Blog Roll – Page 10 – Canadian Dad

Spring Is Finally Here! But So Is Something Else..

May 16, 2017/0 Comments/in THE BLOG/by Chris Read

This post is sponsored by Bayer.

“Dad, when is baseball season going to start?!”

This was the question my son asked me over 2 weeks ago, when we were scheduled to begin our spring baseball season. It seemed like spring was never going to get here this year with all the snow and rain and flooding we’ve had, but things appear to be looking up as the sunshine and blue skies are starting to break through!

There is something extremely therapeutic, for me at least, about stepping out the door in the morning and taking in a big breath of that cool spring air that I look forward to every year. It almost makes me wonder why we continue to live in a place that has such harsh, long winters, but that’s a story for another time!

Unfortunately, having spring in the air also means that allergy season is here for a lot of Canadians and while that is a major bummer, it doesn’t have to ruin the entire season for you! Here are some tips to get you ready for allergy season.

1. Have your allergy medications handy at the first signs of symptoms. Antihistamines can help decrease sneezing, runny nose and itchy-watery eyes. Claritin® Allergy + Sinus Extra Strength gives you 24-hour non-drowsy relief from bothersome allergy symptoms caused by pollen, ragweed, grass, dust, pets and moulds.

2. Air conditioners are your friend. If plants (trees, grass, pollen and ragweed) are at fault for your allergy symptoms, control the air inside by keeping the windows in your home and car closed. Turning on the air conditioner is a better way to keep cool while keeping your symptoms in check.

3. Brush those pets! Dogs and cats that have been outside can track pollen into your home. Make a habit of brushing your pet before you head back inside to keep pollen out. It’s also a great idea to give yourself a shake before you step in to avoid tracking pollen throughout your home.

4. Clear your head. For some allergy sufferers, like myself, symptoms can include sinus pressure and sinus congestion. Make sure you’re picking up the right allergy medication for you. AERIUS® Dual Action 12hr is an antihistamine that delivers multi-symptom allergy relief for 12 hours, including relief from nasal congestion and stuffiness.

5. Take yourself off lawn duty. Keeping the grass short is a good idea for reducing grass allergens – but don’t cut it yourself! Call in a favour from a partner, family member or friend. C’mon, who doesn’t want to cut their neighbours lawn for them?

6. Hit the treadmill. Running outside, especially when pollen counts are high, can be a recipe for sore eyes. If morning runs are part of your routine, consider hitting the gym or a home treadmill instead.

I’d love to hear what other strategies you have for combating allergy season. Leave a comment below with your best tips!

Here is a little more information on the products mentioned above:

Claritin® Allergy + Sinus Extra Strength 24 hours

– Claritin® offers effective, non-drowsy 24-hour allergy symptom relief
– Allergy
– Pollen, ragweed, grass, dust, pets and moulds
– 24h Symptom Relief
– Nasal congestion
– Sinus pressure and congestion
– Post nasal drip
– Itchy, watery eyes
– Sneezing
– Runny nose
For more information: https://www.claritin.ca/en/products/allergy_sinus_extra_strengh_24_hours/

AERIUS® Dual Action 12hr

– AERIUS® Dual Action 12 Hour combines the AERIUS® antihistamine multi-symptom allergy relief to the effect of a decongestant.
– AERIUS® provides relief from symptoms associated to seasonal allergies with a specific extra action on nasal congestion for up to 12 hours.
– AERIUS® Dual Action 12 Hour effectively relieves all of the following allergy symptoms; nasal congestion or stuffiness; sneezing; runny nose; itchy nose; itchy ears; itchy palate; itchy, burning, watery, red eyes.
For more information: https://www.aerius.ca/en/products/dual-action

This post is sponsored by Bayer. To make sure these products are right for you, always read and follow the label.

Where’s The Backflip? – A Stars on Ice Story

May 10, 2017/0 Comments/in Reviews, Reviews/Giveaways, THE BLOG, The Daddy Files/by Chris Read

Last week we were fortunate enough to bring our daughter and a friend to the latest Investors Group Stars on Ice show here in Ottawa and, as expected, it did not disappoint!

