October 2016
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And some clever quip...
Walk Around Reifel Bird Sanctuary
I have these dreams. My family and I
got to Reifel bird sanctuary and join a birding walk. We all
learn new things about birds and my good as gold children use
their strong spotting skills to point out things other people
don't see. We walk most of the trails in the park and we end
the day warm and happy.
Reality couldn't be any more different. My kids only
tolerate Reifel Bird Sanctuary because they can feed the
ducks. I don't dare join a walk because my kids are loud and
I don't know enough to justify my camera gear and lack of
binoculars. We always walk the same short loop because I
know it's the maximum distance Claira can walk before she has to
be carried. I keep hoping that each passing season will see
more endurance and interest from the kids, but it's likely their
interest will further evaporate, not grow so I take what I can
get.
Reifel has a great mix of resident birds
and migratory surprises. You will always be able to see very
tame mallards and wood ducks, but the predators and visitor create
anticipation into each new trail walked. This time we were
rewarded with some wading birds that aren't long term residences
of Vancouver - Greater Yellowlegs.
In the end, the kids did have a good time, especially the picnic
lunch at the end. I got to see some birds and added a new
species to my life list. We stopped in at the farms on the
way home. Everyone was a least a little pleased with the
day.
Nara in Cross Country
For reasons I don't understand, I don't like
running and Nara seems to really like it. Last year in the
spring kids were doing laps of the school (Kilometer Club) when we
walked to school and she wanted to be part of it. In the
fall, we kept a look out for Cross Country and signer her
up. I volunteered to take photos because that I something I
can do.
The practices are three days a week -
Monday, Wednesday, Friday from 8am to 8:45am. The kids
arrive, run, stretch, and then generally do an activity like a
relay race or a chase/passing exercise. This is
a pretty big group - most mornings have 50 kids, the first few had
almost 100.
This fall there are three "local" meets
(races) and a district meet. Helen and I split the meets -
she got two and I got two. My first meet was at Jericho
park. There were maybe 50 girls in the Kindergarten/Grade 1
group.
Lots of practices.
The final meet of the season was at Trout Lake (John Hendry
Park). The starting line up for girls kindergarten/grade 1
was about 140 kids. Some starting lines that day had nearly
300 kids. In her race, Nara placed about 42 which is in the
upper third of the kids that ran.
This many photos of Nara throws off the Nara/Claira balance.
I'm going to have to figure out something to do with Claira that
is similarly photo worthy.
Iona
Iona Beach
Regional Park is really known for birding during the spring and fall
migrations and for the birds in the summer. Winter is the
usual local suspects and the occasional lost bird. I had some
time on a Sunday morning so Nara and I went out for a walk.
The people from WildResearch had their mist nets out and Nara was
curious about the bird banding. After the band was read (this
was a Dark-eyed Junco), the volunteer let Nara release the bird from
her hand. Nara through that was pretty cool.
Halloween Howl
Nara's
school does a Halloween fundraising event every year. They
decorate the school and run events in the classrooms and gym.
The money raised to use to help offset the costs of sending the grad
class to Quebec for a language exchange. It's nice to see the
other kids out in costumes and support the school even if it is
quite small amounts of money.
Claira wore her mermaid
costume for about 5 minutes until she decided she didn't like how
the "bra" seashell pattern on her chest looked. The she wanted
something else. We have fairy stuff around the house (girls)
so she went as a ferry and Nara pillaged some of her accessories
(kelp scarf and a sea star hair piece).
Seawall Strider Bike, Scooter
Nara
likes to bike. Claira is having a hard time with the
transition to pedals but she loves her strider bike. Nara
decided her scooter (kick bike) is an acceptable alternative to
riding even if Claira can go faster than her. Dad runs
behind. The seawall is starting to get less crowded (more
locals only this time of the year) and the slower speeds of
non-pedal vehicles means we can ride the seawall without running
people over.
To keep it interesting, we do a one way trip from Granville Island
to the Cambie Street bridge. There is enough time for Mom to
do some shopping (she picked up Dim Sum for lunch today) and I get a
bit of exercise so it's a win for everyone!
Halloween Trick or Treating
Halloween fell on a Monday this year and I wasn't feeling well on
the weekend so I didn't go to any of the adult parties. On
Monday night we left a little late but still got very full baskets
of candy.
I'll admit, we trick or treat out of neighborhood. We got to a
bunch of houses near city hall where there are lots of kids and lots
of decorated houses.
When we got home around 8pm (we stopped and watched some fireworks
in the park), we ran into an older girl and her dad coming back from
their walk. They started at 6pm around Alma - target dense
area they said. She had a pillowcase for candy and it put our
kids (who being young I think get a better hand out than some) to
shame. Thankfully, our kids haven't figured out how to compare
how much candy was brought home.
Tags: running(10), Halloween(8), Reifel Bird Sanctuary(7), costume(5), cross country(5), stairs(2)
People: Nara(14), Claira(4)
From: John Harvey Photo > Blogs for 2024 to 2005 > October 2016
Last Modified Saturday, January 21st, 2023 at 23:57:46 Edit
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