momstown Milton takes a trip to Morocco

Salam!

Our momstown Milton mamas and kids explored Morocco at our Trip Around the World program this week.  The momstown theme for July is 'the desert', and since Morocco has the amazing Sahara desert it was a great country to travel to.

We looked at some pictures of the desert, including sand dunes, an oasis, and camels.  We also looked at some of the handiwork that is famous in Morocco, including beautiful carpets, hand painted pottery and multi coloured lamps.  The kids got to look at and touch a Moroccan carpet done in a traditional Berber pattern in bright red, with black, orange and white design.

 

We talked about a very popular symbol in Morocco called a khamsa.  A khamsa is a lucky charm in the form of a hand.  The hand is often embellished with semi precious stones, and metals, and usually has an eye in the centre.  The khamsa is often hung on doors to keep bad luck out of the house.  For our craft, we made our own khamsas using our hands for the design.

We outlined our hands, then decorated them with sequins, "fingers" cut from design magazines, glitter glue and an "eye" - also cut from a magazine.  Moms helped their kids cut out the hands and put them on colourful paper.  The home made khamsas turned out beautifully.

When we were done with our craft, we all had a sample of a Moroccan tagine.  We first looked at the beautiful tagines, and talked about their interesting shape.  Our tagine today was a veggie version, with sweet potatoes, carrots, potatoes, chick peas, lentils, kale and apricots.  Twelve spices were added to make this delicious and easy dish.  This is a very healthy tagine.  The recipe makes a huge pot of stew and uses only two tablespoons of oil.  Moms were delighted to see their kids happily eating the dish.  Only one of our little travelers decided that he wasn't a fan of the tagine!  Not bad for a stew filled with vegetables!

 

 

After our snack, a couple brave travelers tried on a head scarf that is worn in the desert while riding on a camel.  I wore this beautiful scarf back in 2007 on a safari in Erg Chebi while traveling in Morocco.  These turbans keep the sun's heat and rays away from the head and it is tied in a way that leaves a piece of fabric that can be draped over the face to shield from the sun and blowing sand.

 

 A fun morning for all.  Thanks to all who came out, and see you at our next adventure!

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Submitted by Paula Porter, a momstown Milton member and

 mother of two amazing girls.

How to Enhance your next Massage with Essential Oils

When your baby, toddler, or child is hurt or not feeling well, a common thought is to “rub it better”. Whether they have a tummy ache or bang their elbow, mothers and fathers, often use touch as a natural reaction to reassure and comfort your little ones. Although parents use this so often, sometimes they forget that they too can benefit from this concept of touch. Whether your goal is to enjoy a moment of peace and relaxation, decrease tension, or even reduce pain, therapeutic massage has been shown to have tremendous benefits on your physical health and well-being.  

A popular complementary therapy used to enhance regular massage treatments is aromatherapy where concentrated essential oils are massaged into the skin. These natural oils are extracted from herbs, flowers and other parts of the plant, and are used to treat various diseases. Aromatherapy is not a new concept. Originating in Egypt and India, it has been practiced for thousands of years and has evolved from ancient traditions of herbal medicine. With increased popularity of massage therapy and aromatherapy, more research has taken place to discover the benefits of this adjunctive treatment. This increase in research has found that aromatherapy combined with massage is better at reducing anxiety following treatment than massage alone.

The massage therapists at the Health Centre of Milton offer three different varieties of aromatherapy blends:

1) Relaxation Blend: Geranium,
Sandalwood, Lavender, Orange

2) Energizing Blend: Rosemary, Lemongrass,
Bergamont

3) Decongestant Blend: Lemon, and
Eucalyptus

We invite you to add aromatherapy to your next massage therapy treatment. Please not that it is important to inform your massage therapist of your health history as some blends are not recommended for everyone. 





Written by Dr. Sarah Chajka HBKin, DC

 

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The above information was collected from the British Journal of General Practice, June 2000 “Aromatherapy: a systematic review”

Fern Resort is the Perfect Family Summer Getaway for Fun and Adventure!

This month momstown chapters in Southern Ontario were lucky enough to enjoy a Summer Family Vacation at Fern Resort - an ALL Inclusive one stop destination that is sure to please every member of your family!  Our family consists of 3 very active people who are always on the go. Our style of vacation is being outdoors as much as possible and partaking in all things sporty. We were not disappointed!

As soon as we checked in, we were given not one but two activity itineraries with an hour by hour breakdown of what was going on for BOTH children and adults for the day. We were informed that we could pick up a daily list by dinner for the next day. Looking over the list I knew this was going to be a jam packed weekend! The best part was that Fern offers a child drop off service at the Play Village with qualified camp instructors that will take your kids to the planned activities listed so that you can enjoy the adult activities. This service was included with our stay - BONUS!

After we were settled in, we wasted no time in hitting the mini golf course and then worked our way over to the trampolines all before dinner time.

The meals at the resort were scrumptious and well thought out. The kids had their own self serve buffet (at breakfast and dinner) with multiple kid fav's that even the pickiest eater could find something familiar that they loved. There was also an option to come down to the dining hall a half hour earlier to feed the kids and then drop them off at the play village for supervised play so that the adults could sit down to a quiet, relaxed meal - GENIUS!

There was no shortage of nightlife at this happening hip place! There were several pool tables, video games, Bingo, Bonfire, a magic show, staff  karaoke  night, dance party, kids movie night with staff supervision, a hypnotist and that was only the two nights we were there - WOW!

