Congrats to #16, Elizabeth and Aiden! Christine picked you as our winner of 10 free passes!

These cold months are no excuse to stay at home when there are so many cool indoor play centres in Durham.

One of our favourites is Creative Play Indoor Playground and Party Centre in Ajax. We took the girls here with Jen O. last February for the Valentine’s Day party and had a blast! I love that there is still to do for all age groups — a play area with smaller toys, ride-em cars, jumpers and padded seating for babies and toddlers, and several climbers for older kids.

We enjoyed decorating cupcakes (extra charge) in the huge eating area, colouring (free — and Lucy drew her first face!) and tons of free play. With two kids more than two years apart, I’d definitely recommend two people, if possible. Creative Play is quite large — more than 3,500 sq. ft., with some equipment around corners — so it can be difficult to keep track of them. That being said, there’s a TON of room to play!

One of Creative Play’s claim to fame are their character days: Tea with Ariel, March Break Art Day, visits with Elmo and Upsy Daisy. Be sure to sign up for their newsletter and keep track of their calendar to see what’s coming up.

My only complaint was this day was also a PA Day — so there were a ton of older kids around. Children to the age of 10 are allowed, and I found Lucy intimidated by the school kids. None of the were in the baby area, so Alice and Avery were fine.

Owner Christine has given me 10 FREE PASSES to a lucky Durham Region Baby reader!
Head on over to Creative Play’s website and pick your favourite feature of the place (or share, if you’ve been there before) and leave a comment below. We’ll pick a winner Monday.

Happy playing and good luck!

From the Region comes a super cool feature for your computer!

My Durham Desktop is your weekly inspiration for things to do in Durham Region. It’s a computer desktop calendar that serves up a new wallpaper showcasing beautiful images of Durham Region every week.

Each captivating image is accompanied by a pop-up window that informs you of local events and happenings. I downloaded it last week, and I just love it.

Follow this link to get your own My Durham Desktop.

How we all love a holiday! Especially one that celebrates family. No matter what form yours is, we wish you a splendid long weekend, and hope you do something special with your loved ones.

Be sure to check out our events calendar for what’s happening around Durham (our friends at Creative Play have a great party happening!), and visit your local municipality’s website to see what free things are on Monday, February 15. Up in the Boonies, we’re planning some free swimming at our local pool, and partaking in a free barbeque at the Legion!

Enjoy.

One of our favourite north Durham stores (yay Boonies!) is re-opening in a brand new locale tomorrow.

For more info, visit www.cuddlybunny.com, or call 905-985-9956 — say hi to Marnie and tell her we sent you!

It’s a big show weekend, with both Mamas & Chicks on in Oshawa, and Market Moms on in Uxbridge this Saturday, November 7.

And we again have free tickets for both! There are 150 up for grabs from Mamas & Chicks, and 10 from Market Moms.

Both of these shows highlight the best of our local parentpreneurs. They’re stroller-friendly, have food, loot bags and ample parking. Start your Christmas shopping early — shop local, avoid the malls, and support your fellow parents. The scenery is beautiful this time of year, and I encourage you to take the day to drive to both!

Here’s how to win:

• For Mamas & Chicks: Visit www.mamasandchicks.com and click through the pages to find out how many times Durham Region Baby is listed on the site
• For Market Moms: Visit www.marketmomsonline.com and find out the name of the venue where the show is being held

Email the answers to info@durhamregionbaby.com ASAP for your FREE ticket to each show.

These are popular contests, and tickets usually go within 24 hours — enter quick!

My & Jen O.’s mom’s group, Durham Mom’s Night Out, is hosting Jesse Martell from Pulse CPR this coming Wednesday for an informative evening on subjects we hope we’ll never have to draw from: CPR/childhood emergency prevention.

Our evening is normally invite-only, but because this is so important for parents, we want to open it to all moms who read this site.

The cost is just $12/person, which is VERY reasonable for a course such as this.

Any money remaining after the room rental and speaker fees we are donating to Bethesda House: a women’s shelter, and advocacy/support organization for women and children suffering domestic violence www.bethesdahouse.ca

If you’re interested, please email durhammoms@gmail.com and we’ll send you the details. Please note you MUST pay at the door.

For more information on the class and Jesse, see his listing here: http://www.durhamregionbaby.com/health-and-safety/

Managing a 3.5-year-old and 11-month-old is chaotic and trying on the best of days. Have you ever tried to capture both looking forward? And not at each other? Or fluff on the ground? Or an airplane? Or fart in the wind?

Then ask them to stick their heads through wooden cutouts.

I could barely keep the camera still while giggling and calling their names in a sing-song voice, while Eric had to put Alice down a few times because he was killing himself laughing at the two of them.

This is from Pingles Farm Market in Hampton last weekend:

Our friends at MusiGo are throwing a FREE dancing, instrument-playing, yoga-posing wiggle party this coming Monday in Bowmanville for kids 6 months-3 years:

Mon., Sept. 14
9:30 – 11:30 a.m.
Theatre Dance Academy
2445 Baseline Rd., Bowmanville
Registered programs begin the following Mon., Sept 21st.

We’d love to attend and share the fun with you, but both my girls are in daycare.

Are any of you free to go in our place and share the experience with a write-up and photos?

Leave a comment and let me know!

A week from today is the Durham Parents of Multiples giant consignment sale in Oshawa! This is the fall sister sale to the spring one held in May.

Bring a wagon and reusable shopping bags, leave the kids at home (if at all possible — you need your full attention for scouring the racks and digging through toys; but there are tons of kids there), and be prepared to stock up on tons of kids and maternity clothes, toys, books, gear and more.

Sat. Sept. 12
Oshawa Curling Club @ 226 Bond St. E.
9 a.m. – noon

The line up starts early, so get there as soon as you can to be one of the first in the door. Big ticket items such as strollers and outdoor toys go first.

Durham Parents of Multiples is a non-profit organization providing support services for families with twins and higher order multiples in the Durham Region. We strive to help each other through the unique challenges of raising multiple birth children and share in the many joys. For more information visit www.drpomba.com.