I am so, so lucky to have a wee one that loves being outdoors as much as I do. We spent our morning at Granville Island playing on playgrounds, watching birds and boats, strolling the seawall, and taking in live performances, then came home just long enough for a nap, and headed right back out the door. Our afternoon adventure took us down to Jericho Beach, where we played in the sand, dipped our toes in the ocean, and collected ocean treasures.
Captain Grae.
Water collection.
Cruisin’ around the water park (can’t wait ’til it opens!)
Running with the birds.
Paddle boarders passing by.
Unicycle excitement. (Grae was more interested in the rocks.)
Tuckered out.
First visit to Jericho Beach.
Sand scooping.
Collecting.
“Gifts” for Mama.
And at the end of the day, after a healthy dose of vitamin D, we reluctantly headed home, hoping for another sunshiny day outdoors again tomorrow.
Have I mentioned how much I love taking Miss G to new parks and playgrounds? I don’t know what it is, because we have plenty of great favourites already, but I feel like I’m always driving around with my playground radar in full effect. I’ll spot one in the distance, take a quick survey (Saucer swing – score! FOUR slides – sweet! Check out that merry-go-round!), make note of the location, and add it to my mental list of places to visit soon. (Oh, the things that get you excited as a mommy!)
Anyways, I scoped out this beauty of a playground a few weeks ago, and we just got to visiting it this afternoon. It was well worth the wait, let me tell you. The school it belongs to (Dr. Annie B. Jamieson) doesn’t look like much. It’s not new or fancy, but its playground sure is! It’s actually two separate playgrounds – one that is geared more towards older kids, and one towards younger ones. There are multiple swing sets, a saucer swing, one of the safest seeming merry-go-rounds I’ve come across, FIVE slides, and some really cool climbing apparatuses. Not to mention that it’s located right in / next to a park with a giant green space, a walking path, and an outdoor fitness park much like the one in our favourite Kuwait park. (Oh, Kuwait… How I miss you sometimes…)
Of course I took about a million photographs while there. Here are a select “few”: All about spinning.
Sliding.
Trying to balance like Papa.
Swinging froggy-style.
Wheee!
Mama’s turn.
Just chillin’.
Little climber.
‘I’d be much happier if I had some company on this cool merry-go-round’…
Somehow I got convinced. Barf.
Our favourite – a saucer swing!
Fun!
Riding on her “bell buh” (bellybutton), as she calls it.
Her favourite way to ride… While someone sang Rock a Bye Baby of course.
I think we nearly put her to sleep! Time for dinner, a bath, and bedtime.
Gracen taking a rock from her pocket, placing it carefully on each piece of equipment at the playground, and giving it “rides”.
The other highlight of our day was attending our first of several Stroller Fitness classes in Queen Elizabeth Park. Gracen was a go-with-the-flow gal and loved that her baby friend Tate was able to join us. Sadly, there are no pictures of the adorableness that was our babies all lined up in strollers… We were much too busy running up hills and lunging around the park for that!
Yay for Brad’s first sunshiny day off in a long time! We soaked up every minute we could and filled our day with a morning trip to Granville island, seawall walking, cherry blossoms, and an afternoon trip to the park. Of course I celebrated by taking way too many photos {as usual}. Here are some of my favourites…
The usual Granville Island treat (a Terra Breads cheese flute), a mosaic bench, and a view of the river.
This morning we visited an adorable little playground at our local YMCA and I’m not sure who enjoyed themselves more… Gracen or Bradley! The highlight was definitely when Brad toppled off his tiny perch on the digger into the bark mulch. Thanks to my cat-like reflexes and stealthy camera skills, it was caught on film – enjoy!
I don’t think we could have asked for a better Easter Sunday. For starters, Bradley had the day off work and the weatherman was wrong in the way you always hope he’ll be wrong… Despite the forecast for clouds and rain, the day was sun-filled and warm, which meant a healthy dose of fresh air and vitamin D for our little family.
Our day started with Gracen waking up to all sorts of goodies from the Easter Bunny. She carefully went through her basket, spending a little time with each item before moving on to the next…
Inside, she found several books…
An egg shaker…
A new sunhat to fit that ever-growing Kossowan head of hers…
A beautiful new dress…
A button-up perfect for spring… (Plus new stamps and ink pads, stickers, cookie cutters, bunny ears, a baseball cap, a summer dress, and more!)
