Every month, I gather up a collection of terrific blog posts and share them here in a series I like to call What’s Up Wednesdays. How are we talking about summer camp already?!

Believe it or not, actors have lives and opinions that extend far beyond the characters they play on TV. Eschelle Westwood from Mumfection recently had the opportunity to chat with Tara Spencer-Nairn of Corner Gas fame. It might seem like there’s “not a lot going on,” but did you know that Corner Gas is back as an animated series? And that outside of the show, Tara is a mom to two boys?

Speaking of kids and entertainment, Ingus Wan recently visited Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada in Toronto with his two-year-old. The aquarium is stroller friendly, there is a change table for dads in the men’s room, and the jellyfish were a huge hit with the little one. Our family is headed out that way next month, so this review couldn’t be more timely.

Continuing with the Toronto dad contingent, we have Casey Palmer who recently learned that he actually likes coffee; he’s just never had the good stuff up until now. That also meant he was totally wired for the night. I wonder what he would think of civet coffee…

Okay, here’s the last dad post. I promise. But you have to recognize that this parenthood thing really takes over the entirety of your life. As “The Out of Depth Dad” Chris McGuire explains, there are just some things you find in your pockets that clearly indicate you’re a parent to a toddler. I guess this is kind of like my post on how you you know you’re a work-at-home dad, except, you know, with pockets.

As Dr. Scott the paleontologist keeps telling us, we need to “get into nature” and make our own discoveries. For my part, I need the exercise and I need the time and space to clear my head. Alison Karlene Hodgins might be helping me accomplish both objectives with her list of the best hikes near Vancouver. I’m not a very outdoorsy person and it’s been a long time since I’ve gone on a hike. Maybe we should try one of the easy ones with the little one.

And speaking of keeping the little one entertained and engaged, Olivia Lasting wraps up our little speedlink selection this month with some information on the summer camps offered by KEY Education in Vancouver. Registration is now open for everything from “Nature in the House” to “The STEM Lab for Little Innovators” to “Mozart & Matisse.” There’s bound to be something here for every kid.

Image credit: Benson Kua on Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)