It’s our first birthday, and we’re celebrating over here.

• May 21-28: Mastermind warehouse sale ‘08 — Richmond Hill at 9325 Yonge St.; click link for hours. Discounted, discontinued or slightly damaged packaging. Items include toys, board games, arts & craft and puzzles, from brands such as Melissa & Doug, Playmobil, Gund and Ravensburger.

• May 24-28: Samko & Miko spring toy warehouse sale — Toronto at 77 Fima Cres., and Richmond Hill at 60 East Beaver Creek; Sat. 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., Wed.-Fri. 10 a.m. - 8 p.m. Toys, books and arts & crafts, from brands such as Crayola, Graco, Fisher-Price, Mattell, Hasbro, Step 2 and little tikes.

Even with Lucy’s birthday already passed and Christmas so far away, I’d totally check these out if we weren’t down to one income…

Happy shopping!

For all of you Once Upon a Child readers, the Bribery Photo Contest details are coming Monday.

Tonight we are all pooped after a super busy day at Little Feet for Miss Lucy and her BFF Eirinn’s joint birthday party. The only thing my brain is capable of right now is bringing my arm to my mouth to each salt and vinegar chips. And perhaps paint my toenails.

Please pop by after the weekend to get the scoop. See you then.

I hope all of you have noticed the growing sponsors on the left sidebar.

I am a small town, community girl at heart. Although a decade ago I physically ached to bust out of my hamlet and catapult into j-skool at Ryerson, I knew after less than five years of living downtown Toronto that Big City living wasn’t for me. I knew after five weeks at the Toronto Star that a Big City reporter job was not for me.

And so — having picked up a fiance along the way — we moved back to Durham. In that full-circle way of life, I landed my first Big Kid Job at the very first newspaper I ever worked for (at the tender age of 15).

And so began settling back into the community feeling I felt missing from downtown. That closeness has only intensified after moving to north Durham — now with a baby — back to the stomping grounds of my youth. We are planting roots here.

So you have no idea how awesome it is to have these wonderful local businesses on the site. To have other people value and validate what is so important to me, and what I strive to achieve with this site, is incredibly rewarding and fulfilling. And what better way to showcase Durham Region and the network of businesses that support it than share them with you?

I have purposely chosen not to go with a ad network. There is more money that route, but little if any control over content. There are restrictions on what you can say about your ads and advertisers (nothing, mostly), even where they can go on the site itself. I have no interest in that, and it defeats the purpose of what I am trying to create here.

Please take some time to visit them when you have a chance. A big fat thanks to all of you (and my endlessly patient and supportive sister) for the immeasurable help in reaching this point.

I’ve spent an eye-crossing amount of time updating and adding to the links section the past week or so. They desperately needed to be done to preserve my sanity, and also in response to what Mr. Google says people are looking for (namely: stuff to do, places to go, and birthday party centres — all for Durham).

Things are now split into what I hope are easier-to-navigate categories for y’all:

Durham links: The main entrance, also found on the right-hand toolbar over there, and directly above, under the logo

Places to play: Municipal recreation programs, indoor gyms, dance, birthday party centres

Stuff to do: Get out of the house with grown-ups (including, of course, Durham Mom’s Night Out!), Early Years Centres, public libraries, event listings, travel/tourism links

Durham daycare/nannies: Places to find childcare, resources

Safety and support: Recalls, breastfeeding, car seat safety checks, postpartum depression, parenting etc.

Local businesses and mompreneurs: List of consignment stores, baby gear, online sales, local entrepreneurs

Health: Labour, fitness, beauty

Fave Canadian retailers: The Eh! online stores we love the best

Coming soon: Baby shows, crafts and photography. Got any to add?

Have a site you love you want listed? A category to suggest? Business to add? Leave a comment or drop me an email. These are ever-expanding.

Enjoy!

We all lost our money last night.

Just like the last time, the casino was anti-climactic. We still had lots of fun, but the slot machines just weren’t authentic without being able to carry around a big gaudy plastic bucket of quarters. That’s right, you get a paper slip now. PAPER! How not-fun is that. More sanitary? Yes. Lighter? For sure. Fewer materials? Okay, okay, you get me on the environmental benefit. Shush.

But do you have to rub in the fact that there’s no sensory-pleasing ca-ching! ca-ching! ca-ching! as you win, oh, $5, and 20 quarters crash down onto the metal pocket at the bottom? The slot machines have a computer-generated quarter-crashing sound now. They obviously know how important that noise is if they’re duplicating it.

Grrr. At least the arms on the machines worked. If they didn’t, I’d have protested.

The best part about Mom’s Night at a casino is the free drinks. We always drink tea or pop when we get together, and all non-alcoholic drinks were free. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, there is no charge to keep you wired and hydrated — anything to keep you in the casino longer (along with dimmed lights, constantly-pumping fresh air, and no clocks). And the best discovery: The buffet had a dessert table where you could eat two items for $2. The bill for seven of us was $25. Sweeeeeet.

Oh, and the hot waiters and dealers were an added bonus. Not that a group of happily married women were looking. *cough*

In other news, what is a great Thanksgiving weekend without a beater of whipped cream? Or jumping on bulldozers? Bor-ing.

We’re going to make fools of ourself at mini golf tonight.

Thank goodness it’s in the dark…

Visit Durham Mom’s Night Out for details!

For the second Saturday in a row, Lucy this weekend played herself silly in a super cool indoor play gym called Little Feet Fitness and Fun at the Whitby/Oshawa border.

We went for the first time last weekend with the Babyville Mamas, and Lucy had a blast. She’s obsessed with balls lately, and spent most of each visit carrying, throwing, chasing and kicking them while squealing.

The centre has padded, shock absorbing carpet, and bright, fun colours everywhere. But I like that it isn’t too big and overwhelming for parents or kids. You can pretty much see every corner no matter where you’re sitting. One bank of walls is lined with couches and magazines, too, plus an eating area with plenty of room for snack and visits and chats. It was easy for the Mamas to get caught up while the babies went nutty.

Great price, too: just $8/child and unlimited adults. Oh, and don’t forget socks. If you do, you can buy them there.

Other toys include: an inflatable bouncy animal house, stick-to-walls shapes, mini balance beam set, tubes with stuff in ‘em (sounds silly, but when the stuff is sparkles and sequins and dice, it’s like baby crack pipes), a plethora of exercausers and jumpers for younger/non-crawling wee ones, hula hoops, padded obstacle equipment and those adorable mini cars kids have to push with their feet.

Check out the company’s website for details on hours, guest passes, birthday parties and more. Lucy gave it her personal seal of approval both days with a three hour (read: THREE! 3!) nap.

As you can see, fun was had by kids of all ages. Check out Lucy, below, obliviously, innocently playing ball when her Daddy just..well, you can see:

I think I have found one of the coolest play palaces ever for Eric kids.

The Tox Blox, located in Whitby, not only has everything LEGO, but hosts birthday parties with building and racing competitions. I think my husband would have licked the computer screen had I not told him the 5-10-year-old age limit.

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