After enjoying all of the Easter Bunny’s treats, it was onto opening her gifts sent down by Grandma Charlotte and Grandpa Dave.
Again, she opened each item carefully, pausing to investigate them before moving on. She especially loved her new wooden caterpillar puzzle.
Grae kept busy by strategically placing her new stickers all over herself (and the house) while we prepared Easter brunch.
Soon after, Uncle Brett arrived and we all sat down to eat.
With brunch cleaned up, it was time to pull out some of her new goodies! This little lady is all about stamping right now.
When she’d had plenty of stamping, we put on her pretty new dress, got her egg collecting basket, and headed into the back yard.
Some spots were a little tricky…
And some were not.
Either way, she collected those eggs like it was her job!
And when she had found most of the ones out back, we headed out to the front yard to see if there were more there…
Team Ogasawara was there to give pointers, just in case.
And then it was off to find the really tricky ones. Sometimes you just have to throw your hands up into the air!
Problem solved with the help of a shoulder ride!
When we sat down to take a closer look at Grae’s findings, we realized she had collected a new little friend in addition to her eggs.
A little wet slug!
Grae patiently opened each egg and placed the treats into her bucket.
Opening eggs is tough work.
Inside, she found all of her favourite treats – all sorts of nuts, raisins, freeze-dried berries, banana chips, and fruit leather strips. She was thrilled.
{Yup, this one’s especially for you, Gar and Mikey. Go on and make fun. At this point, I may as well participate in the daily ‘make fun of Jen and her parenting choices’ sessions… It’s more fun that way, right?}
Out front, she picked out her first treat and sat down to enjoy it.
Of course she shared a little with Unky Brett.
And then it was off to do a little exploring…
One of the other things Grae found in some of her eggs were these very weird little mystery Easter pills. We brought out a bowl of warm water, popped them in, and waited…
Some waited more patiently than others… Uncle Brett just couldn’t stand the suspense any longer, and helped the surprise arrive in a more timely fashion.
Easter-shaped sponges – woooooooooow!
We spent the rest of the morning outside and only went in when it was time for Miss G’s nap.
When Grae woke, the three of us headed down to Stanley Park to partake in more Easter festivities.
And guess who was there! The Easter Bunny himself, that’s who!
It’s a good thing our little doodlebug is a collecting machine, because she participated in yet another egg hunt.
The only problem was that the baskets were so small that her eggs kept spilling out when she’d bend down to retrieve more.
Not sure what it is about these things, but I just can’t seem to pass them up.
And with that, we boarded the Stanley Park miniature train.
We rode around, watching closely for animals and Easter eggs – both of which, Miss G pointed out plenty of.
On the way into the park, I had spied a little organic popcorn station hosted by Whole Foods, so after our train tour, we stopped in a grabbed a bag as a treat.
Gracen was all over it and kept saying, “Moore. Moore!” the way she does in her little accent.
We stopped and played at this crowded playground for a bit before heading down the hill.
Grae found herself a flower patch that kept her entertained for a while…
And when she had exhausted herself with flower picking, she bounced on Papa’s tummy instead.
With it nearing dinnertime, we headed back up to the hill to our car.
The best ending to a busy, fun-filled day? Deciding that stopping at Cactus Club for dinner is the way to go. Yay for a night off from cooking!
For a little trip down memory lane, you can see how we celebrated Gracen’s first real Easter here and see how we spent last year’s Easter Sunday here.
We couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful Easter Saturday. The weather was gorgeous and Grae and I took full advantage of it by spending the majority of the day outside. We spent the morning at a really fun Easter egg hunt and carnival, and the afternoon at our favourite outdoor spot – Kits Beach. Here’s our day in photos…
Getting ready for the ‘3 and under’ egg hunt.
Basket in hand and ready to search!
Waiting patiently…
Go!
Like an old pro…
Found another one!
Checking out the loot.
Grae’s first ever face painting experience.
Gracen, the bunny.
Ring “tossing”.
Bouncy castle!
Playground time.
Bunny-eared baby.
Admiring her findings once again after a nap.
Beach time!
Sand box fun.
Collecting.
Beach-loving baby.
‘Can we collect seaweed too, Mama?’
Telling me that she wants to kiss the dog passing by.
So lucky to live where we do.
