51. Westminster Pier Park, New Westminster

This park is still pretty new - in fact, it's younger than Charlotte! It was opened just a couple of months after she was born and it's a very popular place already. It has won quite a few design awards and is built half on land and half over the water with the help of 3600 pilings. There are lots of things to see that are of interest to a two-year-old; the Skytrain bridge is just to the east and tugboats are constantly making their way up and down the river. A paddlewheeler went by as we walked to the playground - I think Charlotte might like a ride on one when she's a bit older! Or maybe not even so very much older... There are no geocaches in the park because there is a series of older caches just outside it.  Charlotte had a nice time playing, then we had a picnic supper before she played in the sandbox for a while. When it got cold, we headed back to the bus stop and rode the bus back up the hill. The playground is located at N 49.12.165 W122.54.389 and is point 51 on the map at the bottom of home page.

50. Waterfront Esplanade, New Westminster

This was a bit of an accidental playground for us - we were on our way to a different playground when we passed by this one! It's a place we've been many times before, but for some reason, this was our first visit this year. We ended up down here today because we had a flat tire earlier in the day and though we planned to have it fixed the next day, we were without a car in the meantime. We took the bus down (dad too - it was our family day!) and walked along the boardwalk, heading for Westminster Pier Park when we passed by the tugboat. It's not a playground in the usual sense of the word and yet it's designed as a structure for kids to play on - which therefore makes it a playground, even if it has no swings or slides! It's also part museum as it has a few old nautical-themed relics in it. Nearby is the Riverfront Market, which is a great place to put a picnic together, and the World's Tallest Tin Solider presides over it all. There used to be a geocache just under the cuff of his pants, but that's long gone. Instead, there is another geocache to be found just downstream, "Fraser Surrey Docks". The tugboat is located at N 49.12.021 W 122.54.644:  https://mapsengine.google.com/map/edit?mid=z7IAXiVD2wGY.ke14vi-3MYtI&pli=1

49. Granville Loop Park, Vancouver

What better way to kick off summer than with two playgrounds in one day?!? We headed down to the south end of the Granville Street bridge to meet Pete after work, but we went early so that Charlotte had time to play. I used to come here once a week back in the day to pick Pete up after work, but that was long before the playground was of any interest to me! We all piled out of the car and headed towards the playground - Charlotte held my left hand, I had Theo's leash in my right and somehow the stroller rolled along between them. A guy and his dog came towards us and the dog started barking excitedly, hoping to play with Theo. Theo was just as excited and though I was the one juggling three things with two hands, the guy snarled, "Manage your dog!" as he went by. Seriously buddy, yours got going first, they're both just happy to see each other, and in case you hadn't noticed, I kind of have my hands full! So I snapped back "Control yours," and we were off to a great start. The park is a bit of a crossroads for people coming and going and given the area, there are all kinds of people going by. The entire time Charlotte was playing, some guy muttered to himself from his spot on the grass across from us. There were no other kids to play with, but Charlotte had fun anyway, driving mum around in the Jeep. Eventually Pete arrived on his bus and left it to another driver. We had a little bit more fun on the playground - then we were off to Memphis Blues for dinner! There were no geocaches in the park - but it's probably the type of park where a cache wouldn't last for long anyway. The playground is located at N 49.16.028 W 123.08.255:  https://mapsengine.google.com/map/edit?mid=z7IAXiVD2wGY.ke14vi-3MYtI&pli=1

48. Coutts Way Tot Lot, Coquitlam

We discovered this tiny, unnamed tot lot because of a geocache; we would never have found it otherwise because it doesn't even have a name or even appear as a park on a map. Even the City of Coquitlam doesn't list it as one of its playgrounds.  I had to have a title for this blog post, so I just named the park after the street that leads to it.  It's a simple little playground, as all the tot lots are, but it's a little gem, with fabulous views of Colony Farms down below and New Westminster and beyond off to the west. The real estate must be worth a fortune; hopefully the site won't be turned into someone's house someday!  We found the geocache first of all, TinyRocker; it was in rough shape with several creepy-crawly creatures living in and on it!  Charlotte had a good play in the warm sun and Theo roamed about until finally Charlotte wanted lunch and we headed for home.  The park is located at N 49.13.981 W 122.47.433:  https://mapsengine.google.com/map/edit?mid=z7IAXiVD2wGY.ke14vi-3MYtI&pli=1

