HRM Parent Blog

This has been the most enjoyable winter I can remember since my son was born.

We fully embraced winter sports this year, he both learned to skate on the oval and learned to ski on our NS hills. I've always been a fan of skiing and think that it's a great winter family sport. Many a spring break in my family was spent on a mountain or hill and I learned first-hand this winter that the more activities you can do out in the snow the more you don't want it to ever go away! I also learned that a child that skis all day sleeps like a log all night.

 I had no idea how my son would like skiing and I didn't want to push the envelope if he wasn't interested. So we headed out to Martock one weekend to try it out. They have a great package for little beginners, $75.00 gets you a lift ticket for the day, a one-hour private lesson and full rental (helmet included). I highly recommend Jimmy as an instructor, he was phenomenal. The patience of a saint, great with kids, and he intuitively knew when to plop down in the snow for a bit of a break. After a one-hour lesson O was sold and we haven't looked back.

We've done a few more private lessons, the rest of the time we just wing it on our own. We've tried both Martock and Wentworth and I can honestly say that we are very lucky in HRM to have pretty easy access (by car) to both.

Martock is a good place to start, simply because it's the closest at about 50-60 minutes from downtown. There's a nice bunny hill with a rope tow, it's strong so beginners definitely need help with it. There are lots of great runs on the rest of the hill but the easiest skiing is from half way down the hill so you need to get off the t-bar half way up. The chairlift will only take you to the top where your only choices are intermediate runs. 

Wentworth is a great place, a much bigger hill overall with a vertical of 815! They have a brand new magic carpet on the bunny hill which is really easy for a 4-year-old to get on and off on their own. But it is a longer drive, about 1.5 hours from downtown. Their beginner package is $47.00 for a full lift ticket and rental (helmets also included here) and a one-hour private lesson is $55.00. If you choose to teach your children yourself it's just $15.00 each for a magic carpet pass for the day (same price for both adult & kids). One of the best things about Wentworth is that there are really easy runs right from the top of the chairlift. Chickadee is a gentle, fun ride for a new skier and will take you about a half hour to get down. And a word to the wise, once they try the chairlift they ALWAYS want to take the chairlift. Anyone at Wentworth hearing cries of "Wooowee look out below" from a small child on the chairlift, ummm, that wasn't us!

If skiing is something your family has been thinking of trying, this might be a good time to do so! The weather is warmer and there's still lots of snow on the hills. So head out and carve it up!

Just because the Canada Games are over and our vacations are a thing of the past, that doesn't mean you can't still have a lot of fun this weekend.

Only in HRM could you visit a world famous dinosaur, see Peter Wolf, sample food cooked on an open hearth and attend a free baby shower all on the same weekend!!  Check out our events calendar for more details on all these great events.  

Not up for staying inside?  Why not take a trip to Martock or Wentworth for a ski or grab the snow shoes and go for a trek around your nearest park or golf course.  Not to mention that our beloved Oval is open with public skating scheduled throughout the weekend.

Whatever you and the kids choose to do this weekend - hope it's safe and happy! 

by guest blogger Wendy McCallum  

Hello HRM Parents! I am very excited to introduce myself to all of you who love this site as much as I do!  My name is Wendy McCallum, and I am a local nutritional & wellness consultant, founder of Simple Balance Consulting, and mother of two wonderful HRM kids.  This is the first of many posts I will be contributing over the coming months to the HRM Parent blog.  I look forward to sharing tips, tricks and recipes with you to help you manage your families’ food, wellness, and overall balance!

Given that many schools are out, I thought I’d share some quick & healthy portable snacks to have on hand when packing for day trips or travel with kids over the vacation period.

Are you planning on spending some time at the Oval or Canada Games Centre over the break?  Or maybe you have a long flight to a sunny destination ahead of you?  

The best family snacks combine a protein, healthy fat and a complex carbohydrate.  This combination will provide longer-lasting energy and eliminate the sugar highs and lows of a refined, processed treat (We’ve all witnessed the nasty aftermath of that cycle!).  The complex carbohydrates (fruits, veggies and whole grains) provide fibre and sugars which require work from your body to be accessed.  The result is slower, more regular release of sugar into the blood and a longer source of energy.  The healthy proteins & fats (nut butters, legumes, low-fat dairy, lean meats, and healthy oils) take longer to digest and keep you feeling fuller longer.  

