Visiting the Horses at Messila Horse Stables

3 / 3 / 143 / 14 / 14

This morning as my little love and I snuggled in bed as we always do, I asked her what she’d like to do today. Her response? ‘Go to a farm!!’ Oh dear. While I do know of one organic farm in Kuwait that I’d actually really like to visit, I wasn’t prepared for today being the day. After taking a moment to give it some thought, I remembered the horses I’ve seen at the 207 exit while travelling down the 30 recently… Luckily Miss G thought visiting horses on the side of a highway was close enough to a day spent at a farm, so that was that.

Khiran Beach

2 / 28 / 1410 / 17 / 14

Oh my word… We very possibly may have visited the most beautiful place in Kuwait today – Khiran Beach. We’d heard about it through several different friends, and today we finally made a point of going. After a family breakfast at The Early Bird and an early ‘rest time’ for Miss G, we packed up the vehicle and headed waaaay out towards Wafra. The drive itself was pretty interesting as there were literally hundreds of tents and bouncy castles set up in large pods along the highway, and as we got nearer, several different herds of camels, sheep, and goats.

We followed the directions we’d been given to a tee, but ended up at a point where we were 99% certain we were somewhere very wrong. We were in the middle of a new residential area, and the place was absolutely deserted. Several streets were lined with large sand embankments, fences, tractor tires, and ‘Construction Zone – KEEP OUT!’ signs. What we didn’t realize initially was that that was exactly where we needed to be. After Brad had been sent ahead to scope out what was on the other side of the embankments, we piled out of the vehicle, made our way through a mess of sand and tires, and found this. An absolutely gorgeous beach all to ourselves.

Despite the fact that it had been raining on the way out and we came dressed in hoodies and scarves, it wasn’t long until Grae was in the water. Lucky for us, the sun came out and completely made the day. We enjoyed a picnic, wrote ridiculous things in the sand upon the request of Miss G, and took her home salty, sandy, and exhausted. It was a good day.

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Sabah Al Salem Playground

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Finding nice playgrounds to visit in Kuwait is no easy task. While there are a good number of them scattered around the country, most are fairly disastrous. From our experience, they’re often smeared with food, littered with fast food garbage, and on the dangerous side due to broken equipment that seems to take months to be repaired.

Jarir Bookstore {in Hawally Park}

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Today Miss G and I ventured out to one of my favourite bookshops in Kuwait… Jarir Bookstore! It’s located right inside Hawally Park, which is sort of weird, but makes for an interesting visit.

Anjafa Beach

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Today we ventured down to Anjafa Beach to check out the fun-looking playground we’d passed by a few days back, but were disappointed to find that while it looked cool from the road, it was basically a hot mess up close. Other than being filthy {something we’ve grown very used to when it comes to playgrounds in Kuwait}, many pieces of equipment were broken {and sharp} and the play area was surrounded by construction holes, wires sticking out of the ground, and stacks of bricks. Not quite what we were hoping for….

Luckily though, the beach area in the same park was quite lovely. Besides a few fishermen way down the way, we pretty much had the entire thing to ourselves and spent the morning finding treasures, dipping our toes in the cool waves, and making footprints and drawings in the untouched sand. It was a really lovely morning. Now if only the weather would stay just like this year round…

Al Kout Mall & Lookout Tower

10 / 7 / 1310 / 17 / 14

Al Kout Mall is one of my favourite nearby places to hang out in Kuwait… It has a beautiful water-lined walking path leading up to it, fountains that are choreographed to music, and tons of outdoor seating space. Plus, if you go in the mornings, it’s very quiet, which I love. Miss G and I visited this morning, enjoyed cool drinks outside, and then climbed to the top of the lookout tower. Here’s our morning in photos…

Bright Minds’ Creative Play Area

9 / 28 / 1310 / 4 / 13

One of the things I loved most about living in Vancouver with a toddler was how much there was to do. During our 2 years there, I never felt like I was grasping for things to do and see – not even during the dreary winters… On beautiful days we’d visit parks, hang out at the beach, and go for walks, and on rainy days we’d hang out at our favourite indoor spots (community centre play gyms, pools, libraries, and skating rinks, the conservatory, the airport observation area, 6 Pack Beach, Pottery Barn Kids, the Play Palace, UBC, Kokopeli, or Sweet Salt to name a few). On top of all of that, kids’ programs were plentiful and inexpensive, so we enjoyed many rounds of parent and tot swimming and ballet, and we were members at both the Vancouver Aquarium and Science World.

