5. Rey Sargent Park, North Vancouver

We might never have found this little park off Lonsdale Avenue in North Vancouver if we hadn't been in the area today for the memorial service for Tim Jones, the leader of the North Shore Search and Rescue team who shocked the entire region when he passed away last week.  We came to see the honour parade, featuring his colleagues with BC Ambulance and with the SAR team as well as firefighters and police officers.  My brother was in town to march with the other SAR team members as he was with them for quite a while before he moved away.


I thought the little green space would be a good place for Charlotte and Theo to blow off some steam before the parade started, but it didn't appear that there was any kind of playground for Charlotte to play on.  But once we got there, we realized that they had made a "natural playground" with hollow logs and climbing trees that had been "laminated" (for lack of a better word!) to make solid playground structures.  The two of them had a great time in the park - first Theo lined up to take his jump across the rope, then Charlotte went for her turn!


I didn't even know at first if the park had a name - we had come in from the back and there was no sign.  I was prepared to call it Tim Jones Park.  But as we left by the main entrance, we saw the sign, and I'm sure that Rey Sargent is also deserving of having a park named after him.  We also saw the sign that said "No Dogs Allowed" after Theo had spent the last half hour tearing around the place!  And in keeping with the spirit of finding out things about the park after the fact, it turns out that there is a geocache in the park, but I didn't have it in my GPS and so had no idea at the time we were there.  I guess we'll have to go back!

The parade was a nice tribute - and hopefully we will get to play in a park named for Tim Jones before very long.  This one is located at N49.19.708 W123.04.351:  https://mapsengine.google.com/map/edit?hl=en&authuser=0&mid=z7IAXiVD2wGY.ke14vi-3MYtI

4. Burkeville Neighbourhood Park, Richmond

Another Friday afternoon, another post-daycare playground!  The playground here was a little big for Charlotte, but of course, she gravitated towards the swings anyway, as usual.  Four little kid swings - two pink and two blue.  She tried one of the pink ones first before she decided she wanted to switch to a blue one.  There are lots of picnic tables in the park as well as tennis courts and a basketball court, but the very best part is that this park is right under the flight path for YVR and jets roared overhead every few minutes, much to Charlotte's delight.  This would be a great place for a picnic for her in the summer because she loves the planes so much, but it's a pretty noisy place to be!  There is a geocache at the northern end of the park, "SISE 08" - part of a series that explores "Sea Island South East".  I had found it already, but Charlotte didn't feel like caching today - the allure of the swings was just too much.  We stayed till we were cold and hungry, but she was still very upset when it was time to leave!  The park can be found at N 49.11.316 W 123.09.069: https://mapsengine.google.com/map/edit?hl=en&authuser=0&mid=z7IAXiVD2wGY.ke14vi-3MYtI

3. Sukh Sagar Park, New Westminster

Sukh Sagar Park in Queensborough was a little underwhelming.  It's designed for only the very smallest kids - two very small structures to play on and no climbing to speak of.  But we still had a great time this morning!  Charlotte kept an eye out for the buses that go back and forth and when the playground lost its allure, she explored the benches and picnic tables.  But the best part of all was the two bridges over the rain garden, where we played "Stomp, Stomp, Troll"!  Sometimes she stomped over the bridge and sometimes she was the troll!

The park has a geocache in it, simply called "Sukh Sagar Park".  Charlotte and I had found the cache back in August as part of the "31 Days of Geocaching".  The park is located at N49.11.362 W122.56.411: https://mapsengine.google.com/map/edit?hl=en&authuser=0&mid=z7IAXiVD2wGY.ke14vi-3MYtI

2. Minoru Park, Richmond

We will need to pick up the pace if we are going to visit 101 playgrounds this year!  But that will be easier to do as the weather improves and the days get longer.  After work and daycare today, we headed out to Minoru Park in Richmond, very close to Charlotte's daycare and walking distance from my work.  Minoru Park has tons of amenities - at the north end, there is a lovely duck pond with a waterfall and a bowling green; at the south end, there are the arenas and sports fields.  The playground is right behind the arenas; there are a couple of structures to play on as well as swings and slides.  It was a cold and foggy afternoon, but we bundled up well.  Charlotte loved the slides and went down the double slide on my knee.  She wanted to go again - but just wanted to be lifted to the top of the slide rather than go to the trouble of climbing back up again!  She loved the spiral slide too, but it was a little bit high for her for now.  I lifted her as high as I could and let her go - but I couldn't keep that up forever!

We were joined by a little boy named Evan, who loved Charlotte's Owlie and played with him while Charlotte rode the swings.  I thought we were going to have a hard time getting Owlie back, but luckily there was no drama!  It never crossed my mind that Evan was with anyone but his Grandad, but I was mistaken - he was with his dad!  I apologized for my assumption, but he cheerfully informed me that he gets it all the time and that at his age, most men are grandads.  He told me he was 58 when Evan was born - and now he's 61.  Imagine chasing a toddler in your sixties!

There was a geocache just 30 or 40 metres away from the playground, Squirrel's Viewpoint.  I had logged the cache before, but Charlotte hadn't, so we stopped off to make the find.  It was just a small cache, log-only, but it was very aptly named.

Back at the car, I sat Charlotte on my lap in the back seat so that I could take off her heavy winter clothes to put her into her car seat.  I don't know what came over her, but all she wanted to do was give hugs and cuddles and we sat there for a few minutes while she snuggled up to me.  I guess she must have been really happy that I brought her to Minoru Park!

The park is located at N49.09.904 - W123.08.616 - see the map linked below:  https://mapsengine.google.com/map/edit?hl=en&authuser=0&mid=z7IAXiVD2wGY.ke14vi-3MYtI

1. Rainbow Playground, Queens Park, New Westminster

We are so lucky to have this fabulous playground so close to home!  It's only fitting that this be the first of the 101 playgrounds we hope to visit this year.  The weather was terrible this morning and it poured the entire time as Charlotte drove the train and rode the swings.  There were no other kids in the playground, so Theo got to run around off-leash and play with a border collie who also came by on a rain-soaked walk.  We look forward to coming back to this park in the summer to see the animals in the petting zoo, play in the splash park and eat over-priced hot dogs at the concession stand!

The playground is located at N 49.12.978 - W 122.54.505 - see the map linked below:

https://mapsengine.google.com/map/edit?hl=en&authuser=0&mid=z7IAXiVD2wGY.ke14vi-3MYtI