If you want an entire day of intelligent entertainment for the whole family, head to the Rio Tinto Alcan Planetarium which moved next door to the Olympic Stadium. It’s a perfect activity if the weather is rainy or if it gets really hot in the summer, or any days in between.

The action is mostly in the 2 theaters and it’s quite the deal that your entrance fee covers all the shows. It’s important to look ahead online to figure out how to organize the times for the performances in English or French. You can then manage to get in about 5 shows in one day as most are 20-30 min . In between these, there are some table top games, interactive touch screens and wall displays. Visiting here is the closest you will ever get to rocks from Mars. We also got to see meteorites and learn where they landed.

In the the first theatre where we saw the exquisite Aurorae (Aurora Borealis or Northern Lights), we reclined in the soft comfy seats, It was amazing watching close ups of solar wind and plasma flowing gas on the sun.

The other theatre called Chaos was anything but as the kids got the opportunity to relax on beanbag chairs. The show Aboard the SSE-4801 was kid interactive as they were allowed to shout out answers to the questions of the animator. We learned new things: that Uranus rotates on its side and that there are 88 constellations but we can only see 44 at a time. The kids had fun being allowed to yell “To infinity and beyond”, found out where all the lost socks wind up as well about methane farts. Do you know how many moons Jupitor has? 69

Next up was Polaris which was more juvenile with cartoony Vladimir the Bear and James the Penguin teaching us how to be a scientist.

After lunch we got to see the newest show, Passport to the Universe, narrated by Tom Hanks. It was a well done and instructive documentary connecting us to our ancestors by showing us we are looking at the same sky today as they did (by simply erasing the light pollution). I was wowed by the knowledge that for each star we can see there exists 50,000,000 that we can’t see. We were taught that stars are born and that we humans are made of “stardust”. Carl Sagan stated, “We’re made of star stuff,” because the carbon, nitrogen and oxygen atoms in our bodies, as well as atoms of all other heavy elements, were created in previous generations of stars over 4.5 billion years ago.”

It was very timely that the video let us peek into a black hole in the same month that the Event Horizon Telescope gave us photos of one. In fact, in the really out-in-space swoopy-designed cafe where you can grab a lunch, there is one section with a wall of changing screen shots of moments in space. Got to see Canadian astronaut David Saint Jacques who is up in Space Station right now – and-  the new photos of a black hole.

Our last video, Secrets of Gravity, used a cartoon kid to try to explain Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity. We discovered that a second isn’t always a second and time moves faster on the moon. Einstein famously said, “”Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution.”

The shows at the Rio Tinto Planetarium lets everyone use their imagination. The 8-year-old who accompanied us was excited throughout the day. She said about the planetarium, “You can learn a lot more than you know”.  And we all sure did.

Location: 4801 Pierre de Coubertin Ave
Hours: Sun & Mon 9-6, Tues-Fri 10″30-9, Sat 9-9
Tel: 514-868-3000
www.espacepourlavie.ca/en/planetarium

Two-time Governor General’s Award-winning playwright Morris Panych takes simple ideas for plays, he says, “you take small events and spin them into larger issues”.  I see this play, The Shoplifters in that light, a bit like the TV series Seinfeld – they start out as Nothings – or the mundane aspects of life;  Panych takes something about nothing and makes it into something. This humorous yet poignant play as he notes, is about a “little grocery store episode”.

Along with Alma and Phyllis, we are thrown into the (fabulously imagined) back storage room of a grocery store as they are being questioned about a couple of steaks.  Though this seems a simple story about a woman and her preponderance for “five finger discounts”,  she sees it  more as her giving the “middle finger” discount –  taking from corporate profit and dispersing it in her neighborhood to those in need.

The Shoplifters was shoplifted from Morris Panych’s background; The two steaks go back to his Calgary boyhood. Panych admits that as a teenager “I also stole steaks. Lots of them. For fondues.” He also said, “If we wanted any joy in life, we had to steal it.”  Adding, “we were taking from The Man.” Aha, the theme of the play.

Another theme (and perhaps inspiration for Alma) came from a story he heard about a “an old woman in Florida who was arrested for shoplifting and didn’t want ‘rehabilitation’ because she actually enjoyed stealing”.

