a peek inside the fishbowl

One of the best things about being a WAHM is that I have the luxury of juggling my schedule around my kids and work deadlines. Usually it works out, sometimes it does not… like yesterday, when I had a massive deadline AND a field trip.

Neither were negotiable, so I was up at 5:00 in order to squeeze in a few extra hours of writing before the field trip. This one was to Rideau Hall, residence of the Governor General. It’s a pretty special place.

Sadly, I was so rushed that I left without my School Trip Emergency Survival Kit (STESK). My STESK consists of two things. Two important items I learned to bring with me after dozens of lessons learned during school trips. Namely:

• Tylenol
• A thermos of hot tea

Without my STESK, survival is dubious. And might make me want to use this:

Just kidding (OK, only half-kidding).

Because I was rushing with this deadline I found myself working until the very last minute, and by then it was too late to get my STESK ready, so I went without. :)

I survived! Mostly because the kids, the parents, and the teachers are really nice people and school bus suspension seemed a bit more stable than it had in the past:

Here’s a sneak peek inside the wintery grounds of Rideau Hall.

The building itself is very interesting. So many stories! No photos allowed inside though. Did you know that if the Canadian flag is flying it means the GG is not at home? Sadly we weren’t going to meet His Excellency.

One of the reasons I like to go on field trips is for the memorable one-liners. For example, this time around someone asked the security guard if he was the Governor General. I got a chuckle out of that one. :)

We got a short tour and then proceeded to the outdoor skating rink.

This place has been recommended to me before, but this was the first time I’d seen it myself. How can I put this, it almost made me cry. That’s how pretty it was. It felt SO CANADIAN too. Outside, on ice, sun shining, music playing … a perfect day. I bet it’s spectacular at night.

(FYI, out of respect of the children’s privacy, I am not posting photos in which anyone is clearly identifiable.)

There’s also a rustic warming hut beside the rink (I think they refer to it as the Chalet) which has a big wood stove inside, making it a really cozy place to lace up your skates:

Everyone was pretty happy at the end, which made me happy I came. And that I didn’t even make use of the emergency exit.

You might be interested to know that the rink is open during the evening (but you need to make reservations for your group) and is open to the public during weekends. There is more information about it on the GG’s official website.

I urge you to check out Rideau Hall next time you have a hankering to do something cheap and interesting here in Ottawa. It makes a great field trip.