momstown Niagara Heads back to Fern Resort For Some Family Fun

We had such a great time this summer on our family trip to Fern Resort in Orillia, Ontario.  We were there earlier this year for March Break and then again for our National Conference, but this was the first time we got to enjoy Fern in the summer.  We thought they did a great job keeping us entertained in the winter, but in the summer there are tons of great activities as well as a fabulous poolside with 3 pools!

We really would have been happy to just lounge by the pool all day everyday but we didn't want to miss out on any of the fun.  On our first morning the boys were really excited to go fishing, after our traditional Fern eggs benedict breakfast, of course.  We headed down to the dock where we were helped by the dock staff to put the worms on the hooks.  I like fishing but I don't like putting the worm on.   The fish were pretty small but we caught lots of them!

The little kids had a blast playing in the Playvillage.  They really loved Bridget who took such good care of them each day.  The kids were kept busy all day with the staff.  They made crafts, drove power jeeps, had pony rides,played in the ball pit and we even got to take a ride on the Honeybee Express that took us all around Fern.  It was actually a little heartbreaking when we would go to pick them up and they cried because they didn't want to leave with us. They even provided a babysitting service in the evening where we could bring the kids after their dinner and my husband and I could enjoy a kid-free dinner and some of the evening activities.  All of this was included in our package!

After our lunch in the Heritage Dining Room, we spent time at the afternoon activities Fern provides.  We saw the Magic of Richard Forget, some animals that were brought from The Muskoka Wildlife Centre, played BINGO, played mini putt, and of course, we swam.

The weekend went by so quickly but we were sure to enjoy every last second of our last day.  It was such a beautiful day so we moved from the pool to the beach.  The kids loved swimming in the lake.  

We were having so much fun watching the water skiing and finally decided to give it a try.  Evan had a lesson and the little kids were happy to just get to go in the boat.  Evan did such a great job and only fell once!  He is now hoping to work at Fern one day!

We enjoyed all of the activities and amenities at Fern Resort.  It was so nice not to have to worry or think about anything.  The hardest decisions we had all weekend were what we were going to choose to eat from the menu and what we were going to do next.  There isn't anything like it in just a two hour car ride.

We had such a great time and it really comes down to the amazing staff at Fern.  They took care of everything.  We were impressed by them so many times during our stay.  I think the most amazing thing was that our server Shain from when we were there in March remembered us!  He came and checked on us a few times over the weekend to make sure we were having a good time.  He didn't have to and I can't imagine how he remembered us when he must see so many families but he did and we appreciated it.

My kids have fallen in love with Fern and we plan to make it a yearly trip.  We have already booked our March Break getaway at Fern!

If you want to visit this amazing resort be sure to check out their website for availability and remember, momstown Niagara members receive 5% off, even if there is a special already!

Babies Love Scholastic Books!

This month Scholastic Canada provided us with the adorable book "Five Little Puppies Jumping on the Bed" by Lily Karr for our Baby Basics event.  This is the first book in a series of touch-and-feel nursery rhymes and puts a playful twist on the famous "Five Little Monkeys" song.  As I was reading the story many of our moms sang along to the familiar tune and we all ended up singing it together!  It was very cute!!

After we enjoyed our story we made an adorable puppy footprint craft.  Some of our mom's have started an album filled with all of their footprint crafts and were commenting on how you can see your baby's little foot growing over the months.  What a great idea!

Everyone loves coming out to our events and getting to know other mom's.  We've been open now for 6 months and are so happy to see friendships being made!

Little Emmett loves the different textures and colourful pictures in this book!

Once we're done with our crafts we raffle off two copies of our book for our lucky members.  Here are the happy winners!

Thank you Scholastic Canada for your continued support of our programming!  If you'd like to join us next month you can register for a free 4 week trial membership and give us a try.  Membership is only $45/year and includes 25+ events per month!

Little Scientists: Can We Make Colours Move By Themselves?

For our our Little Scientists event  at Pearson Park, we experimented with the objects above to see if we could make colors move on their own. Experimenting is so much fun. It allows us the opportunity to make predictions or educated guesses as to what the outcome of our experiments may be.

Experiment 1 - Celery, Lettuce & Food Coloring Experiment 

We used : a glass jar, celery, water and food coloring

 

First we added food coloring to our water. We put both celery and lettuce into our jars. We watched and waited to see what would happen. Knowing that this experiment was going to take some time to see the results, we put our jars aside and completed our other experiments. After about 30 minutes, we could see the lettuce turning color. After 60 minutes, we could see the food coloring entering the veins of both vegetables. The lettuce had noticeably more coloring then the celery. The ends of our lettuce leaves has begun turning the same color as our food coloring - in this case they are blue. We used different colors of dye, but we found the darker colors made the results the easiest to see. This experiment allows us to see what happens when plants drink water, it's just like drinking through a straw.

