Run to the Hills

On Family Day this year we took the kids tobogganing on the hill at Jeff Healey Park with their cousins: It was fun, interesting and exhausting....

9 Things About Tobogganing with Toddlers (or our toddlers anyway)

1. A hill becomes significantly steeper when you are pulling up a toboggan and a toddler passenger who refuses to walk, especially when cousins "hop-on" half way up the hill for a free ride back to the top.
2. The hill becomes even more Mount Everestesque when said toddler refuses to hold onto the sled, rolling off and you have to carry them under your arm like a football.
3. You will lose at least one mitten, glove or hat  (Thanks to Aunt M. for retrieving Jack's bear hat for us).
4. Compact cars are not built to transport old timey toboggans, every time we hit a bump on the drive over we got to experience a new radio station, CD or tape courtesy of the rear end of the toboggan. Our sled favours Depeche Mode and light jazz.
5. If you are not fast enough getting eager toddlers back down the hill they will quite literally attempt  to throw themselves down the hill solo, sleds be damned - Jack.
6. Children do not care about crashing into other children, in fact most of the time they find it kind of funny. 
7. No matter how many times a child giggles and yells "More, More!" at the bottom of the hill, you may still need to give them a pep talk when you get back to the top - Molly.
8. They will pee their pants and it will freeze.
9. Tobogganing doesn't end when the kids get tired, it ends when the parents have had enough.

Market Song

Whenever Toronto is offering up something new and fun we try to support it in whatever way we can. When I found out about Steam Whistle's (indoor) Winter Farmers Market I was pumped.  Chris and I went on a brewery tour for our second date and had our wedding reception there, so Steam Whistle is near and dear to our hearts.  

It was also an opportunity for an activity that was fun for Molly and Jack as well as mom and dad.  The market is open on Sundays, from December 22nd until February 23rd (this coming Sunday) from 10AM-2PM.  This weekend was our third attempt to go to the market, as earlier trips were thwarted by rain, snow, sleet, dark of night and toddler infections: clearly we are not the US postal service.  

It's an eight minute walk from Union Station or there is  plenty of fairly pricey, pay parking around (it cost us $9 to park at the Air Canada Centre and walk over).  

What was in it for Molly and Jack: 

• A great view of all of the trains displayed outside
• Samples of organic chocolate, fresh apples, BBQ sauce on crackers as well as apple cider
• They got to run around the newly poured foundation of the scheduled expansion of the brewery while squealing (they only got a couple of suspicious looks) and Jack warmed the hearts of most patrons by giving a round of high fives to nearly everyone in the brewery

Chris Pushing Molly in the snow

Molly and Jack Playing

What was in it for mom and dad:

• We got to enjoy a pint of Steam Whistle Beer each
• We got to watch some of the Olympics on TV while the minions ran around
• Accommodating vendors let us buy individual apples from giant baskets so Molly and Jack could eat while we sipped

Molly unsuccessfully attempting to get a sip of mom's "juice".

What we bought:

• Apple Cider
• Sparkling apple juice
• Chocolate Strawberry Tea (this stuff is soooo good)
• Apple butter BBQ Sauce
• 2 honey crisp apples that were immediately consumed by Molly and Jack  (I'm tempted to go back and grab a basket next week)
• Home made dog biscuits for uncle D.'s new puppy (made from some byproducts left over from the Steam Whistle brewing process)

Some of our purchases

Don't expect a huge selection of fresh product at the market, but we loved almost everything we tried there and Molly and Jack adored being taste testers.  On the way home Molly kept telling us how much fun she had at the market.  Also it wasn't overly crowded, so it was easy to keep an eye on the minions.  If you're looking for something to do next Sunday in downtown Toronto, I highly recommend you check it out before it's gone!  Added bonus, it's right across the street from the brand new Ripley's Aquarium in case you  need some liquid courage before you face the sharks!


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Welcome to the Jungle - An Indoor Playground Review

I don't think anyone who lives anywhere in the vicinity of South Western Ontario is going to disagree when I say that this winter has been brutal so far.  If we are to believe the weather reports, we're in for another stretch of weather in the minus teens this week, so we decided to go out to another Indoor Playground this weekend to work off some energy.

My park review disclaimer: If you don't live in the area I hope you enjoy the pics and can use some of the ideas to inspire and explore in your own city. If you have any recommendations for great playgrounds ideally some in Toronto proper (indoor or out or new criteria I haven't thought of) please post a comment on this post or email me:

Unfortunately this location is now closed.  If anyone has any other recommendations for indoor playgrounds or kid-focused/friendly coffee shops please add them in the comments.  

Playground Name:
Amazon Indoor Creative Playground

Location:

1070 St. Clair West, Toronto, ON (you can take the St. Clair Street Car or the 29 Dufferin Bus North to Dufferin and St. Clair)

Parking:

There is street parking which is free in the morning on Sunday, but it could be tough to find a spot that isn't a bit of a distance from the playground.

Theme of Park:

Indoor jungle play with added elements of arts and crafts for mind and body development.

Cost:

$8 per child.

Variety of Equipment for different ages:

This playground's activities and play are geared towards children aged 0-9.  There is a ball pit, climbing tunnels, a bridge and slides.

