Category: family

Family Travel: A Week in Victoria, British Columbia

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Family Travel Victoria BC Canada Beacon Hill Park Ducks Petits Villains

Hanging with the ducks near the Botanical Gardens in Beacon Hill Park

A few years ago, once both my parents were retired, they decided to spend the cold Canadian winter, in the warmest part of Canada: the west coast of British Columbia. My parents got married in Victoria, a beautiful island off the coast, and lived there for a few years before migrating east for work. Victoria holds a nostalgic place in their hearts and so, when I had the opportunity to travel there to visit them during their winter getaway I jumped at the chance to see the beautiful island that forms the foundation of their story.

Family Travel Victoria BC Canada Dallas Road Beach Petits Villains

Muralled pathway along Dallas Road

Family Travel Victoria BC Canada Dallas Petits Villains

Balancing on drift wood at Dallas Road Beach

Hippie in Disguise Family Travel Beach Pebbles

Natural souvenirs from Dallas Road Beach

Family Travel Victoria BC Canada Petits Villains Dallas Beach

You can see Washington State across the water at Dallas Beach

Family Travel Victoria BC Canada Dallas Beach Petits Villains Drift Wood

Our little beach engineer is forever building forts with washed up lumber

Family Travel Victoria BC Canada Dallas Petits Villains

Lookout at Dallas Road Beach

Victoria is a small city, but the central one, on the large island of Vancouver. The island is known for its stunning landscape, which includes gorgeous ocean shores, protected dunes, a rainforest with trees hundreds of years old, and gorgeous mossy rocky mountains to hike. Victoria is also known for its arts and cultural offerings, a mixture of Indigenous arts that have had a place on the island for centuries, and the art of newcomers to the island. Victoria has a beautiful harbour, complete with seals and otters smiling at visitors (for real!), water taxis, and a seaplane airport, so you can watch planes landing on the water.

Family Travel Victoria BC Canada Totem Museum

Totem poles outside the BC Museum

Victoria has a historic downtown with lots of famous local shops, galleries and places to get food. However, Victoria also has well developed neighbourhoods (‘villages’) that have all the amenities, cafes, and so on, within walking distance, so they are very much worth exploring — we especially loved Cook Street Village. Victoria also has various local hiking spots for people of all fitness levels, including my mother who was just out of a total knee replacement. We enjoyed hikes at Mount Douglas and Mount Tolmie.

Family Travel Victoria BC Canada Mount Douglas Petits Villains

Looking out from the summit of Mount Douglas

We were happy to read in a local paper while we were in Victoria that approximately 40% of residents are vegetarian. Say what?! This helped explain the ample options around town for plant eaters like us, and the fact that no one rolled their eyes at us when we asked for almond milk or Daiya cheese. After a few days in Victoria, I was ready to conclude that I could move there and be quite happy for the rest of my life. It had the perfect mix of urban attractions and the beauty of natural spaces.

Family Travel Victoria BC Canada Living Wall

Living wall at Discovery Coffee. Hungry child has no time for a smile!

This is not a sponsored post, but I wanted to share some of our favourite places for families looking to travel to Victoria. I would say it’s a great place to go, there’s a lot to experience that costs no money at all (raise your hand if you are budget conscious — that’s us!), and the general vibe of the residents is very welcoming. There is so much to experience that one week there just wasn’t enough, so we will definitely make a trip back!

Here are our highlights: [ LOTS MORE PHOTOS at the END of this POST ]