For me as a father, this was a bittersweet event. You see, when we had originally booked these tickets our daughter was right in the middle of her figure skating season and seemed to be loving it. Her coach had just recommended that we move her into a more advanced level of skating, because of course with this kid, and we were weighing our options to try to keep up with all the kids’ activities.

Three sessions later and we were now sending an email to her skating coach to let her know that our future Elizabeth Manley would be stepping away from figure skating to focus on gymnastics. The sudden shift away from her love for skating took us by surprise but was obvious from watching her in those final sessions. We’re not sure whether she simply had too much on her plate or if she really wasn’t enjoying it anymore but I was sad because I really loved watching her skate.

All that said, I was worried that she wouldn’t enjoy the Stars on Ice show as much now that she wasn’t skating anymore, but I’m happy to admit that I couldn’t have been more wrong. I’m pretty sure that my daughter was more excited to see Kurt Browning, or Brownie as she still calls him, more than my wife was and my wife REALLY likes Kurt Browning… More than that, my daughter was excited to see Kurt do his famous backflip.

As the show went on and the skaters dazzled us with their best moves and amazing routines, she kept asking, “When is he going to do the backflip?”, to which we had no response except for her to keep watching. As Kurt’s final performance ended, she was close to tears as she pointed out that the backflip hadn’t happened. Just then, the skaters came back out on to the ice to wave goodbye, Kurt started his wind up and, BAM, nailed the backflip!

My daughter leapt from her seat in the same way I had when Joe Carter hit the World Series winning homerun. As my wife, who’s excitement matched that of my daughter’s, cheered the backflip, I noticed a little water in her eyes. When I asked her about it later she mentioned that seeing our daughter so happy got her feeling a little emotional. You can’t really go wrong with a mom like that, and you also can’t go wrong by taking your littles to see this amazing show.

For more information on upcoming shows and tickets you can check out the Stars on Ice website. Oh, and Kurt, if you ever want to talk fatherhood, I’d be happy to conduct that interview (insert winky face here). I promise not to let my wife hijack the call…

About Investors Group Stars On Ice

Founded in 1986 by skating icon and Olympic Gold Medallist Scott Hamilton, the Stars on Ice Tour originated in the United States. In 1991, Stars on Ice began to tour Canada and has now played nearly 300 shows in the past 25 years. Past tour performers include Kurt Browning, Jamie Salé & David Pelletier, Kristi Yamaguchi and Elvis Stojko. Investors Group Stars on Ice presented by Lindt is produced by IMG, the global leader in sports, fashion and media. For more information about the tour, visit www.starsonice.ca. Keep in touch with Investors Group Stars on Ice presented by Lindt on Facebook: www.facebook.com/starsonice Instagram: www.instagram.com/starsonice, and on Twitter: twitter.com/starsonice.

Disclosure: My family was provided tickets to this event.

Checkmate

May 1, 2017/5 Comments/in THE BLOG, The Daddy Files/by Chris Read

Kids are funny creatures. Just when you think you know exactly who they are and what they are destined to be, they throw you a curveball that changes your entire view of them. Take my son, for instance. If you’d have asked me at the beginning of the school year I would have told you that he was an “all sports all the time” kind of kid who didn’t tend to express himself creatively very often.

As we close in on the end of the school year he still loves sports but he has also dabbled in things like writing stories, music, dance, YouTubing and most recently, playing chess. Chess is the one that was most surprising to me as we had never played it at home before, mostly because I never learned to play. He told me that he had joined the chess club at school and if I’m being perfectly honest the first thing that popped into my head was kids with suspenders, pocket protectors and tape on their glasses.

The truth, however, is that a lot of the sports kids had joined the chess club and I was really excited that my son decided to step out of his comfort zone to try something new. As it turns out this wasn’t just a weekly club that was getting together for fun to learn a new game, they actually had tryouts for the school team and my kid made it! They went to the city-wide school tournament and ended up placing second out of all the schools!

