Family Fun at the Old Orchard Inn Greenwich
Family Fun at the Old Orchard Inn Greenwich
Disclosure: Our family was invited to attend a family-friendly March Break event at the Old Orchard Inn, Greenwich which was normally only open to inn guests! All opinions are our own.
When the Old Orchard Inn in Greenwich invited us to come to a pirate treasure hunt during March Break, normally just open to guests of the Inn, we jumped right on board! I enlisted the help of my nieces, expert treasure hunters, and headed to the Old O.
To be honest, we didn’t really know what we were getting into, but are always up for an adventure, so wanted to check it out!
You can imagine our delight when we realized the event was being lead by Jerome the Grave Keeper of Valley Ghost Walks!
For over an hour-and-a-half, Jerome, and his pirate sidekicks, lead us on a hunt around the Inn.
As a group, we followed a series of clues, looking for signs of treasure.
At each stop, there was an activity for the kids to do from creating their own pirate name, pirate games and songs, solving pirate riddles and cracking pirate codes.
The evening was full of great pirate jokes
“Q: Why is pirating so addictive?
A: They say once ye lose yer first hand, ye get hooked!”
and lots of local pirate folklore stories, kid-appropriate, used in the Fundy Shore Valley Ghost Walk.
In fact, I had written the scripts for those stories when I was doing the writing and researching for the show!
Learn about my involvement in Valley Ghost Walks Here.
The best part, according to the kids, was sitting around the fireplace at the end. The lights were dimmed, and they could listen to lots of stories.
The evening was capped off with cookies and hot chocolate before tucking these pirates into bed after a wonderful night out at the Old Orchard Inn.
March Break
This pirate event happened on three different nights during March Break. But, that’s not all. They had a whole host of family-friendly activities on the go from movies to a games room.
Restaurant
The Old Orchard Inn has always been one of our favourite places to eat out with the kids. We adore their Sunday brunches, now held on special occasions.
It’s a great place to eat out at anytime, really, with your family or just your friends.
Family Friendly Place to Stay
Right off the highway 101, Exit 11, the Old Orchard Inn is such a convenient place to stay. It’s minutes from Acadia, all major amenities and shops and services, and makes a great place to stay if you are in the area for a sports tournament, family function, or just looking for a great getaway.
With a pool, family-friendly atmosphere, and activities for kids, you can’t go wrong!
Next time you need a place to eat out, or a place to stay with your family, think of the Old Orchard Inn in Greenwich!
Learn more about the Old Orchard Inn.
You never know who you will discover!
Easter Roundup of Crafts, Recipes and Activities
Easter Roundup of Crafts, Recipes and Activities
This blog contains a collection of ideas for Easter including recipes, crafts, activities, decorations and more! Some are from Valley Family Fun, while others are rounded up from my Maritime blogging friends. Be sure to check out their sites for lots of ideas!
Everything Easter!
25+ Easter Ideas from East Coast Mommy
Recipes
Mini Eggs & Pudding Easter Cookies by Older Mommy/Still Yummy
Rice Krispies Easter Baskets by Valley Family Fun
DIY Easter Affirmation Eggs by Confessions of a Fitness Instructor
Easter Bird’s Nest Cookies by Confessions of a Fitness Instructor
Creamy Rice Pudding by a Country Parent
Decorations and Crafts
How to Make an Easter Diorama by Valley Family Fun
Jellybean Pussy Willows by Valley Family Fun
How to Make Floral Egg Holders by Kinder Art
10 Egg-quisite Easter Crafts by There’s a Shoe for That
Gift Ideas
Easter Gift Ideas for Toddlers: Attempting Quality over Quantity by Adventures at Home
Activities
Shell Scramble Easter Activity by Itsy Bitsy Haligonians
Early Literacy Easter Activities by Itsy Bitsy Haligonians
Name Egg Puzzles by Itsy Bitsy Haligonians
DIY Felt Egg Game for Toddlers by There’s a Shoe for That
Easter Family Stories
Pieces of Nan by The Curtains are Open
How to make Easter Diorama for Church
How to make an Easter Diorama for Church
When we lived in the UK for 5 months, we visited several cathedrals around Easter time. We saw these gorgeous dioramas on display and knew we had to come home and recreate one here. I had never seen one before, and had a hard time finding anything on Pinterest, so I thought I would share our creations!