Eating

  • Moka House Coffee – We visited this coffee house most mornings either before or after our walk to the beach. Food and drink were great, with lots of creative options. My favourite was the seasonal Lavender Latte, which was a naturally flavoured warm lavender drink. So good!
  • Hot and Cold Café – We dined here twice, the space is quite small, but worth the squeeze. The food suits all diets, so everyone can find something they love. I had the green curry and let me just say I’m still thinking about it! The coconut pudding desserts were out of this world delicious, even for my children who aren’t fans of coconut.
  • Hot House Pizza – On a lazy evening we ordered pizza from Hot House and we were pleasantly surprised. If you like traditional deep dish pizza, with a nice thick crust and no shyness when it comes to toppings this place is for you. While they had all the conventional pizza types, including dairy cheese and meats, you could adapt any of them to vegan diet, including delicious melty vegan cheese. No regrets!
  • Re-bar Modern Food – Found in the downtown area, Re-Bar is a fairly well-known local restaurant, that boasts its own cook book. The restaurant offers mostly vegetarian options, although it also serves fish. The number of desserts on the menu is pretty impressive, so if you have a sweet tooth you won’t be disappointed. We went twice and tried a few different dishes and *literally* everything was insanely good. My daughter had a salad that she became slightly obsessed with trying to replicate at home. It was that good – and it was salad. Go figure!
  • Pour – a coffee shop in downtown Victoria that has absurdly delicious coffee, as well as a variety of fresh baked goods and gelato. After my first visit, I woke up every day wanting one of their Americanos.
  • Discovery Coffee – This is a local, trendy coffee chain, that focuses on serving really good coffee. We enjoyed a nice drink at the downtown location, and loved that they had a living wall in the café.
  • La Taqueria – While exploring the downtown area, I noticed a long line of people down a sidewalk that led to a small taco restaurant. Long lines for food mean one thing: delicious food. We crossed the street and joined the line, which happened to move fairly quickly. We got tacos that were crazy delicious! The menu includes lots of  meat and 4 (!) vegetarian options. We went back a second time because it was THAT good.
  • The Very Good Butchers – inside a gentrified market space we found a vegan deli that makes plant based cheeses and meat analogues (sausages, chicken, etc), they also serve comfort food meals, such as mac’n’cheese, poutine, nachos, burgers, and salads (my daughter counts salad in the category of comfort foods!). Although often vegan versions of cheese and meat are underwhelming, tasteless or unhealthy, the foods at this deli are none of these.

Shops

  • Munro’s Books – Visit this space even if you don’t read! A gorgeous independent book shop that occupies and old bank building. There is an adorable little annex in the back for children’s books and things, with space to read and enjoy. A great collection of books, we loved this shop. It’s also a great place to find tasteful souvenirs and local finds.
  • Roger’s Chocolates – Local and famous chocolatier, this is a great spot to have a little treat or to get a special edible gift for someone. They offer samples copiously so be ready to taste a few.
  • Victoria Public Market – Mentioned above, this is a gentrified market complex, with various goods and souvenirs, local food shops, eateries, specialty shops and community spaces. Worth a visit, especially if you are hungry!

Attractions

  • Royal BC Museum – A deceptively vast museum space, which included a large collection of Indigenous art and artifacts, as well as a natural history collection of animals and flora. Worth a visit! It has a really nice gift shop, as to be expected with most galleries and museums.
  • Hiking – Mount Douglas and Mount Tolmie – we hiked both of these famous summits, and neither was particularly challenging, although I definitely recommend solid footwear for Mount Douglas, which I dangerously ascended in moccasins and a linen dress! While both can be hiked on foot, I’ve been told that you can also take a back road up in a car to a lookout spot.
  • Beaches – We visited the beach everyday, don’t think that cold temperatures should keep you away from the beach, there is so much to do and explore. My kids spent hours building forts with drift wood, I collected sea glass, and we all had a great time. Our favourites were  Willow Beach (note the photos at this link do not do the beauty of the beach justice) and Dallas Road Beach. Willow is sandy, while Dallas is mostly pebbles.
  • Beacon Hill Park – This is an expansive multi-use park, that includes a number of play structures, a botanical garden, a petting zoo for rescued animals, mild hiking, and more. We saw wild deer and peacocks multiple times while walking through the park. Definitely worth a visit and it is located on a main street so there are places to grab snacks if hunger or thirst strikes.
  • Inner Harbour – Victoria has a beautiful inner harbour that is located in the downtown, where you can see and ride water taxis, visit float houses (so cool!). You’ll probably also get to see sea planes landing on the water.  Across the street there are two of the most beautiful buildings: the BC parliament and the historic, luxury Empress hotel.
  • Empress Hotel – If you aren’t staying at this hotel it is still worth a visit! The gardens in front and around the back are gorgeous, and inside the hotel you’ll find beautiful interior decor, magnificent chandeliers, unique shops and welcoming staff. It’s fun to explore the fancy side of life!

Accommodations

  • We stayed in an AirBnB, however there are lots of beautiful hotels to stay at too.

Victoria is well worth a visit, and is definitely the kind of city that would satisfy most people. There’s good food, lots of outdoors activities and ways to stay fit while on vacation, lots of family friendly activities, lots of arts and culture to take in, and a good general vibe from the local residents. The city is very walkable and is full of natural beauty at every turn. We will definitely go back again!

NOTE: Seneca’s clothing was graciously gifted to us by one of our favourite Canadian clothing designers: Petits Vilains. Petits Villains designs handmade organic clothing, including basics like leggings and tops, as well more formal clothing, including adorable jumpers, blouses, overalls and more. Please check them out and support small makers and designers doing good things in a sustainable and ethical way!

