Rock Point provincial park

Another summer filled with camp trips at different Provincial Parks. Today we head to Rock Point campsite where the scenery fits for the park name. Along the beach with a beautiful shore filled with shells along side with hard rock floor beneath our feet. There must be big fish to catch as we also cross by some not so nice view of huge dead fish. Certain areas came with strong smell from the rotten fish. Other than that, we were able to see a light house from a far and watch the sunset in the west.

Our campsite #72 was pretty small and not much privacy as it was right at the corner of a busy intersection. It was close to the amenities, like the washroom and shower station which was pretty convenient for the kids. It was also filled with spiders, HUGE ones! There were a few mosquitos but none of us was bitten. The store wasnt close by, so we had to drive there. It was close to the beach and park area. We didnt have marshmellow sticks and unfortunately the store did not carry a cheap one that we wanted. If you need one, its $9 and huge. After staying there for a night, we head out the next day to the village for some breakfast. There was only one store we found that had breakfast called, "Flyers bakery and cafe". We didnt get our food until an hour later, which was kind of disappointing. We didnt have much of a choice but to wait, since it was the only breakfast in town.

After breakfast, we headed out to the Grand river to fish. There was a marine area to also fish but it cost $15 for a whole day, so we passed and went along the river side to fish for free. There was parking and in 2 hours, we caught 3 small fish.

We headed along Guyatt rd to drop by "Murphys country produce ltd" to do some raspberry picking. We chose the $4 a basket to fill it with raspberries. There was another basket, a bit bigger, for $7. There were other fruits and veggies to pick but we only did the raspberries.

Overall, the kids enjoyed the weekend trip to Dunnville city. Hope everyone would have as much fun as we did!

Campsite: $78

Breakfast: $31

Raspberry picking: $8

Trip cost: $117

Murphy' Country Produce Ltd.

2040 Guyatt rd.

Binbrook, ON 

905-692-5733

Darlington Provincial Park

Another year full of camps and this one by far is the most family oriented one. Why?

While we were setting up our tents, a park ranger walks by and told us their daily special activities that happen for kids.
There was an amphitheater near by to show case nature, live animals to see and touch and some other activities as well. We were there for Friday to Sunday and went to see the live animals.

I also like how it was still near the city, which means near Walmart. So if you didn't come quite prepared, you still were able to do some last minute shopping near by. 

This was definitely a good campsite for families.

Location: 1600 Darlington park Rd.
                   Bowmanville,  ON

Cost: $99 plus cost of food and camping equipments

Niagara Safari

First day of summer and what did we do? Niagara Safari! What in the world is that? Yea... That's what he said. 

As I was on groupon to look for a deal on African Lion Safari, I jumped in joy thinking I was in luck to instantly find a deal! But then the name was a bit different. So, apparently, Niagara has a safari too, so what the heck, let's go try it!

It was about a 2 hours drive to a middle of no where. Parking was free so that was a bonus and it was packed with people! Got three groupon deal and kids 3 and under was free. Yes, my daughter was 3 that day. 

The park was awesome! This is a great place for family with kids, definitely! It was like center island, toronto zoo, and the farm all at one place! Although I did feel bad seeing these animals trapped in such small cages, the view to see them are much better than other places. The animals that we saw were, owls, American eagle, vulture, lions, tigers, cougars, cheetah, jaguar, hippos, horses, lambs, pigs, monkeys, giraffes and much more that we didn't get to see, like the reptiles. 

It was also interactive because we get to feed some of the animals and come very close to pet them, like the deer. 

We also see what they were feeding these owls and eagles... It did not look pleasant. 

There was a train to take us through the whole park, there was a water park and kids playground. 

Just a note next time if we do go again, to go earlier, before 1pm to finish the whole park on foot. 

The kids had fun, the adults had fun, the family had fun. I would go again, maybe in another year :)

Location: 2821 stevensville rd. Port Erie.

Cost: groupon deal: $16 per person. 3 and under free. $65 total including food :)

Have fun! See you guys on the next family trip! 

Ripleys Aquarium

Another big thing to do this summer is to enjoy having sharks swim over on top of you! It took us about two hours and a half to finish the whole adventure. Let kids learn about the creatures in the ocean. We went on a Saturday and surprisingly, there were no line ups! 

Location:

288 Bremner Boulevard
Toronto, ON M5V 3L9
CANADA

Total cost: two adults and two kids, roughly around $100

Rib fest

There's always room for ribs. Brought my kids to rib fest and we got a whole baby back rib, two corn on the cob, beaver tale and ice creams. There were so many selections of ribs to try. My kids had fun walking around and trying out different foods. My son got a shark tattoo while we were there. Great place to go for a BBQ! 

Location: at the beach. Coxwell and lakeshore. 

Total Cost: $80 

Kids Hair Cut

I've heard about melonhead here and there but never been to one since I've heard it was quite pricey. 

So, I decided to bring them since I wanted to finally cut my daughters long hair and donate it to children's hair foundation. Since it was her first hair cut, I wanted to make it a great experience and importantly, that it was done right. 

Melon head was the first to pop in my mind because it was hair cuts specifically for kids. I'm glad I brought her there because it was very kids friendly and my kids enjoyed getting their hair done. Tia, my daughter was a bit scared but luckily there were toys to give her to get her mind off about what was going on. She eventually liked getting her hair cut. 

Will I go again? Most likely not just because of how expensive it was. But, maybe once in a blue moon :)

Cost: $20 kids hair cut per child

Location: MelonHead

Crafts activity

Staying at home can be fun too. I bought some crafts at michaels craft store and got them some creative activity for both my kids to do together. 

Cost: $11.99 each

Location: home activity