Since making the decision to move back home to Canada {and Vancouver in particular}, Miss G has talked regularly about how exciting it will be to be able to visit the Vancouver Aquarium again. We were members before leaving for our second stint in Kuwait and visited regularly when she was wee, so it didn’t surprise me when she requested a trip to the aquarium in celebration of her fifth birthday.
When I recently learned about Over the Loom (thank you, Little Miss Mama!), it was love at first sight. The online boutique is stocked full of gorgeous {and affordable!} children’s clothes that have the perfect amount of vintage charm, and to be honest, that was enough for me. What I didn’t know at the time though, is that Over the Loom is a Vancouver-based shop run by a local mama of two little girls. Her dream has always been to open a children’s clothing shop, and with a lot of hard work and an eye for hand-selecting gorgeous pieces, she’s making her dream a reality. Learning that made me fall in love with the shop all over again… I love supporting local businesses, and when they’re run by hardworking goal-oriented mamas? Well that’s even more amazing!
Knowing there was absolutely no way I couldn’t support Over the Loom, I settled in on the couch, cup of tea in hand, and began to narrow down my favourites pieces. Hah – narrowing them down was a near impossibility! After reviewing and whittling my selections several times, I think I was left with 9 or 10 very favourite pieces. Oy. After a couple days’ thought and the help of both Brad and Grae, I managed to narrow it down to just my very favourite top 5 pieces. Here they are…
Today we spent another lovely day at our Okanagan favourite, Davison Orchards. If you know me well, you know that my love of Davison’s has been around since I moved to the Okanagan when I was 11 years old. It was a place I loved visiting as a kid, a place I took the kids I babysat and nannied during high school and university, and it’s now a place I love bringing my own daughter. Delicious produce, beautiful views, and endless family-fun aside, I love Davison Orchards because it’s constantly growing and improving while staying true to it’s family-run farm roots – not an easy feat.
Grandma Sue and Rorie joined us today and despite our {very} regular visits, we tried two completely new-to-Gracen things this time around. First off, we jumped aboard the hourly tractor train ride and took a tour of the orchard while learning about its history and different fruits and veggies that are grown there. It’s been a few years since I last took the tour, and I have to say that I love hearing how passionate Grandpa Davison is about his orchard, even after all of these years. While the sitting quietly during the chatting part wasn’t Grae’s favourite part, she did love the ride and hearing about each of the plants/trees as we passed by.
Afterwards, while playing in the Crazy Cow Kid’s Corral, Gracen got to experience her first ever duck race after Grandma Sue gave her a toonie to buy a little rubber duckie. She’d plunk him into the tube, start pumping water, and as soon as he started moving, race to the end of the track to retrieve him. Such fun!
After a good long play, a visit to the animals, and some lunch at Auntie May’s Deep Dish Cafe, we picked up a big jug of Davison’s famous apple juice and headed home with our happy and tired girl. Another great day at Davison Orchards!
There is absolutely no doubt we love our neighbourhood Rocky Mountain Flatbread Co. Whether it’s for Mother’s Day lunch, a lunch play date with friends, or an evening workshop that yields an awesome new change, Rocky Mountain Flatbread Co. has left us delighted again and again.
Being the uber generous, community-focused company that they are, RMFC invited Miss G and I, along with a pile of our blogger mama and munchkin friends, down to the restaurant for a toddler cooking class this morning. Now while this could be a challenge given our crunchy ‘food philosophy‘ as one of our lovely readers called it, the thing I love most about this place is that their philosophy on food totally jives with ours. Their ingredients are as simple and natural as possible, plus they’re most often organic and/or locally-sourced. Win!
Our morning began with Suzanne, the restaurant’s co-founder and owner, fearlessly leading our kiddos through the process of making their own mango guacamole. What I loved most is that Suz allowed the kids to do the prep work themselves… No watching an adult cook around here! She gave them the tools, modelled the process, and set them free to be the capable little chefs that they are.
Some avocado, mango, lime juice, and fresh herbs later, Gracen and her little friends had a delicious dip for their carrot sticks.
Next up was a simple and much better for you version of lemonade… A bunch of freshly-squeezed lemons, a little pour of pure maple syrup, and a lot of icy cold water and we had a drink that will be perfect for hot summer days.
After that, we made my personal favourite… Suz’s apple pie popcorn (you can see our slightly modified version here). Oh my goodness. I don’t think I’ve ever tasted a sweet popcorn nearly as delicious, and Gracen agreed all the way. When it was time to move onto making our pizzas, I basically had to pry her popcorn bowl out of her hands, promising to keep the crumbs for later.
Together, Portia (one of the sweet little ladies belonging to Jessica of North Shore Mama) and Gracen shared the duties of making a pizza from scratch. Grae covered her half in chicken, mango, and cheese, and ate all 3 pieces once out of the oven.