Every year, our family signs up to decorate the church for a month, and this year we made sure we signed up for Easter!
Here’s the scene we saw in a church in Barmouth, Wales.
Then, we visited, St. Asaph, the smallest Cathedral in Britain, in northern Wales.
Because I am a project manager, and have no real artistic abilities, our diorama was created by my husband and his sister.
Based loosely on the pictures we had taken in Wales, we gathered rocks of all shapes and sizes, and combined it with gravel, craft moss, the heads of silk flowers.
Underneath, you can’t see, but the hills are buckets and even our camping cooler, plus some Thomas the Tank mountain pieces. This is all topped with a green tablecloth, and then brown fabric that was to wrap roses!
The end result, is pretty spectacular, I think!
We added a spotlight and some purple tulips to the backdrop, and will use some figurines from a couple of different nativity sets, to tell the story for later in Holy Week leading up to Easter morning.
I am so proud of their creation!
Easter Bouquet
I concentrated on an Easter bouquet for the Communion Table. I used pussy willows I had collected a few years ago, and combined them with jellybean pussy willows I made the last time I was on Easter decorations!
These are so pretty, and add a splash of colour. They keep from year to year.
Here’s how to make jellybean pussy willows!
I also collected a few branches and used the hot glue gun to attach various shades of pink tissue paper to make blossoms.
The result is really pretty!
This bouquet also looks lovely in your home at Easter and spring time!
Happy Easter!
Eating out with Friends and Family: Kate’s Bakery New Minas
Eating out with Friends and Family: Kate’s Bakery New Minas
Valley Family Fun is making its way around the Valley, checking out restaurants and writing about them so you can learn about great places to check out like Kate’s Bakery in New Minas! #supportlocal
All it took was two words for my family to fall madly in love with the new Kate’s Bakery in New Minas.
British food.
After having lived in the UK for 5 months, the boys grew to love certain food, and until recently, they could only get it in Halifax. Now, thanks to Kate’s Bakery in walking distance from our house, the boys (father and sons) are in heaven.
Cheese and Onion Crisps (chips)
Ribena
Vimto
IronBru
We won’t even get into the sauces, pickles and other sundries my husband is jumping about!
Made right in front of you, Kate’s Bakery has traditional British foods like cottage pies and pasties.
You can buy them hot and sit down and eat them with a cup of coffee, or there is a fridge where you can grab them to go.
When my girlfriend and I went to eat lunch there, we went for the soup and biscuit meal, which I think is one of the best deals going!
For just $6 (stc) you can get a bowl of freshly made soup and an incredibly delicious homemade biscuit!
You have to top it off with one of their sweets, and if you are really nice, bring one home for your kids!
Kate’s Bakery has quite a few tables so you can eat in or take out. It’s family friendly, or a great place to meet up with a friend for a treat.
If you are British, or have British roots, the place will make you feel nostalgic!
Location
Kate’s Bakery is located at 8772 Commercial Street, New Minas, close to the former bowling alley and Sushi Fang.
Now, it’s open Monday to Saturday from 8 am to 4 pm.
Take a trip to Kate’s Bakery in New Minas and support another great local business!
FAMILY FUN: Try tapping into the maple syrup experience
FAMILY FUN: Try tapping into the maple syrup experience
“I think it is very important that children have an idea of where our food comes from,” says Kentville mom Krista Anderson. “Learning about the process of how it gets to our table will help kids appreciate all the hard work that goes into making one of their favourite breakfast staples.”
Continue reading in my bi-weekly column in the Advertiser…
How we ended up with 4 new pets in one week
How We Ended up with 4 New Pets in One Week
Call us crazy, or call us suckers, but in one week in February 2018, our family ended up with 4 new pets. That is, to go with the 2 we already had.