 

47. Steveston Community Centre, Richmond

This afternoon, nana and Charlotte came out to Steveston; I met them there and we had a delicious (really, really delicious!) dinner at the Crab King before walking over to the playground outside the community centre.  I had no idea what an amazing playground we were in for!  So many playgrounds are so similar to each other, mixing and matching components, that it was a nice surprise to find something quite different.  It had a few pieces of the usual stuff, but the wooden boat was completely unique.  Even the steering wheel was a real marine steering wheel, complete with rust!

The playground was huge too, and teeming with kids.  Charlotte had a great time climbing up onto the boat and taking the helter skelter back down again.  That is until another boy, probably a couple of years older than her, took a shine to her and began following her around everywhere she went.  At first, it was cute - he was down the slide right behind her, then following her up the steps again, always right on top of her.  When she climbed the hill for what turned out to be the last time and found him still on top of her, she got really upset and started coming back down the steps again.  He was so close to her that he was stepping on her as she went down the steps on her bum and I had to step in to get him to back off.  She started crying in frustration and I told him that we were going to play by ourselves for a little while.  Luckily we were able to ditch him and go off to play by ourselves for a bit before we headed back to the car.  I had a little chat with her in the car on the way home about how it's okay to tell someone to back off if they're too close.  Really?  Am I really having this conversation with her when she's only two-years-old?  And why aren't this boys parents having a word with him about backing off when someone doesn't want all your attention?  This was another case of me getting the creeps about a situation that is wrong now and would be even more so fast-forward a few years.  Still, the park itself was amazing - definitely one to keep in mind for future visits!  We picked up the geocache when we first arrived, "End of the Line".  The playground is located at N 49.07.548 W 123.10.786:  https://mapsengine.google.com/map/edit?mid=z7IAXiVD2wGY.ke14vi-3MYtI&pli=1

46. Sunset Park, Vancouver

After correcting my typo in the co-ordinates I had entered for Sunset Park, we were finally able to go out and find it after daycare today! The park is split in two by Prince Edward Street; the west side is a dog off-leash area and home to "Sunrise to Sunset", a geocache we stopped off to find before walking over to the playground, which was on the east side of the park. There were two structures here, but neither of them was very Charlotte-friendly. She couldn't climb up onto either of them without at least getting a boost from me. "Too much for me!" she kept saying in frustration. She had a go on the swings and so all was not lost - and she enjoyed pushing Owlie on the swings too. As we walked back to the car afterwards, we passed through the off-leash area where lots more dogs were hanging out since the first time we had been by, so we stopped so that Charlotte could give them a pat. We chatted with a couple with a new puppy and she asked me how it had been having a dog and a small baby to look after. I said that it had been fine because Theo is much older now and doesn't have all the energy he used to have as a puppy. "I don't know how I would have managed a baby and a puppy at the same time!" I said. Oops. Because then she told me that she had found out she was pregnant just after they got the puppy - she was only three months along. So I congratulated them and told them that they would be just fine - they would do what they needed to do to make it work. That probably sounded like too little too late after what I had said before I knew she was pregnant! It was actually very sweet - she sounded like she couldn't believe her own words as she said them - I think I was probably one of the first strangers she had told after getting through her first three months. Lovely! The playground is located at N 49.13.382 W123.05.793:  https://mapsengine.google.com/map/edit?mid=z7IAXiVD2wGY.ke14vi-3MYtI&hl=en