Family Travel Victoria BC Canada Petits Villains Dallas Road

Hiking alongside Dallas Road

Family Travel Victoria BC Canada Petits Villains Red Wood

In the red woods at Beacon Hill Park

Family Travel Victoria BC Canada Petits Villains Red Wood

Watching 8 peacocks high within the branches of a giant red wood at Beacon Hill Park

Family Travel Victoria BC Canada Goat Sanctuary

Snuggling goats at the animal sanctuary at Beacon Hill Park. Ro wanted to name this newborn Pumpkin Spice.

Family Travel Victoria BC Canada Beacon Hill Park

Wandering around the vast Beacon Hill park landscape

Family Travel Victoria BC Canada Willow Beach Petits Villains

Fort engineering at Willow Beach

Family Travel Victoria BC Canada Willow Beach Petits Villains

Family Travel Victoria BC Canada Willow Beach Petits Villains

Bare foot at Willow Beach

Family Travel Victoria BC Canada Dallas Petits Villains

So much wind! I took about 50 photos and none of them showed both of their faces. They were laughing so hard at how hard it was to keep the hair away!

 

Our Cycling Lifestyle: Bikes and Bonding { with Brooklyn Bicycle Company }

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Danielle Chassin Matt Surch Hippie in Disguise Zara XOVELO Brooklyn Bicycle Co

All photos in this post were taken by Zara XOVELO

 

When I was pregnant for the first time and sharing the news with friends and family a common refrain emerged: “Congratulations! So, I guess this means you guys will have to get a car?” Matt and I have been riding bikes for a long time. We are bike people. We didn’t want to get a car – for a long list of reasons: health, low environmental impact, low cost, simplicity – and we hoped that we could continue our happy bicycle lifestyle with a child in tow. We lived in an urban setting and planned to do our best to remain car free. We got a bicycle trailer outfitted with an infant sling, later we upsized to a long bike for our growing girl, and later to a trail-a-bike. Then Ro got her own bike and was pedalling around with us wherever we needed to go: groceries, ballet rehearsal, birthday parties, family reunions.

When I was pregnant for the second time and sharing the surprise with friends and family a common refrain emerged: “That’s great news! Well, now you will really need to get a car!” If managing to work outside the home and do all of life’s tasks without a car and with a child seemed unduly difficult (did I mention 5 months of snowy Canadian winter?), doing this with two children appeared to be downright impossible to most, and at the very least borderline extreme. We decided to carry on with our bicycle lifestyle and see how we could get on.

Danielle Chassin with Sen Brooklyn Bicycle Company Zara XOVELO

As it turned out we managed just fine. In fact, we realized we much preferred not having a car. When Sen, our second, was around 2 and a half our good friends decided to move to Bali (lucky them!) and so they offered us their car at a very good price. While we hadn’t wished for a car, we figured this was a really generous offer and that maybe having a car would be useful. We knew ourselves well enough that we wouldn’t just start driving everywhere we used to walk or bike simply for the fact that we could drive. Indeed, I didn’t have a driving license and did not plan on getting one. So, essentially the car was there for us to do camping trips, where, in the past, we would have rented a car, and for Matt to offer rides to friends and family on special occasions. We also used it a few times in the city to pick up materials from the home store (lumber, etc) or large grocery trips in the winter months.

Danielle Chassin Hippie in Disguise Zara XOVELO Brooklyn Bicycle Co

The thing is riding in a car just wasn’t fun. It was often faster, sometimes more convenient, but just never felt right. When we drove places we didn’t have the same sorts of experiences, the same conversations, the same interactions with our surroundings, the same connection with nature. The same quality, that is. We were starting to feel disenchanted with the car. It was an ongoing expense from gas, to repairs, to insurance. It seemed to take more than it gave. Whereas our bikes, which we’d been riding for over a decade were a pleasure, they gave back in terms of health and fitness, enjoyment of our time and movement through space, and it bonded us as a family. I can’t say that car rides, perhaps with the exception of road trips, often bond people. Travelling by bike as a family whether for pleasure or purpose always seemed to energize us, whether physically from the exercise or mentally from the time spent in nature, even while on city streets and paths, with the wind hitting our faces, snow flakes landing on our cheeks, puddles splashing us, sun warming our backs, there was something invigorating about this daily family experience with the elements. As it turned out, our car bit the dust soon after our disenchantment began, and so we happily returned to our biking ways (which, full disclosure: involves the occasional use of a car from the car share co-op).

