Recently I went on a very special date with a very special person. No…not Harry. Rather, it was one of my grand-nieces, Ivy. Each year for both her birthday and her sister’s birthday I gift them a date with “Auntie” (be sure to pronounce it the proper Maritime way so that it doesn’t sound like that bug on the ground!).
After being picked up at school and having lunch at Pub Italia on Preston (SOOOO much fun for an 8 year old to wander through and discover!) we headed down to the Museum of Nature (Not far from our stunning listing at 53 Rosebery Avenue in the Glebe).
If you have not been to the Museum of Nature recently…this is the time to go! On exhibit now until January 4, 2026 is Butterflies in Flight an absolutely delightful exhibit where you not only get to become close friends with a variety of butterflies from Costa Rica and the Philippines, you enter into their world where they fly all around you…light on you…and exhibit how they live from birth onwards. My favourite was the Blue Morpho, a stunningly large and beautiful neon blue butterfly.
Now the fabulous thing is that if you are a member of the Museum of Nature you can go back each week and see a different array of butterflies! That’s right! New ones are born each week so that you will never get bored! Watch Butterflies in Flight.
I hate lineups. There are no lineups here as you book your viewing time so that you are guaranteed to just appear and enter. The average amount of time spent here is 15 minutes.
Prior to seeing Butterflies in Flight we went to the special exhibit called the Man Who Planted Trees an immersive tale, on until October 13th. This is a world premier of this particular exhibit. I found it perhaps a bit old for an 8 year old but she enjoyed the immersive part and leading the way. It is all about the importance of trees and the importance of sustaining them.
After the Museum of Nature it was a drive off to Kanata to the new Splitsville located in the Kanata Centrum area. What fun…for all ages! The bowling totally accommodated children as well as adults and it is becoming immensely popular. After bowling I bought a $20 card and just let my birthday girl play whatever arcade game she wanted. We were there for about 2 hours which was perfect timing. And the bowling rack allowed her to easily play the game (and beat me severely I might add!!)
It was a fabulous day with so many new discoveries and hopefully many memories that will last forever. So be creative on birthdays! Give of your time along with activities and celebrate a life!