She was so happy for her brother for winning a chess medal!

He has since asked if he can enter a city-wide tournament where he wouldn’t know anybody, which is a huge step for him as a shy kid. I am excited to announce that he even managed to win a couple games at that tournament and finished a half point out of the medals! I know this sounds like a giant humble-brag post but this was a really big deal for him and I was so proud that he broke out of his comfort zone and did something that made him nervous. He proved to himself that he could do it and although he was disappointed that he didn’t win, I could tell that he was proud of his achievement. He has asked to try his luck at the next tournament and I couldn’t be more proud of my little Bobby Fischer in training!.

For the record, I didn’t expect him to win anything, especially considering he had just started playing chess a couple months earlier. I just wanted him to have a good experience and not for him to get crushed in every game he played. I think I did a great job of concealing my nerves while he was playing. This face looks totally natural, right??

Parent confession time: My son is in his 1st non school chess tournament at the Ontario Chess Challenge & I'm a nervous wreck. I'm trying to hide it though. How's my poker face???
A post shared by Chris Read (@canadiandadblog) on Mar 19, 2017 at 10:20am PDT

The King of Laundry Mountain!

April 19, 2017/3 Comments/in Reviews, THE BLOG/by Chris Read

Mostly due to the fact that I am overly passionate about the way I feel the laundry should be done, I have inherited the title of “clothes cleaner” in our house. It’s not a glamourous job but it’s one that I have learned to enjoy doing, also because I believe that chores are an act of love. I am a huge laundry nerd, which we will cover in a future blog post, so deal with it!

Plus there’s really no task that music can’t make more fun and exciting, right? I’ll give you a minute to imagine me folding bed sheets while dancing to Ricky Martin’s “She Bangs”. A couple months ago while working on my t-shirt folding salsa dance, I heard a strange noise coming from our washing machine and knew it was time to say goodbye.

Our previous Whirlpool set served us well for 12 years, so when it was time to purchase new appliances, Whirlpool products were the natural choice. I couldn’t believe the innovative new features that were now available since I was last in the market for a washer and dryer. I guess that sounds ridiculous to say considering how everything seems to change so quickly these days, but it still caught me off guard.

Before I get to the cool features of our new washing machine I have to give a huge shout out to my mom for letting me use their washer/dryer for the couple months that we were without. You have no idea how much laundry you actually go through until you spend 2 weeks watching it pile up into a giant mountain on the floor. I was wearing clothes that hadn’t seen daylight in years, possibly ever, but we got through it and I believe we are a stronger family because of it!

The machine we chose was the Whirlpool 4.8 cu. ft. I.E.C. Front Load Washer with Closet-Depth Fit and two weeks in I am loving it. I think my favourite feature about this model is that it has a 12-Hour FanFresh® option which keeps clothes fresh for up to 12 hours after the wash cycle has ended. A built-in fan activates after the wash cycle is over, tumbling clothes for up to 12 hours so you can finish laundry when you’re ready.

Another awesome feature with the washer is the Load & Go™ system, which lets you skip adding detergent to every load. The Load & Go™ cartridge holds enough detergent to wash up to 12 loads of laundry and with their precision dispense technology you can simply fill it and forget it. You can see all the other features, such as Adaptive Wash Technology and EcoBoost by checking the unit out on the Whirlpool website! These innovations have all been inspired by the way families care for each other so that they can get the job done better and faster.

I’m going to be talking a lot about laundry in the coming months because I feel like it gets a bad rap. Now if you’ll excuse me I just heard the beautiful sound of another load of laundry that needs folding!

Disclosure: I was provided with a new washer/dryer set from Whirlpool, however I reached out to them in the first place because we were so happy with our last Whirlpool set.

