Our African Lion Safari Adventure!

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We recently went on our first family vacation of the year and part of that trip included a visit to African Lion Safari in Cambridge. While I’m sure I had been there as a child, I was excited to share the adventure with my own family and the experience did not disappoint.

We started the day off with the Safari Tour Bus ride through the game reserves. I had thought about driving my own car through the reserve but the 6 and a half hour driver there, combined with the thought of monkeys climbing all over my car made the decision an easy one. I got a little worried about 5 minutes into our visit when my son turned to me and said, “I don’t like animals”, but he changed his mind once the zebras came into view. Overall, I really enjoyed the tour bus ride and especially enjoyed this unimpressed looking giraffe.

Lion Safari Giraffe

Our next stops were a cruise aboard the “African Queen”, which was very cool, and my favourite part of the day, the Elephant Swim. It was amazing to watch the elephants marching down to the water, trunks holding the tails in front of them. Their playfulness in the water was very cool to see and they got so close that I was glad we scored front row seats.

Lion Safari Elephant Swim

After the swim, we hit the cafeteria for some lunch and then we were off to the splash pad! This was easily the kids’ favourite part of the day and who could blame them? The splash pad was fully equipped for children of all ages, with water slides, play structures and water towers. The only thing I would have suggested would be changing rooms for the guys as opposed to the one big open room, but it certainly did not detract from our time there.

Lion Safari Splash Pad

We finished off the day with a ride on the “Nature Boy” scenic railway, which capped off a great day for the whole family. After a quick pit stop in the gift shop and trying to explain to my kids the difference between $70 and $7, we were out the gates and on our way back to the hotel. We thoroughly enjoyed our time at African Lion Safari and will definitely be back again.

An Argument Against Bribing Your Children

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It’s not like I do it often. Frankly, the only reason I have ever done it is because, well, it works. As a parent, you know when your kids have that look in their eyes that says, “I am having a bad day and you are going to pay for that multiple times over!” For the most part, my policy is to just deal with it as it happens, but, every now and then you have a special occasion that commands precision behaviour. In these instances, I have been known to pull out the bribery card.

Recently, I can think of two such occasions. The first being Great, Great Nanny’s 100th birthday party. My logic for bribing them with a trip to the Dollar Store the next day was that you will rarely get a chance to attend a 100th birthday party and Nanny deserved the best behaved children in the land. Plus, at $1.15 each, it was a win-win! They were angels and did exactly as they were told the whole time. More on that later.

The next was my son’s first appearance on television. We were going to have a PlasmaCar race, which he as excited for, but first we had to talk to the morning show hosts and I was worried he would flee. I brought the Beyblade in the car with us that morning and he did a great job on TV and proudly held his new toy all the way home.

You’re probably thinking that everything worked out perfectly, so what’s the problem? Here’s a little story about how this strategy backfired on me. I came home from work the other day and was met by my 3 year old daughter, who was running towards me, arms extended, as she does every day. The conversation, however, was slightly different..

Daughter: “Daddy, I need you to buy me a new Rapunzel Barbie set”
Me: “Why? Did you break another Barbie?”
Daughter: *In her saddest face, nods head yes*
My Wife: “No she didn’t. Ask your son about it”
Me: “Son, why does your sister need a new Rapunzel Barbie?”
Son: *Smiles slyly*
My Wife: “I let her play on my iPhone while I was doing laundry, but when I came back, he had the phone. When I asked her why he had it, she answered that he promised to buy her a new Rapunzel Barbie set if she gave it up…”
Me: “Oh boy”

While my first reaction was to half be proud at his negotiation skills and hide a laugh, I quickly connected the dots and realized that I had created this monster with my recent bribery. I thought I was being clever by offering cheap toys in exchange for good behaviour, but missed the bigger picture issue.

The moral of this story is that KIDS NOTICE EVERYTHING! I will definitely think twice before I go to the bribery method again and I hope this story has helped newer parents in some way.

An Acceptable Moment To Swear In Front Of Your Mother…Sort Of

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My Momma raised me right. We were taught as children that swearing is wrong, especially in front of family. That said, I’m going to explain to you how, on a rare night out with my Mom, I managed to say to someone, “Sit the f*ck down and shut up!”

