Today Miss G and I made our way to VanDusen Botanical Garden for Musicfest Vancouver’s Family Day. It was the perfect morning for it too – not hot, slightly gloomy, but no rain. The morning involved bouncy castle fun, face painting, flower sniffing, games, arts and crafts, balloons, a picnic lunch, making new friends, and watching both Charlotte Diamond and The Kerplunks in concert. Needless to say, Gracen pretty much loved every minute.
With the number of parks we visit around Vancouver, Gracen and I may as well be labelled playground connoisseurs. And while Grae has fun wherever we are, there is one playground that seems to be her clear favourite. It’s not big and it’s nothing over the top fancy, but it’s just perfect for her.
It’s the playground at the Langara YMCA on 49th at Alberta.
It’s one of those playgrounds that is perfectly suited to littler kids (I’d say probably ages 1.5 to 5). With the exception of getting in and out of the swings and climbing onto the airplane bouncers which are still a little too high, Gracen can do everything on her own at this playground. What makes it even better is the big firetruck apparatus she pretends to drive, the drums built into one of the climbing structures, the plastic bubble she loves to curl up in, and the covered area, complete with mini picnic tables for snacks and lunch on the go.
If you’re a parent to a toddler and you’re not too far away, I’d say a visit to this little playground would be well worth the trip.
Vancouver parents, which park/playground do you and your little one(s) enjoy most?
♥
Photos edited with Instagram. Find me under jkossowan.
Yesterday, while at a park in the Riverside area, Gracen and I were reminded that blackberry season is in full swing in the Lower Mainland. We quickly picked enough for dessert, then continued on our way, and agreed to come back the following day to get more.
Unfortunately, we’re still dealing with some nap issues, and Gracen didn’t end up sleeping this afternoon. After giving her a good hour and 45 minutes to try to fall asleep, we hopped in the car and headed out to go blackberry picking. She was all gung-ho, but after being in the car just 5 minutes, I turned around to find this. My nap-needing little monkey fast asleep in her car seat.
(As a side note, I know that her leg positioning looks a little awkward in this photo, but having her feet propped up like this isn’t her usual riding position. Normally her legs are either criss-crossed or down to the sides, and because she’s never known any different, she doesn’t mind one bit. Our plan was to keep her rear-facing until her second birthday, but as the day looms near and I continue to read articles like this and this and watch videos like this and this, I’m starting to feel like we should wait longer. We’ll have to see.)
Luckily, I was able to find plenty of bushes right along the road to pull up to and pick from while Grae snoozed peacefully with the car doors open. Let me tell you, it worked out for the best that she fell asleep. Blackberry picking is dangerous work.
Here are a few things I learned:
1. Wear gloves. Judging my glove-clad fellow pickers, most people already know this.
2. Wear long sleeves. Blackberry prickles are ruthless and the more protection you have from them, the better.
3. Wear jeans instead of a sundress. See reasoning above.
3. Don’t discriminate based on size. As long as their dark in colour and slightly soft, small berries are every bit as delicious as the big ones.
4. Bring a tall friend. Let me tell you – if I were only 6 to 8 inches taller, my collection would be much, much larger.
5. The industrial area just south of Marine Drive between Cambie and Kerr is absolutely overflowing with blackberry bushes just waiting to be picked. Buying blackberries at a grocery store seems crazy right now.
♥
Photos edited with Instagram. Find me under jkossowan.
Gracen and I finally made it to Grays Park for the first time today… I don’t know what took us so long – it’s almost the exact same distance from our house to Grays as it is to Queen Elizabeth Park, and we’re at Queen E. at least a few times a week. Either way, I’m glad we finally checked it out. Located at the corner of E 33rd and St. Catherine’s, Gray’s Park is a big green space that includes two separate play apparatuses, two sets of swings, an old-school concrete wading pool, multiple courts, and a public washroom.
Gracen really enjoyed the play areas. Besides loving the different types of swings (as she always does), she really liked the playgrounds too. Both were different than the ones we normally visit and had some great new tunnels and climbing structures for her to try out.
The wading pool was a hit also. Although it was COLD (like really cold), she was happy to alternate pool play periods with warm up breaks on our blanket in the sunshine. What I really liked was that I could easily go in wearing my skirt and because it was so shallow, I felt comfortable sitting along the edge while Miss G splashed her little heart out.