Canadian Dad Podcast: Ep. 12 – Canadian Olympic Gold Medallists Adam Van Koeverden & Jennifer Botterill

March 22, 2017/0 Comments/in Podcast, THE BLOG/by Chris Read

I had the privilege of speaking with Canadian Olympic Gold Medallists Adam Van Koeverden & Jennifer Botterill as they promote the new cancer screening tool, My CancerIQ, which takes just 5 minutes and gives you an in depth assessment about your risk of developing certain cancers. In the interview we discuss the My CancerIQ assessment and talk about why it’s so important to stay on top of your health, especially when you have family history.

Adam and Jennifer were also kind enough to answer all of my Olympic questions and had some amazing answers with tips for parents and also for young athletes about what things are important when trying to reach your Olympic goals.

A huge thanks to Adam & Jennifer for making the time to talk!

Investors Group Stars on Ice Is Back!

March 21, 2017/1 Comment/in THE BLOG/by Chris Read

Now don’t get me wrong when I say this, but you have no idea how excited I am that we have officially graduated from toddler age performances to live shows that the whole family can enjoy equally. Stars on Ice is exactly that kind of show for our family because it offers something for everybody! Our daughter is a figure skater and can’t wait to see Kurt “Brownie”, as she calls him. Our son, while not so into the skating, loves music and will still dance and sing along to the performances while secretly loving them as well. For my wife, a former skater, and myself, everything about Stars on Ice is fascinating, from the performances to watching the amazement in our children’s eyes.

How can the show not be good when it features the likes of Kurt Brownie (sorry, Kurt, we’re trying to correct her, we promise), Elvis Stojko, Patrick Chan, Scott Moir, Tessa Virtue and so many more?! The Stars on Ice tour kicks off in Halifax on April 28th and closes out in Vancouver on May 18th, so don’t forget to head to the Stars on Ice website to get your tickets today! If you really want the full experience, you can also splurge for Meet & Greet passes!

About Investors Group Stars On Ice

Disclosure: My family was provided tickets to this event.

Learn to Tell Time with a Plate Clock

March 14, 2017/0 Comments/in Guest Posts, THE BLOG/by Chris Read

Want a fun way to teach your child to tell time? Making a plate clock is a great way for him to learn how to tell time in a way he’ll actually find exciting. He’ll love having an excuse to push veggies around his plate without getting in trouble for it. It may be a simple art project, but in no time, your child will be able to tell time, an important building block for other math skills.

What You Need:

White plate
Porcelain paint markers
Strips of vegetables
Oven

What You Do:

1. Ask your child to choose what colors he wants to use for the numbers.
2. Write number 1 on the plate in the 1 o’clock spot, then have your child tell you which number comes next as you write them clockwise on the plate with porcelain paint markers.
3. Place the plate in an oven and let the ink bake on. Follow the instructions on the package of markers to determine how long to leave the plate in and at what temperature. Make sure little fingers aren’t near the stove!
4. Once the plate is done baking, have your child set a trivet on the counter while you remove the plate using pot holders.
5. When the plate cools off, hand your child two vegetable strips, such as green beans or pepper strips. One should be slightly longer than the other to represent the minute and hour hands.
6. Now the fun begins! Ask him to show you different times on the clock plate using the vegetable strips. For example, if you ask him to show you 3 o’clock, the long pepper slice should be pointed at the 12 while the short green bean should be pointed at the 3.
7. Every time he eats a meal on the plate, periodically ask your child during the meal to show you the time using the vegetable strips. He’ll love playing with his food!

The best thing about the plate clock is that it creates a learning opportunity at any meal. Use french toast sticks or sausage links at breakfast, sweet potato fries at lunch, and vegetable strips at dinner. Your child will be so busy playing with his food he won’t even realize how much he’s learning in the process!

*This is a guest post from Education.com*

There’s a Passion Out There For Everyone

March 8, 2017/3 Comments/in THE BLOG/by Chris Read

I’m often reminded that if something exists, there is someone who will hold a strong passion for it. For me it’s always been music. Even before I started singing I was drawn to all forms of music. For others, their passion may be Astrology, the Environment or as I’ve recently found out, Potatoes!