Due to someone else’s misfortune, I was fortunate enough to score a ticket to the Eagles concert at the Canadian Tire Centre here in Ottawa. My Mom had offered us both tickets but I thought it would be fun to spend some time together, so off we went. I’m going to stop the story early to let you know how incredible the concert was. Joe Walsh was the rock god he always has been and the harmonies that these guys put together are beyond rival. It was one of the best concerts I’ve ever been to and I’m grateful for the opportunity.

Now, onto the incident…

We were enjoying the first song of the night, when the two women sitting behind us took their seats. That’s when the high pitched, sounds like a cat dying, screams started. It was annoying, for sure, but it was a concert and their $175.00 tickets entitled them to some screaming, whether my mother agreed or not.

Then things got really fun.

The Mother/Daughter duo decided to stand up to dance, which is also acceptable by concert standards. That is, until the mother’s hand came crashing down on the top of my head. You know that smartie thing on the top of baseball caps? Yeah, that. Still, I kept my cool, counting the strikes in my head, secretly knowing there would be a third.

And then it happened!

After her third, double fisted trip from the beer trolley, Happy-Go Drunkie decided to dance with her beer in hand and spilled it all over me. I’m not talking a little droplet here either. I’m a man, and my experience at the Highland Games, dictates that I can handle a few drops of beer in my face from time to time. This was about a quarter bottle of light beer (not even the good stuff) dumped down my back. Having had enough, I immediately stood up and confronted her, to which she answered slurred, “That’s impossible, my Mom doesn’t even drink!” Stunned by her drunkeness, I told her to take it easy (get it, the Eagles), to which she replied that she paid good money and she would do what she wants.

This brings us full circle to me telling her to “Sit the f*ck down and shut up!”, among a couple other things, which prompted my Mother to reply, “Good for you, Honey”. They didn’t make a peep the rest of the show and I even got a “thanks” from a seatmate. And that, my friends, is one of the few acceptable moments to swear in front of your Mother.

Do you have a funny story of swearing in front of your parents? Share it in the comments below!

Fun Summertime Ideas For Dad!

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My latest appearance on the CTV Ottawa Morning Show was all about things for Dad to do with the kids this summer. While most things can be combined as a family activity, these are just a few of the things I do with the kids while Mommy does her thing.

* Build Forts, Spaceships, Lightsabers, etc… – Everything you need is available online, and it doesn’t matter if it ends up perfect, as long as you do it together. For some awesome craft ideas, you should also check out Mike Adamick’s book, ‘Dad’s Book of Awesome Projects‘.

* Go on Adventures Together – We go to the dollar store, buy some $1 foam swords and other hunting gear, then hit the forest and hunt for bears and dragons. (Note: If you see a real bear, RUN!)

* Set Up A PlasmaCar Race Track! – Back to the Dollar Store, you can get some really cool racing banners, along with some small orange cones and you can set up your very own PlasmaCar (or other riding toy) race track. It’s all fun and games until Daddy breaks the car…

* Splash Pads, Water Gun Battles or Water Parks – This is pretty self explanatory; Water = Awesome! We like to visit the splash pad down the street and bring our buckets to chase each other with. We’ve also been known to have some pretty epic street-wide water gun fights. This is one of my favourites!

I also polled a few other Dad Bloggers about their favourite summertime activities and here is what they had to say:

Chris Nichols from Rated4AndUp ~ “I took my 4 yr old son camping for the first time over the 4th of July holiday. Just me and him. It was a great time. We also go mini golfing and go cart riding just the two of us.”

Carter Gaddis from DadScribe ~ “Yard work with the 7-year-old for the first time. He picks up shrub trimmings and puts them into a trash bag. He discovered a beautiful, full spider web in our front yard one morning while we worked.”

Jeff Bogle from Out With The Kids ~ “My girls are I just had a baking morning on Thurs. played great kindie rock and made cinnamon swirl muffins with icing from scratch. Then ate some, of course!”

James Hudyma from Dads Round Table ~ “We live at Waskesiu Lake in Prince Albert National Park for the summer. I take the kids fishing and hiking as much as possible.”

