Our last guest post of the week is from Corinne McDermott, founder of Have Baby Will Travel. And I agree with Corinne about a ferry ride and it feeling like you are really going somewhere, though with our vacation this year and a 5-hour ferry ride (to the Magdalen Islands) we really are going somewhere! We will do a staycation another time! 🙂

So let's say you live somewhere that claims to have four seasons but actually only has two – Winter & Construction… and let's say you have family that actually lives somewhere that lots of people travel to for fun in the sun… any guesses as to who does the most traveling?  Exactly! And such were our plans to take off somewhere in the summer and visit the fam down South once the weather turns bad. But guess what? They actually want to come North – and visit us! So it looks like we'll be doing the hosting for a change and it's time to try this staycation thing that everyone keeps talking about.

I'm determined to NOT spend the entire week thinking about chores and odds and sods that need doing around the house, so we've set aside day #1 to get our usual roster of stuff done. And as anal as it sounds, we've pretty much plotted out our whole week's activities and meals (weather permitting for the activities) so we don't have a chance to laze about a bit too much in the mornings and end up not doing much all day.  

The nice thing about hosting family from out of town, is that they'll be seeing things with new eyes. Even though the agenda is our usual haunts, we know that satisfaction is guaranteed and few surprises mean we can enjoy our outing AND our time with family. We would have loved to book a cottage for a few nights to give them a taste of our beautiful cottage country, but that will have to be another summer.

So where will we be "going" on our staycation? Certainly The Toronto Zoo. We can't wait to check out the new Tundra exhibit – and we've missed the polar bears! Next stop – Centre Island. The city's been on strike for the past 6 weeks, and a highlight from last summer has had to be put off until now since the ferries weren't running. I LOVED Centre Island as a kid (something about that ferry ride makes you feel like you're really going places) and I'm so glad my daughter loves it too. I think it's just charming enough for kids from the land of the Amusement Park to enjoy as well.

Last thing on the agenda is a farm. We haven't decided which one just yet, but there are a couple near to the city that we can explore. It's cute how this was on their wish list of places to visit when they come, a real-life farm is hard to come by when you live where most people go on holiday.

Am I a bit disappointed that we're not going away? A little – but I haven't got the baby's passport yet so we couldn't go far anyway. What I'm most looking forward to is spending time with my family, and my extended family.

Corinne McDermott is the founder of Have Baby Will Travel, your online guide for travel with babies and toddlers. For more information please visit www.havebabywilltravel.com or send a message to info@havebabywilltravel.com