That’s right, a couple weeks ago I attended an event at McCain Headquarters in Toronto to kick off a year-long partnership where I will be learning the ins and outs of how McCain potato products go from #FarmToFork! I admit that I had no idea what to expect when I walked into the McCain boardroom but I can tell you that what I left with was a new appreciation for not only their products but also for potatoes themselves and the farmers who grow them.

I’m not sure where to start in describing my experience with McCain but I wish that everyone could hear McCain Foods Agriculture Manager, Eric Ritchie, speak about his passion for potatoes. He knew more about potatoes than I know about my own family and it was infectious to hear him speak about the goodness of the potato. In fact, the whole McCain story really resonated with me as it is deeply rooted in Canadian family values, having been a family owned, Canadian company for 60 years now.

As a little peek behind the blogging curtain, I took so many notes at the event that I’ve been staring at my notebook for the last hour trying to decide how I’m going to share all this information with you, and because I think all of it is important and eye-opening, I’ve decided not to cut anything. Here is the full list of my takeaways from my time with the McCain Foods team.

Working together, family to family

– The family values run deep at McCain Foods and nowhere is this more evident than the fact that 10 of their growers have been with the company for over 55 years. It’s loyalty and family all rolled into one.

– McCain Foods is the world’s largest manufacturer of frozen French fries and potato specialties. I could have guessed that they were Canada’s largest producer but was surprised to hear they were a world leader. Go Canada! When Eric described the size of the warehouse where the potatoes were stored, I immediately pictured the farmers diving into them like Scrooge McDuck in his money vault. Give me a break, I have young children who love cartoons!

Farmers and their potatoes; simple ingredients, simply prepared

– The simplicity of the food process is as easy as wash, peel, cut, cook and freeze. Delicious food you can trust and feel comfortable serving to your family. On top of that, McCain takes their potatoes so seriously they even created the Potato Technology Centre in Florenceville, New Brunswick to provide ongoing research and ensure McCain continues to deliver the best quality products.

– One of my favourite parts of the presentation was when the question of food waste came up. I have seen documentaries that discussed what farmers are forced to do with food that does not look perfect, so I was pleasantly surprised when Eric described how McCain works in that regard. He pulled out a bag of what would be considered “less desirable” potatoes and cut them open to demonstrate how while McCain discards any rotten or damaged portions of the potato, they make a concerted effort to use as much as possible of every potato harvested.

The Power Vegetable!

– That brings us to the most important part of the potato. Its nutritional value is off the charts! The great thing about the potato is that it gives you excellent coverage in multiple categories including vitamin B6, potassium, fiber and vitamin C. Obviously this only really works if you are not adding a ton of grease, sour cream or butter and the good news from McCain is that all of their frozen grocery potato products are trans fat-free and many are low in saturated fat and sodium! Potatoes may not look exciting to you but recognizing the goodness of the potato can benefit all of us.

After the boardroom session we were treated to a buffet of different McCain potato products and after learning all I had just learned about potatoes, I may have eaten double what I normally would… Before I get out of here, I’m going to share a few of my family’s favourite McCain products but want to hear in the comments which ones you guys buy the most! Here’s our list!

McCain Spicy Lattice Cut Fries

These are daddy’s #1 choice of McCain fries and I will occasionally even eat them as a main course. The kids are still coming around in the spicy foods department but I’m happy to eat what they leave behind on their plates.

McCain Superfries Crinkle Cut Fries

This is a staple that has been in my family since I was a little boy and my kids love them as much as I did. Oh, and did I mention that they are Trans Fat-Free, Cholesterol- Free, Low in Saturated Fat? Yeah, we are big fans of the Crinkle Cuts in our house!

McCain Breakfast Potato Pancakes

Nothing against Homefries as we love them too, but there’s something about the Potato Pancakes that have us gravitating towards them whenever we are at the grocery store. We also add some of our own seasoning to them after they bake to give them some extra kick!