Danielle Chassin Hippie in Disguise Zara XOVELO Brooklyn Bicycle Co

Around this same time, I heard in a podcast (I wish I could remember which one) that researchers had found that the average time spent in conversation between children and their parents (who work outside the home) is 5 minutes a day. 5 MINUTES. I was shocked! It seemed that for a variety of reasons parents mostly just gave instructions to their children (“wake up” “finish your breakfast” “don’t forget your lunch”) and didn’t engage in conversation – there was no time left in the busy days for quality talk. I wondered whether this was true for us, it felt very far from our reality, but at the same time I wondered how close we were to this statistic — sometimes we are not the most objective observers when it comes to self-observation. So, I paid attention to our talk for the next few days. I quickly realized that our time on bikes – commuting to school and work, riding to ballet class, picking up food at the market – provided over an hour a day of quality conversation at a minimum. This seemingly small realization – even after knowing that cycling is great for our health and the health of the planet – solidified my commitment to live a bicycle lifestyle. The health of our family, our connection and bond, was being strengthened as a beautiful side effect of pedalling instead of driving. When it takes you longer to get somewhere and when you can choose a scenic or safe pathway, you are given the time and opportunity to connect more with the world you are passing through and with the people you are travelling with. Simply put, moving at a slower pace makes it easier to notice things as you move through space, it provides opportunity to talk about life, and to make memories together through the mundane.

Before we had children riding bikes was important to us, it felt like a gentle political statement, a commitment to our values: health, environment, adventure and community. We are happy that as parents we were able to stand by these values and raise our children in a way that did not require compromise. Indeed, when we did compromise life just wasn’t as fun or as healthy for any of us.

One evening this past spring Sen decided he wanted to ride a two-wheel bike. We hadn’t pushed this on him at all, in fact, we hadn’t offered him the opportunity to try. We were quite happy towing him along on our family trips around the city. The two-wheel bike we had for him hadn’t been ridden in about 5 years, the tires were deflated and the saddle was loose. Matt wasn’t home and I’m a little hopeless with tools so our kind neighbour pumped up the tires and we took the bike down to the pond at the end of our street so he could pedal on grass. I had bargained for an hour or so of falls and tears, but to my surprise after a few false starts he pedalled off and around the park. Ro and I could not believe our eyes! Since then he’s been keen to ride his bike everyday, including waking up early to ride his bike before school and to try to join Matt for his 6:30 am fitness ride.

A few days later as we all biked over to the grocery store, each on our own bike for the first time ever, Sen said: “Guys, now I’m really part of the family. I can bike all on my own!” Matt, Ro and I looked at him and at each other and felt our hearts swell. We were a family, and our bonds were tight, thanks in no small part to our bicycle lifestyle.

Danielle Chassin Matt Surch Hippie in Disguise Zara XOVELO Brooklyn Bicycle Co

Ro and Sen wear organic linen wear from Four'emki and my kimono is from Amae.Co

Ro and Sen wear organic linens from Four’eMki and my kimono is from Amae.Co

 

Since Sen is mostly independent biking now (at least for short trips) I finally had the opportunity to get myself a bike that suited just me. For the last decade I’ve pedalled utilitarian bikes that attach to a bike trailer or some other gadget. I’d been eyeing the Dutch-inspired city bikes and found the Brooklyn Bicycle Company. I settled on the Willow 3 model, a three-speed, which is adequate for most city riding. I was excited to see that they offered vegan-friendly saddles and grips, and that the aesthetic was classic. I especially loved the angled top tube so that I could ride it with a dress. On top of this, they offer a monthly payment plan so you don’t have to have all the money up front.

I’ve now had the bike for a month and I love it. It’s so comfortable to ride and it’s stylish too. The only problem is that Ro wants it for herself and with her being almost as tall as me I can see some lively family bonding over who gets to ride it in our future!

Danielle Chassin Sen Hippie in Disguise Zara XOVELO Brooklyn Bicycle Co

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My delightful friend Zara took all the photos in this post. Zara is a photographer and cycling fashion writer, she maintains the superb online magazine XOVELO. Please go take a look and find her on Instagram too @xoveloxo.

If a Brooklyn Bicycle sounds like something you’d love to know more about visit them online here and on Instagram @brooklynbikeco.

Please leave a comment or question below if you’d like to know more specifics about my Brooklyn Bike or how to incorporate biking into your life more, I’ve been doing this for almost 20 years so I’ve got lots of tips.

Let’s be friends! Please come find me in other places:

Happy Earth Day: 10 Ways to Live a Greener, More Sustainable Lifestyle

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HIppie in Disguise Gloucester Maine Luv Mother Nico Nico cLothing Earth Day

Happy Earth Day! A day late…but truly, it is earth day every day in our family. After a busy week of work and travel I didn’t have time to make an Earth Day post, so I’m catching up today.

In my experience, I never see my children happier,  freer,  more connected to the moment as when they are playing together in the great outdoors. So, my Earth Day indulgence is to share some of my favourite photos of my children connecting with the wild earth and enjoying themselves playing in nature. I’m also sharing what our family does each day to live lightly upon the planet, see our list at the end of this post.

