Exploring and Enjoying Downtown Montreal

This summer my family and I enjoyed exploring Montreal, Quebec. Our drive to Montreal was about 5 hours from Toronto with a few stopovers at ONroute locations. We stayed over at the largest hotel in the province of Quebec, Fairmont The Queen Elizabeth in Montreal. The Canadian National Railway built this downtown hotel in the 1950s.

Pointe-à-Callière Montreal Museum of Archaeology and History

There are so many places to see within downtown Montreal, and I am glad we went to check out the Pointe-à-Callière Montreal Museum of Archaeology and History that had the temporary exhibit of the epic journey of Marco Polo, as well as many fun permanent exhibits. It was fun for us to learn and see how the archaeologist go deep underground.

View of Montreal from Mount Royal

One of our favourite moments in Montreal was going to Mont Royal and seeing all of Montreal from the top. I really respect the choice the government has made to ensure that Mount Royal stays the tallest and looks upon the city. This lookout is a must see when you visit Montreal.

Our Plans to Visit Montreal

I have been to Montreal as a child and enjoyed it very much, and have thought of taking my children so they can sight-see. When I went to Montreal, I remember seeing downtown Montreal, the museum, the Olympic Stadium and a few markets.

Our Experience at the Espace Pour La Vie Montreal

During our stay in Montreal, we visited the Space for Life. We took the train from the hotel to this space, which was convenient than looking for parking and finding the location. I like that all the four attractions are close by, which makes it convenient to visit the attraction at the same time; especially because we went for a short visit. 

Learning from Eyewitness Books

We love DK Eyewitness books, as they are a wealth of knowledge. This series of books are good educational resources. It comes in handy when doing homework, research projects, improving reading of reluctant readers and English as a Second Language students. Importantly these books satisfy the minds of curious children, as it answers their questions.

Montreal Science Centre

The family friendly Montreal Science Centre is a fun place to explore. We got a chance to see the Cave of Lascaux exhibit during our visit, as well as explore other fun features of the Science Centre in Montreal.

How Important is French When Travelling To Canada

Although French is one of the official languages in Canada, most recent statistics suggest that 22.8% of the population speak French as their first language, while many others speak it as their second one. If you are planning to travel to Canada, you may wonder if you need to get your French phrasebook out, or if you can get by with just English.

Add These Canadian Theme Parks To Your Upcoming Travel Plans

We can't wait for the warm season when fun theme parks start opening for rides. If thrilling rides are on your bucket list then this article will help you plan which Canadian theme parks you should check out and add to your list.

Exclusive Collection of Matt and Nat Handbags at Indigo

Two proudly Canadian companies, Indigo and Matt and Nat have partnered to create an exclusive collection of sustainable, eco-friendly, vegan leather bags, available at Indigo stores and online at indigo.ca only for a limited time until supplies last.

Hyundai Hockey Helpers Benefit Under Resourced Canadian Youth

Hyundai Hockey Helpers launched in 2012 is Hyundai’s program that helps under-resourced Canadian youth to play hockey. The program partners with a nonprofit organization, KidSport, to select and distribute the grants to help with registration fees and equipment costs for children from under-resourced families get in the game. Hyundai covers all administration costs for the program, so every additional dollar raised goes directly to kids.

Kinder Surprise is a Special Treat for Road Trips

Usually during the summer holidays when school is out, my family and I go on road trips or fly to see other countries. When we go on these long road trips, I take a few things to surprise my children. These surprises come in handy to cheer them up during their unhappy moments. Special treats like Kinder Surprise usually put my children in a better mood.

Register and Join the Hudson's Bay Hosted Event in Toronto

There will be a fun event hosted by Hudson's Bay this May. If you are in Toronto you can register to attend it for free by registering here.  

Spring Clean with a New ATTITUDE

Bio Spectra, the Montreal-based producer and distributor of ATTITUDE is offering a Canadian made alternative to existing cleaning products that are free of known cancer causing chemicals. The collection features laundry detergents, dishwashing liquids, surface cleaners and hand soaps made with ingredients from renewable and vegetable sources that are easily biodegradable and non-toxic.

Eggciting news from Kinder

This is the time of the year we will all soon be thinking of eggs.  Here are some eggelicious ideas.

• Boiled eggs
• Scrambled eggs
• Party eggs
• Drawing characters on eggs
• Dying eggs

Kinder has lots of eggciting news for all of us...

Kinder Shake and Win Contest
Enter the Facebook contest until March 8th to win their coupons.  Kinder will be giving away 1000 free Kinder Mini Eggs coupons and 1000 Kinder Surprise 100g Egg coupons.

Kinder will be supporting Children's Miracle Network by donating $1 up to $25,000 for every new friend on their Facebook page from March 1st to 31st.  This will bring joy to many children across Canada so be a part of it and spread the word.

Check out the New Kinder Easter Gallery to see the fabulous toys found inside their Kinder Surprise Maxi 150g and Kinder Surprise 100g eggs.  Don't forget to vote for your favourite 2013 Easter toy collection.

Kinder's Easter bunny Harry will be touring and making surprise visits to family events in Toronto, Montreal, Calgary and Vancouver this March to celebrate Easter.  Harry will be giving out free samples of Kinder Mini eggs.  Keeps tabs where Harry will be visiting by checking out the Kinder Canada Facebook page.

Just in time for the Easter holidays Kinder has some delicious, cute Kinder Surprise packages. 

Egg Painting Kit, where children can decorate the plastic shell and put a Kinder egg inside to give as a gift or hide it for egg hunting.  We don't have to worry about smelly eggs just in case they forget where they hid the eggs :)  

We really like the soft toy and the mix of different Kinder chocolates in this cute gift package that is sure to please adults and children.

