December Already?!

Can't believe how quickly we got here!  It's almost Christmas! 

These days, we're doing lots of baking and crafts and knitting, even. 

Tamara and Jessa have both been working on knitting hats (one for each of the kids but shhh! Don't tell!) - and the kids are pretty interested. A, in fact, is helping. She likes to sit on a lap and help by putting the yarn around the needles  - won't be long before she's knitting all by herself at this rate!  She may be only two but sure doesn't miss much. 

Not doing quite as many trips to the zoos and/or Science Centre lately - partly the winter driving thing, and partly an adjustment period. We have a new wee one that is on an entirely different nap schedule than the older kids, so for now, it's easier to stay closer to home most of the time. Doesn't mean we don't get out though. Lots of fun indoor playgrounds to make use of. The kids love Nebs, and several of the fast food restaurant playgrounds.  


And of course, there's always the library and shopping, too. And SO many fun things to do at home too. We have our new playground in the backyard. And always so many fun things to do inside. 

Our latest addition is a 'ballerina bar' which we installed for our aspiring ballerina. It serves well as a pull up bar for the littlest littles too. 

Merry Christmas to you and yours! 

Summer Fun!!!

Our summer is off to a great start! 

The littles & the not-so-littles are all getting along very well, and that means we get to go DO fun & exciting things almost every day. 

Or, sometimes we decide to just stay home and do fun stuff there instead. We have lots of fun toys for both inside and outside play.

And we now have a lot more play space too. We freed up a new room to use for our sleeproom, so now we have a playroom for the littles plus another for the not-so-littles. And that lets us have a lot more ~stuff~ out for use (still scads stored so we swap things in and out depending on what group of kids we have. There's always something new at Miss Jessa's). 

And we have another paterpillar too!! 

The first three we had hatched and we let them go free - but then a couple of days later, we discovered eggs on our milkweed. 

So we are watching the whole caterpillar --> caccoon --> butterfly process again. 

We do sometimes have space for another child - if you are  looking for an occasional (or even relatively regular) kid free day, do feel free to give us a call and we'll do our best to accommodate you :)   Trips to TO Zoo, Jungle Cat World, the Science Centre, and a whole bunch more are included at no additional charge.

 

Almost a butterfly!

We've been learning about butterflies this last little bit.

You can, if you are interested, follow our adventures on our calendar. This project took us on a milkweed hunt! We visited the butterfly gardens, which, it turns out, are within walking distance.

And then we did a trip to a garden centre, which the kids loved.


We started with three teeny tiny caterpillars and now look!!


 
 
They are about ready to hatch!! SO hoping they emerge tomorrow, while the kids are here!

But if not, we should still be okay with #3, which is about 2 days behind the other 2.

Fingers crossed!!

Our Calendar Finally Works!

So, if you look up there a bit, you'll see that we have added a Google calendar to the site.

I was just able to get it working today, so mostly everything I've filled in so far is from outings and activities that made it onto our Facebook page - which means that it's pretty far from complete. But we're going to try to keep it properly up to date from now on.

So you should make a point of checking it out once in awhile :)

You might notice, from what is posted so far, that we do go back to our favourite places a LOT.

That is for several reasons, not the least of which is that we don't always have the same kids. Also, we tend to go for short chunks that fit in between naptimes, so as to keep things fun & easy for all. Which means there's always lots more to see & do. And last but not least, it's because that's what the kids ask for!!! 

They're little - but they have plenty of opinions! Some days, they just want to stay home and play in the backyard; other days, they NEED to go see whichever critter they happen to be enamoured of that day, and off we go :)

If your littles - or even bigger kids - need a quality, fun, active & busy place to hang out this summer, we do happen to have at least one, maybe two, spaces available yet. Give Jessa a call at 1-647-300-5687 or email us at missjessas@gmail.com and we'll be happy to arrange a tour.

We had to go find some milkweed to feed our paterpillars!

Still keeping busy at Miss Jessa's

Well, the Toronto Zoo strike is a bit disappointing. Our littles don't understand the whole strike thing - they just know they want to go to the zoo and see their favourite animals and ride the zoomobile!

But we've still got plenty of alternative activities to keep them busy and engaged.

Got the backyard mowed and cleaned up so the cars and playhouse slide and all that fun stuff are back and ready for play. And of course, we have bubbles! We have bubbles at Miss Jessa's, and sometimes when we go to other Oshawa playgrounds, too. And we found bubbles at the Science Centre too!

Since the Zoo has been closed, we thought we'd try the Science Centre - and the kids loved it. Yay, science!!! As they say :)

We went grocery shopping at the pretend market, played with all sorts of balls, made music, and climbed and learned about skeletons and lungs and all sorts of neat stuff. And the best part is that there's still lots more to explore the next time we go.

We're waiting for summer to use our iMax passes (mostly because the times conflict with nap times and/or home times, but also so that some of the bigger kids can come too) but looking forward to seeing their reactions to that.

So - lots of fun activities & crafts & outdoor play, and still lots of outings, too. What's not to like?

Quality care, great fun, and flexible hours to suit your child care needs  - and we even have an open under two spot available right now! Give us a call at 647-300-5687 to arrange a tour. Or, you can email missjessas@gmail.com or contact us through our Facebook page.

Spring Doings!

We've had a great winter at Miss Jessa's. Lots of outings to the zoo and to Jungle Cat World. Neb's Fun World, Airzone  and the play area at Burger King are also big favourites with the kids.

Most days we head out once all the kidlets get here, and head back just in time for lunch and afternoon naps/quiet time. After those, depending on pick up times and so on, we usually stick around and use that time for free play and/or fun crafts and/or activities.

Won't be long before we'll be out blowing bubbles in the backyard again!

Our wee ones have aged out of our under-two spots, so if you're looking for quality day care for your wee one, please do drop us an email, or give us a call at 647-300-5687.