McCain Smiles

Confession. I actually called these Smilies for the longest time before my kids corrected me. The Smiles were actually how we introduced the kids to French fries because the kids loved the fact that there were smiley faces on their plates. In fact, we still serve them today because who couldn’t use more smiling in their lives?

As mentioned earlier, this is the beginning of a year long partnership between my family and McCain Canada and I can’t wait to share our adventures with you. Later this year I’ll be visiting multiple farms to observe the harvesting process and to see how everything is put together from start to finish. In the meantime please feel free to leave a comment here or on the Canadian Dad Facebook page to let me know your family’s favourite McCain products and also what you are most passionate about!

Cheers!

This post is sponsored by McCain, as part of our #FarmtoFork partnership. The opinions on this blog, as always, are my own.

How Much Is Too Much When It Comes To Kids Activities?

March 1, 2017/2 Comments/in THE BLOG, The Daddy Files/by Chris Read

Dinner? Check! Water bottle? Check! Healthy snack? Check! Leotard? Check! Shorts that go over top of leotard or the whole outfit is ruined? Double Check! I quickly run over my list before picking up my daughter from school and rushing her to her 4:30 gymnastics class at Kanata Gymnosphere. We usually have about 20 minutes to eat dinner in the minivan, yes, I’m a proud minivan owner, and chat a little about our day before she has to get dressed for class.

This may sound chaotic to some parents, and admittedly it was at first, but it is normal routine for us now. To be perfectly honest I’ve grown to really enjoy that 20 minutes between school and gymnastics because we get a chance to talk, laugh and turn off life’s distractions for a little while. My daughter spends 16 hours a week at this gym so that one on one time before class starts is important for both of us.

I know what you’re probably thinking, “16 hours a week for a 6 year old?!? That’s crazy!!”, and I would have definitely agreed with you a year ago when we first walked into the gym. We started in a regular once a week class, which then jumped to 9 hours a week, then 12 and now 16. Every step of the way we hesitated, wondering if it was the right decision for our daughter. The thing is, she loves it, and she is really good at it. It also helps that the staff at Kanata Gymnosphere treat her like family from the minute she walks in until she leaves her session, and the focus, determination and discipline she has shown lets us know as parents that she is able to handle the workload.

All in all, between our daughter and son, we spend just over 20 hours a week at various organized activities and while the kids don’t ever complain about it, my wife and I definitely worry about the effects it could have on them, and ourselves. We keep a close eye on things such as the kids’ schoolwork, sleep patterns and general moods to make sure that the activities aren’t negatively affecting their day to day lives. It’s not just the kids we have to worry about either, as shuttling them all over the city and coordinating schedules for two working parents can be tricky and stressful as well, so we’ve had to be mindful of how this is affecting us as partners.

I’d love to sit here and act all-knowing but the truth is that I have no idea if we are doing the right thing for our kids by letting them spend so much time in extra-curricular activities. They don’t seem to be showing any signs of fatigue and their teachers have no complaints so we allow them to continue doing the things that bring them joy. We make sure to grab hold of any family/snuggle time we can get, eat dinners together when possible and talk to the kids a lot about how they are feeling. We’ve managed to strike a balance in there somewhere for the time being and hopefully we’ll fine tune it as time passes.

So, what’s the answer to the question of how much is too much when it comes to your child’s activities? I think the answer is that it depends on the child. Only you can know how your child reacts to different environments and workloads. What works for my kids may not necessarily work for yours, and that’s perfectly alright. As a former sports brat myself, my advice would be to let them experiment with new activities, gauge how they interact in them and talk to them about how they feel while doing it. Letting your children guide you as opposed to making the decisions for them is always a step in the right direction.

If you want to talk more about youth sports and activities, I’d love to hear from you in the comments or over on my Facebook page at facebook.com/canadiandad! Cheers!

My First Auto Show Was A Smashing Success Thanks To Volkswagen Canada!

February 25, 2017/0 Comments/in THE BLOG/by Chris Read

I attended my 1st ever auto show this past weekend as I made my way to Toronto for the Canadian International AutoShow at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. As someone currently in the market for a new family vehicle, the timing couldn’t have been better. Frankly, I was shocked by the sheer size of the show and how they managed to get all those cars in there but that’s a story for another time.