As usual Ellen David who, as Alma, lights up the stage with her spot on wise-cracking performance and subtle acting. She thrashes out to rookie security agent Dom in his ill-fitting new cop suit, “so those are training pants”. It’s not all laughs though as she bemoans to the guards, “We play the bad guys and you play the good guys”.

A wonderful pied-a-deux battle of wits with Alma is man-handled by Michel Perron as Otto, the world weary, seen-it-all, being-pushed-out-of his job, older security guard. Otto is aware of Alma’s sticky fingers and is fascinated by her “breezy confidence, daring-me-to-catch you” ways.

Alma is mentoring Phyllis, (played by Marie-Eve Perron) her twitchy nervous young accomplice, in the fine art of shoplifting, Phyllis unfortunately dropped a steak from under her skirt. Frustrated Phyllis, yells, “That’s what the double-sided tape is for!”  She’s caught by the brand-new (too) high strung security hire Dom (played by Laurent Pitre) and his crime fighting evangelist ways. He’s the black and white agent to Otto’s more learned greys.

The set developed by Ken MacDonald is brilliant. The Centaur stage became a giant Lego construction of perhaps 2000 supermarket boxes piled floor to ceiling.

Lucky for us, the playwright changed the play to make it sound like it’s actually happening in Montreal by hiring two francophone actors and sprinkling French throughout.

Panych wrote this  shout out about capitalist culture and how it affects the haves and the have-nots. He wants us to learn about ,  “people and how they rise or fall to the challenge of just living.”  But then adds, “Sometimes we secretly applaud the evening of the score.”

Location: Centaur Theatre, 453  St. Francois Xavier
Phone: 514-288-3161 or 514-288-3161
Dates: til Apr 7
www.centaurtheatre.com

You can find the very best that Canada has to offer within Parks Canada parks and sites. When you visit, you learn the stories of where we came from and who we are, including the history, cultures and contributions of Indigenous Peoples.

The Minister of Environment and Climate Change and Minister responsible for Parks Canada, Catherine McKenna, along with Parks Canada’s Honourary Guide for Families, Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, announced that admission for youth 17 and under is free for all national parks, historic sites and marine conservation areas.

By making admission free for youth under 17, Canada is celebrating families and the importance of our protected areas. They are hoping that by connecting with nature, youth will gain a better understanding of our urgent need to not only protect it, but maintain it for future generations.

While youth will enjoy free admission beginning in 2018, Parks Canada is returning to fee-based admission for adults and seniors to national parks, historic sites and marine conservation areas, including lockage at historic canals. The 2018 Parks Canada Discovery Pass is now on sale and is a great value, providing access to these national treasures all year long.

The Parks Canada Discovery Pass is the ideal way to discover nature and connect with Canada’s history. For information on purchasing the 2018 Parks Canada Discovery Pass, please visit the Parks Canada website: http://www.pc.gc.ca

What can you say about a museum when the 7-year-old you are with stops in her tracks at the entrance because she’s in awe of what she sees? Imagine you are walking thru a video screen of Canadian nature: the aurora borealis, crystals, wheat fields or fire. The museum has been completely re-done, with only two of the all-time favorite exhibits remaining – the crazy kitchen (it’s still so fun watching the video monitor of “drunken” people trying to walk through) and those majestic steam locomotives.

Visiting with a group of kids with an age range of 4-13, all of them were entranced for over 5 hours. Even though it was a busy weekend day, it rarely felt crowded, since there were so many corners to get lost in. One you may not find was a favorite – go past those hulking locomotives and around a corner to look for the soundproof Sounds of Silence room. Nearby, behind those trains, are movable touchable displays called Sound by Design.

The 13-year old liked the wearable technology and how it made the great outdoors easier to enjoy. He got to test a hockey helmets ( you get to whack one with a hammer) and perused the development of beekeepers’ gloves.

At Into the Great Outdoors, I was entranced by the land-water car owned by a family who needed it to drive/float to their chalet on an island.  Though the Zoom room was noted for ages 0-8, all of the kids had fun there – especially on the climbing wall with its secret smells and in the wind tunnel. The 4 year-old was in there for hours. We even saw couples on dates walking around in there with silly grins on.