 

 

Experiment 2 - Magic Marker Color Experiment

We used : paper towels, washable markers, and  to jars to hold our water

We drew a line using our markers 1 inch from the bottom of our paper towel strip. We put our strips in our cups of water so that just the tip of the paper towel was touching the water. After a few seconds, the water soaked up into the paper towel and our marker lines spread out moving down the paper towel. The marker experiment was like a race. The color began at the starting line, and we couldn't wait to see who's color would spread the farthest.

 

 

Experiment 3 – M&M Experiment 

We used : Water, 4 M&M’s (per person), and a container / dish to hold our water

For this experiment we added 4 different colored M & M's into a shallow dish. We covered them completely with water. Almost instantly, the colors began to separate from the candy. As long as the dishes remained untouched and stable, the colored water remained divided into 4 separate areas. When the dish was bumped or moved, the colors would mix together. Eventually the hard shell & the “M” came off of the candy and floated around the dish.

 

 

Experiment 4 – Magic Milk Colors

We used : milk, a shallow pan/dish, food coloring, Q-Tips, and Dish soap (we used Dawn)

When we had added enough milk to completely cover the bottom in our shallow bowls, we dropped 4 drops of food coloring into the milk. We used 3-4 different colors in each dish. We attempted to keep the drops close together near the center of the dish. First we dipped our Q-Tip into the center of the dish and nothing seemed to happen. Next we dipped the end of the Q-tip in the dish soap first and then touched the Q-tip to the center of the dish without swirling it. The colors instantly shoot out at lightning speed and began to swirl around the dish on their own! 

 

 

Experiment 5 – Explosion

We used : 1-2 1L bottle of pop (diet coke), Mentos, and a piece of paper

Although our final experiment really had nothing to do with moving color, we couldn't resist taking advantage of the nice weather outside to do something big and messy. We opened our bottle of soda and positioned it on a nearby bench. We unwrapped a whole roll of Mentos. Our goal was to drop all of the Mentos into the bottle of soda at the same time. To do this, we rolled a piece of paper into a tube just big enough to hold the loose Mentos. We positioned the tube directly over another piece of paper, that we used to cover the mouth of the bottle. Once we remove the paper, all of the candies should drop out of the tube into the bottle of pop at the same time. Everyone stood back, our brave volunteer slid out the piece of paper and we watched in amazement as our pop shot out of the bottle like a rocket. Once the mentos were in the bottle, it took only seconds for this to happen.

 

 

 

 

What a fun way to end our day! In all of our experiments, we were successful in making color move. After our messy pop explosion, we headed over to the splash pad and playground to cool down on this very hot summer day. There's nothing more fun than being able to do experiments and then get wet with of all our friends!

Little Scientists is one of our 20+ monthly events and is included in your membership fee of only $45 per year.  Your membership also includes a one year subscription to Today's Parent!  To get in on the fun this summer register here for a FREE 4 week trial membership!  

http://niagara.momstown.ca/user/register

Enter to WIN a My Little Pony Equestria Girls Doll

Introducing My Little Pony Equestria Girls! A magic mirror connects the world of My Little Pony to Canterlot High, where some things change, but true friendships remain magical! The mirror is a portal to a magical new land with high schools instead of castles, and where six pony friends become real girls with a love for fun and fashion. Rainbow Dash is sporty chic, Rarity shines with girly glamour, and Fluttershy dazzles in her own graceful style. Playful Pinkie Pie wears outfits fit for a party, while Twilight Sparkle shows off her smart style, and Applejack loves to look country chic.

Straight from the halls of Canterlot High, the My Little Pony Equestria Girls dolls are best friends with a flair for fashion and fun! Each doll in the collection comes stylishly dressed in an ultra-chic look and features her signature ‘cutie splash,’ a unique design similar to the cutie marks on their pony alter egos. Each doll sold separately.

Coming soon to DVD: My Little Pony Equestria Girls movie on DVD August 6th at major retailers across Canada.

Keep checking the My Little Pony Equestria Girls website for upcoming information and fun activities.

ENTER HERE http://niagara.momstown.ca/contest/niagara/
 

By entering this Contest, you acknowledge that you have read, understood and accept the terms and conditions below.