45. Gordon Park, Vancouver

We weren't planning on coming to Gordon Park today. I had entered the co-ordinates for Sunset Park into my GPS and intended to go there, collecting a geocache along the way. I knew the general area where I was heading, so couldn't understand why Paddy (my GPS!) was pointing me elsewhere. Soon enough, I realized I must have entered the co-ordinates incorrectly and I wasn't sure enough of the location of Sunset Park to find it otherwise, so we ended up at this park that we had spotted last week on our way to Maywood Park. Charlotte had a nice time here; the taller climbing frame was a little daunting for her and she insisted on holding my hand across the wobbly bridge and down the slide, but she was okay on her own on the small one. Not long before I was thinking of getting ready to leave, a little girl who seemed very close to Charlotte in age showed up along with her mum and dad. It would have been so nice for them to have the chance to play, but Clara's parents micro-managed every movement she made, instructing her where to play instead of allowing her to explore on her own - and to have the opportunity to perhaps make a new friend on her own. Sometimes these playground expeditions are very disappointing... The park has no geocaches in it - there are more of these cacheless parks around than I had realized! Though I expect that many of them have multi and puzzle cache finals in them. The playground is located at N 49.13.409 W 123.04.287:  https://mapsengine.google.com/map/edit?mid=z7IAXiVD2wGY.ke14vi-3MYtI&hl=en

44. Cape Horn Tot Lot, Coquitlam

What a rainy day!  We went out to Alouette Lake in Maple Ridge this morning after Theo's vet appointment, and though we had a break in the weather to throw a few stones in the water, it was pouring as we arrived and pouring again as we left, so we didn't hit up any playgrounds out there, even though we passed a very nice looking one that we'll have to go back to on a nicer day.  But as we got back closer to home, we had another break in the weather and we used it to pick up a cache at the Cape Horn Tot Lot.  Coquitlam has lots of these little "tot lots" - just small playgrounds with equipment for the littlest kids.  We should hit these up before Charlotte outgrows them...  We grabbed the cache first, "Cape Horn", a little green bison tube that we were able to find quickly.  Charlotte wasn't interested in the cache this time though - she was off down the steps to the playground.  Unfortunately, everything was soaking wet and Charlotte wasn't much into it.  She did a little climbing and then the rain started up again.  We hurried home to have some supper and head to the swimming pool; it was that kind of day.  The park is located at N 49.14.138 W 122.49.587: https://mapsengine.google.com/map/edit?mid=z7IAXiVD2wGY.ke14vi-3MYtI&pli=1

43. Maywood Park, Burnaby

This is just a small park, out of our way on the way home from Richmond, but not too far from home. There were lots of kids playing when we arrived and Charlotte enjoyed climbing and sliding, as usual. The igloo was cool (no pun intended!), but Charlotte wasn't up for attempting to climb it. Which was just as well as a half-eaten ice cream was dripping from the top of it! Charlotte invited me to her “house” and I went for a visit. On the wall were some “cave drawings” - a puzzle in English, French and Spanish. Charlotte didn't have the best time here as there were some big boys who were playing pretty rough – one of them accidentally kicked her in the head as he went running by. I asked Charlotte if she wanted to go find the geocache instead, and to my delight, she said “yes”! So off we went to find “mayday” and Charlotte loved climbing around in the bushes and then going through the swag in the cache. We picked some flowers and had a good time! The park is located at N 49.13.468 123.00.443:  https://mapsengine.google.com/map/edit?mid=z7IAXiVD2wGY.ke14vi-3MYtI&pli=1



42. Cariboo Park, New Westminster

Poor Charlotte! She waited all day to get to the playground – and when we finally got there, she had a bit of a misadventure! We went to Cariboo Park, which has not one, but two playgrounds – one for big kids, one for small. She made a new friend here, Caleb, and they played on the small playground for a while before moving on to the playground of doom.

Charlotte began climbing a ladder – a vertical one with slim rungs that was very challenging for her, something she hadn't yet tried before. And yet, she was actually doing it! She was very focused, head bent, watching her feet as she carefully placed them on each higher rung. But Caleb's mum swooped in, “protecting” her head from the rung above – which really posed no danger to Charlotte! The swoop distracted Charlotte to the point that she lost her balance and she fell / was scooped up by Caleb's mum who deposited her “safely” on the ground. Charlotte then went and tried something a little easier and I was a little upset with Caleb's mum for helicoptering her. But she did try it again and this time she made it to the top! “I did it!” she cried and there was a round of applause from myself and Caleb and his mum. She took the small slide down and tackled the ladder again and again, making it seem easier and easier each time she did it.

