Tag: Waterloo Life

What do Toronto, Waterloo, and Wroxeter have in common? Apart from all of them being cities (and a town) in southern Ontario, each has an annual Santa Claus parade that happens in November. The Toronto edition for 2009 was last week, Waterloo had its parade yesterday, and tiny Wroxeter holds its 2009 parade next Friday. Actually, I think that every small town in southern Ontario has a parade of its own, but I mention Wroxeter’s as my wife knows about it!

As with Oktoberfest, it wasn’t until after I had children that I really enjoyed and appreciated Waterloo’s Santa Claus parade. This year’s edition was a big improvement over last year’s, in that it didn’t pour rain. Not surprisingly my sons all enjoyed the parade, and I got a huge kick out of it too. Between pipes and drums, Rudolph, a steel drum band, a roller derby team, and a Christmas tree made out of recycled cans, there was a lot to enjoy. And that’s just the non-traditional stuff! (Well, pipes and drums are probably traditional in many parades in Ontario at this point.) It’s really quite hard not to have fun.

There was also a toy drive and a food drive, which my sons each contributed to. Of course, Santa appeared at the end, on a flatbed trailer with his reindeer, and then it was time to head home. Great fun, and a real treat every year.

I’ve written previously about needing to find summer activities for my three sons, and the great ESQ program at the University of Waterloo. Another terrific option for us has been the summer programming offered at the Waterloo Community Arts Centre (WCAC), otherwise known as the Button Factory. Each summer’s sessions are built on a particular arts-related theme. This summer the theme has been Raiders of the Lost Art, and my two oldest sons have thoroughly enjoyed their hands-on view into art throughout history.

There are many other events and activities at WCAC during the year, but it’s these summer day camps that my family enjoys the most.

In short, fun and learning while making stuff, and it’s walking distance from our home! That really can’t be beat.

I’ve mentioned Kitchener’s Victoria Park in a previous post about cycling the Iron Horse Trail. It’s a wonderful city park with much to recommend it. I’ve spent more time there since having children than I did previously, as it’s a great place to have fun with my family. The playground area in particular is something that my sons enjoy. Truth be told, their joyful abandon as my two oldest make their leaps in the accompanying picture is the reason for this post.

There’s more to Victoria Park as well: a fine water playground, gardens, a small lake, and picnic areas. In addition, there are the various events and festivals that the park plays host to over the course of a year. Finally, it’s in downtown Kitchener, making it readily accessible to anyone.

There may well be greater or better-known parks in the world, but Victoria Park is a small treasure that makes living and working in Waterloo that much better.

Every summer my wife and I need to find interesting ways to keep our three sons busy while school is out. Typically we sign them up for a mix of day-long activities, looking to balance location, cost, availability, and our boys’ interests.

One winning option is the University of Waterloo’s Engineering Science Quest. In their words:

Engineering Science Quest (ESQ) is a not-for-profit program that operates with the goal of exposing children, in the Kitchener-Waterloo region and beyond, to the worlds of Engineering, Science and Technology through a variety of fun engaging hands on activities. ESQ is offered in conjunction with the University of Waterloo’s Faculties of Engineering and Science.

The budding engineers and scientists are grouped by the grade that they are about to go into at school, and each week of ESQ has a theme around which are built activities that draw on various science and engineering disciplines. For example, my seven-year-old was excited about showing me a little model that he built which shows how a lung works! That he was as excited by this as he was by doing archery at another day camp earlier in the summer is a testament to the programming and staff at ESQ.

I may not get to experience it directly, but ESQ is one of the great things about living in Waterloo.

I’ve written a few posts on things that I enjoy about living in Waterloo. Sometimes what I enjoy is that Waterloo is close to something special. One example is the Halton County Radial Railway, an amazing museum where visitors can ride on functioning streetcars and other rail cars. While it’s not in Waterloo, the museum is just a short drive to the east and is well worth a trip if you’ve never been there.

I’ve been taking my sons there every summer for years, and we’ve never tired of riding vintage streetcars through the woods or of hearing about where the cars were originally used. All the work that is done to restore decades-old equipment to running condition is done by volunteers, and the results are beautiful. Until my first visit it just never would have occurred to me that streetcars could have stained glass windows! It’s volunteers, too, who run the equipment with such cheer and enthusiasm.

Thank-you to everyone who helps make the Halton County Radial Railway such a special place.

I previously wrote about the charms of cycling the Grand River Trail in RIM Park. Another favourite cycling route is to ride the Iron Horse Trail between Kitchener and Waterloo. Like the trail at RIM Park, this trail is paved and supports multiple uses. As the name implies, the Iron Horse Trail makes use of what once had been a railway right-of-way. It passes by current (and also former) industrial ares, as well as making its way through residential neighbourhoods.

The trail also passes Victoria Park in Kitchener, which is a great destination for my sons when we cycle on the trail. The trail has served them well in terms of learning to cycle and enjoying longer rides.

Another great feature of the trail is the evocative equipment-as-art that can be found along it. Pieces of now-retired heavy machinery from the region’s industrial past document the kinds of work that was done, the output of which may well have have traveled by rail.

I’m lucky that I live close to one end of the trail, and have enjoyed using it for many years. Judging by the varied traffic that I see along it, others enjoy it as well.

One of the great things about living in Waterloo is the cycling opportunities.

One of my favourite routes includes the portion of the Grand River Trail that winds its way through RIM Park. The trail is paved, which makes it ideal for people walking, roller blading, cycling, or pushing baby strollers, all of whom easily co-exist on the trail. Apparently there are even horses, based on the “deposits” that I saw on a recent visit! The trail includes plenty of places to stop and enjoy the view of the river.

While I mainly cycle the trail on my own, my kids have enjoyed riding and walking the trail as well. The pace is little slower when we use the trail as a family!