Hippie in Disguise Cristina Rohde Clothing Earth Day

Hippie in Disguise Gloucester Mass Earth Day

As a family we do a lot to try to minimize our impact on the earth, to live a green lifestyle, to live lightly and respectfully upon this planet that sustains us and gives us life. Above all else I try to find ways each day to ensure my kids feel connected to nature and the health of our planet. This means lots of time spent outdoors enjoying life and connecting with the elements, whether it’s walking or cycling to the places we go, running bare foot on the grass, or eating snow.

Here are the top 10 ways our family lives lightly upon the planet:

  1. We follow a vegan diet to minimize environmental damage associated with animal farming
  2. We eat and buy local products as much as possible to minimize emissions associated with delivery transport. If not local products then responsibly manufactured, organic and small scale guide our purchases
  3. We live car free and either walk or cycle almost everywhere we travel within the city, year round
  4. We use reusable cloth shopping bags (these ones are great because they fold up really small to fit in your pocket or bag) and we use reusable produce and bulk shopping bags (these ones for produce and these ones for bulk)
  5. We package litter-less lunches with reusable containers. Our favourites are stainless steel lunch containers (like these for main dish, these for snacks and dips and these for drinks) and our newest love is for beeswax food wraps (truly amazing product! they may seem pricey but I guarantee you they are worth the investment, you can completely stop using all plastic wrap)
  6.  We wear things out before replacing them
  7.  We recycle and compost like there’s no tomorrow
  8.  We put on a sweater (or two) rather than heating our home and drink cold water instead of air conditioning
  9.  We plant indigenous plants in the garden that don’t need overwatering or chemicals to thrive and support bee populations
  10. We spend lots of time outdoors to cultivate love, enjoyment and respect for the earth in hopes that our children will make the best choices for the ecosystem as a whole

Over the next year we are working towards a zero waste lifestyle having been deeply inspired by the Devine Family and by Bea Johnson (her book Zero Waste Home is a must read and share!).

Earth day, every day.

What do you do? I would love to hear. Please leave a comment below, no need to sign in or make a profile.

River Picnic Ottawa Hippie in Disguise

Hippie in Disguise Nico Nico Clothing Earth Day Childhood Unplugged

 You might also like:

Garbage Free: How to Make your own Delicious Raw Cashew Milk

Interview with a Minimalist: The Devine Family *** A family of 7 living in a treehouse

World Wildlife Day: What you can do to help conserve and protect wild plants and animals

Love Your Mother: The Most Sustainable Clothing by Luv Mother

Want to find me in other places?

Talking Slow Living on Ruth & Ragnar

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Processed with VSCOcam with f2 preset

I get asked a lot about slow living and minimalism and how I bring these to life in our family. Well, first I should probably tell you that most of my week is anything but slow. I work full time outside the home in a very hectic job. I work in politics in Canada and not only are the days hustled, they are highly unpredictable, chock full of emotional people and high stakes situations. I’m a naturally calm person, people often describe me as “zen,” which is probably why I’ve survived in my job. However, after working in this environment for a few years I started to notice that I carried that hustled, stressed energy home with me. I would furiously clean and tidy all evening, I would speedily move from one task to another, and multi-tasking was the only way I did anything. On the weekends I would hustle around doing errands, taking Ro and Sen to a list of activities and catching up on my social calendar. I couldn’t seem to find a slo-mo setting… Read the rest of the post over on Ruth & Ragnar.

You might also like my post:

TOC retreat 2   Yoga Retreat in Costa Rica — May 2016

katrien5   Interview with a Minimalist: Katrien

Processed with VSCOcam with f2 preset   The Mathematics of Love

Hippie in Disguise Ottawa Canada Arboretum

When in Rome: The Ottawa Edition

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In the news! I was by asked my friends (Carina and Bree) over at Peaks & Harbours to contribute to their series “When in Rome” where they profile cities in terms of their fun, artful, adventurous and family-friendly activities. Sounds like a great resource, right?!

We live a pedestrian lifestyle, so we are out and about walking around Ottawa every weekend, rain or shine, sun or snow. Ottawa is bursting with natural beauty, art experiences and adventure, so it was pretty hard to pick my favourite three spots to share. If you know me well, maybe you can guess…

Find out here.

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image   A Day in New York City

image   Visiting Philadelphia

Processed with VSCOcam with f2 preset   Urban Adventures

Summer Trip : Part 1 – Getting to NYC

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Over the next few weeks I’ll be posting photos from our trip to the north eastern United States. The posts are intended to be a little record of our travels for Ro and Sen to look back on when they are older (because I’m not going to kid myself into thinking I’ll have the time make a photo album for them!). In this first post, I’m sharing “Getting to NYC” which was our first major destination.

