84. Blundell Elementary School, Richmond

It wasn't raining after daycare today, so we went to check out a playground that I had recently noticed while taking Theo for a lunch-time walk.  Although it's an elementary school playground, it didn't seem to be too much for Charlotte.  Until we got there, that is...

The playground is quite old school and Charlotte banged her face just a few minutes after we arrived while trying to climb a ladder - a ladder that had an overhanging piece of wood at the top that made it hard to climb over.  I cheered her up and helped her try again - she had fun on the slide, but she was done with climbing.  She had a go on the swings and we hung out in the little playhouse and warmed our hands - and that was all she was up for.  The playground is located at N 49.09.262 W 123.09.158 and is point no. 85 on the map at the bottom of home page.

83. Carleton Park, Vancouver

I am officially out of the running for mum-o'-the-year after today's fiasco. I pumped Charlotte full of birthday party excitement and we headed off to Gabi's fourth birthday party. I promised Charlotte kids, games, fun and birthday cake. We were running a few minutes late – yet I was able to pull up directly in front of the house and there were hardly any other cars on the street... That was the moment I realized with a sinking feeling that we were not just a few minutes late but 24 hours and a few minutes late. Charlotte had fallen asleep by the time we got there and Gabi and her family were out, so I pulled away, intent on finding a playground that was so much fun that Charlotte would forget all about the delights that I had promised her...  Carleton Park seemed to fit the bill - it had a playground and a geocache, both of which would make the birthday party fade away in Charlotte's mind.  It actually seemed to work at first, though the fact that we couldn't find "ABC" made things a little more difficult.  We did a little climbing, but Charlotte soon announced that she didn't like this playground because it was "too big".  The photo of her here is not "Look mum, no hands," but "This is too cold to hang on to!"  And so she asked when we were going to the birthday party...  I sheepishly explained my mistake, and brightly suggested a Pirate Pak at White Spot instead.  Luckily for me, she bought it.  The playground is located at N 49.14.515 W 123.01.853 and is point no. 83 on the map at the bottom of home page.

 

82. Million Smiles Playground, Lynden City Park, Washington

Charlotte and I planned a trip to Lynden, Washington today so that we could attend a geocaching event, “The Ice Scream Man”. Before we went, I googled “best playground in Lynden” and the Million Smiles Playground in City Park immediately popped up. The pictures were amazing and this playground was clearly going to give John Storvik a run for its money!

Unfortunately, the weather was terrible all day. At least it was “just rain” when we were at the playground – as opposed to a “torrential downpour” while we were at the event. Charlotte got kitted out in her Muddy Buddies for the first time this season and we went to check out the playground.

It was very similar in design to John Storvik, though this one was much more commercialized with a little row of playshops for the little ones to play in – each one prominently displaying the name of a local sponsor. I wasn't too thrilled with the commercialism and the wet weather swayed my judgment a bit too, but even so, I think this one wins out over John Storvik because of the amazing three-storey playhouse. We climbed up to a very dark little playhouse – which lit up as soon as we got close to the top and made the place very cozy. It was entirely closed in and made for a great little spot to hang out. There was a twisty slide from almost the very top that was just a black hole – Charlotte refused to go down it – and refused to let me go down it either!

The park itself is lovely, situated on the banks of Fishtrap Creek. We will definitely have to come back here and make a day of it when the days are longer and the weather is nice again. There are a couple of puzzle caches nearby that we will need to work on too! The playground is located at N 48.56.963 and is point no. 82 on the map at the bottom of home page.

81. Norquay Park, Burnaby

I knew there was a park around here somewhere...  We drove along Kingsway until we spotted it - "There's a playground, there's a playground!" cried Charlotte.  As soon as we arrived, one of the kids asked Charlotte if she wanted to play hide-and-seek with him.  Of course she did!  Unfortunately, she wanted me along at all times while she did her seeking, but I did manage to hang back a little bit.  The kid really latched on to her and they built sandcastles together for a bit too.  Charlotte had a lot of fun on the slide and was able to do without me for quite a while to climb and slide with the other kids.  She needed my help for balancing and jumping off things though - and then it was time to go.  Oh the tears!  She melts down so rarely now when it's time to leave the playground, but this one was epic and took a long time to subside.  Does she not know that the end of the year is quickly approaching and we still have 20 playgrounds left to visit?!?  She really needn't worry that we won't be back at a playground again very soon!  The park is located at N 49.14.266  W 123.03.069 and is point #81 on the map at the bottom of home page.