Medical sensations was scary to one of the young girls, but they enjoyed manipulating facial features and guessing what the colorful patterns were which were captured by microscopes and telescopes.

The Exploratek room is near the cafe. Here the kids can gets creative and build buildings, create tube tracks or work with a robot.  The museum helps you keep costs down by making sure there are tables and cozy couches if you want to bring your own lunch, We’d suggest you do this, sinces the line for hot food in the cafe  moved slowly. There was a good selection of healthy foods.

A few times a day there are live demonstrations – we got lucky and saw one on pyrotechnics, including a rocket firing. Three-Two-One blast-off to this interactive fun learning museum.

Location: Canada Science and Technology Museum, 1867 St Laurent Blvd, Ottawa, ON K1G 5A3
Telephone: 613-991-3044 or toll-free: 1-866-442-4416
Hours: May 1 to September 1: Open daily; September 2 to April 30: Closed Mondays
https://ingeniumcanada.org

Dash 65 is having a Blow Out Summer sale for four days,  this week and next week. You will be able to score designer handbags by Hobo, Save My Bag (made in Italy), Elliot Luca, Najha (made in Portugal) as well as wallets for men and women.

Also check out the sports t-shirts and designer shoes for both men and woman by:
Paradigma (made in Portugal),
Goldmud – shoes, booties, sneakers (made in Portugal),
Eeight – sandals for woman
Gauva (made in Portugal) –  ladies heels, sandals
Stau – cool line of designer sneakers from Italy for women
Brother X Frere – (made in Italy) for men in sandals,  shoes and booties

This would be a good time to stock up on giftware as it’s never too early to pile up gifts for the holidays. Choose from a wide assortment of umbrellas (compact, stick, golf), leather goods (passport holder, cosmetic cases), drink ware and thermoses.

There’s even a gift for you with your purchase (while quantities last). You can pay with cash, Visa or MasterCard and there’s free parking too.
8170 Chemin Montview, suite 101
Mont-Royal
H4P 2L7

There’s a Gift with purchase (while quantities last), so hurry in.

Check out their facebook and Instagram for pix. There’s free parking, and Visa, Mastercard and cash are all accepted. All sales are final.

Location: 8170 Ch. Montview, suite 101, Mont-Royal H4P 2L7
Dates: Thurs Aug 3, Sat Aug 5th, Thurs Aug 10th, Sat Aug 12th, 2017
Times: Thurs 9am – 8pm,  Sat 10am -2pm
Tel: 514-600-3436
info@dash65.com
www.dash65.com

Celebrate Canada’s 150th birthday by visiting the our home and native land. Parks Canada is offering all Canadians a FREE 2017 Discovery Pass so there will be no cost to visit any of their sites. You have the option of visiting 148 locations everywhere in the country. You probably think  they’re all about national parks but Parks Canada is way more than that – their mandate includes marine conservation areas and national historic sites.

You could visit the wreck of the HMS Erebus and HMS Terror in Nunavut, view Canada’s highest peak, Mount Logan in Kluane National park, ice fields in Jasper, our country’s birthplace within the fortifications of Quebec, Alexander Graham Bell’s inventions,  walk amongst the flower pot rocks on the ocean floor in the Bay of Fundy, Haida Heritage sites, or even Anne of Green Gables‘ writer, Lucy Maude Montgomery’s house.

Here’s a challenge: See how many of their iconic red Adironack chairs you can find and Instagram. If you want to drool – and – plan ahead, get copies of the National Geographic books Guide to the National Parks of Canada and Guide to the National Historic Sites of Canada.

Yes, you can camp, but you can also reserve a yurt, a goutte d’Ô which resembles a water droplet, a micro cube, large modern houses called oTENTiks or be one of the first to sleep in a hanging Cocoon in Cape Breton.

www.parkscanada.gc.ca
Tel: 888-773-8888

Whether you’re in the Montreal or Ottawa area, I bet you didn’t know that you are only 1 1/2 hours away from an exciting safari adventure. Parc Omega is the perfect day outing for kids (and folks) of all ages. It’s an 800 hectare park where the animals roam free and you are “caged” in your car. It’s such an easy drive to be able to come face to face with Canadian wildlife: reindeer, elk, arctic wolf and fox, bison, musk ox, turkey, boar, coyote, black bear, and many kinds of deer.