I was invited to the show by Volkswagen Canada for a sneak peek at their lineup of cars for both family and fun, and they certainly did not disappoint. Before I get to the cars though, VW had set up a very cool virtual reality experience for all the attendees and having never tried it before I was very excited to give it a go. Because I love you all so much, here is an embarrassing look at me in the VR simulation, throwing invisible snowballs at a tree.

Now that we have gotten that out of the way, let’s talk about cars! Realizing that all car buyers are not created equal, Volkswagen created an event to appeal to all different lifestyles. They also had some amazing speakers lined up to discuss topics such as Tech (Amber Mac), Travel (Heather Greenwood Davis) and Style (Afiya Francisco) as it relates to their line of vehicles. Without further ado, here are my thoughts on Volkswagen Canada’s offerings from the Canadian International AutoShow.

2017 Volkswagen e-Golf

The Volkswagen e-Golf is 100% electric and, according to Amber Mac, by 2040 electric vehicles will make up 40% of all vehicles, so consider the e-Golf an opportunity to hop on the trend early on. The cockpit of the e-Golf is fully digital which means the Active Info Display presents data and information about the vehicle directly in the cockpit. With its energy-saving technology, this car will be very popular among people who love both technology and sustainability.

From a dad’s standpoint, while the e-Golf would certainly be sufficient for getting a 4 person family from point A to point B, it’s wouldn’t be the most practical for parents who have children in sports. That said, the inside of the car was surprisingly roomy and very comfortable, so if you are not a sporting family and want to help out with the environment, the e-Golf could be a great addition to the family.

2018 Volkswagen Tiguan Redesign

Based on the constant crowds around the redesigned VW Tiguan, this seemed like the star of the show on Friday. With a new sleek design and features such as Pedestrian Monitoring System, 4MOTION Active Control, Automatic Post-Collision Braking System and Available 3rd Row, the Tiguan Redesign is versatile and capable as it is reliable and safe.

We actually looked at the Tiguan a couple years ago but decided it wasn’t quite large enough to suit our growing family’s needs. That said, with the new increased space and comfort we are going to have a serious look at it next week as we begin our car shopping. We would probably skip the 3rd row option as I’d worry about leg room back there but other than that, the 2018 Tiguan Redesign has everything I would want in a vehicle and just looks fantastic.

2018 Volkswagen Atlas

In the spirit of saving the best for last, I present to you the 2018 Volkswagen Atlas! From the minute I hit the showroom floor I could not take my eyes off the Atlas. This is the first 7 seater offered by Volkswagen and it looks like it’s going to be a homerun. Just check out these notable features:

• Variable seating concept
• Available second row Captain Chairs
• Pedestrian Monitoring System
• Driving Profile Selection with 4MOTION Active Control
• Volkswagen Digital Cockpit
• MIB Infotainment system
• Volkswagen Media Control

Honestly, from the minute I set foot in this vehicle I knew I had to have it. As a family with multiple extra-curricular activities which require us to bring sports bags, lawn chairs, coolers and more on a regular basis, the 2018 Atlas covered everything on our checklists for in-town events and out of town travel. As far as leg room in the 3rd row, I was able to sit comfortably, meaning my kids would be more than comfortable, however, I would not recommend sitting back there if you are in the 6 foot range. Still, everyone knows that the tall people always get the front seat anyway. Trust me.

I want to take this opportunity to thank Volkswagen Canada for giving me a sneak peek at their new lineup of vehicles and for giving me my first AutoShow experience! It was definitely a day to remember and I can’t wait to start taking test drives in the weeks to come! For more information on these or any other Volkswagen products you can visit www.VW.ca or head into your local dealership today!

Disclosure: I was invited to attend this event on behalf of Volkswagen Canada and the opinions I shared are based on my interactions with the vehicles. I have not test driven any of the vehicles listed above.