So what came next was a little too ironic for my liking... After climbing the ladder again, Charlotte went even higher, moving on to the big slide rather than using the small one again. It was no higher than many other slides she had been down before and thought nothing of it, but just as Charlotte set off down the slide, Caleb's mum told me it was “dangerous”. A second later, Charlotte was at the bottom, face-first in the gravel. Caleb's mum was closer to her than I was and stood over her, flapping her hands in a panic. I picked my poor girl up and she spit out a mouthful of gravel through her tears. She ended up with a scraped forehead, chin and knees, but thankfully she only cried for a minute or two before she was back at it again. The slide had a pretty strange design to it – it ended at the bottom in a box shape and the kids needed to put their legs on either side of it. Caleb's mum said she had seen lots of older kids hurt their legs on it, but poor Charlotte had no idea what she needed to do and just pitched off face-first. But soon she was climbing the ladder again – though taking the little slide back down! Besides, she got to go for a Dairy Queen ice cream afterwards! The park has two geocaches in it, both of which we have already found, “Cariboo Park” and “Cariboo Park #2”. The park is located at N 49.14.048 W 122.54.208:  https://mapsengine.google.com/map/edit?mid=z7IAXiVD2wGY.ke14vi-3MYtI&pli=1

 

41. Burnaby Heights Park, Burnaby

After Friday evening dinner at nana and grandad's, Charlotte and I hit a new playground on our way home.  This one is the northwest corner of Burnaby, not too far off our route home from North Van.  I was so thrilled when we arrived.  Here was a playground teeming with kids, and a relatively small number of adults hung out on the sidelines.  Some of these kids must be, gasp, here on their own!  The air rang with the normal, happy sound of kids at play, the noise I had recently realized was so often missing from our playground visits.  This is what a playground is supposed to be!  Charlotte even came running back to me at one point to tell me she had made a "new friend, new friend!" 

She practiced climbing on the rock wall - she doesn't get very far on this yet, but it's great that she tries.  She went down the small slide over and over again, but insisted that I hold her hand each time.  Eventually she discovered the helter-skelter and she was on her own for that one - I couldn't reach her hand whether she wanted me to or not!  She was a little cautious the first time and sent Owlie down to test the waters - but soon she was fearlessly launching herself off down the ramp, crying "Again, again!" as soon as she got to the bottom.  I had to boost her up the first step, but after that, she was able to pull herself up to the top to begin her ride down the helter-skelter all over again.  She played till the sun started to go down and then reluctantly agreed to head back to the car to head for home.  She always seems to be comforted by the fact that there will always be more playgrounds for us to explore though!  There are no geocache in this park - always a surprise to find a park without one!  The park is located at N 49.17.270 W 123.01.237:  https://mapsengine.google.com/map/edit?mid=z7IAXiVD2wGY.ke14vi-3MYtI&pli=1

40. Sir Wilfred Grenfell Elementary School, Vancouver

Every Thursday on our trek from Richmond to North Van, we pass by an elementary school that sports three different playgrounds, all in a row.  Every week, I tell myself we will have to stop there, and finally we got around to it.  Charlotte took off up the ladder on the big kids' playground before I had any chance to have any say in the matter and was at the top before I had any opportunity to worry.  That's the way to do it!  Only trouble was that she couldn't get down again - she wasn't up for the giant slide and hasn't yet figured out how to turn around and go down the ladder backwards.  We soon moved on to playground number two, which was a little more little-kid friendly.  In fact, it was a little bit boring, so we decided to walk a couple of hundred metres further along the school grounds to playground number three.  There was a wire fence around the playground, but it never occurred to me that the entire playground would be inaccessible, but sure enough, the gate was locked shut with coil after coil of chain wrapped through it.  Evidently, someone was adamant that no kids get in there!  Charlotte decided soon after that that she wanted to get going to nana and grandad's, so we packed up and headed out.  Only as soon as we got to the car, she started crying for the playground again!  Not my favourite playground ever, but at least we finally stopped to check it out after driving past it so many times.  The playground is located at N 49.14.580 W 123.02.105: https://mapsengine.google.com/map/edit?mid=z7IAXiVD2wGY.ke14vi-3MYtI&pli=1