No purchase necessary. Contest closes August 6th, 2013 at 11:59pm EST. Open to residents of Canada (excluding Quebec), who are of legal age. Limit one submitted entry per person/email address. Odds of winning depend on the total number of eligible entries received online by the contest closing date. One winner will be chosen randomly and contacted by August 10th, 2013. Winner will not be able to select specific doll characters.

© 2013 Hasbro. MY LITTLE PONY Equestria Girls is a registered trade-marks of Hasbro, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Tropicana Tropics Presents Art & Play : Picasso's in the Park

This morning when everyone arrived at Burgoyne Woods Park for Art & Play in their tropical clothing, they were given a lei. This Hawaiian tradition was a great way to begin our tropical themed event. Today was a fun filled day! We tried some Tropicana Tropics juice, had some tropical themed cookies, made a tropical craft, we were creative with some fun and messy painting, learned to limbo, and had a chance to play in the park!

  

 

 

Our sponsor Tropicana, brings you their Tropics line containing 100% juice and puree blends inspired by the islands. Tropicana Tropics juice will wake up your senses and brighten your day with every sip.  The Tropics product line up consists of four varieties:  Orange Strawberry Banana, Orange Peach Mango, Paradise Blend (pineapple, mango, and passion fruit), Orange Tropical Fruit (pineapple, orange, mango, and passion fruit). Each 250 mL glass of Tropicana Tropics juice blend offers 2 Food Guide servings of fruit with no added sugar, and is a source of Potassium and an excellent source of Vitamin C. While you drink Tropicana Tropics, you are reminded of the pure and relaxing pleasures of Florida or the islands. As moms we are always busy and on the go, Tropicana Tropics can provide us a small escape any time of day with a little fruit filled paradise.

 

 

Today at our juice bar we had the opportunity to taste 3 different types of Tropicana Tropics juices. We tried orange strawberry banana, orange peach mango and paradise blend. These juices had wonderful fresh flavors. Once we had tried all 3 flavours of juice, we chose our favorites. Although each juice was great tasting, a large part of our group preferred the orange peach mango blend. It was so yummy!

 

 

 

 

We love to be creative. Painting each month at Art and Play is a calming activity that allows the children not only time to be creative, but it also allows independence, decision making, problem solving and best of all time to be messy! We rolled some paper across our tables, gave the kids some paint, paint brushes and stamps and away they went. Take a look at some of our geniuses at play! 

 

 

 

To go along with our tropical theme today, we made some tropical parrots. There was a nice breeze that allowed our parrots feathers to flap in the wind!

 

 

 

 

 

After our craft, we ate some palm tree sugar cookies.

 

 

 

  Finally before heading off to the playground ....we enjoyed some more juice....turned up the music....and learned how to limbo.

 

 

 

 

 

We want to say a big thank you to Tropicana for giving us the opportunity to taste their nutritional and delicious juice blends from their Tropics line. Your refreshing juice blends are the perfect drink for a hot summer day! Two servings of fruit in each 250 mL glass will make it easier for us moms to ensure our children have the balanced nutrition they require.

 

In addition to Tropicana's Tropics juice,  their other lines include pure premium, essentials, juice blends and trop50. Nutritional and additional product information can be found at http://www.tropicana.ca/EN/index.php.

 

This event was open to the public, and was great for both momstown members and local community non-members to learn what momstown Niagara is really about. A momstown Niagara membership is only $45/year for the whole family and includes great events like these all year long! Sign up for a free trial membership on our website: http://niagara.momstown.ca/user/register

momstown Niagara: Alphabet Play

F stands for ..........................

Frog and Flip Flop and Firetruck and Feather!

Today at Russell Avenue Community Centre, We learned about the letter F and the sound that the letter F makes. 

 

We read a story called Alphabet Farm. It showed us a word for every letter of the alphabet!
 

 

 

 

After our story, we made a letter "F" craft. Our capital "F" was a fish, and our lowercase "f" was made into a flower.

 

 

 

 

Once our crafts were completed, we played red light green light, simon says, and had some parachute fun.  These activities are fun for the kids, but also help with gross motor skills, encourage team work and are a great way to exercise!

 

 

 

 

We couldn't wait to play in the splash pad. It was a beautiful day! Together we got a little wet and had some fun in the playground.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alphabet Play is one of the great programs that falls under our "Literacy" Pillar. It is one of our 20+ monthly events and is included in your membership fee of only $45 per year.  Your membership also includes a one year subscription to Today's Parent!  To get in on the fun this summer register here for a FREE 4 week trial membership!   http://niagara.momstown.ca/user/register