With all the excitement we experienced our first night there, we couldn't wait for mornings to hit to try out the extreme adventure options that were listed. There was no shortage of things to do and at times we had to make some tough decisions in order to decide which of the multiple activities we wanted to participate in. Here are some of our favourites from the weekend:

Zorbing:  the recreation or sport of rolling downhill inside an orb, generally made of transparent plastic - My son experienced this on the water! Miss Emily ( Junior Director at Fern Resort) ROCKED! She was patient and upbeat and my son listened to every word she said. I was honestly surprised that he didn't freak out!

 

Ready, Aim, FIRE! Hubby was determined to get a Bullseye and he did on his second attempt at Archery! It was great having experienced staff like Mike (adult director) on hand for a quick tutorial and pointers on how to line up the arrow correctly.

We then Zipped over to Rock Climbing, the swinging bridge and tried out the zip line while we waited for the Slip n Slide to be set up. Thanx Jamie ( Youth Director) for letting my half pint join in with the big boys! Who knew dish soap, water and a roll of plastic wrap could be so much fun!

 

 

There was no shortage of water activities to keep cool in the hot summer heat. Three Pools and a lake offered plenty of choices to pick from. Canoeing, paddle boats and hanging at the pool with our new buddies was what we were able to fit in over the course of a weekend.  If you do stay longer make sure to make time for the sunset cruise, stand up paddles boards, water skiing and fishing excursion.

 

Man did the weekend fly by! That's what happens when you're having the time of your life. It felt good to unplug for a bit and get in some quality family time. I loved that Fern Resort offered plenty of variety and catered to everyone regardless of age. I also appreciated being spoiled with the delicious meals and by the attentive staff that seemed to genuinely enjoy what they were doing. If you are in search of a fun and adventurous Family Getaway - Fern is the place to be!  Don't forget to ask for your momstown discount when booking - ENJOY!

Family friendly camping in Southern Ontario

Ever wonder if you can go camping now that you have kids?  Camping is a fun activity for the whole family.  It is important to find one that is suitable for the entire family.  When you have young children, camping at a location that doesn't have activities for them doesn't make it fun for anyone.  There are a number of campgrounds in southern Ontario that are perfect for young families.

Bronte Creek -  Located in Oakville, it is a nice close to home getaway.  It has an outdoor pool for safe, clean swimming and it is monitored by a lifeguard.  For additional fun, there is an children's play barn and farm animals to see.

Brant Conservation - Full service campground located in Brantford.  It offers a pool monitored by a lifeguard and a splash pad.  There is also a playground for even more daily fun.

Yogi Bear's Jellystone Park Camp Resorts - Campground located in Niagara Falls.  Facilities include a large heated pool and a kiddie pool.  2 large playgrounds, wagon rides, mini golf, themed weekends and sports.

N.E.T. Camping Resort - Located in Vineland (close to Niagara Falls) there is a lot to do for our young ones.  With 2 large pools and a splash pad and a fun playground and sports area, the whole family will enjoy.

Happy Hills Resort - Located in Embro, your weekend will be jam packed with fun.  Participate in daily planned activities or choose from hay rides, petting zoo, children's crafts, mini golf, 9 hole golf, heated pool with adjacent wading pool, hot tubs and so much more.

These are just a few locations that are located within a 2hr drive of Milton.  If you are looking for something a little further from home, check out Camping In Ontario for some more locations.

This Blog was written by Angela Hickman - mother of 2, momstown Milton member and blogger - Mommy TimeOut.

Milton moms enjoyed a Taste of the Tropics at our Tropicana Picasso's in the Park Event

This week our momstown Milton members were lucky enough to be swept away to a tropical paradise courtesy of Tropicana Tropics! I have to admit that I had a blast setting up our oasis getaway and couldn't wait for everyone to arrive to get this party started!

 

The families arrived in style decked out in their Hawaiian Best! It was a sea of bright vibrant colours and adorable outfits!  

 

 

 

We had lots to do to keep the little ones entertained and busy. The fruit stamping painting was an instant draw with the  bright neon colours and the various fruits pieces to explore texture and smell. Some even snuck in a taste or two of the fruit. It's was funny to see their little faces pucker up when they discovered the sour taste of the limes!

 

The layering  of petals at the creative flower station was a great way to build on patterning concepts. The finished pieces were absolutely stunning. The kids were so proud of their work that they hung them up on display for all to take in their beauty.

The drinks were flowing non stop at our juice bar! The line ups were endless through the entire event. We had Tropicana Tropics Orange, Peach, Mango and Orange, Strawberry, Banana on hand to try. Tropics is made with 100% juice and puree blend and contains no added sugar and each 250 ml glass of Tropics juice blend provides you with two full servings of fruit.  The juice was extremely refreshing and both moms and tots enjoyed experiencing the exotic flavours. We had a challenging time keeping up with the demand to keep the glasses filled!

 

Snack time was a success as well with the build it yourself fruit kabob station. Each person could pick their own fruits to try and assemble it in any order they wanted. The skewers were a great way to work on hand & eye coordination with each person eating the fruits of their labour once completed.

 

 



Overall The event was a HUGE success! Thanks to everyone who joined us at our momstown exclusive oasis. It was great seeing each and everyone of you get into the spirit of the event and enjoying the company of one another.

A big shout out to Laurie Goodman Photography for the amazing pictures as always! To see ALL of the pics from this event click here!

If you'd like a chance to try all four varieties of Tropicana Tropics and get all the fixins' to host your own Tropical party, click here!

momstown Milton still has more Picasso in the Park events taking place this summer so if you would like to join us, sign up here.