a peek inside the fishbowl

We have a winner! Congratulations Tanya! 

I don’t pack my kids’ lunches anymore. I stopped doing it as soon as they were old enough to open the mayonnaise jar and cut their sandwiches in half. It may have been second or third grade, I’m not sure, but I will say this: this decision was a win/win situation for all involved. Not only I was able to preserve what little sanity I have in the morning, but by giving them the power to pack their lunches they picked up some important life skills. For example:

• They learned about the kinds of foods we should be eating, and why.
• They learned out how much food they need to eat so they don’t feel hungry… and what happens when you come home with an uneaten sandwich. (Hint: Mummy hates food waste.)
• They learned how long it takes them to eat a lunch.
• They learned about litterless lunches: garbage, recycling, food waste, and composting.
• They learned that apples go brown when you slice them up unless you add a bit of lemon juice or sprinkle them with cinnamon sugar.
• They learned that warm cheese slices aren’t very pleasant to eat. Even if there are crackers involved.
• They learned that lunch does not have to be a sandwich, or what everyone else is eating.

My part of the deal was this: I’d buy lunch-related items, but they’d pack it all up. Washing the lunch containers was also supposed to be their domain, but my plans didn’t quite work out in that regard. Hmph.

I learned some lessons along the way too. I learned how to make granola bars that were better than store bought. I learned that kids don’t care if they eat the same lunch every day. I learned the value of a really good thermos. And I also learned that not all lunch and water bottles are created equally. This is why I’m very happy that Fishbowl patron, terra20, has stepped up for this giveaway!

The lunch section at terra20 is one of my favourite parts of the store. They’ve pretty much cornered the market with a wide array of lunch-related wares. In fact, there is a handy resource on their website if you need some advice finding a lunch container that’s right for you.

We’ve gone through a LOT of different lunch containers here at Casa Fishbowl. Personally, I love the kind with attached lids. The Sistema containers totally fit the bill in this regard and we’ve had great success with the lunch cube. (There’s a buy more/save more deal on Sistema right now which you can check out right here.)

It is worth noting that lunch section isn’t just for kids either, there are items for grownups who pack their own lunches too… and some great designs too.  (I am currently coveting this cooler bag!)

terra20 is giving one lucky winner a $50 gift card to kickstart another season of packing lunches, whether it’s for school or for the workplace. Would you like to win? Read on!

• In order for your entry to qualify, have a look through the lunch pages on the terra20 website. Leave a comment below telling me what product caught your eye.
• One entry per email address please!
• If you can’t post your comment for whatever reason you can email it to me for posting at andrea at quietfish dot com. Please note, I cannot be responsible if your entry is misdirected or gets stuck in my Spam folder.
• This giveaway is void where prohibited by law.
• I will draw one name using Random.org at noon EST on September 4. I’ll contact the winner via email, who can pick up the gift card at one of the terra20 locations (Pinecrest or Wellington West). The winner will be posted here as well. So please check back!
• Did you know that terra20 is on Twitter and Facebook? Following terra20 on social media is not a requirement of this giveaway but it’s a great way of keeping up with great deals and special events.

That’s it. Over to you. Good luck!

I would like to travel more, and write about travelling more. I’m not sure how to go about it just yet as the time and budget to travel is nearly zero but I wanted to put it out there to The Universe anyway. (It’s only when You Put Things Out There that things happen, right?) All that being said, I wanted to tell you about a trip we took to Kingston recently. It was fantastic, and made me wonder, yet again, why we don’t take the time to visit Kingston more often. It’s so close to Ottawa and there is great stuff to be seen there!

So this was our itinerary as we set out:

• Pack and leave Ottawa for Sandbanks first thing in the morning.
• Spend the day at the beach and leave for Kingston in the afternoon.
• Check in to our hotel (we booked a room at the Delta Kingston Waterfront Hotel)
• Grab dinner
• Sleep
• Poke around Kingston before heading back to Ottawa

It’s not very detailed, is it, but I was happy to be winging it because I really just wanted to play it by ear and not feel the pressure of having to be somewhere at a certain time. Well, it couldn’t have been better.

