Vacation ideas

[Skysue]

Hi ladies,

I am trying to find some creative ways to make summer fun for my little girl. I am thinking of doing a few mini trips on long weekends but don't want to break the bank. We live 1/2 north of Wonderland and I will be getting a season pass for her so we can have fun a few weekends and evenings through the summer. I can only afford to take one week off and I will be doing home improvements during that time. :(

Any thoughts on fun mini road trips that won't break the bank?

[Dreamalittledream]

My boys love it when we pack a picnic lunch, throw in a football, some pails and shovels...play in the sand...swim in a lake. Great way to spend a day:).

[Skysue]

We live a 5 minute walk from the beach and do this a few times a week. I was thinking of more of a road trip. Ottawa is fun to go for Canada day weekend as all the museums are free but we have done that 2 years know a row and it's not exciting anymore.

[Momof4]

I always took my children to Niagara Falls a couple times every summer, played mini golf which was the only big expense, packed a cooler full of food and drove up the road where those helicopters land and there's that big flower clock (is it still there?) for a picnic. It was a good road trip day for us that didn't cost much.

You can get the city passes for Toronto that include about 5 things, I think it's the CN tower, zoo, ROM, Science Centre and they are good for 3 days. Not too sure on all those details, but check it out. You save a lot of money when you buy these special passes.

Go to the beach and walk the boardwalk. Do you have any petting zoos in your area? Splashpads in the summer are priceless. Do they still have Santa's Village in Bracebridge because one year we rented a cottage at a lake for a weekend and had a great time there. But that was years and years ago, haha, I might not be helping much!

[playfelt]

Niagara Falls is great. She might enjoy Kingston - a ride on the Wolfe Island Ferry is free.

A trip to the Toronto Zoo to see the pandas - we lived in Calgary during the Olympics and got to see the pandas. My son who was 2 at the time fell in love with them and from then on every time he saw a stuffed panda he wanted it - we have quite a collection in assorted sizes.

Grew up in St. Thomas and long weekend in August is Railway days with special events and long weekend in September is Fire Muster Days with a fire truck parade and activities.

If you look around the internet for some daytrips and festivals you might be surprised. Things like Black Creek Pioneer Village comes to mind.

[momofnerds]

how far is ottawa from windsor. What else can you do there. We've never been but it would be great to go.

[torontokids]

You can't beat a weekend of camping in my opinion. If you don't have the gear they have yurts and cabins you can rent.

[torontokids]

Elora Gore near Kitchener is really pretty. They have inner tubes you can ride down the rapids as well.

[mommylove]

FYI......that new ripleys aquarium is opening this summer in toronto may be a bit expensive but im sure she and you would love it.......CAMPING its cheap and kids always love it......CANT wait for summer :)

[Skysue]

I love camping too but it's nothing like it used to be, campgrounds are so over crowded these days and you need to book like in January for prime spots.

Trust me I'm not a princess, we used to go winter camping when I was a kid. It was sooooooo cool to be the only ones in the camp ground. I would love to go back country camping but my DH wouldn't do it, it's not his style!

[playfelt]

You might want to look into other types of camps then. I know a lot of churches run camping areas and although they offer special weeks for different age groups they all offer general family weeks. Some come complete with cabins you can rent or have spots to pitch your own tent. There might be something like that maybe up around the lake or muskoka area. We used to have Trail of the Pines in Stayner but now it is Round Lake over by Pembroke.