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| - After an enjoyable time at the Hockey Hall of Fame, we took the Exhibition Streetcar from Union to the entrance of the Harbourfront Centre. By doing some research, I found that there were plenty of Family Day activities, and I was excited to bring my niece, nephew, and fiancée for some free family fun.
We first had a difficult time finding exactly where all of the attractions were. We entered the Queen's Quay Terminal, which was dead da-dead da-dead. Basically a shopping mall with no one in it on a Sunday afternoon of a holiday weekend. We scrambled a bit to figure out where the fun was, but finally figured out it was in the York Quay Centre instead. We walked towards the water, and were on our way.
As we went out to the harbour, we immediately saw where all the fuss was. People were walking all over the waterfront (it was a pretty warm +3C for February and beautifully sunny). The ice skating rink was overrun with happy Canadians skating about. We decided not to go for that, and instead wandered inside the York Quay Centre to find the free activities.
We first wandered to the Junkestra, an assortment of recycled goods which were hung on a large wall, which kids (and adults alike) can come up and strike. All together the wide variety of timbres and people playing on their own made quite the blissful cacophony.
Next, we went to the Brigatine Room where they had a large tent with a replica of aurora borealis inside. They gave us a short Inuit story to read to the kids as we sat under the dancing lights. Its sweet simplicity allowed for us to cooly relax in what was otherwise a very stimulating day.
After that, my fiancée went with my niece to make buttons while I took my awesome hockey nut nephew to make a hockey mask. They had glitter (though he respectfully chose not to use any) and a wide assortment of markers to create the mask. He made a cool Penguins mask to go along with the Marc-Andre Fleury goalie stick he bought from the HHOF gift shop. At the button spot, kids could cut out pictures from magazines and put them together in artistic ways to make buttons. How neat! We only participated in 4 of the 18 free activities at the Harbourfront that day and amused ourselves for a few hours!
After the Harbourfront's Family Day fun, I kept thinking about how different this would have been if it were happening in my home, New York City. It certainly would not have been free, but I also feel like it would have been a much bigger production. Professional buttons, real hockey masks not just made of paper, and a laser aurora borealis show with video and surround sound audio. But this was truly simple. It allowed for my niece and nephew's imaginations to soar. It was so sweet in its simplicity, it seemed much more real and from the heart rather than commercially motivated. It captured the kind of free, imaginative fun I will be looking for when I someday have children. What a great city, Toronto must be, in which to raise a family.
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