Best Part(s) of the Park:

The balance between active and creative play is key for keeping both Molly and Jack happy and it worked!  The playground has a costume centre, a kitchen play area, a cafeteria style "snack" centre (bring your own snacks) and books for story breaks.  The centre of the climbing structure has a giant monkey head that kids can climb into and play in - which Jack fell in love with.  I'm fairly certain a giant monkey head may be the only liveable solution possible to successfully transition Jack into a toddler bed.  

Downfalls:

The washrooms were in the basement and there were only two.  This meant that by the time potty training Molly told me she had to go and waited 5 minutes for a washroom, it was too late.  For kids on the cusp of toilet training bring diapers, or a change of pants or both!  The playground hosts several private birthday parties so hours are limited. Weekends, they are open to the public from 9:30AM-11:30AM - so check the hours and plan your trip in advance.    

Overall Rating:

I rate this playground a 4/5 based on value of money and time - it was only a ten minute drive from our house and both kids were content to stay for an hour and a half.


To read my other indoor playground review click here

  I was nominated for VoiceBoks Top 50 Hilariously Funny Parent Bloggers - If you can please take the time to vote for my blog http://voiceboks.com/top-50-hilariously-funny-nominated-parent-bloggers-2014/- Just click and vote for me (Multiple Momstrosity)

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The Bear Necessities

Last week I received some wonderful news.  Someone, I have no idea who, kindly nominated me for an international funny parent blogger award - Top 50 Hilariously Funny Nominated Parent Bloggers – 2014. For the month of January I'm competing head to head against a bunch of very talented writers from around the world.  It's always extra exciting to know that this came from someone who wasn't in my immediate family.  Whoever you are, thank you so much for taking the time to put Multiple Momstrosity forward.  You have no idea how much this means to me.

I made a promise to myself a while ago that I would make a concerted effort to get better at promoting my blog.  I still find myself cringing and debating when I overhear someone say they have twins, or are expecting twins when I know I should be marching right over to them and telling them about how much misery loves company and they can/should read about how we're surviving life after twins.

"I'm hunting for bears!"

This is photographic evidence as to why you say no when your bestie and brother suggest you let them do a baby photo shoot for you, with costumes and props.  Chris thinks this is the photo that is most likely to get child services called. I feel somehow compelled to inform everyone that this is a toy gun and I don't know why Jack looks so smug.

 This is where I need your help as readers, friends, parents and bloggers!  The rules of this contest are fairly strict: 1 vote per IP address period and no "monkey" business to promote votes.  So in no way can I offer anyone gold stars, giant stuffed unicorns, babysitting services, good karma or send them an email chain letter forecasting 100 years of bad luck if they don't cast their vote.  But I can ask nicely...so here it goes.

Any of the following five things would help me get closer to my personal goal of making the Top 10!

1. Click Here Now and cast your vote for Multiple Momstrosity. (they are listed in alphabetical order so scroll to find me)
2. Come back and vote when you're at another computer, cell phone or new IP address and vote again.
3. Send an email to a few friends, fellow parents, relatives, people you think might enjoy reading about the minions and include this link: http://voiceboks.com/top-50-hilariously-funny-nominated-parent-bloggers-2014/ asking them to cast a vote for Multiple Momstrosity.
4. Tweet, Post Facebook Updates, Google Plus things and share the word on the interwebs about how people should vote for Multiple Momstrosity: http://voiceboks.com/top-50-hilariously-funny-nominated-parent-bloggers-2014/, but again please don't offer any gold stars to get me votes!
5. Fellow Bloggers, if you could give me a shout out to get your readers to check me out and voting for for me...well that would be awesome sauce!

Blinded By The Light

This post is quite literally being transcribed by Chris as I dictate it to him.  It all started Saturday night when Jack projectile vomited all over his crib while we had company.  I bathed Jack while Chris stripped the sheets, got out clean pyjamas, and began to launder Jack's collection of now soiled stuffed bears.  Sunday, we were housebound with a snowstorm and two kids with the runs, but the wheels really fell off after nap time.  Chris was changing Molly on the change table while I dressed Jack on the floor of the nursery.  Jack caught a glimpse of a laundry basket full of clean bears, got really excited, yelled "Bears!" and thrust his finger outward to point at them.  The only issue was that my face, mainly my eye, was in the path of his finger.  I dropped to the floor screaming and writhing in pain.  Chris asked me to leave the room because I was scaring the children and, after I got over the initial shock, we tried to move on with our evening.  The next day, my eye was completely swollen shut, watering profusely and it felt as though a thousand tiny knives were stabbing my eye socket.  After a referral from the doctor, I was sent to Emergency where under their special blue light they determined that there was a scratch on my cornea in the perfect shape of a toddler's fingernail.  For the past two days I've been stumbling around the house while Molly repeats "Mama hurt" as I lay an ice pack over my eye.  I am finally able to open my eye a bit this evening.  Tomorrow I will go to work with an eye-patch and sunglasses on, so if you think you see a cool-guy pirate on the subway, don't be alarmed.  It's just me with yet another toddler induced injury.

Chris and I had a bet as to who would get injured sufficiently to send us to the Emergency room first.  I said Molly, he said Jack.  We were both wrong and I got the prize.

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