Having had it so good for so long, I was a teensy bit worried that our days in Kuwait would be dull in comparison. The truth is, parks and play areas and kids programs do exist here… it’s just that without talking to the right person, you may never find out about them {and once you do, they can be terribly expensive}. So, I decided to start my research early. We were actually still living in Vancouver when I first learned about Bright Minds Creative Learning Centre. It looked and sounded like the perfect place for us online, so I was excited for our first visit.

The Scientific Center Kuwait

9 / 24 / 1310 / 19 / 13

Ever since arriving in Kuwait, Miss G has talked about doing 2 special things when we visit Vancouver next summer… Going to the Kerrisdale Play Palace and visiting Science World. Well imagine her surprise when I told her that Kuwait has its own version of both of those things – so excited! She’s waited for weeks and weeks, and now that we finally have a car, we were able to cross one of the two off of our list this morning.

A Local Favourite: Over the Loom Vintage-Inspired Children’s Clothing

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When I recently learned about Over the Loom (thank you, Little Miss Mama!), it was love at first sight. The online boutique is stocked full of gorgeous {and affordable!} children’s clothes that have the perfect amount of vintage charm, and to be honest, that was enough for me. What I didn’t know at the time though, is that Over the Loom is a Vancouver-based shop run by a local mama of two little girls. Her dream has always been to open a children’s clothing shop, and with a lot of hard work and an eye for hand-selecting gorgeous pieces, she’s making her dream a reality. Learning that made me fall in love with the shop all over again… I love supporting local businesses, and when they’re run by hardworking goal-oriented mamas? Well that’s even more amazing!

Knowing there was absolutely no way I couldn’t support Over the Loom, I settled in on the couch, cup of tea in hand, and began to narrow down my favourites pieces. Hah – narrowing them down was a near impossibility! After reviewing and whittling my selections several times, I think I was left with 9 or 10 very favourite pieces. Oy. After a couple days’ thought and the help of both Brad and Grae, I managed to narrow it down to just my very favourite top 5 pieces. Here they are…

A Vist to Kangaroo Creek Farm

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It took us a while, but we finally made it to the Kangaroo Creek Farm in Winfield today. It’s been on our radar since visiting the zebra farm last summer, and I’m so glad we snuck it in before leaving.

Steveston, Pajo’s, & A First

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If there’s one thing we’ve been doing more of this month, it’s definitely eating out. Normally, we eat out very rarely, but with our days filled with packing, sorting, organizing, and keeping little hands busy so they’re not digging in already packed boxes, we’ve been giving ourselves a break lately and eating some of our meals out. Not only does mean that I don’t have to cook and that Brad doesn’t have to do dishes, but it also gives us all a much needed break from being indoors.

A Day at Davison’s

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Today we spent another lovely day at our Okanagan favourite, Davison Orchards. If you know me well, you know that my love of Davison’s has been around since I moved to the Okanagan when I was 11 years old. It was a place I loved visiting as a kid, a place I took the kids I babysat and nannied during high school and university, and it’s now a place I love bringing my own daughter. Delicious produce, beautiful views, and endless family-fun aside, I love Davison Orchards because it’s constantly growing and improving while staying true to it’s family-run farm roots – not an easy feat.

Grandma Sue and Rorie joined us today and despite our {very} regular visits, we tried two completely new-to-Gracen things this time around. First off, we jumped aboard the hourly tractor train ride and took a tour of the orchard while learning about its history and different fruits and veggies that are grown there. It’s been a few years since I last took the tour, and I have to say that I love hearing how passionate Grandpa Davison is about his orchard, even after all of these years. While the sitting quietly during the chatting part wasn’t Grae’s favourite part, she did love the ride and hearing about each of the plants/trees as we passed by.

Afterwards, while playing in the Crazy Cow Kid’s Corral, Gracen got to experience her first ever duck race after Grandma Sue gave her a toonie to buy a little rubber duckie. She’d plunk him into the tube, start pumping water, and as soon as he started moving, race to the end of the track to retrieve him. Such fun!

After a good long play, a visit to the animals, and some lunch at Auntie May’s Deep Dish Cafe, we picked up a big jug of Davison’s famous apple juice and headed home with our happy and tired girl. Another great day at Davison Orchards!

♥

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A Local Favourite: Maple Grove Pool

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Today we took our little fish to one of our very favourite summer spots in the city… Maple Grove Outdoor Pool. Gracen seriously loves this place. The pool’s fairly shallow, so there are lots of areas where she can easily wade around without assistance, there’s a little slide which she zooms down on repeat, and there’s a island in the middle of the deeper end for her to jump off of. We also love the fact that it’s surrounded by grassy areas and big trees and there’s a playground just outside of the gates. It’s the perfect spot to escape to when our house is 32 degrees and we need to cool down, asap. I’m guessing we’ll be visiting a lot during the month of July.

