Family Day spent outdoors in NOTL

Brooke and Mike Wiens had a great Family Day in Niagara-on-the-Lake, enjoying their day out so much they plan to repeat it.

It didn’t work out exactly as planned, but it turned out to be a really good day, Brooke says.

On Sunday,  they had decided to take their three kids skating at The Gardens at Pillar and Post. Unfortunately, they arrived just after it had closed, and they decided to return Monday.

However, with a bit of a warm spell, they discovered the ice was melting, she said, so they weren’t going to be able to skate after all.

‘The kids were pretty disappointed,” she says, but since they were already there, they took a walk around the gardens, appreciating the beautiful natural environment, and sat down for a bit at one of the fire pits. 

“It just made a moment. We had a good conversation, telling stories, and talking about memories. It was really nice.”

The surprise bonus of the fire pits made the day an unexpected pleasure, she said, and they weren’t the only ones taking advantage of the environment — there were other families walking around the paths of the John Street gardens.

To keep the kids from getting bored as they sat, she asked them what “the moment” reminded them of. Mike started off, saying it made him think about sitting around a campfire last summer, and that got the kids talking. 

“We said we’d come again, and next time bring a bag of marshmallows. It worked out really well, talking to each other, and enjoying each other’s company. It was kind of a simple, old-fashioned day, perfect for Family Day.”

Their children, Braxton, 11, and Alexa, nine, who attend a French Catholic school in Niagara Falls, and Jack, four, who goes to a Montessori school in St. Catharines, are too young for phones, but they have tablets, and livestream shows on TV, so like all families, trying to limit screen time is an issue, even more so during COVID.

“As parents, we’ve had this message telling us that too much screen time is bad. Then everyone turned to screen time to attend virtual school. I think this is just the beginning of the conversation, about screen time, about what we were learning about it, and how much is too much. First it was bad for the kids, then it was necessary.”

On Family Day, it was especially good to get away from it, says Brooke, and to enjoy the outdoors and The Gardens at Pillar and Post. “We’ll definitely go back,” she says, and maybe get in some skating next time.