Heron by the Bay Vacation Rental Home

Children are welcome and accommodated!

We have children of our own, and we want your family vacation to be fun for everyone.

For the littlest ones, we have a soft-sided playpen, also useful as a place for baby to sleep. There are safety gates and safety caps for electrical plugs if you need them.

We have an assortment of toys and games for indoor and outdoor play, including beach toys, a scooter and lawn toys. Bicycles for a family of 4 are available upon request.

In the yard is a wooden swing set with a slide.

The backyard, including the large, rolling backyard next door, which we also own and which our guests are free to use, are naturally "fenced in" by ditches and hedges - it's visible from the kitchen, from either deck, and from upstairs. There is lots of room to run and play within sight of the house. It's also a great sliding hill in the winter.

Two minutes walk down the quiet lane is Little East River Beach with sand and shells, and a little further is the main East River Beach. At both, the water deepens gradually, giving little ones lots of room to splash and play. See more on our Beaches page.

Favourite places to take kids:

Bike and hike the trails in the area (see our Area page); or rent canoes, kayaks, and boat charters in Hubbards or Chester.

Take the kids for a swim at the Lido Pool in Chester - a saltwater pool open to the public from 12-1 and after 5 p.m. during the summer.

Ross Farm Museum - Nova Scotia's living museum of agriculture - see how life was on a farm 150 years ago. Wagon rides, farm animals, blacksmith, cooper and lots more, 30 minutes drive at New Ross.

Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic - Lunenburg - Aquarium, floating fishing vessels to tour at the waterfront, world-class exhibits about fishing and the lives of fishing families over the last 200 years.

Upper Clements Park - 1.5 hours drive away near Annapolis Royal is a family amusement and wildlife park with lots of exciting and fun rides, entertainment, gardens, shops, and animals for kids of all ages, with a down home, Nova Scotia flavour. It isn't Disneyworld, and that's OK with us.

Oaklawn Farm Zoo - Aylesford - An hour's drive from the Heron, in the Annapolis Valley. A farm that grew into a zoo, with 50 acres to wander, a wide variety of wildlife both domestic and exotic - a place that kids from here like to visit again and again.

Theodore Tugboat - Take a tour of the Big Harbour (a.k.a. Halifax Harbour) on Theodore Too, the lifesized tugboat of the TV series with the red cap and friendly smile.

And check out the many festivals and events that take place each year. See NovaScotia.com for more information.