Along a 12-kilometere safari nature route which takes you past lakes, meadows, small valleys, forests and rocky hills, you meander at your own pace. You can pick up bag of carrots at the visitor center (or bring your own), and as you slowly make your way through, you are allowed to open the windows to feed the wildlife. Kids are thrilled that they do not have to be in their car seats here and can flit from side to side of the vehicle to say hello to the animals.

You tune your radio to a station which fills you in on all sorts of information about the species you will be seeing.

• We learned which males are good daddies and stay around to raise the youngsters and which ones only show up for mating season.
• I never knew that the musk oxen’s heads are strong as hammers and they butt and knock everything down. Their quarters are specially built to withstand their strength.
•  You pass by low slung “condos” for boars designed to keep the big predators out.
• Coming here in winter gives you the opportunity to see how the arctic fox blends into the snowscape.

About 2/3 through, there’s a place to stop,  get out to stretch legs and visit some wooden buildings for bathrooms, gifts, food and hot cocoa. Friendly deer are in the parking area to get a snack too – those carrots – buy lots.

This is one experience that all Canadian families should take advantage of. It’s not only educational and fun, but will bring lasting memories for the whole family.

Location: Parc Omega is a safari park in Notre-Dame-de-Bonsecours, Quebec, Canada
Address: 399 Route 323 North, Montebello, QC J0V 1L0 Click for map 

Phone: (819) 423-5487
www.parcomega.ca

If this is the moment you are thinking of getting away from the cold, thinking of traveling, or are planning something for later on, there are some interesting items that can make the trip more pleasurable – Jetsetter has all the gadgets you may need and specialty travel clothing.

There are clever things you will not be able to find elsewhere. I just was over there to buy a strap which hooks my carry-on bag to my bigger one, so I only need one hand for the luggage and it allows me one hand free.

You can secure your luggage in your hotel room, on the train, plane terminal or anywhere you need it while you travel with a TSA approved cable lock. There’s 48 inches of PVC covered steel cable to keep your gear safe and the combination padlock is easy to reset. The 4mm steel shackle is ideal for locking zippers too.

Below are some of my new finds: dry shaving cream, laundry soap, etc. so you don’t have the “liquids” problem in your carry on and they save weight. A waterless disposable razor blade (with shaving gel attached) so you can get that last minute shave anywhere. A solar charger for your phones, etc which happens to be a light, a memory foam neck pillow with air vents to keep cool and throw away toothbrush/toothpicks.

Besides a huge selection of luggage, including rolling backpacks and duffels (Briggs & Riley, Lipault, Eagle Creek), there are various kinds of money stashers, toiletry and packing organizers,  travel pillows and blankets, carry-on liquid sets and individual teeny bottles, compact appliances, electricity converters and mini electronics (mini mice, ear bud splitters).

Location: 66 Laurier ouest
corner: Clark
Tel: 514-271-5058
Hours: Regular plus Sun 12-5
www.jet-setter.ca

Now that the holidays are over and we have more time to play, why not take a quick getaway with your family to Almonte, ON which is only about 2-1/2 hours from Montreal. The very first reason is that Ed Atwell of Healthy Food Technologies (hft) has figured out how to make low-fat donuts that are scrumptious. He “tricks” the donuts by frying them (in zero trans fat oil) for 1/2 the time and then baking them at the same temperature. Watch the video to see him explain the process he invented.

Now take a walk around the corner and pick up your to-go-with coffee at fair trade high quality Equator Coffee Roasters. They roast the beans right there, having bought them from small-scale farming communities and paid the farmers well. Do not  miss the Oh-so-Canadian maple-flavored latte. It’s worth driving there just for that! Kids can enjoy the hot chocolate.