39. Riverway Sports Complex, Burnaby

Today we hit up the Riverway Sports Complex in Burnaby, a place we drive by often on our way home from work and daycare.  This is a huge complex with baseball diamonds, a lacrosse box and soccer pitches.  It didn't seem promising, but rumour had it there was a playground there - and there was a cache for us to find too.  The playground was underwhelming to say the least - hardly any taller than Charlotte and mostly used as a stretching post for athletic types.  But Charlotte announced that she loved it, and if she's happy, I'm happy.  She played, she ran around on the grass, and all was well.  Until, from out of nowhere, some kid, perhaps a five-year-old boy, raced at her out of nowhere and attempted to grab from her the pen she held in her hand (which she had in turn pinched from me).  Charlotte was at quite some distance from me at that point, all by herself in the middle of the field, and this little incident has stuck with me.  The boy was old enough to know better - this was no toddler scuffle over something that one wants because the other has it.  And to fast forward this scenario a few years...  Am I reading too much into this?  Because part of me thinks that this kid's parents need to keep an eye on things.  A bigger boy willing to attack a smaller girl as she is on her own...  Seems to me that there is something there that needs to be nipped in the bud.  As it happens, his mother did see what had happened and she shouted at him "Alex, no!".  But it was perfunctory, it was light, and she went back to her baseball game.  For Charlotte's part, I was proud of her - she screamed at him, refused to relinquish her pen and came running back to me.  Good for you, my girl, for sticking up for yourself.

 

Charlotte played for a long time, then we went to look for the geocache.  There are actually three caches in the complex, but we went for the one closest to the playground, "The Fastest Game on Two Feet - WLA Champions".  As we approached GZ, Charlotte called out "Geocache, where are you?", much to my delight.  My little girl is becoming a geocacher, just like me!  She loves to make the find, but she still doesn't like to put the caches back again and seem to think she should be able to take them home as a souvenir.  The park is located at N 49.12.331  W 123.00.051:  https://mapsengine.google.com/map/edit?mid=z7IAXiVD2wGY.ke14vi-3MYtI&pli=1

38. Ash Park, Vancouver

I have been saving Ash Park for a while – it is perfectly situated for a post-playground trip to Denny's and who better to join us on such an adventure than our friends Paula and Gabi! We met in the afternoon after work and daycare and the girls, Doggie and Owlie all had a great time tearing around the playground. Charlotte fell off some bouncy stepping stones and needed to be rescued, but other than that a good time was had by all! The girls were into the merry-go-round, the same type of cumbersome, safe-as-houses merry-go-round we had encountered recently in Chilliwack. “Faster!” shouted Charlotte. “It doesn't go any faster!” shouted mum.

We set off for Denny's afterwards. As the crow flies, it's just a couple of hundred metres away – there was no point getting in the car. Paula drove though, but she has good reason to do so as she is not too far away from her due date with her second. Gabi came with Charlotte and I and insisted on pushing the stroller. It was slow going as she bumped into the grass verge on either side of the sidewalk and absolutely refused my help in straightening out again. We walked the block to Marine Drive and there was our destination in front of us – across six lanes of rush hour traffic. So near and yet so far – there was no safe way of crossing with a stroller and two small kids in tow. We walked to the nearest crosswalk, the stroller zig-zagging all the way. We managed to cross, and then we zig-zagged all the way back again, bumping into bushes this time, much to Charlotte's annoyance. Gabi will be very good at pushing the stroller by the time she's a big sister though! There is no geocache in this park - Charlotte and I may have to rectify that.  The park is located at N 49.12.653 W 123.07.205:  https://mapsengine.google.com/map/edit?mid=z7IAXiVD2wGY.ke14vi-3MYtI&pli=1