Meet Gracie
We got Gracie about 13 years ago, before we had kids, from an animal rescue group in the Valley. She’s a mix of just about everything and suffers terribly from abandonment issues.
Now at 14, she’s still really healthy, but showing signs of her age. She’s been our constant companion, fiercely loyal, and will NEVER run away.
Meet Nutmeg the Degu
Over three years ago, I wrote a blog post detailing the story of how we ended up with 2 degus.
Read my blog post about degus here.
The punchline is… never take your kids to the pet store for a fun adventure! You will end up with pets you didn’t want!
How the Whole Thing Started
Much to Daniel’s chagrin, we will never have cats, as his father is deathly allergic to them. As a compromise, I often take him to the Kings County SPCA to visit the cats so he can cuddle and play.
I am always up front with the staff, saying we are not there to adopt, but to play. They are always kind to let us come in, as it helps to socialize the cats. Everyone is happy.
This one day in particular we went to the SPCA to visit the cats. However, Thomas ended up falling in love with Murray the bunny.
His father was away, and he texted him, begging for the bunny. We’ve never had rabbits before, and didn’t know what we were in for, so we started to do some hefty research, talking to lots of people for their rabbit advice.
We were on the verge of breaking down.
A few days later, we returned to the SPCA to show their father the bunny. We were on our way to dinner, and thought we would pop in for a few minutes, just for one final look at the bunny.
We visited, we cuddled, we oohed and aahed.
On our way out of the SPCA, we paused for a moment, as the bulletin board caught our eye. Posted on there, was a dog!
We are NOT in the market for a second dog.
Sure, we talked about getting a second dog for Gracie to train, and make the transition for when she’s gone. But then, we thought she was too old to introduce another dog to. We weren’t sure if we were ready for another dog.
Then, we saw this face.
How can you resist that face??
It was the first time in a very long time that they posted a family-friendly dog, that was a big dog, and wasn’t what I considered a “scary looking dog.”
They had JUST posted it hours ago.
We casually asked how to make an appointment to see this dog, knowing how quickly family-friendly dogs go, thinking there was no harm.
The staff member went and brought him out. When he walked in the room, he laid his head on Daniel’s lap. We knew we were in love.
This boy is a 4 year old male husky/shepherd mix and is one of the calmest dogs I have ever met! He grew up in a family that just couldn’t take him any more.
The next thing we knew, we were filling out the application! We were the first family in, and the first to see him!
We were at the right place at the right time!
After calling our references, the next step was to introduce him to Gracie to make sure she approved.
It was love at first… actually, they totally ignored each other! No aggression, no jealousy… it was a match made in heaven!
We are going to rename him Digby, after my dad’s hometown, and a place that means a lot to us all.
Meet Digby. The newest member of the Duke Family!
But, that’s not all. No!
Enter 3 More Degus
A week ago, we received a phone call:
You don’t know me, but I know you have degus! We are an animal rescue group and we have just rescued a dog and along with it, we found degus that we removed from the home, too! We saw your blog about degus and wondered if you….
Well, the initial thought was whether we knew of a degu group in the Annapolis Valley.
These little rodents, most closely related to a chinchilla, are quite high maintenance. Well, they are easy to take care of but, you have to know exactly what you are doing. They are diabetic. They can’t have fruit. They can only have certain types of wood.
We were already experts in degus.
Since Jellybean, one of our degus died before Christmas, we had contemplated getting another one.
These 3 male degus needed a home. We were so worried about them going to a home that didn’t know how to care for them, that we decided to take them on ourselves!
One of our friends who used to have degus, gave us their old cage.
David revamped it with a few more shelves to hold 4 degus.
To introduce the new ones, it will take awhile. They need to be in the same cage for a week, but separated by a mesh divider. Then, the following week, you switch them around to be in the opposite sides. Then, you remove the divider and hope for the best! By this time, they will be used to the smells and sounds of each other!
Meet Bilbo, Radar and Hershey. Our newest Degus.
The question remains… will we still get the bunny? Not this week!
I think we will have to start charging admission to get into our zoo. Besides, David is still holding out for his pet llama. 
He’s not joking.