***

As summer approached this year, Ro started drafting her summer list – a list of things she wanted to do while off on summer vacation. We’ve done this for the past few years and it has been a really good way to make the most of our summer days. You can read about this year’s lists here. Ro’s list was fairly modest, with the exception of one item: visit NYC.

We were fortunate to visit New York City three years ago. Ro was 7 at the time and so she remembers the visit well and very fondly. Since that visit Ro has had her heart set on returning to NYC. We haven’t had the money to make another trip, so this year Ro decided to make it happen for herself. Beginning in April she started gathering and selling previously loved books, toys and clothing and selling them to our local consignment shop. Then she held a bake sale and garage sale during a local community event. All in all she earned nearly $600, which was enough to make the trip, albeit by frugal means (meaning: train, AirBnB, and street food, which, by the way, did not reduce our enjoyment in any way!).

Our trip started with Matt driving us to the St. Albans train station in Vermont. With our departure time set for just before 9am and our home being 4 hours from the station, we decided to make the drive from Montreal, rather than Ottawa. We drove to Montreal the night before and visited friends and some of our favourite spots in Montreal.  

Family travel

Ready to get the trip started! Driving to Montreal to stay the night with our dear friend Amanda.

Our evening in Montreal was spent walking around the Mile End neighbourhood, finding murals, appreciating the local architecture, and playing ping pong at a night market.

The next morning, holding hands while waiting for our train to arrive in St. Albans, Vermont

Ready to draw!

The dining car on the train was a great spot for drawing.

While riding the train Sen asked if we would see Mickey Mouse in NYC, to which I replied “No, he lives in Florida.” Within half a block of walking out of the train station look who we met! Close enough!

Next post will cover the first half of our visit to New York City — stay tuned!

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Clothing details: Sen wears Wilding organic t-shirt available from Wilding; Organic harems from Wild Little Comfies; and Salt Water Sandals from Mini Mioche. Ro wears tunic and skirt from Kids on the Moon and Salt Water Sandals from Mini Mioche.

Drawing supplies: Super durable and eco-friendly pencil case made from upcycled carpet from elquiltro available on Etsy; Sustainable notebooks from Mohawk Paper; and pencils from Faber-Castell.

Summer Lists: Of Sun, Sand and Strawberries

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Hippie in Disguise Ottawa River Wildflowers

Urban adventures

That first day of summer vacation is amazing, right? There is so much time ahead of you, so much excitement and anticipation about all the fun and adventure that will be had.

My mind always spins a bit with all the things I want to do with children during my few weeks off with them. So, a few years ago Ro and I decided to make ‘Summer Lists’ of our top 10 things we didn’t want to finish the summer without doing. I don’t like to pack our days with activities, but I do want to make sure that we feel as though we’ve had the chance to do our favourite things, and while summer is a time to relax, we still have a sense of accomplishment, even if our accomplishment is making a mud pie. The lists worked really well as a way to orient our summer, with just ten things each, it left time for serendipitous activities, and on days when there was nothing obvious to do we turned to our lists. With a sense of success that first year, we’ve continued making them each year since — however, without limiting ourselves to ten things.

Our five weeks together start next week, so with that in mind we worked on finalizing our lists last weekend.

Summer List Bucket Watercolour

This is Sen’s first year making a list. We talked, in the weeks leading up to summer vacation, about all the things he loves about summer and these activities turned into his list:

  • build a sand castle
  • make a mud pie
  • ride a zoom boat
  • visit a cottage
  • go to Gramma and Grampa’s beach house
  • collect shells
  • make a toy boat out of supplies
  • save animals
  • eat pizza at the park
  • go camping
  • sleep in a tent
  • eat s’mores
  • dance a lot
  • play hop scotch
  • make brownies
  • build a fort
  • swim everyday

And he wanted to make sure we left some room on the page to add things as we go. No problem, Sen!

Ro really enjoys making her list each summer. It’s like a Christmas list, but way more exciting, because she is imagining memories instead of things. The first few years I had to talk her off of things like “take a trip to Paris” because this is too far outside our means, so I expected the same this year, but was happily surprised there was no trip to Bora Bora or a theme park on her list.

