July 2013

Lots of time outside

Happy Canada Day!

Granville Island really is a great place to take kids on Canada day. The water park is nice in the warm weather, but so is the sand box, playground and climbing tree. A bunch of my friends (with kids) were also free on Canada day so we met up at Granville Island to let the kids run wild.

The water park really is the star attraction but it can be cold on the little guys. This is Claira's first time to the water park so she is a little tentative, but seemed to enjoy it.

David's daughter Noelle discovered that a nearby tree is really good for climbing so the kids spent some time trying to get higher and higher into the tree.

Noelle and Nara discovered that there were lots of good "fishing" sticks so they spent some time play fishing together.

Eventually the younger kids needed to go home for naps so we had to say goodbye. Thanks for meeting up!

Haley's Birthday

This year Haley decide to have her birthday at one of her Grandparents house. We (Helen and I) haven't been to Howard to Carolyn's house since Jin and Jesse got married (10 years ago) so it was nice to be back. The party was full of little girls with dresses blowing bubbles - lots of fun for everyone.

Half out of co-incidence, we met up with Haley and Abby down at Granville island the next day. Haley showed off how good she is at climbing trees - those gymnastics classes are really paying off. Abby is becoming a photographer - she ran around taking photos of people including Claira.

Trout Lake

We took a stab at seeing the Lantern Festival at Trout lake. Turns out the kids really did need to get home before the lanterns really shone, but we still have a good time at the beach and the playground.

Creatures of the Not So Deep

A few weeks earlier we visited Burnaby Lake and saw a poster for this event put on by the Greater Vancouver Regional District. The district had hired a Marine Biologist to show us what kind of wildlife is present in the near shore. We drove out to Belcarra Beach (I was amazed how busy it was even at 10am) and Nara and I went out to the bearch to see the program.

The biologist brought a 50 foot seine net and the people there helped pull it in. We picked out bits of life and put it in buckets so everyone can take a look. I was quite impressed with the starry flounder and the pipefish, but we found other fish as well.

The biologist told us stories about the animals (male pipefish raise the eggs like seahorses, but if they are stressed they can absorb them for food!) and showed us details on the animals.

Claira and my Mom stayed up the shade - Claira had a good time walking and exploring the logs. After the beach time we had some lunch and drove home. I'm pretty sure both kids were asleep by the time we got home. Good day!

Gabi's Birthday

Eric and Gabi had a get together at the park across the street from their home. It was mostly pot luck (Eric got a really nice cake) so there was lots of nice choices.