Travel is fun and invigorating, and I think it’s even more interesting through the lens of a child. It changes the way a family decides to travel and helps in discovering places and activities that would have otherwise remained hidden.
In June, my husband, 2 children, and I took a drive from New Jersey, USA to Ontario, Canada, where we saw as much as possible in the short time span of a week. We came home tired, but excited to see more of the world, and with so many ideas and so much inspiration.
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A 7-9 hour drive is no joke, especially with a 4 and 6 year old, but there are so many ways to make it work. I relentlessly emptied, cleaned, and meticulously packed our family car in the week leading up to the trip. This preparation proved invaluable as we spent, essentially, two full days in the car on the way to/from Ontario, and also hours in the car each day traveling to and from our accommodations.
For food and drink, we made sure there was a small cooler within reach of the passenger seat that held fruits, cold water, and other items. We filled every water bottle, including several well-loved plastic jugs with as much water as we could possibly bring from home. We organized an area behind the driver’s seat with snacks on snacks on snacks and, of course, a small trash bin/bag for all the wrappers. We try not to eat like this often, but it made the road trip portion more doable for us.
For the kids, we had music playing and several playlists handy on our phones so we could enjoy music together. I had prepared folders for each child with Ontario-related coloring and activity pages from images I had found online (for example: the provincial bird and flower, a map of the province, etc.), a couple Dover Little Sticker Books (pet shop, petting zoo, trucks, funny animal faces), a container full of crayons and pencils, some fidget toys (clicky snake, rainbow balls, infinity cube, stretchy strings, wikki stix, tangle jr., counter, etc.), plenty of books (obviously), a stuffie each, a blanket each, and our usual car toy boxes (box, bubble timer, ). Since we have a minivan, we keep everything in between the second row seats with a box (and a net behind it) to help keep it all organized. We got a few special items for the trip, so the kids could enjoy learning more about where we were going and what we were doing (Carson Crosses Canada, Weird But True Canada), as well as some activities that were special just for the car ride (Would You Rather?, Mad Libs, Games on the Go, Found It, Guess in 10). This helped a lot, as we could bring them out sporadically, keeping things fresh and new enough that no one got too restless.
For navigation, since we were traveling out of the country, and also visiting areas that didn’t have cell reception, we downloaded the area maps to our phones and made sure to arrange a plan that included data, messaging, and calls in Canada with our cell provider. We used Wifi whenever possible (once we were at our accommodations) and tried to only use our phones when we needed to, staying off social media and other data-sucking apps to preserve the limited data we had for navigation and other necessary functions.
We left very early in the morning, getting out of the house before 5am, so hopefully the kids could rest and sleep for part of the way there. While this didn’t happen, it did allow us to get pretty far on the road without many stops before reaching our first destination. We stopped several times for bathroom and stretch breaks (definitely recommend to avoid soreness- include squatting, twisting, forward folding, and other motions that aren’t possible in a car, to decrease soreness from stagnation during the ride, and to encourage movement from the kids who don’t have much chance to move their bodies in their car seats). We did pick up a little food on the way to break up the snacking in the car, as well. We had two adults, so we were also able to switch drivers occasionally, which helped a lot with our ability to maintain the stamina needed to maintain positivity and calm for the benefit of the family dynamic while stuck in a car for so long. Luckily, we didn’t feel very stuck! We got to the border crossing, passports in the glove compartment for easy access, and made it into Canada without incident.
We made it to Niagara Falls, and we were able to secure parking (a win for any aspect of this trip) before walking along the water to view the falls, 6 year old in our teeny tiny fold-up stroller (ours is an older version of this GB Pockit) and 4 year old in our toddler carrier (Lillebaby toddler). We could not live without these transportation aids on this trip- and we used them every day! The falls did not disappoint (they never do), and the kids thought the spray reaching all the way up to them, as far away as we were, was hilarious. They said it felt like it was raining on a sunny day. We walked down to the Niagara City Cruises boat tour, to experience “full mist.” The kids were roaring with laughter the whole time we were in the mist. It was a very wet experience, and the kids no longer thought that walking along the water was that wet, after all. Upon exiting, we walked back up river to the Journey Behind the Falls, where we went underground and through tunnels to be able to view the falls (and feel the water) from behind. We then went down next to the waterfall, and that was also quite a wet experience. The kids said it was “the wettest day ever” and that “Canada is very wet.” I love seeing their perspective laid out like this. It was the first thing they had really experienced in Canada, so it made sense that they thought this. We walked back to the car, drove to St. Catharines to ride the very old Lakeside Park Carousel (still just 5 cents per ride) and stretch our legs. We met up with a friend and had a blast stretching our legs and enjoying the breeze from over Lake Ontario. We could have stayed there for days, enjoying the sandy beach and the relaxing vibes of the area. By 7pm, we had to leave and finish driving the remaining 2 hours to our hotel outside of Toronto, where we brought in all our stuff and our boatloads of packed food (as we had booked a suite with a kitchen to save on food costs), and promptly crashed for the night.