Michael Moebes from The Muskrat ~ “We like to geocache. Today, we found ourselves in a graveyard looking for hidden treasures.”

Creed Anthony from The Captain’s Log ~ “We visited different parks, water parks, the zoo, jumped matchbox cars, colored, watched movies, made pancakes, got donuts, made our own sprinkler system (2 xs because the first one sucked), free events around the city, chased the ice cream truck, Disney, zoo, museum, chuck e cheese, movie theater and we still have 5 weeks left. And I went to my first dad meet up. This is the part of teaching I like the most.”

Lee Bodenmiller from Souvenirs of Fatherhood ~ “Skipping rocks. Camping in the backyard. Build a shelter in the woods. Wash the car. Water balloons. Build a birdhouse.”

A big thanks to all the guys for contributing their ideas. For those of you who are interested, here is the clip from my CTV Morning Show appearance, which also happens to be my son’s TV debut! Have a Great Summer!!

Share and Inspire With #GoodNewsMonday – 4th Edition

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It’s that time of the week once again and fresh off a vacation, I have a lot to be thankful for. My family took off to the Hamilton area this past week to spend time with family and to take in African Lion Safari, which the kids loved. We also spent time visiting different playgrounds and relaxing on the beach. All in all, it was a perfect vacation and that’s my Good News for this Monday morning.

How about you? What Good News do you have to share with everyone on this summery Monday morning? Leave your answer in the comments below and have a great week!

Interview With RBC Blue Water Grant Recipient ~ Ottawa Riverkeeper

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I’m proud to be working as an ambassador for the RBC Blue Water Project. RBC has made a 10-year global charitable commitment of $50 million to help ensure a swimmable, drinkable, fishable future for generations to come. On June 14th, RBC awarded grants to water initiatives all over the world, including one in my hometown of Ottawa! I was thrilled to be able to interview Meredith Brown from Ottawa Riverkeeper, about her organization and the impact the grant would have in our community.

CD: What is Ottawa Riverkeeper?

ORK: We’re a watchdog organization, working to make sure that the environmental laws and regulations that pertain to the Ottawa River are being enforced, and to make sure that we have strong protective regulations in the first place. Also, to ensure that the public understands what’s going into their river and what’s being done about it.

CD: Okay, what kind of things are going into the river?

ORK: Essentially, sewage from all the municipalities, in all various forms of treatment. Pulp mills and nuclear facilities on the river, who use a ton of water, pollute it and put it back in the river. There’s lots of run off from farmer’s fields. Things such as fertilizer, pesticides, manure. In terms of a water pollutant, that’s the major ones.

CD: What does the RBC Blue Water Grant mean to your organization?

ORK: First of all, it’s an honour because it’s a leadership grant too, so they’re giving them out to organizations who are making a difference in the water world. This particular grant is something I’m quite excited about because their emphasis in the next few years is on improving urban water quality, which is why I think Ottawa Riverkeeper was such a nice fit for them.

CD: Do you have a specific project that you want to use the grant money towards?

ORK: Absolutely. Ottawa Riverkeeper is working on an awareness building campaign in the National Capital Region and Gatineau to raise awareness about the amount of untreated sewage that’s going into the river. We’ll be creating a map of all the combined sewer outfalls, so you’ll be able to see where they are and on an annual basis we’ll tell you how much untreated sewage comes out of each pipe. We want people to understand the impacts of storm water and combined sewage outfalls, because we’re pouring all of this stuff into the same river that we get our drinking water from.

CD: What things can people do to help protect and preserve our water?

ORK: The one thing we are trying to remind people of, is that their drains are connected to the river. That said, everything that goes down your drain, eventually ends up in the river. Any cleaning products, personal care products, what you shave with, body lotion, fertilizer, road salts, all of that stuff ends up down the drain and a lot of the chemicals from those products are harmful in the aquatic environment. We definitely recommend looking at a more organic type of cleaning and hygiene products, to reduce the amount of chemicals going into the river.

Those are all things that you can do individually, but the other side of it is your civic ability to influence decisions as a voter. Thinking about who you vote for and knowing the environmental platforms, but more specifically, once you are in a constituency, using your voice as one vote can be really helpful.
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I hope you got as much out of that interview as I did. Clean water is a necessity and these are serious issues that are threatening our supply. I urge you to visit Ottawa Riverkeeper for more information on what they are up to and, more importantly, to see what you can do to help protect our fresh water.