Summer Bucket List Watercolour

Ro’s list:

  • make strawberry rhubarb turnovers
  • dye hair with beets
  • visit NYC
  • write a book
  • go to a water park
  • wear a rainbow outfit
  • read Nimona to mom and Sen for bedtime
  • get a mani-pedi
  • surprise a stranger with a bouquet of flowers
  • leave cookies on neighbours porch
  • go to Gramma’s cottage and get a pie from the pie shop
  • cross the Rideau River
  • get dad to make the treehouse
  • make a stick fort
  • do some sewing
  • make a doll
  • learn a new way to draw
  • learn to write with right hand

Once Ro had finished her list she realized she had forgotten to include “make kale chips.” Noted!

And finally for my list. There is nothing extravagant on mine, it is mostly filled with simple activities, but things that will fill the summer with fun and my heart with memories.

Summer Bucket List Watercolour Flowers

My list:

  • go strawberry picking
  • try paddle boarding
  • organize an IG meetup
  • press flowers
  • keep a nature journal
  • wander
  • get lost
  • swim in an ocean, a lake and a river
  • visit Nantucket
  • watch the clouds
  • take the kids stargazing
  • find a new wildflower field
  • visit a farm
  • sail paper boats at the pond
  • visit Philadelphia
  • send snail mail
  • explore a new part of the city
  • spread love

For those of you who are paying keen attention, I included “organize an IG meet-up” on my list. Anyone living in the Ottawa area, or who will be in Ottawa on July 9th (2015), is welcome to meet up with us (me, Ro and Sen) for an informal picnic and play at Vincent Massey Park. I will be posting more details later this week, but wanted to make the date known so those who are interested can plan to be there. Please send me an email or leave a comment below if you are interested in meeting up, and especially if you have ideas for the meet-up, in terms of activities, food and so on. While my inclination is to keep things minimal, simple food and free play, it may also be nice to have something special to mark the event. Please be in touch!

What’s on your summer list? I would love to hear, leave a comment below or on Instagram.

Let’s be friends! Please come find me in other places

The Love More Stories

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A few months ago I was asked to contribute a story to a collection that would be called The Love More Stories. At the time I didn’t know of The Love More Shop or the kind woman, Amanda, who ran it. But I said yes, because, well, she had me at the title. The book was released last week just in time to give Mother’s Day a little bit of extra celebration this year.

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The Love More Stories is an e-book of 15 personal stories written by mothers about learning to love more, whether it was loving themselves more, their children more, their partner more, someone or something else more. The stories are honest, some very raw, inspiring and enlightening. I am truly honoured to be in a collection full of such wise stories words written by some very inspiring women.

My story talks about our decision to have only one child, based on the idea of loving the earth more, by taking less from it, but also based on a surprising admission from my husband. Here’s a little excerpt:

“My heart still wanted that big family, so I began to talk about adoption, which I thought Matt would agree to since it wouldn’t bring new people into the world. And this is when I got an answer I never ever expected. ‘Danielle, I love Ro so much there is just no way that I could ever love another child as much. I would never forgive myself for having a second child in the family that I didn’t love as much. That child would know, they would feel the lack of love. And if by some crazy stroke of fate I did love that second child as much as I love Ro, then I would certainly have to rob Ro of some of my love.’ I could see the calculus of love floating in thought bubbles above his head. Like any resource, there is a finite amount. In a family you only have so much time to share among its members, there’s only so much food in the fridge and bedrooms in your home. Who was I to say, naively, that there would be enough love to go around? When I thought about the woman living in the apartment below us, who had 19 children (yes, nineteen), I thought Matt’s right, there is no way she loves any one of those children as much as we love our one child. This was without any poor judgment of her, it was pure math, pure logic. And so, once again, I conceded to Matt’s view. It would be one child for us. Logically, I knew he was right, but I’d be lying if I said my heart was happy about it.”

There’s an interesting twist in the story that brought us to our two children, but you’ll have to get the e-book to read how our story unfolded.

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As the collection came together, and I got to know Amanda a little better, I wanted to interview her to share her story and get the word out about her project with the Love More Shop. I love hearing from women who have been able to follow their passion as mothers. If you ask me, that is living the dream.

What part of the world do you live in? 

I live in the beautiful state of Oregon. After six years in Portland I just recently moved my little family back to Hood River, where I grew up an hour east of Portland.

How many children do you have and how would you describe them?

Theodore (who goes by many nicknames but I call him Theo) is pushing two years old. He is a happy, energetic, and curious little guy. He loves to play outside and is obsessed with trains, nursing, spaghetti, and dancing. I’ve never seen a baby bust a move the way he does and I love it. He is turning into a toddler now and I love seeing the ways he changes and grows each day. When you are a parent you notice all the “unnoticable” things. “Oh he has never walked up that slope without falling!” “That’s the first time he said “R” like that!” I didn’t expect to notice as much as I do before becoming a mother. He takes all of my energy and he is amazing.

