July 2014
Waterpark Month!
Canada Day!
What is more Canadian than Dim Sum lunch on
Canada Day! One of our strategies for a good time in a
restaurant is to bring the kids in physically tired. Our
chosen restaurant has a playground with a waterpark right next
door so we arrive an hour early to play. The kids started on
the playground equipment by very quickly wanted to get into the
waterpark. Quick changeover and the kids were running
through the water.
After the water hits the ground, it goes
down a small paved stream and into the a small pond. Turns
out there were as many kids in the river as there were under the
streaming water. I suspect the water is still too cold.
Granville Island
The mother of all (free) water parks, the
Granville Island water park has a small water slide you can ride
all day. Neither Nara or Claira are tall enough to ride on
their own so I need to go with them down the slide. Funny
enough, Nara didn't really realize the slide was there until this
year. Claira on the other hand has to do everything here
sister does so even though the slide is cold, she insists on going
down as often as Nara does.
The rest of the water park is spray and
hoses. We've been lots and it's great fun on a hot day.
Creatures of the Not So Deep (Belcarra Park)
I went last year and really enjoyed it -
possibly my favorite activity. This year I wanted a
repeat. The quick summary - the GVRD organized a number of
children friendly events around the city. Creatures of the
Not So Deep is a marine biology event where the bring a beach
seine net into shore and people put what they found into buckets
and a marine biologist tells you what is going on. I love
it.
A few things are different this year over last. Last year
Helen was working, Claira was one and my Mom kept Claira in the
grass above the beach. This year Helen is with us and Claira
of course wanted to be with everyone else. Claira got tired
(little feet stuck in the sand) and demanded to be picked
up. Photography suffered. Last year the tide was
rising, this year it was still falling. Apparently that
makes a big difference - last year everyone got a fish, this year
not so much. That said, Nara was happy with her crab and
jellyfish. Finally, last year all the buckets were put
together and you could look in the different buckets. This
year there was a giant aquarium all the stuff was put into, but it
got really hard to get close to.
VanDusen Picnic
It's been a really hot couple of days.
What better way to beat the heat than a picnic in the shade of a
tree, next to a body of water! We haven't had a VanDusen
pass for a few years (something about having kids) but the other
day Nara wanted to know about plants that eat bugs. We
watched a video about and and she wanted to know more. Over
one of Claira's naps, we drove up to VanDusen and saw their
pitcher plant display. Nara now likes to look in and see the
bugs.
Jennie is heading back to Hong Kong so she
joined us for dinner. First we had to look at the
carnivorous plants. Jennie was getting warm so she brought
out the umbrella. Claira just had to play with it and Claira
does seem to get her way.
Our picnic was next to one of the ponds buzzing with dragon
flies. Turns out kids in a place full of interesting things
(and water without child proof barriers) don't sit and eat their
dinner - and you don't get to either.
Eventually everyone was fed and we went
for a little walk before it was time to go home for bed.
Physically tired kids aren't the easiest to put to bed (lots of
strong opinions) but when their little heads hit the pillows, they
are out quick.
VanDusen Again
On Saturday afternoons
I usually have Nara and Helen takes a nap at the same time Claira
does. Two weeks ago was the first time I took Nara to
VanDusen and it was an amazing hour or so. It had just rained
and the light was great. There were Monach butterflies feeding
in the flowers. We stumbled across a class dipping nets in the
pond. Nara found three snails. I didn't bring a
camera. Two weeks later, I have Nara again and I brought a
camera.
No luck finding Monarch Butterflies - I did see one, but it was two
stories up in a tree and wasn't coming down. We heard there
was an owl but couldn't find it. No luck finding snails.
That said, we had a nice long walk and there is always lots of nice
little things to see.
Next time I'm thinking Nara should bring a camera.
Play Palace
I don't mean to shock
anyone, but it does rain in Vancouver, even in the summer. So
far we have had a terrific summer, but this weekend had rainy
days. One of Helen's school mates were in town so we decided
to meet at the Play Palace to hang out.
The Play Palace gets crowded quickly on weekends and it's not always
little kind friendly. Right at opening there are lots of
resources (no line ups for a ball or car) so Claira (who doesn't
seem to like the bouncy toys) gets her choice of fun.
We met up with Jin and Jesse and their kids Haley and Abby.
Our girls have played with them a few times before so they had not
trouble entertaining each other.
After two hours of play, we went to the adjacent McDonalds for lunch
and home for a nap. Sadly, Claira's head got stepped on (by a
parent!) so we were watchful for symptoms of something more than a
bad scare. She visited the doctor - everything is fine.
Tags: VanDusen(9), Kerrisdale Play Palace(7), play gym(7), flower(4), playground(3), umbrella(3)
People: Nara(13), Claira(11), John(3), Jennie(3), Haley(3), Abby(2)
From: John Harvey Photo > Blogs for 2024 to 2005 > July 2014
Last Modified Saturday, January 28th, 2023 at 23:17:05 Edit
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Last
year, we didn't even go to the playground. This year, it
was a highlight. Helen packed a picnic lunch and it was
hard to hold the kids still long enough for them to eat
lunch. I think everyone had a good time.