I’d like to say a special, thank you, to Meredith Brown, for taking the time to talk with me. I’d also like to thank RBC, for allowing me to take part in this amazing campaign. You can read more about the Blue Water Project by visiting their website or their Facebook Page. Before you go, I hope you will take a minute to check out this great video, where RBC asks a group of kids how they would protect the water. Yes, it is incredibly cute.

Disclosure: I received compensation for my participation in this project.

Announcing The 6th Annual Gil Read Memorial Fastball Tournament

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For those of you who don’t know, I am the co-founder of a non-profit organization called, The Gil Read Memorial Foundation. Our goal is to provide financial support for children who can’t afford to participate in organized sport and I am extremely proud of the work we do. Gil Read was my father and dedicated a lot of his free time to coaching and developing children into amazing people. This charity was our way of continuing his legacy and paying tribute to him.

Every year we run a huge, high level fastball tournament in the city of Carp, Ontario and we are all set to announce that the 6th Annual Gil Read Memorial Tournament is scheduled and ready to go. The tournament will take place from July 26th to July 28th at the Carp Fairgrounds. We have maxed out at our 12 team limit for the first time and this promises to be the best tournament yet! A day pass is $5 and a weekend pass is $10 with kids under 12 free.

As far as fan entertainment goes, we have a lot lined up for you! There is a Beer Tent on location, sponsored by our friends at Rebel Tents. We also have Hamburgers, Hot Dogs, lots of Water and other snacks available throughout the weekend. We have lots of prizes available as well and all the wonderful volunteers are available and willing to help out in any way possible to make this a great experience for you and your family!

Please feel free to bring your kids out to the event as well, as the diamonds feature a Splash Pad and Park on site, along with plenty of open space for the kids to run around and play. Not to mention that they are the future of our sport and we love to see them out there enjoying themselves!

We are always looking for new volunteers and we are especially in need of Corporate Sponsorship and Prizing, as this is what helps the Foundation continue in providing for our local kids.

If you’re interested in helping out with sponsorship or volunteering, please feel free to email me at [email protected] or find me at my Twitter page @CanadianDadBlog and I’d be happy to talk to you! We hope to see you at the tournament!!!

Children Who Inspire ~ Interview With 10 Year Old Tyler

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I recently had the privilege of interviewing a young Ottawa boy by the name of Tyler, regarding his recent involvement in Free The Children & RBC’s, We Create Change program. One of Canada’s largest penny drives and coinciding with the penny going out of circulation, the We Create Change campaign is challenging Canadians to donate their pennies to an important cause: water.

Tyler is one of the many amazing children across Canada who has pledged to make a difference. He convinced a group of 10 of his hockey buddies to band together to begin their first Free The Children campaign. I asked Tyler (and his Mom) a few questions about his campaign and here is what he had to say:

CD: Why did you choose to start your own Free The Children campaign?

Tyler: Since I was little, I always liked doing charity work so it was kind of natural for me to want to be a part of this. I thought it would be fun to do with my friends and in our first meeting I showed them the child labour video and they wanted to be a part of it.

CD: How much money did you guys raise and what were some of the methods you used to raise money?

Tyler: We raised $1,028. We had an Iced Tea stand, we set up, as a group, at the Independent Grocer, we collected door to door and we used email to share our message.

CD: Do you know how the money you raised translated into providing clean water?

Tyler: Our money will provide clean water for 41 people, for life.

CD: (Question for Tyler’s Mom) You guys are obviously doing something right with your kids, so can you give some advice to other parents who want to help get their children involved in wanting to give back?

Tyler’s Mom: It’s something we’ve been doing since they were little and I’ve been looking for ways to get more involved. I saw Marc Kielburger speak at the Ottawa Catholic School Board and realized it was just about seeing what there is out there. We’ve gone to the retirement home and the kids helped out with craft time. The most important thing is to find whatever gets you excited and follow that. I also got a lot of ideas and inspiration from the videos on the Free The Children website and also from Marc and Craig Kielburger’s book, “The World Needs Your Kid”.

