Canadian mum new to Saffron Walden/other new mums or mums from North America here or in Cam./surround areas?

[Basinka]

Hi. Very new to the area. Living in SW and wonder if there are other mums out there who are new to the area and would like to meet up for playdate/teas. DS-2 years and DD-5 years. People in town are VERY friendly and welcoming but trying to meet peers is a bit tricky at the moment since I'm trying to get my head round lots of new procedures and life changes (ie. setting up docs/schools etc). Also end of term, so childrens programs are done. Cheers.

Hello, didn't want to leave you with no reply. I'm not a Canadian but I'm married to one. There are lots of Americans around Huntingdon because of the USAF bases if you want to meet someone that you can laugh with when there's an inch of snow and the whole of the UK grinds to a halt (my DH always has a good laugh at this). And there's an ice rink in Peterborough, loads of Canadians there! Which part of Canada are you from? My DH is a Winnipegger.

thanks for replying. We're from Toronto so your husband really knows a good winter snowfall and wind chill when he sees one. Torontonians can be a bit like the English when we get a some snow (still more than the UK but not nearly as much as Winnipeg) we do things like call in the army (actually to be fair that happened only one year and it was due to our crazy mayor at the time:)
Are you in SW or Peterborough? Still getting my head around the endless rain showers although mercifully today is sunny (hope I don't jinx that:)

I'm somewhere in between! I'm pretty close to Huntingdon.

One of my SiL lives in Mississauga. I've spent a couple of winters visiting there and Winnipeg although every time I've been to Winnipeg in winter there's been a heatwave and it's only been -20

How long have you been over here?

I grew up in Mississauga! This is our second week. It seems we are the only Canadians in the town that I know of so far...

Nah, you guys get everywhere I'm sure you'll find some others soon.

How are you finding it so far? If you want some stuff from home there's this shop, it's pretty expensive though. It's worth a trip there, it's only a couple of doors down from the Maple Leaf pub. There are also a couple of Spar convenience stores in London that sell Tim Horton's coffee and donuts.

Wow! Your link has made my dh very happy. He was watching movie today in a theatre and he was totally craving twirlers. Thanks to you he may just be able to get his twizzler fix cured:) ?thanks for the tip. Settling in will be better when our stuff arrives on ship soon.

It must be really tough. We're planning on going the other way in a few years!

If you're into hockey I think you're nearest team is in Chelmsford (it's like real hockey but in slow motion ), but they've been going on about building a rink in Cambridge for the longest time. There are rec teams in pretty much every rink if either of you plays.

Oh and check your local supermarket before you buy anything off that Canadian site, a lot of it you will be able to get much cheaper although it might be a different brand.

Forgot to say, let me know if you ever want to meet up in Cambridge. Cambridge overfloweth with North Americans

We were there yesterday and you are so right. I heard many north American accents. Would like to meet up some point for sure.

I will not lie, it is hard to move your life over to a different country, even if they do speak the same language. Ironically my mum went to Canada from England. I don't think she ever really felt content with it, more resigned really. Hopefully I will feel a bit more connected here. Time will tell.

I don't know how I feel about it really. I know DH really wants to go back and I'm willing to give it a go but I will move back in a shot if I'm too miserable We've been thinking about it for a long time and I don't think we'll be in a position to afford it for a good few years anyway.

What did you think of Cambridge?

I've got 2 DDs btw, the eldest is 2.9yo and the youngest is 5 mo. There are loads of nice parks and things around Cambridge for children. I've been planning to take dinosaur-obsessed DD1 to the Sedgwick museum for a while, are either of your DSs into dinosaurs?

I really like Cambridge. It has something about it that reminds me of Toronto, and yet a few parts that feel like New York and London (Hills Rd).I am glad it's near to us. I haven't even heard of that dinosaur museum. My eldest (5) likes dinosaurs, but ballet and princesses are still tops. My youngest (2.5) is mad about trains.
I still want to check out that kids park, llama something, in Cambridge. We took the children to Wimpole farm on the weekend. My new favorite kids place.

Oops, I thought you had 2 DSs for some reason, sorry . Did you know about this? It's not far from you at all.

Not sure what the kids' park thing is, I've not heard of it. There's a zoo in Linton.

Yes we do:) My son cries every time we pass it; I cry cause I've yet to go into the nice bit-the house:)
If you are in Cambridge at some point we should meet up at the park there-It's called Lammas Land:
www.qype.co.uk/place/244086-Lammas-Land-Play-Area-Cambridge
Sounds pretty good. Think I'll check it out with the kids next week if the weather's good.

Ooh, that does look good. I'm waiting for the guided busway to be finished before I venture into Cambridge again, I came in last Friday and had to go home the back way through Papworth because the A14 was jammed again

A bit busy of late but it is a good and varied spot for the kids.
Cherry Hinton wading pool and park is decent too. Both should have swimming guards though. Some rough kids entirely unsupervised (by vacant parents) who scare the wee ones. There's my old lady rant for the day :o

Oh, I didn't know there was one in Cherry Hinton as well. I went to the riverside park in St Neots yesterday, it's really nice there. I need to start checking out local parks a lot more instead of going to the same one over and over again.

That's funny. We went there today! It is nice.