The next day, we had a slow morning with breakfast in the hotel room before packing what we needed for the outing that day. We drove in 45 minutes of traffic into Toronto where we parked and walked to Little Canada, a highly-detailed miniature (1:87 scale) version of famous landmarks, various cityscapes, and essentially a tour around some of the Canadian wonders and attractions from the comfort of downtown Toronto. Let me tell you, this spot is not to be missed. In each “province,” we were able to follow the hints to find 5 of Maurice the Moose, a miniature moose with a Canadian Flag painted on, in each exhibit. The tiny people, buildings, attractions, landmarks, vistas, and all of the scenery was impeccably detailed, from Little Niagara, Little Toronto, and Little Ottawa, to Petit Québec, Little Golden Horseshoe, and Little East Coast. Each new exhibit was a sight to behold, and we were able to experience Canada in all its seasons. Eventually, Little North and Little West Coast will also be available, and we’re hoping to come back in 3-5 years when it’s all completed- it’s that good. This attraction was especially appealing to us since our 6 year old, for the local homeschool science fair this year, worked tirelessly on a project about biomes of the world, including creating miniature versions of the various biomes. Creating miniatures has become a sort of passion for her! When she got to see how everything was made and see some of the makers in action (and meet them!), it was inspiring! She said she even wanted to live at Little Canada.
After grabbing some lunch, we walked to the Allan Gardens Conservatory (a free botanical garden), and enjoyed all the plants in the different arid, tropical, temperate, and equatorial greenhouses (seeing plants from various biomes, to my 6 year old’s delight).
We then made our way to our final destination of the day, Museum of Illusions Toronto. This museum was also a hit for both children and adults alike, as your brain struggles to understand what is real and what is illusion, while providing an opportunity to take some really interesting pictures and videos.
The following day, we got out early to head to Centre Island Park on Lake Ontario, where we enjoyed a sweet local amusement park, a petting zoo, a labyrinth maze, a children’s garden (including a hide and seek garden), a wetland area with zillions of tiny frogs, a beach, a pier with a spectacular view of Lake Ontario, and, of course, panoramic views of the Toronto city skyline from the city-facing side of the island. I could see us wandering around that park each month throughout the year, and even more in the summer, if we lived locally. There is so much free stuff to do (we only paid for the ferry and a few amusement park tickets), and everything else, we enjoyed for free.
The next day we got out as early as possible because we visited the Toronto Zoo! It was quite the day of walking (after several other days of a lot of walking), so it was important that we brought a wagon to tote our food, kids, and anything else we needed, like sun protection (lip protection, sunscreen, sun hats). We were hoping to see a moose (because, Canada), but unfortunately, the moose wasn’t on display that day. However, we were able to explore around and see animals from a variety of biomes (are you sensing a trend here?) which was super exciting, especially bird-eating spiders, giraffes, wombats, polar bears, and so much more. There’s a children’s zoo within the zoo which has lots of interactive exhibits that children can climb on to get their wiggles out. After arriving back at the hotel, we packed up, because the next day would be a new hotel and a new adventure!
After several exhausting days of walking (that were also full of joy), we were excited to have a little bit of a lower-key day, where we visited Graffiti Alley, 3 or so blocks that have tons of legal street art all along the alley. It was a great cultural experience and a wonderful way to learn about the intricacies of the art of graffiti. We enjoyed Montreal-style bagels at the nearby Bagels on Fire, which the kids loved getting to see made by hand, boiled, and then fed into a pizza-style fire oven with an extremely long and thin wooden spatula. We enjoyed a local food, peameal bacon, on these bagels, and it was so good! We hopped back in the car and drove over to the Rogers Centre (the home of the Toronto Blue Jays, and also our accommodation for the night) and parked the car before walking to, and enjoying, the hockey hall of fame. We wrapped up the day with room service and a baseball game that we viewed right from our hotel room window, which is honestly the best way to watch a baseball game with kids, and we didn’t even need to purchase tickets to the game- just our hotel room!
Our next day was going to be filled with driving, so we packed up as much as possible the night before to get an early start. In the morning, we hopped into the car and headed over to Scarborough Bluffs, which rise 91 meters above the Lake Ontario Shoreline, and are a stunning set of white cliffs carved away during the ice age. There are many parks within the bluffs, but we went to Cathedral Bluffs Park, which is the highest point of the bluffs and afford beautiful views of Lake Ontario. Then, we drove down, down, down to Bluffer’s Park & Beach, which is the only spot in the Bluffs with a swimming beach. We enjoyed climbing on the rocks, feeling the sand between our toes, and taking picture after picture of the beautiful views all around.
We reluctantly left the bluffs after a short visit to finish the 3 hour drive up to Maynooth, Canada, to embark on our final Canadian adventure: cabin camping in the taiga biome.
For the final days of our trip, we spent peaceful hours in a tiny, off-grid cabin in the woods in Maynooth, Canada, near Algonquin Provincial Park. When I tell you this place is serene, I mean it! We, as a family, already love camping, and the luxury of having a cabin and outhouse was so nice, so we didn’t need to bring a tent, stove, or any of those items with us. We did, though, very much need to bring protection against the relentless mosquitoes and horse flies that are notorious in this area (bug bite thing, bug spray). However, we still got to experience all of the goodness of the coniferous forest with all of the plants that are unique to that biome, an incredible campfire night, and plenty of time biking, digging, and playing in the forest as only children know how to do. We loved the small town of Maynooth, with the adorable tea house called Memories of Maynooth, the quaint general store, and the wonderful local library, which had games (Catan Jr.), books (M is for Maple), and toys abound! There are plenty of hiking trails, waterfalls, some rapids, and other attractions nearby, and we could have spent a month exploring it all, but unfortunately our time in Canada had come to an end. I couldn’t imagine a better way to wrap up this incredible trip, and we’re already hoping to be able to visit again soon, exploring 1000 islands on the way, and experiencing immersion in a new language in Quebec. Canada, we hope to be back soon!
