Camping Trip

This is the kids first camping trip. I was a bit worried about my little 3 years old daughter, how she is going to handle the first night sleeping inside the tent. By 11 pm, both my kids fell deep asleep. It got quite chilly at night so I bundled up my kids to keep warm.  They roasted marshmallows, went fishing, a long walk to get to the beach, catch bugs and ran around with some toys I brought along for them to play. We saw deers, a snake and raccoons. 

I asked my son if he like camping, he nodded and would like to do it again :)

Location: Awenda Provincial Park

Cost: $200 for four of us (two adults and two kids) for camp site

Tent $98 from Walmart, I totally recommend buying the tent that we purchased. It took us less than 5 minute to put up a tent for 6 ppl.  It says set up time, 1 min. The rods are already connected in the tent and all you had to do was open pull the rods n hear a click to secure the rods together. It was awesome!

Food depends how much your family eats. We had hot dogs, viet rolls, hamburgers, mango, salad and ribs. For a family of four for one night stay... Maybe $50 breakfast lunch and dinner

Mosquito repellent: I bought a kids spray repellent bc the green spray bottle that says off! Is not recommended for children under 12. But! I learned that you can take the laundry freshener material bounce thing (not the liquid freshener, the one you toss in the drying machine) and rub it on the kids and it works better than the repellent sprays. 

Gazebo was $100. It also didn't take long to set it up. Bought from Walmart. It's the one with neon colour linings.  Saves a lot of time putting up and down. 

City Pass

Yes, I know this is an obvious thing to do since we live in Toronto. But hey, when we are trying to think of something to do, reminding the cn tower can be a to do list with the kids too! Well, I bought the city pass Because it's cheaper. I wanted to bring the kids to the other four places the city pass included also. The city pass will definitely give you something todo with the kids. I think you have to go to all five places within 10 days. So! There you go! The kids have something to do within 10 days! 

Cn tower: Tommy liked it. Tia had no clue. 

Museum: They both liked the bat cave most.

Zoo: Tommy didn't enjoy it. Tia had more fun. 

Science center: They both had a good time here. Lots of activities for the kids to do in here. 

Casa Loma: Tommy liked it. It felt like a haunted house for him. Tia didn't care. 

Location: Cn Tower, Museum, Science center, Casa Loma, Toronto Zoo

Cost: close to $200 for two adults and two children. My 3 years old daughter was free. If your planning to go to more than two of the places, I would say you'll save more money buying the city pass. 

Ice Cream Day

Everyone loves ice cream! This is something I did with my sister, my two nieces and my kids. We dedicated the whole day to go to every ice cream store we know. Each child got one small cup of ice cream. They totally enjoyed it!

Location: any ice cream stores near your area. We went around in Vaughan. 

Dairy Queen, cafe Demetre, Marble Slab creamery, Menchies, Baskin Robbins, La Paloma Gelateria & Cafe, and one more.. Can't remember :D

Cost: it should range from $2-$4 each small cup of ice cream
There's a groupon deal for Marble Slab Creamery, Here's a quick link:
http://www.groupon.com//raf/UserReferral_rp/121015/10r1act/lk/uu4374153

Well! Have fun! Hope this is an idea that you would like to do!

Also a deal going on in Groupon for Yeh! Frozen Yogurt & Café, Quick Link:
http://www.groupon.com//raf/UserReferral_rp/121015/10r1act/lk/uu4374153

Strawberry Picking - Whittamore's Farm

My kids had a lot of fun strawberry picking. Especially my son who was trying to find the biggest strawberry. My daughter who was two years old then, picked every strawberry she saw, even the nasty ones. I had to pick them out when she wasn't looking so she can have more space for fresher berries. It was like hunting. They went from left to right finding as many strawberries as they can. This is definitely something I would do more than once. There's also raspberry picking, green peas, potatoes and some other berries and veggies you can pick. We only did the strawberries because it was pretty hot under the sun for a while. This is something we all had fun doing. Visit the website to make sure the season is in for each berry or veggy you want to pick. There's many other activities other then picking. There's a farm and pumpkin land that we haven't gone yet. Once the kids go there, ill post it up on this blog about it too!

Location: Whittamore's Farm

8100 Steeles avenue E, Markham, ON. 

Cost: $10 Max for two small buckets for my two kids.

You can bring your own buckets to fill it up. Let your kids pick out their own buckets at the dollar store. The cost depends on the weight. For strawberries, they are $2.25/lb. Don't worry if you forgot your bucket. They supply buckets there as well, but they are much bigger. 

Remember to bring plenty of water to drink and lots of sunscreen! It can get quite hot! 

Fishing - Professor's Lake

When we decided to go fishing, I doubted that my kids will be able to catch any fish. I was wrong, this lake had so many fishes. To my surprise, my son caught one after another. He caught it so easily! My daughter on the other hand didn't have the patience to sit and wait long enough for a fish to bite the bate. Luckily though, the lake was right next to a park! So while my son and his step dad were fishing, my 3 years old daughter and I enjoyed the time at the park. She also kept her self busy picking at all the dandelions! 

It wasn't that far, we did one stop at Tim's for rest room. If your kids feels like they never catch a fish, bring them here, I'm pretty sure they'll catch at least one! My son definitely enjoyed this fishing trip! He caught the most out of all of us! 

Location: 1660 North Park Drive

Total cost: $50

Fishing rods for kids are about $15 each.  Adult rods can range, ours cost $100 a rod but I'm pretty sure you can find them cheaper. You can get cheap ones in Walmart. But they do break easily. My son dropped it and hit the rock and it broke. Worms we got them at a store called sails, for $2.99? Around there for 24 worms which they ran out of the lessor worms. Gas was $20. So I would say $50 total cost if you have rods for yourself already.

Volleyball parents

For parents or parent who plays volleyball and have no babysitter to watch the kids, this indoor beach volleyball has a playpen full of sand toys for the kids to play while parents play their volleyball games. It definitely sold me because it kept the kids busy and having fun while I get a chance to focus on any volleyball game. 

 Although, it is a bit pricier than most other places. This is the only place I know so far that has this for the kids. If you don't mind adding a couple of more dollars, then I highly recommend this place for anyone with kids! 

Location: Beach Blast 15 Leswyn Rd Toronto, ON, Canada, M6A 1K1

Cost: about $700 a team ($100 per person plus tax)

One of the parent can be in a team while the other parent can play with the kids in the playpen.