On a side note, can you believe that the little dress Grae wore today is last year’s Easter dress?! When I originally found it, I thought KD 15 (nearly $60 at the time) was a little pricey, but I ended up going back to get it a few weeks later after not being able to stop thinking about how beautiful it was. I’m so glad I did because she’s been wearing it for a full year now and will probably be able to wear it several more times this spring. Also, you can check out Grae’s first ever Easter egg hunt at seven months old here.
With our gardening nearly complete and the forecast calling for rain, we decided to spend our last day with Gma Char down in the States. It looked a little something like this…
Today Little G and I had the most wonderful visit to Maplewood Farm, a little piece of rural paradise tucked at the base of Mount Seymour in North Vancouver. The sun was shining, the temperature was just right, and although it was a busy day due to Spring Break, we never felt crowded or rushed. Gracen had the freedom to roam and explore, but always stayed near. We slowly made our from paddock to paddock, visiting the animals and taking in the nature along the way. It was perfect. Here’s a very small sampling of photos from the hundreds I managed to take during our 2 hour visit…
First stop – visiting this colourful feathery friend.
Visiting the turkeys.
An adorable miniature donkey.
Hanging out with the hens.
Roaming with the roosters.
Taking in the garden and its visitors.
One of Gracen’s favourites.
She wanted to come back to visit this beautiful peacock again and again.
A new friend.
These Belgian draft horses, Tom and Prince, were another favourite. Gracen watched them very closely as they lowered their heads and exhaled deeply while letting their lips flap together and then mimicked this behaviour during the remainder of our visit.
Enamoured with the horses. I think she would have stayed here all morning if I hadn’t convinced her to move on.
Taking a break and watching the ducks on the pond.
Exploring.
Collecting bits of nature, as usual.
Offering the ducks a twig. For some reason, they weren’t all that enthused. Weird.
Getting a sneak peak of the farm’s jersey cow.
Watching the sheep.
In the forest paddock. So amazing that this is part of the city.
Grae thought this goat was pretty funny and giggled at him again and again while calling him “Papa”… Not sure what that’s about other than we have a non-fiction book about goats that explains that male goats have beards and when we read it, I call them ‘papa goats’. Maybe she was making the connection?
The highlight of the trip was being able to go into the goat visiting area and actually touch the goats.
Miss G was brave!
I showed her how to hold her hand out flat for the goats to smell first, and that’s exactly what she did.
This teeny tiny baby goat was experiencing his first day outside with the public and was a hit with all of the visitors.
Waving goodbye.
These little guys were just roaming around as we made our way over to the hand washing station.
Checking out Sofie and Judy III, the giant hereford cows. Of course Gracen moo-ed at them as she tried to wedge her little wrist through the wire fence to pet their fur.
Visiting the rabbits. Gracen stood up and signed ‘Rabbit sleeping’ after seeing this chubby bunny.
Stopping to see Gus the goose.
Inside the cement duck pond visiting area.
Getting a close up view of Lima, the jersey cow.
Lunch break!
We loved the goat visiting area so much that we had to go back to visit once more before leaving the farm.
Lucky for us, it was much less busy the second time around and Grae got to put it some quality time with her goat friends.
Saying goodbye for real this time.
After this visit, we may just have a little future farmer on our hands.
Last stop, the Maplewood Farm playground.
A perfect way to end a lovely morning outdoors!
Our trip ended with a very content little lady falling asleep in her car seat as we drove back into Vancouver. When we arrived at home, I transferred her into her crib, where she lays now, still sleeping, over two hours later. I’d say the fresh air, sunshine, and farm life tired her right out… Yay for that.
Papa getting off work early + picking him up at the Canada Line station + stopping at a new park on the way home = Pretty much the best thing ever in Miss G’s books
It was a chilly day here in Vancouver, but that didn’t stop us from spending the day outside… It started with an early morning walk around the block. Now that may not sound like a lot, but when you stop to splash in each puddle and visit with each picketing teacher, just one loop around the block takes a significant amount of time.
When we originally walked out the door, Gracen had bent over, tapped her pointer on the sidewalk and said, “Star. Star!” I asked if she wanted to draw stars on the sidewalk with chalk (she’s all about stars and hearts right now) and she enthusiastically nodded ‘yes’. I told her that we would do just that upon our return, and she certainly didn’t forget. The second we stepped up on our walk, she reminded me of my promise. We worked on our sidewalk art for a while, and then Grae focused her attention on expanding the size of her ever-growing rock collection.