CD: Tyler, I want to ask you the same question but as it relates to kids. What advice can you give to kids who are nervous about starting their own campaign?

Tyler: Be confident. Try to set our clear goals. Get friends who want to help and put in as much time as you can in to it.

CD: What kind of goals and dreams do you have?

Tyler: I had a dream last week that I was in Africa, showing kids their new homes and that is something that I would really love to do when I’m older, or right now, haha.

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I want to thank Tyler and his family for giving me the time to talk to them about his amazing work, and I want to commend him on being such an inspiration for not just our youth, but to all of us. It was an absolute honour to talk with him and you can look forward to more amazing stories about youth who are making a difference in the world, as I continue this feature in the weeks and months to come. Before I go, here are a few more stats about the We Create Change campaign.

To mark the end of the school year, Free The Children and RBC celebrated the incredible fundraising effort of hundreds of thousands of youth and their schools through the “We Create Change“ penny drive, by announcing the final total, which outweighs approximately 64 elephants and more than five empty Boeing 747’s. Young people across the country raised 140 million pennies ($1.4 million), providing 56,000 people with clean water for life. All pennies collected were in support of Free The Children’s year-long Water Initiative to provide a permanent source of clean water to people in developing countries.

We Create Change

PercyVites – Invites That Delight And Excite!

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My kids think the internet is hilarious. From Gangnam Style to obscure Super Mario videos, it has just about everything they could ask for. The one thing they love more than anything else, however, is to see themselves in videos. That’s why I was stoked to take PercyVites for a test drive.

PercyVites is a cool new website that allows you to send out video invitations, thank you’s and also lets you create photo compilations of memorable occasions. The best part about it, is that you get to be a part of the action, by uploading your photos to be included in the videos with your child’s favourite character. Parents can also manage all the part details by tracking RSVP’s, communicating with the attendees and map your party for the guests. Check out this short video that explains what PercyVites are all about!

I made a video compilation of my daughter’s Rapunzel birthday party and love how it turned out! More importantly, she has now watched it about 3,000 times and keeps asking for more. In case you are looking for return on investment, the smile on her face is enough for me to know it is worth my while.

Percy Vites Julia Party

Here are a few more details about PercyVites:

* Your child’s photo can be embedded directly into a video with their favourite character. And new characters are being added all the time and will appeal to a broad range of ages and stages.
* Prices range from $0.69-$2.99 each depending on the individual character and product.
* Invitations can be used for any type of event.
* Thank yous can be used for any type of messaging, and they provide a fun and teachable moment about thanking people too.
* Photo compilations can be used for birthdays or as a fun way to share your family photos with friends and relatives, near or far!

That’s all for today! I give PercyVites two thumbs up and hope you’ll consider them for your next birthday party or children’s event! You can catch up with PercyVites on Facebook, Twitter and Google+ as well!

Disclosure: I was compensated in exchange for my honest opinion about PercyVites. Everything I wrote is 100% accurate and truthful.

The Trouble With French Boots

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I am not a big, boot person. I mean, I like boots for keeping my feet dry in the rain, or for trudging through the long Canadian winters, but that’s about where it ends for me. My son, however, has recently become infatuated with boots. Or, should I say, he has become infatuated with the word boots, in it’s French form.

Boots, In French = Bottes, which, to a 5 year old boy = Butts, which, of course = HILARIOUSNESS!

Unfortunately, the hilariousness does not stop there, because the word Butts is so funny that it can supplant almost any word in the English language. In fact, in some cases, it can replace the lyrics of an entire song. I give you Exhibit A, which is my son’s updated version of the classic, “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”.

Butts, Butts, Butts, Butts, Butts, Butts, TOOTS!
Butts, Butts, Butts, Butts, Butts, Butts, TOOTS!
Butts and Toots and Butts and Toots,
Toots and Butts and Butts and Toots.

There was more to it, butt you get the point. In closing, if you really want to teach your 5 year old how to speak proper French, you may want to avoid the boots for a while. Also, just as an advanced tip, you may want to avoid the French word for Seal, altogether, as that tends to open up a whole other bag of worms, or sealing seals, as it were.