Maple Grove Pool is open from 10:15 a.m. to 7:45 p.m. daily, with the closing time being an hour earlier after August 21st. Admission is as follows: munckins 2 and under are free, children 3 to 18 years are $1.50, and adults are $2.50. Concession items are available and the facility operates on a cash only basis.

♥

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Strawberry Fields {A Visit to Krause Berry Farms}

6 / 30 / 137 / 5 / 13

Today we did something I’ve been wanting to do with Miss G for a long while… We went strawberry picking! After asking local parents for their favourite strawberry farm recommendations, we decided to head out to Langley to visit Krause Berry Farms. Promises of giant fields filled with berries, a gorgeous market selling fresh produce and baked goods, playground fun for kiddos, wine tasting for adults, and a farm animal petting area sounded too good to pass up.

We arrived early and the farm was already bustling with visitors. We got our buckets weighed, put down our loonie deposit for a wagon, and headed out to the furthest corner of the strawberry patch.

The berries were plentiful and our buckets filled quickly, though strawberry picking isn’t easy work. It was hot (really hot) out and by the time we were about halfway through our hour and a half long picking session, Grae and I gave up on crouching and full-on sat down in the strawberry field (slightly less glamourous, but oh so much more comfy!)

While my little helper was interested in berry picking and very patient about it all, she didn’t so much want to pick the strawberries herself. She did pick a few here and there, but sitting beside you while you filled her bucket for her was much more her style. That and sneaking a semi-clean strawberry into her mouth every once and a while…

With two extra-large sand pails full of ripe strawberries, we decided to have them weighed, pay for them, and check out the rest of the farm.

First stop – the playground. Grae loved the tractor-shaped play apparatus, and even though it was cooking by this time, it did provide some shady spots to play in.

Next up, we visited the market. Oh my goodness, this may just be my favourite part of the farm. Not only can you purchase all kinds of local produce both from the farm and from other local farmers, but the bakery is stocked full of delicious breads, shortcakes, cookies, and cakes too. Plus there’s a fudgery stocked with over 40 different kinds of fudge and all sorts of canned goods and fun kitchen gadgets too!

After a quick stop to see the animals out back (there weren’t that many and the enclosures didn’t really allow for easy petting, but G enjoyed it anyways), we stopped to take a couple of photos along the raspberry bushes. By this time, we were all hot, sweaty, and tired, and Gracen was feeling straight up silly. For one reason or another, she decided that the only way she’d have her photo taken was if her tongue was out, and by that time, I really didn’t blame her. Sometimes joining the crazy is just more fun. ☺

It was a lovely day and I’m already trying to figure out if we’ll have time to make another trip out when Krause’s u-pick blueberries are ready in mid-July… Though next time we’d do things a little differently as by the time we got home, most of our berries were already pretty mushy.

Notes to self:

1) Stacking fresh, ripe strawberries in big, tall buckets leads to severe strawberry smushing – bring big, shallow containers next time instead.

2) Locking your berries in a hot vehicle on a 30 degree day doesn’t help the situation – next time, play first, pick last.

♥

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Second Beach Outdoor Pool

6 / 29 / 137 / 5 / 13

Gracen has been very anxiously awaiting this day since we first visited the Second Beach playground back in February. From the opposite side of the park, she immediately spotted the seal-shaped water slide in the outdoor pool enclosure and has asked when we’d be able to visit ever since. Sadly, when it opened at the end of May, we had a long bout of rainy, dreary weather, so that prolonged our visit even further… But when we woke up to a gorgeous, sunny day this morning and asked the little lady what she wanted to do, the first thing out of her mouth was “Go to the pool with the seal slide – WOOHOO!” Her fist shot into the air in celebration and our adventure for the day was set.

Surprisingly, the much talked about seal slide was not the hit of the day today… Instead, she was all about this much larger, much faster turtle slide over in the deeper end of the pool. The truth of the matter is that she loved this slide so much that very little swimming actually took place – it was simply slide after slide after slide for pretty much our entire visit, which was totally fine with me. Watching the anticipation as she climbed the steps and the absolute joy as she sped down and splashed into the water melted my heart and filled me with pride. I’m so, so glad our little lady loves water as much as she does.

The only slight downside to our morning was that it was chilly. Very chilly, in fact. Despite the fact that the pool is heated and it truly was a beautiful day, the wind off of the ocean sucked away the warmth and made you shiver the moment your shoulders left the water. And while Grae didn’t seem bothered in the least by it, at a certain point we knew it was time to get out, dry off, and warm up.