Graham is my seven year old step son. He is mature beyond his years and has a wisdom that most kids his age don’t. My partner, Isaac, raised him on his own for the first three years of his life so they have a special bond. Being a stepparent is far more challenging than I ever expected but I have also learned more than I ever imagined. Through him I am learning that I can’t hide from my pain or my shortcomings. Through him I am learning that the only way out is deeper in, enveloped in a blanket of love. Through him I am learning what it means to be a true and vulnerable woman.

I could write a book about our experiences navigating the waters of step parenting and dealing with the pain caused by his birth mother because it’s been a huge part of our life for the past three years, maybe someday I will.

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What are your core family values?

To be kind and loving. We are broken people that have felt what darkness really feels like – something I am grateful for because we haven’t been destroyed and each day that we live an honest life we discover that we won’t ever be destroyed by it. We try our best to be kind, good people even if that means we are going to be uncomfortable or that we aren’t going to get what we want; that’s our goal each day.

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How do you spend most of your days?

I spend most of my days trying to figure out how to do this mom thing well. Our life has been chaotic for the past three years. A lot of uncertainty, a lot of transition and change, a lot of disappointment to move through. I crave routine and structure and I think it’s on the horizon with our move to make a better life for our family and our new home.

I stay home with Theo and run my shop the best I can while he sleeps. We spend a lot of our time at the park, library, cooking, taking multiple baths a day, and going on walks.

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What is your favourite thing to do as a family?

Now that we are in the new house we like to work out in the yard together. Planting our garden and making our home our home. We like to go to the park, having dance parties, building forts, sitting down for dinner together, and going out for coffee and donuts or pizza. Snuggling up to watch a movie together is also a favorite.

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What are you passionate about?

Motherhood, living simply and well, natural childbirth, documenting my family, design.

What inspires you?

Other mothers being honest and real. Other mothers embodying their values and beliefs.

Water is something I need when I want to feel inspired or connected. A bath, a shower, walk by the river, float on a lake, listening to the rain. Water grounds and inspires me.

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Did your career aspirations change once you had a child?

Definitely. I have always wanted to be a mother and when I got pregnant I knew I wouldn’t want to return to working away from home. I was a designer and I didn’t want to go back into that world unless it was doing something that I truly believed in. Even then, I was not about to leave my baby with someone else both because I just didn’t want to and childcare is too expensive for what designers make around here.

So things shifted and are still shifting. I am hoping that design can weave it’s way back into my life in the near future. We will see!

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What is The Love More Shop and why did you start it?

The Love More Shop is a brand that reminds people to love their family, friends, and world more each day because creating empathetic, kind, whole human beings starts in a loving home. Our shirts remind each other to love a little more each day – because there is ALWAYS more love and sweetness to give.

A portion of proceeds goes toward sending parents out on dates to nurture their love with the idea that creating a loving home starts with united and loving parents. When our baby boy was a few months old our friends gave us $100 to go out on a date. It was such a thoughtful and unexpected gesture that really touched our hearts. We were broke but desperately needed some time out together and to escape one evening for a couple of hours together. (We pretended we didn’t know each other and drank too much.) Love More had been my mantra for a few years and then I thought “well why not print it on shirts and see if I can sell them and give back in someway.” I wanted to find a way to give back that was authentic to me and a little different and what our friends did for us inspired me to help other parents have a night out together. So, each time the Love Fund reaches $100 we donate that money to one sweet couple to go out together and nurture their relationship.

It’s small and I know that giving people cash to go on on date together won’t heal the world. But it’s something and it starts a conversation and hopefully when people see the shirts being worn it will inspire them to love a little more.

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What is the Love More Stories book all about? And why did you want to publish it?

I started a series on the blog in September called The Love More Letters. They are short love letters written by about a dozen mothers who wanted to participate. Then I thought it would be nice to collect longer stories to put together an e-book that would inspire mothers to love more in their own lives or celebrate the ways they already do. I love reading other peoples experiences when they come from an honest and vulnerable space. I can feel what they feel. I am tired of the judgment and shaming of how mothers choose to raise their children. There needs to be more acceptance and empathy and my hope is that sharing simple stories will help build understanding and community.

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How can people buy the Love More Stories?

On our website right here.

What are your dreams for the Love More Shop and your family?

My dream is for the Love More Shop to grow into a movement of some kind and a business that can help provide for my family. I want to be sending a couple out on a date each week! Wouldn’t that be awesome!? I also don’t plan on simply selling shirts forever and I think the e-book is the start to growing into something bigger.

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Be sure to visit the Love More Shop to read the Love More Letters and to see what else Amanda is up to. You can also follow Amanda on Instagram @thelovemoreshop.