Here are a few easy snack ideas: 

• nut (or seed) butter and honey sandwiches on whole grain bread or crackers
• sliced fruit with yoghurt or nut butter for dipping
• 1 oz cheese with fruit or whole grain crackers
• cubed cooked chicken in a whole grain pita with veggies and tzatziki or hummus
• hummus and cut-up veggies
• nuts/seeds with dried fruit (raisins, apricots, prunes, etc.)
• hard-boiled egg with veggie sticks and bean dip
• yoghurt with fruit, sprinkled with flax and wheat germ
• homemade protein energy bars
• simple fruit & veggie smoothies (milk or nut milk, frozen berries, banana, and a handful of raw spinach - they won’t taste it, I promise!)

Wendy McCallum, LLB, RHN, is passionate about providing busy parents with the tools & support they need to feed their families wholesome food, so everyone can play, learn, and feel better!  She is a mother of two terrific HRM kids, ages 6 & 7.  For information and recipe ideas, visit her 

I was one of about 30 lucky local blogging-type people invited by the Downtown Halifax Business Commission to participate in their new Big Day Downtown promotion. A simple idea - give $100 each to a bunch of bloggers, set them free on downtown to spend as they like, and ask them to blog about their experiences. A lovely idea. And $100 for me to spend! Yay!

I wasn't sure quite how to spend it at first - a problem of too many ideas, not too little. I was quite tempted to spend it on a night out with friends - mommy friends unite! Then I thought of a romantic evening out with my husband - not too many of those coming our way after baby arrives in a few months, after all. Or perhaps I should stock up on Christmas presents? I already shop at DeSerres and the Discovery Shop on Barrington for a fair amount for presents for kids. Maybe I should explore downtown for other kid-friendly Christmas presents? Or take an afternoon by myself and spend the $100 on me me me?! Trust me, it was tempting. *Very* tempting. In the end, I opted for a family day with Richard and Alex. Yes, I really do deserve my good mom medal now, don't you think?

The afternoon started with us getting off the bus downtown and Alex immediately announcing he had to use the bathroom. Ah, the joys of kids. So I sent Richard and Alex off to Scotia Square for their handy bathroom facilities while I took my time to browse in Biscuit. It's definitely one of my favourite stores downtown - lots of fun browsing through all the unique items! I almost bought Alex a collection of stick-on moustaches, but decided to hold off buying anything at that point. (I think I need to go back and get them - they'd be a great stocking stuffer!) After bathroom break, we headed to Strange Adventures for Alex to get a comic book. He picked out a Spiderman comic - a real treasure, from his perspective. Next on our agenda was a quick trip to the Discovery Shop to search for Lego, but sadly they didn't have any in stock. (I say 'sadly' but I don't actually mean it - I think Alex has enough Lego at the moment and the next purchase would make a good Christmas gift, so it suited me just fine that we couldn't find any. I mean, when did this day turn into a 'buy Alex anything he wants downtown' day? Jeez. Whoops. Did I just lose my good mom medal?!)

We headed down to the waterfront to find Maps and Ducks, which seems to be called Maps & More now (or did I just make up their old name?), and they'd also moved to Summit Place - a bit confusing for a moment, but we found it. We splurged on a big 40"x57" laminated world map, which came to a bit more than $40. I love it. I've been wanting a big map for ages, and I'm justifying it by calling it part of Alex's homeschool education, heh. That's geography sorted for the year then, right?

Next up, time to cool off with an ice-cream from Cows. Technically Alex and I had sorbet - he's allergic to dairy, so finding a non-dairy cold treat for him when out and about always makes for a happy boy. The line-up was long, but it moved pretty quickly, and it was definitely worth the wait.

To spend what was left of the $100 we decided to go crazy and take a ride on Theodore Tugboat. It's not cheap, that's for sure, but at least we had our handy ABC Family Card to get 25% off a family pass - yay! (Hey, I like to get deals even when it's not my own money I'm spending!) Theodore took us on a nice tour of the harbour and it was an enjoyable way to spend an hour. I do hope the tour guide gets paid well - there was only one child other than Alex but still she went all out acting as if the boat was filled with kids, instead of mildly amused adults. I suspect we were a bit of a tough crowd.

After Theodore we headed to the pirate playground outside the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic for some free downtown family fun. Alex played with a few other kids while Richard and I sat back and relaxed. I had heard months ago that this playground was going to be replaced but so far it's still there and the kids still love it. Works for me!

All in all, a great family day downtown. Thanks to the Downtown Halifax Business Commission for the opportunity! If you'd like your own Big Day Downtown, follow Downtown Halifax on Twitter and Facebook to find out how you can win one. Good luck!