We headed inside for a few minutes, but Gracen wasn’t done with being outdoors. As I tidied the kitchen and got started on lunch, she decided she’d have a tea party in the solarium. She played for a long while as I secretly snuck peeks of her pouring cups of tea and nibbling on plastic sweets. I got away with it several times, but eventually got caught. It turned out that being caught was a huge treat, because when I did, I got showered with ‘through the screen kisses’ and then got to enjoy this little show of funny faces. It wasn’t easy, but I lured her in with a grilled avocado and cheddar sandwich (avocado being the key factor) and a banana almond oatmeal smoothie. But after lunch and a great nap, guess who was back outside having afternoon tea? I took that as a hint and decided we better fit in some more outdoor time before winding down for the day. We got bundled up for the cold, jumped in the vehicle, and literally just drove around looking for a fun new playground to visit. Gracen was my little helper as usual, and every time she saw a play structure or open green space, she’d shout, “Par!” (park) from the back seat. We eventually found ourselves at an old school in the Marpole area and the playground was perfect. We played until our hands were numb and our noses were red and then headed home to defrost with a hot dinner and a warm bath.
Today we headed down to our favourite beach to enjoy our last couple of hours with Grandma Charlotte. We played on the playground for a little bit and then made our way to the walking path (towards Cornwall Ave and Starbucks), to which Gracen immediately exclaimed, “Drink! Drink!”, knowing that a steamed milk with cinnamon was in her near future… Smart little cookie! Puppy kisses, puddle jumping, sea glass collecting, and extreme swinging were also involved. Here’s the proof:
Mondern merry-go-rounding.
A dreary day treat.
Splish splash.
Searching for something special.
With Papa’s help.
Taking it all in.
“Catching Papa”.
Extreme swinging, courtesy of Gma Char.
‘Hello down there!’
‘Wheeeeeee!’
Our morning ended with a tuckered out little lady falling asleep on the drive home (an hour before her usual nap time), therefore missing out on saying goodbye to her “Manmaw”. Oopsies. Although she didn’t wake up desperately searching for Grandma like we thought she might, she did remind us about where Grandma sleeps and where she sits at the table several times throughout the remainder of the day. Not to worry my sweet girl, Grandma’s last words were, “Make sure that foamie doesn’t go too far – I’ll be back at the end of March!” Days spent in the backyard gardening with Grandma are coming very soon, Miss G.
This morning was a little rough. Gracen had a great sleep, woke up happy, and gobbled up her oatmeal with milk and berries as usual, but things quickly went downhill after that. Before long, she was an unhappy, whining, I-need-my-mama-to-carry-me-all-morning-long mess. (I think it must be this little bug we’re trying to fight off.) There’s only one fix for a morning like this. What is it, you ask? Getting outside and getting some fresh air, asap! I swear, it’s the cure for all Gracen issues. Teething? Get outside. Tired but not yet time for a nap? Get outside. Feeling yucky? Get outside. So that’s just what we did. We quickly got ready, packed some snacks and our gumboots, and headed down to Kits Beach.
Saucer swingin’.
Steamed milk with cinnamon along the seawall (she’s signing ‘drink’).
Seashell inspecting.
Wave watching.
Wet toes.
Newly collected ocean items.
Bumblebee boots on the beach.
Snacks on a log.
Puddle jumping.
Making friends with passersby.
The perfect perch.
Voila! Grumpiness gone. Fresh air is magic, I tell you. Pure magic.
Sometimes I wonder if a person could make living as a playground and park reviewer… Cause that may just be the perfect job for me and my pint-sized sidekick. Today (after our usual Sunday morning play gym / lunch / nap combo) we hit up another new playground on the westside of the city. We were actually out and about doing a few errands near Dunbar and somehow found our way to St. George’s, an all boys private school. Although intended for older kids, the playground was pretty amazing. Gracen enjoyed exploring the campus and making friends with two other little girls who were playing on the playground also. Here are some photos from our adventure…
Crusin’ along.
Entering the campus.
Spinning the ‘log’ by hand.
The climbing apparatus and a peek at the school.
A sideless slide.
Just hanging out with Mama.
A view of the playground.
Snooping around.
Gracen crossing. (Don’t worry – the gates were all locked shut and the campus was vehicle free.)
Snacking on the steps.
Gigglefest.
‘Hi, Mama! I see you hiding behind that gate you know!’