Disclosure: I am part of the Kinder Mom program and receive special perks as part of my affiliation   All rights reserved on mentioned photographs and written content Createwithmom © 2011 - 2013. Please Ask First

Healthy Options to Eat Food On The Go at Toronto's Harbourfront

There is a fresh new food option and concept from Blue Goose for us to enjoy at Toronto's Harbourfront until October 2013. The three shipping containers designed from Montreal based, Muvbox is sourced from sustainable materials and use solar power. The Common Goods containers give us different, organic options to try when we are on the go. It is a wonderful atmosphere to meet up colleagues, friends and family to enjoy the delicious food. I tried the delicious lobster roll and the fabulous hibiscus drink. 

We Day: Be the change

Give the Canadian penny that appeared in 1853, a powerful farewell before it goes out of circulation. Students and schools were given penny bags on We Day to collect $25 in pennies, which will provide a permanent source of clean water to one person in developing countries. From November 1st to December 21st, then again in Spring 2013 RBC branches across Canada will collect these penny filled bags making it easy for us to collect the pennies without counting or rolling.  All we have to do is fill up the bags and drop it off at any RBC branch.

Free the Children is an international organization started by Marc and Craig Kielburger. This organization empowers youth to remove barriers that prevent them from begin active local and global citizens. This program educates, engages and empowers youth in North America and UK. 
   

We Day brings big issues to the forefront and changes the value system of everyone, especially the youth as they become leaders. There are over 1.7 million young people from 45 countries involved in this initiative to make a positive change at home and abroad. In the 2011/2012 school year youth raised $6 million for local and global causes.  They invested more than 1.7 million hours of time volunteering. 

I support this type of active awareness and education, and believe it is important for our children to be involved in these positive changes. I attended the We Day event at the Air Canada Centre, Toronto and was able to meet celebrities and activists such as Martin Sheen, Nelly Furtado and Jacob from Hedley. We listened and saw speakers and performers such as Molly Burke, Romeo A. Dallaire, Robin Wiszowaty, Shawn Desman, Spencer West, The Tenors, Tyler Shaw, Al Gore, Jake Zeldin, Jennifer Hudson, Jesse Giddings, Justice Murray Sinclair and Justin Trudeau.

We Day will be held in 8 Canadian cities this school year; Toronto (Sep 28), Vancouver (Oct 18), Alberta (Oct 24), Manitoba (Oct 30), Waterloo Region (Nov 14), Montreal (Nov 20) and National We day in Ottawa (Apr 29).  

The generous sponsors RBC and TELUS make We Day completely free for students and educators.  TELUS has a Phones for Good campaign where they will give $25 (up to $650,000) from the sale of every TELUS Samsung Galaxy SIII and Samsung Ace Q to Free the Children.

They also have an Earn your way to We Day campaign. TELUS gives $1 (up to $100,000) to Free the Children for every submission from the youth across Canada when they tell what they are doing to make a difference in their community.

Youth between 13 and 17 can submit their video on how they would partner with a local charity to make a positive change in their community and win $20,000 to put their idea into action.

MuchMusic will air highlights on November 11th at 7pm EST and CTV will air on November 24th at 7pm EST.  

The international projects such as "Adopt a village" done by Free the Children is a holistic, sustainable model that helps children and their families from the cycle of poverty.  To make an investment in these communities, this project helps develop five of these important parts of the infrastructure.  

1. Education: They make a valuable social investment by concentrating on providing traditional curriculum, healthy homes and business skills.  
2. Clean water and sanitation by providing localized clean water sources and facilities to reduce waterborne diseases.  This source helps the young children that trek to collect water for their families to attend school.
3. Health: providing medical supplies for health clinics and workshops so the community can treat illness quickly. They provide community gardens and tree planting.  Sports equipment to encourage physical fitness.
4. Alternative income and livelihood by skill training, financial business training and microcredit loans to help families start small business.
5. Agriculture and food security provides nutrition programs that give children nutritious food, crop diversification, agricultural training, irrigation and watershed development.  

When there is rapid growth in technology it is sad to see that some parts of the world there are people without the essential of life: WATER.  Things we can do to help.

• Get a penny bag from Free the Children or RBC branch and start collecting.
• Visit the online water initiative and donate.
• Purchase a $10 Me to We Artisan handmade unique Rafiki made by Maasai moms in Kenya, which will provide one person access to clean water for a year.

Help Canada use the penny for a good cause that will change the lives of so many people and communities.  The penny is used to make wishes come true, so lets make the wishes of 100,000 people come true.

All rights reserved on photographs and written content Createwithmom © 2012. Please Ask First

Driving the 2014 Hyundai SantaFe XL

Last year, my family and I had the pleasure of test driving the Hyundai SantaFe Sport 2.0T and this year we enjoyed driving the 2014 Hyundai SantaFe XL. We drove the SantaFe XL on a trip to Montreal. The five hours drive each way with a few stopovers was a comfortable drive for everyone in my family in this spacious vehicle.

How To Explore Canada’s Diverse Culinary Background While Travelling

Canada has a diverse culinary background. It doesn't matter which province we visit, there are lots of amazing food to explore! When travelling, my family and I never worry about packing food, as we can easily find food from any cuisine we prefer. And there are plenty of options to choose from. 

Be #BacktoSchool Ready

Some products and companies to keep in mind during Back to School Season.

Keep yourself and family organized with the 2015/2016 Day Ja View Calendar. I enjoyed using this calendar last year. Day Ja View, August to July wall calendars starts on Monday and ends on Sunday. I like this unique calendar because it comes with stickers that we can place on the removable plastic protective sheet, and avoid re-writing recurring activities.