • family

    Weekend Roundup

    December 11, 2009 - By 

    This weekend again there are excellent deals to be had in and around London, so don’t miss these: Saturday Dec. 12th Mark’s Work Wearhouse has a customer appreciation event running from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. Also on Saturday Zellers has a customer appreciation hour from 8 to 9 p.m. save 10 per cent off every purchase. Northern Reflections: on line coupon for 40 % off until Sunday. Also customer appreciation event now on 30 % off all regular priced items. Gymboree amazing sales on now. Tabi has a whole host of weekend deals, ranging from buy one get one…

  • family

    Alternative Advent Calendars

    December 8, 2009 - By 

    This year we found some of the coolest Advent calendars we’ve yet to find. Advent calendars are as much a part of Christmas as stockings and mistletoe in our house and the kids love them. But too often, in past one of my children would find the cute chocolate advent calendar and scarf all of the chocolate bits down and be left with nothing. Then other child would follow suit of course. Monkey see, monkey do, right? For the last two years I have made it my mission to find toy Advent calendars. This year instead of the cheap chocolate…

  • family

    High School Musical 2

    November 29, 2009 - By 

    From preschooler to preteen and everything in between – every girl in the London area will be thrilled over this news. If you and your kids haven’t already seen it, High School Musical 2 by Oakridge Secondary School, plays all this week. I took my daughters to see the preview performance of the show Friday night. Despite a couple of small complaints the show was fun. Sharpay played by Mandy Mates was a highlight and the orchestra was amazing. Choreography and dancers were remarkable and every child there enjoyed the show. Afterwards the HSM 2 cast signed autographs and the kids went wild. Fulton…