Sandbanks, which was so packed with people the weekend before they had to shut down road access to incoming traffic (!), was pretty much perfect. The weather was fantastic (sunny, but not boiling) with a nice breeze coming off the water. We packed a picnic lunch in a big cooler and ate it in the shade of the trees edging the beach.

I’ve written about Sandbanks before. It really is a lovely destination, and perfect for families. The water is relatively calm and shallow, the beach is wide, and there’s plenty of space.

Here’s the view from the parking lot just as we were going to climb the dune to the beach side:

And here’s the beach!

We lolled around for a few hours before deciding to check out a nearby hike: the Sandbanks Dune Trail. Sandbanks has a really unique geology, and we figured this trail would be a good one. We were right. It was, in a nutshell, unlike anything we’ve seen before.

There were hardly any people on the trail, and it was simply gorgeous.

We were pooped out when we were done, and were more than happy to collapse in the car and head to our hotel.

I was happy with our choice: the Delta Kingston Waterfront Hotel. It is in a really great location, right in the heart of Kingston. It was lovely to check in, dump our stuff, have a shower, and just walk out of the hotel in search of dinner. (This is how we ended up at Wooden Heads, which I wrote about here.)

This part of Kingston is very scenic and pedestrian-friendly, and after dinner we stopped at Mio Gelato. Even though I couldn’t possibly eat another bite I somehow managed to eat mine:

We crashed in our beds with full tummies that night, that’s for sure.

There’s a lot to see and do in Kingston, and history was our guide this time around. When we were first researching this trip online, I was disappointed to learn that Kingston Penitentiary was closed to the public. We decided to make do with the Penitentiary Museum. Built in 1873 as the Kingston Penitentiary Warden’s residence (and directly across the street from Kingston Pen), “Cedarhedge” now houses Canada’s Penitentiary Museum.

It was truly a fascinating look at the history of Kingston Pen and the evolution of prison system. Honestly, I have rarely seen the kids so absorbed in a museum experience. A display of real “shivs” and escapes (here’s one novel idea) was of particular interest, as you can imagine. Our visit resulted in many interesting conversations about crime and punishment, rehabilitation, prisoner rights etc. What happens to someone if they’re locked away in a cell that’s hardly bigger than themselves?

If you visit Kingston you must make this a stop along the way. And it’s free. (!)

We walked around the big prison too, but access is limited so we had to stick to the exterior, just off the road.

Next stop: Cataraqui Cemetery. It’s a National Historic Site, and was listed as a stop in a brochure we had. I noticed it was the final resting place of our first prime minister, so we hopped back in the car and set out.

Once we got there, his burial site wasn’t hard to find:

And here’s where I was totally taken by surprise. Given his place in Canadian history, I expected that Sir John A. Macdonald to have an elaborate tomb or sculpture. Well, this was it:

It’s a family plot, marked by a low wrought iron fence. Sir John A’s grave marker is a simple stone cross with an inscription. I guess he didn’t want a fuss, eh?

Of course we couldn’t leave Kingston without visiting a few shops. I was particularly smitten with Midori Gifts and the Antiques Emporium (which had a great mix of old and new items for purchase):

The last stop during our visit to Kingston was to Graham’s Pharmacy. It’s a working pharmacy but it’s also one of Kingston’s oldest and is housed in one of the city’s oldest buildings. It has a cool display of old apothecary treasures which were fun to check out:

When we were too tired to walk anymore we piled back into the car and made our way back to Ottawa. We had one more stop to make along the way. More about that later!

3 things you may want to rethink before making them a part of your work routine http://t.co/FBAziyvsks via @DailyMuse pic.twitter.com/XxYDwl3eTP

— Mashable (@mashable) August 18, 2015

• Coke Tries to Sugarcoat the Truth on Calories, nytimes.com
• The end of walking, aeon.co
• Why Al Jazeera stopped using the word migrant (and we probably should too), i100.independent.co.uk
• The last thing a kid should have to worry about is the bathroom, ottawacitizen.com
• Why an Instagram Tweak Spells the Beginning of a Multibillion-Dollar Industry, recode.net

On the nightstand: Sugar: A Bittersweet History