80. Fedoruk-Kartner Park, Richmond

This is a strange little park; at first it didn't even seem to have a name, though it's listed on Google maps as Fedoruk-Kartner park. It appears on the map as a long, thin strip of green, barely wider than the trail to nowhere that extends the length of the park. We stopped off on our way home from daycare; it had been raining most of the day and we decided we would take advantage of a short sunny break to play.  We both did some climbing today – Charlotte insisted on it. Somehow I managed to bang up my recently-healed hip as I attempted the slide – the very same hip that has just had me in physio for over a year! I was very worried, but luckily it just seems to be bruised and nothing worse... We will have to come back here and hide a geocache in the nearby trees – this place was made for a geocache and I can't believe there isn't one here already! The park is located at N 49.10.320 W 123.02.142 and is point #80 on the map at the bottom of home page.

79. Redwood Park, Surrey

We went out to visit tío Gerardo, tía Gaby, Matías y Anna this weekend – we had asked them to take us to one or two of their favourite playgrounds in their area. We started off at Redwood Park – because it had the most geocaches in it and Matias was pretty excited to go find one! Charlotte had just woken up when we arrived at the park and was in need of some lunch, so we got off to a bit of a slow start, but once she got onto the merry-go-round, there was no stopping her! The kids all rode while the adults pushed, but we soon got pretty tired – or more to the point, we got dizzy!  Afterwards, we set off to find “Redwood Reading Room”, which was a nice big ammo can with lots of things in it, including some books. Matias was thrilled to have found it! Our plans to check out a second playground today fell through due to tired kids and iffy weather, but that just means that we will go back and play with our friends again one day soon! The playground is located at N 49.02.148 W 122.43.563 and is point #79 on the map at the bottom of home page.

78. Burns Park, Coquitlam

The weather this weekend was supposed to be terrible, so when the sun came out late this morning, Charlotte and I seized the opportunity to go out to play. We chose this playground because it's not too far from the Superstore, which we can save for when it starts to rain again! Everything at the playground was wet, but the damp weather was keeping other people away and Theo was able to roam while Charlotte played. She took on the “climbing mountain” repeatedly – up and down, with her shoes squeaking on the wet plastic with every step she took! We played on the balance steps and then we just sat on a dry patch of wood beneath a tree to watch the crows and squirrels playing on the grass. Charlotte was thrilled that if we were quiet, they would come closer to us and before we left, she left a little nut in a place where the squirrels would find it. The playground is located at N 49.14.539 W 122.52.561 and is point #78 on the map at the bottom of home page.

77. Riverview Park, Vancouver

Our first post-daycare outing in quite some time! The days are noticeably shorter than they were last time we went out after daycare and fall is definitely in the air. We found “Another Marpole Hide” first; I was so proud of my girl who wanted to open the cache herself, then said “Please have the log book?” so that she could sign it herself. She is getting to be quite the little geocacher! We headed over to the playground and Charlotte met a little boy named Mason, who was just a little bit younger than her. They played a little bit and did a brilliant job of taking turns driving the train. I heard from Mason's dad about the new playground in Terra Nova that opened while we were on vacation and that everyone has been telling me about. I told him about John Storvik playground in Anacortes, but I'm not sure he's willing to make the trek! The playground is point #77 on the map at the bottom of home page.

76. Lyndhurst Park, Burnaby

Charlotte and I went to claim my free Grand Slam at the nearby Denny's – I won't let my birthday go by without a delicious Denny's breakfast, even if I have to have it for dinner! We found a Harry Potter-themed cache hidden in a tree near the playground, “Floo Powder – Thanks for the Magic”, and then we headed over to play. It was already starting to get dark, I had a nasty cold and I still had to pack lunch for daycare tomorrow for the first time in a month – so we didn't stay for long. Still, Charlotte had a good time repeatedly climbing the ladder and sliding down the slide – all by herself, she would have you know. We had some tears when it was time to go, maybe because we only stayed such a short time.  It's been ages since she had a meltdown over leaving the playground. We don't have any pictures of this outing as I had left my camera in my jeans pocket – which I had changed out of following a sandy, muddy, wet outing to Barnston Island earlier today. The playground is point #76 on the map at the bottom of home page.

75. Myrtle Park, North Vancouver

We headed over to North Van today to see nana and grandad, but first we decided to check out a playground on this lovely fall day. Before we went to the playground, we tried to find the nearest geocache, Yertle the Myrtle Turtle, but our geo-senses were not sharp today and we couldn't come up with the goods. There are a couple of other caches in this large park, but Charlotte was ready to go to the playground by the time we gave up on Yertle. She had a good time here and managed a couple of new things. There was a curved ladder shaped like a roller coaster that she began to tackle and a “climbing mountain” that she managed to get up all by herself, using the little ledges for her hands and feet as she pulled herself up. She wanted me behind her because she climbed pretty high, but I was just there for reassurance and she didn't need my help at all. She also did a great job of balancing along a sort of net made out of chains – repeatedly!  Then she got her hands on my camera and she lost all interest in the playground - she seems to be quite the budding photographer these days!  We were having so much fun at the playground that I forgot to take a waypoint, but it's point no. 75 on the map at the bottom of home page.