The only downsides we noticed were the bees (there were tons of them all through the park) and the fact that the pool was cleared every so often so a man wearing tall rubber boots, a rubber smock, and a Dexter-style plastic face mask could come in and sprinkle in what appeared to be chlorine/pool chemicals into the pool with a watering can (I guess I just figured that in a pool that is drained and refilled daily, these things would be skipped all together?) It’s probably not much different than being in a pool that has a more ‘automatic’ way of adding chlorine, but it definitely made you wonder each time he came out in full gear…
Today Gracen woke up and wanted me to tie a receiving blanket around her neck. Of course, Baby couldn’t be left out of the fun, so a small snuggly tied around her neck it was. I’m not sure what inspired this (maybe the graphic novels Papa’s been reading her while we all snuggle in bed in the mornings?), but today I spent my day with two mini superheroes. And there was no convincing either of them that capes are ‘at home things’ either… So off to the park we went, me and my two Supergirls.
I must admit, I’ve seen little girls dressed in princess costumes {and those “dancer”-esque clear plastic heels} at the grocery store and thought to myself ‘My kids won’t where dress-up clothes while out in public‘, but there I was at the park, with not one, but two in costume. I’m sure some of the other parents and nannies thought we were nuts. But then again, maybe they know just what it’s like…
Miss G did take her cape off while on the climbing apparatus and slides (safety first!), but you bet your bottom dollar she put it right back on again afterwards.
I’m not going to lie… It wasn’t all rainbows and sprinkles in Mama.Bubba.land today. Our morning was pretty good, save the minor screaming incident that occurred when leaving the toy section at Superstore… (Ugh. Must admit, these occurrences are brand-spanking new to us and I have to come up with a plan to better handle/minimize them asap.) But our afternoon? It was rough.
I’m not sure what it’s all about, but in the last couple of weeks, nap times have started getting tricky. Not all days, but some. The majority of the days of the week, I lay our little lady down in her crib, give her a kiss before closing the door, and she puts herself to sleep and stays asleep for 2 to 3 hours. She wakes up rejuvenated, happy, and ready for the rest of our day’s adventures. But the other days? She just doesn’t fall asleep. She talks and plays in her crib for a good long while, then the jumping and chucking things out of her crib begins, and then crying, calling for Mama, and “No more sleeeeep! Play – yaaaaaa!” stage kicks in after that. This all could be driven by one of about a million things… Our house regularly being 30 degrees during the day, her two year molars just finally finishing pushing up through her gums, her sleep needs changing…. Who knows? I’ve {very reluctantly} given thought to the fact that she may be starting to get ready to drop her nap, but her behaviour sans nap tells me otherwise. Although she’s happy to be retrieved from her crib, without a nap, she’s off for the rest of the afternoon. She’s less independent, quicker to tears, and a little irritable, quite frankly.
Today was one of those days. I knew she needed a nap {despite what she was telling me} and I was feeling up to the challenge, so we tried for 3 straight hours. THREE. WHOLE. HOURS. I thought for sure that we’d succeed in the end… We didn’t. Instead, I was exhausted, she was upset, and the nap didn’t happen. Frustrating. But what do you do? I brought her out of her room, fed her a snack, she played while I cleaned house and made dinner, and then we ate. Life goes on.
Both needing a little pick-me-up after a long afternoon indoors, we retrieved a treat from the freezer and headed outside. I sat on the front porch and she ran circles around our yard, popsicle dripping everywhere, before we turned on the sprinkler.
There’s something about a little girl clad only in a hat, panties, and popsicle drips, happily splashing through sprinkling water that can turn your whole day around…
And thank goodness for that.
♥
Photos edited with Instagram. Find me under jkossowan.
Over the course of the past few weekends, I’ve participated in an Instagram photo challenge hosted by awesome fellow mommy and vancouvermom.ca Top 30 Blogger, Natalia, who blogs at natnanton.com. The series, entitled Through Mama’s Eyes, provides moms with a creative challenge and cultivates community amongst inspired mamas.
On Friday, Nat presents a theme in the form of a hashtag via her blog. Throughout the weekend, participating mamas take photos that show their interpretations of the theme and include the hashtag in their photos’ captions. Then, on Monday, Nat showcases a few of her favourites on her blog (Grae’s photo was featured in her #inmidtwirl showcase here). It’s fun, it’s easy to participate in, and the photos can be of anything – not just your child(ren).