Despite the fact that Grae had had an early morning and had a couple of meltdowns during the workshop, it was such a wonderful morning. Because it’s hard for the combination of friends, cooking, and delicious food to equal anything but wonderful, really.
Once again, we owe Suzanne and Rocky Mountain Flatbread Co. a huge thank you for graciously having us all down to experiment and learn. If you’re in Vancouver, or Canmore for that matter, I highly recommend visiting a RMFC location for one of their weekly family pizza nights. I promise it will be a blast, just as I’m sure one of their onsite birthday parties would be.
Also, as a little treat, one of RMFC’s Facebook fans will be chosen at random and given 2 tickets to enjoy their family pizza night! Be sure to ‘like’ their page to qualify.
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For extra fun, like us on Facebook here and find us on Instagram here.
After our recent Shopping Sense tour, some of my {awesome} mama blogger friends and I planned on grabbing a cup of coffee, sitting down, and catching up for a bit. The thing was, it was already lunch time, we were all hungry, and the kiddos were tired of being restrained in shopping carts. They needed to play. So where can you go to catch up with friends, grab a fresh delicious meal, and let your kiddos play all at once? Luckily we were in my hood and I knew the perfect place. Rocky Mountain Flatbread Company.
I’ve written about Rocky Mountain Flatbread Company before, but if you haven’t heard their story before, it’s truly pretty amazing. First off, their entire menu is designed to use the freshest, most nutritious ingredients possible. The produce they use is local and organic, the meats are Canadian and free range or organic, and their seafood is all Ocean Wise approved. Their promise is that their food includes minimal salt and sugar and absolutely no GMOs, additives, or preservatives. (Talk about a place you can feel good about eating out at!) Of course, every single thing – from dough to sauces to breads and desserts – is made fresh on site. And it doesn’t stop there. Rocky Mountain Flatbread restaurants are all carbon neutral. Amazing, right? (Read about how they do it here.) In addition to all of this, they pride themselves on being family-friendly, which is huge when you’ve got munchkins in tow. The Main Street location, which we visited, has an awesome little kitchen area, complete with felt food and miniature aprons, that kept our wee ones happy during a nearly two hour visit. And as always, the food was delicious.
What I just learned about Rocky Mountain Flatbread Company, and didn’t know before is that they do all kinds of fun special events. Some, like their family nights, date nights, and pizza making nights happen on a weekly basis, and others, like the Green Cleaning Products workshop I’m attending next week, happen only on special dates. Please note that this camp takes place in Vancouver, BC on March, 21st and is open to children ages 7 through 12. The winners will be chosen at random on Friday, March 15th, 2013.
There are FOUR ways to enter. Please leave a SEPARATE comment for each:
–> Leave a comment telling us why your child would enjoy this camp
-> ‘Like’ Rocky Mountain Flatbread Company on Facebook, come back here and leave a comment saying you did so (or already did)
–> ‘Like’ Mama.Papa.Bubba. on Facebook, come back here and leave a separate comment saying you did so (or already did)
–> Follow us on Twitter come back here and leave a separate comment saying you did so (or already did)
–> Tweet about the giveaway and leave a separate comment saying you did so
(Win a FREE @flatbreadCo Kid’s Camp spot on Mama.Papa.Bubba.com! https://mamapapabubba.com/2013/03/08/a-local-favourite-rocky-mountain-flatbread-company/ #YVR #giveaway #springbreak)
Obviously the more times you enter, the better your chances of winning. ☺ Don’t forget to leave your email address! The winner will be announced on March 15th and contacted via email. Good luck!!
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For extra fun, like us on Facebook here and find us on Instagram here.
When I learned about Times Two, a beautifully illustrated, hardbound children’s book written and illustrated by two talented local mamas, I knew I had stumbled upon something special.
The story, which was originally a lullaby written by singer songwriter Sheree Plett, is about the beauty of limitless love. As you flip the pages, you’re taken on a journey of two raccoons, determined to show their love for one another across oceans, into the sky, and up to the moon and the back.
Accompanying the soft, lyrical words are gorgeous, dream-like watercolour illustrations done by artist Shari-Anne Vis. Gracen and I were lucky enough to meet Shari-Anne {and her little boy} a while back and not only is she absolutely lovely {and obviously remarkably talented}, but she’s a real mom, which I just adore.
Grae and I have enjoyed this book time and again over the course of the last few weeks. She loves the whimsical little animals throughout and the book is the perfect size to take along with us in the car.
And as an added bonus, included is a link so you can enjoy Sheree’s song and the book {and a little drum session if you’re Grae} at once.
I can’t say enough good things about this charming little book. Not only am I glad I found it for our own benefit, but I’m excited to have a new go-to newborn/baby shower gift to add to my list as I’m certain almost any new parent would fall in love with it immediately.
To purchase your own copy of Times Two, click here and to stay up to date with the Times Two crew, like their Facebook page here.
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For extra fun, like us on Facebook here and find us on Instagram here.