Next you can pick up snacks for the car or yummies to take home at Dandelion Foods co-op before a 45 min. drive to Wheelers Pancake House and Maple Sugar Camp. D andelion Foods co-op sells whole, local and organic foods and some for specialty diets. Here you can buy the famous Hummingbird chocolate bars favored by Prime Minister Trudeau. Note the PB & Joy (with peanut butter) and the spicy Mayan.  Please bring back the Empire Cheese caramelized onion cheddar cheese for me.

For lunch and fun, at Wheelers Pancake House you can visit the Maple Museum and the Chainsaw & Logging museum and the kids can have fun in the playground. Handy men and women will be mesmerized by Mark Wheeler’s dad Vernon’s collection of hundreds of chainsaws. Everyone will enjoy his “largest collection of pure maple syrup artifacts” which help explain the history of the maple sugar industry. From First Nations wooden spigots to the plastic lines of today, syrup pour-ers, molds, pails, and everything else related to this sweet topic, it’s all here at this 38-year family business. Don’t forget to leave room for the freshly made pancakes and delicious syrup right from their trees.

For the grand finale, we visited Keith and Elizabeth Adam’s alpacas and llamas at their  Serendipity Farm. For retirement they decided to raise alpacas for the fun of it. The couple exudes their enjoyment of spending their golden years with these elegant, fluffy friends. They’ll chatter about the little quirks of each of the animals as well as the work associated with raising them.

Alpacas produce fiber that is as fine as cashmere, soft, silky and much warmer than sheep’s wool, while also wicking moisture away from the body.
In their little shop you can buy scarves, gloves, purses, as well as fiber felted sheets, alpaca and fiber rovings and handspun yarn.

Leave some time too for the local shops which wind their way along the downtown streets. Yes there’s plenty to do in Lanark County for a low-key interesting getaway weekend. We are not sure how this area attracted so many hippie/free trade/entrepreneurial types who seem to care for the planet. You can feel virtuous spending time and money in this town.

Equator Coffee Roasters, 451-A Ottawa St, Almonte, ON K0A 1A0, Tel: 613-256-5960
www.equator.ca

Dandelion Foods, 541 Ottawa St, Almonte, ON K0A 1A0,  Tel: 1-613-256-4545
www.dandelionfoods.ca

Healthy Food Technologies, 25 Industrial Rd., Almonte ON  Tel: 613-256-9900
(HFT) https://www.facebook.com/HFTinc

Wheelers Pancake House and Maple Sugar Camp, 1001 Highland Line, McDonalds Corners(Lanark Highlands), ON K0G 1M0 Tel: 613-278-2090
www.wheelersmaple.com

Serendipity Farm Alpacas & Llamas,  929 South Lavant Rd, Lanark, ON K0G1K0  Tel: 613-259-3304 or 613-222-6303
www.serendipityalpacas.ca

www.lanarkcounty.ca

Orlando, Fl Exit 260 to Route 4 : Thinking about taking the family to Florida for vacation but  you’re discouraged with the high exchange rates? Why not consider the newly re-imaged Sonesta ES Suites in Orlando,  which is located in the heart of Orlando‘s International Drive resort area and across from the Orlando Eye.

Now the piece de resistance: Take advantage of a special Visit Orlando Canadian resident offer where you save 22% on 2-bedroom / 2- bathroom suites. Whether you’re there for a few days or twenty, you’ll find convenience with their newly renovated and redesigned oversized two-bedroom suites, that sleep up to 6 or 8 people, with all of the comforts of home. This special is designed to allow Canadian residents the opportunity to purchase the suites in Canadian dollars at par (or close to par).

Plus, you’ll enjoy delightful extras like convenient work stations and fully equipped kitchens. On-site laundry facilities are available, and complimentary breakfast, parking, and wi-fi are offered to all  guests.

This promotion only runs until April 30, 2017 book your reservations now!

The promotion can be booked by visiting their website at sonesta.com/orlando and using promo code VOR,  Or using the link below which  features the special offer: sonesta.com/us/florida/orlando/sonesta-es-suites-orlando/canadianspecial 

Location: Sonesta ES Suites Orlando, 8480 International Drive, Orlando, FL 32819
Tel: 407-352-2400
sonesta.com/orlando