This weekend’s theme was #TMEICsilhouette. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to capture a good silhouette of Miss G as she goes to bed early, and often the evening {just as the sun is beginning to set} is the best time to catch crisp silhouette photos. (I know I could take photos of other things, but let’s face it… Grae is the only thing I really take photos of these days. ☺) But tonight, when we found ourselves on an impromptu visit to White Rock Beach, the lighting was perfect, and so was Miss G’s position. Here are a few my favourites…
Ocean-dipped toes.
Papa and his girl.
Wading in.
If you’re an Instagram-loving mama, be sure to join in next weekend. Everyone is welcome! Just visit www.natnanton.com on Friday to find out the theme, and then tag away.
♥
Photos edited with Instagram. Find me under jkossowan.
Today we attended the tail-end (darn nap time!) of an adorable construction-themed party for Gracen’s little friend, Keagan, who is turning one. The birthday boy was adorable as ever {despite not feeling well}, the decor was perfect, and the cake was homemade and beautifully decorated.
Grae left with a belly full of 2 ingredient mango ice cream, a dress covered in sand, and a personalized construction hat of her own. It was a good afternoon.
My little lady may insist on wearing a pretty little skirt, a white top, and glittery shoes to the playground, but that doesn’t stop her from getting down and dirty in the sandbox…
As I mentioned yesterday, we’ve been bu-sy lately… So today we put away the paintbrushes and screwdrivers and had a little family fun day. Here’s our day in iPhone photos…
first family seawall ride in stanley park // i spy a water park
brave until close // heat relief
beach stop // picnic lunch
papa and his girl // beach exploring
wild water baby // biking makes a girl tired (oopsies!)
sleeping beauty on the sky train // thirsty
popsicle holder // mmm… peaches!
backyard pool // well-fed belly
double fisting // dessert
♥
All photos edited using Instagram. Find me under ‘jkossowan’.
Every year as a child, my brother and I would spend a week or two at my Baba’s (which means grandmother in Ukranian) house a few hours from home. My Baba, who is probably one of the most talented, creative, do-it-all women I know, always made sure we had adventures to go on, activities to do, and projects on the go. One of the things we’d always do was paint rocks. It’s such a simple idea, but it was something I truly looked forward to each year.
So today, I got out a couple painting projects of my own and set Grae up with a little rock painting station.
First we gathered our materials… A few big rocks we found around the yard (washed and dried), some acrylic paint (kids’ washable paint works too but the designs disappear with rain), a few paint brushes, and an old towel.
Gracen thought it was pretty special that she had her very own painting station just like Mama. She’d paint a rock, then move it to the edge of the towel to dry, and then paint another. And when the tops were dry, she flipped them over and painted the bottoms.
Fresh out of rocks but still wanting to paint, I gave her a cement block we had lying around.
And after it was painted in pastels, it was time for a strawberry creamsicle break. The verdict? She loved them so much that she asked for another. My first instinct was to say, “Let’s have something different to eat now”, but then I reminded myself that all they are is plain organic yogurt and strawberries pureed. So two popsicles it was.
These are our little artist’s finished pieces.
After they were completely dry, we found special little places around the yard to tuck them in. With these little surprises hiding around the yard, maybe weeding won’t be so daunting…
Gracen loves “helping” wash dishes so much, I decided to turn it into a little afternoon activity today. While having a toddler standing on a chair beside you splashing in a sink of bubbles as you power through a load as fast as humanly possible isn’t always super convenient, this activity was easy and fun for everyone involved.
We got started by collecting some supplies we had around the house – a bin filled with warm soapy water, a dish drying rack, some plastic dishes, cups, and spoons, a nearly empty dish soap container topped up with water, some scrubber pads, steel wool, a dish brush, and a dish towel. In no time at all, we had an inviting little dishwashing station ready to go!
I asked Grae if she wanted to play, and she got going without hesitation. All dishes in the sink!
Without a doubt, squeezing the soap into the bin was her favourite part.
She scrubbed and washed each dish one at a time…
And when they met her expectations, they were added to the drying rack.
Though she was down to business for part of the activity, things got silly and wet too!
This station was a total hit and I can definitely see it becoming a regular in our play rotation. After all, what’s not to love about bubbles, water, splashing, scrubbing, and getting soaking wet on a warm day?
Tonight we celebrated Gracen’s Poppop’s 60th birthday with a low-key backyard barbecue. The weather was gorgeous, the company was good, the food was delicious, and most importantly… the pool was warm! Oh, and how can I forget – the cake was only slightly gravel-y… If you follow me on instagram (jkossowan), you know what I’m talking about. ☺