April 2019
And some clever quip...
Victoria For Easter
We got to Asia most years, around spring
break. Depending on the moon, Easter is sometimes part of
our trip and sometimes it isn't. Easter isn't a big holiday
in Asia, but in Canada the kids really like going to Grandma's
house for the traditions and chocolate.
This year the kids figured out they can climb the tree in the back
yard! On the the trees in the front yard fell down in a big
wind storm in the spring and the parents are worried the trees in
the back yard (which I planted) are going to fall down as
well. They had the trees spiral cut so the wind can go
through them, but this has the added benefit of making them much
more climbable.
Two years ago
I took
Nara on a whale watching trip. Claira is now the same
age as Nara and wanted her trip! We booked with the same
company and arranged for Grandma to take care of Nara while Claira
got her trip. A twist from last time - Helen decided to join
us as well!
The big concern is wind - if it's too windy, everyone will feel
ill and no one has a good time. Because April is early in
the season, there are fewer tours and less chance of seeing a
whale.
The boat left the harbour in Victoria and headed out toward
sooke. We then crossed over the strait of Juan de Fuca to the
American side. A few other boats were in the area already and
we were surprised to see a grey whale surfacing roughly every three
minutes. We were several hundred meters offshore of a river
outlet so I assume the bottom was sandy and there was lots of food
down there. The regular surfacing made the animal easy to spot
and it did surface fairly close a few times.
We had spent quite a
bit of time traveling to get here so we headed back to Victoria
after this whale sighting. On the way back we stopped at Race
Rocks to see what was out of the ocean.
The islands around the lighthouse are usually covered with marine
Mammals - Harbour seals and Sea Lions. Apprently there were
Elephant seals, but they were quite high on the island and difficult
to spot. Finally, there is very active Pigeon Guillemot
colony. The Guillemot's are almost dancing on the water while
they feed.
Claira had a great time. Now that both
kids have been once (when they were six), we have to figure out the
rules for the next trip together.
Mount Douglas
Mount Douglas isn't too far from my parents
home. When we got home from the whale watching trip, Claira
was tired by Nara wanted a bit of adventure. We drove up to
the top of Mount Doug and explored some trails.
Easter Egg Hunt
The real reason for the trip
to Victoria happened on Sunday morning - the Easter Egg
hunt! When you are traveling it's sometimes a bit tricky to
get and setup an Easter Egg hunt. Grandma has all of the
stuff - buckets, containers, treats - so the kids really enjoy the
hunt at Grandma's house.
Grandma does a pretty challenging Easter egg Hunt. Sure,
there are the usual - eggs under the tree, eggs in the stacking
chairs. This year, there were eggs (in a plastic bag) on a
tree limb and another plastic bag hidden on the fence. The
kids have to work for it!
Uplands Park
Four years ago I had a nice
morning walk in Uplands
park. I went at sunrise when the light is gentle and
without kids so I could work slowly with a tripod. The park
has meadows that are full of wild flowers - in the spring it is
kind of magical. This morning I took the kids to see if they
would also enjoy it.
Claira fell down and hurt her knee.
Nara's Birthday Party
Nara is turning 9 this year and she picked the family favorite
Granville Island Adventure Zone for her party. We have been
here so many times that the staff know us by name. The kids
are old enough that I no longer go into the maze - it's time to just
chat with the few parents that stick around after their kids go in.
We usually
get the maze + arcade package. The kids get a bunch of tokens
to try in the machines. The machines vend tickets and the kids
can redeem the tickets for prizes. There is no great reward,
but the kids take the process quite seriously. They really
want to understand the expected yield on each machine before they
commit to putting in tokens. The are clearly disappointed if
they get less than the expected yield. This is still hard with
Claira.
Terra Nova Adventure Playground
Nara's birthday was Sunday morning and it was a beautiful day so we
decided to go to Terra Nova Adventure Play Environment for the
afternoon. While it was busy, there is enough equipment that
the kids generally don't have to wait to play.
One
of Nara's favorite places to play is a large chestnut tree.
Usually there is a picnic table close by and she can use the picnic
tables to get into the lowest branches of the tree. From there
she has many limbs to climb, most of which are at least 3 meters off
the ground. It's hard to watch as a parent, but she certainly
enjoys it. This area was settled in 1868 so potentially this
tree could be 150 years old. Apparently these trees can grow
to be 300 years old so this tree likely has lots of life left in it.
Tags: Terra Nova Adventure Play Environment(6), tree(5), marine mammal(4), Uplands Park(4), decorating(3), climbing(3)
People: Nara(12), Claira(6), Helen(1), Abby(1), Haley(1), Lloyd(1)
From: John Harvey Photo > Blogs for 2024 to 2005 > April 2019
Last Modified Sunday, January 22nd, 2023 at 00:04:28 Edit
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