132. Terra Nova, Richmond

Finally it's time to check out the amazing million-dollar playground at Terra Nova!  I have been saving this one for a long time, wanting to make a day of it rather than just a quick post-daycare trip.  Today we met up with our friends from two families: Gaby with Matias and Anna and Eva with Alex and Nika.  And what an amazing playground we found!

The main structure is about three storeys high and has all kinds of opportunities for climbing and sliding.  It was a bit too much for Charlotte, but the older kids had a great time.  There are lots of things to climb on and everything is made of wood and rope – no pre-fab playground equipment here!  After our picnic, we went to explore yet another part of the playground that I hadn't even realized existed at first and that's where Charlotte really had some fun.  There was a huge slide, much like the amazing slide at Garden City and the kids had a blast sliding down there as a "train".  And then there was the zip line!  I don't know how many times Charlotte went on that thing, but because it was a bit big for her, she really needed help staying on and so I had to run up and down along with her.

We were there for over four hours altogether and the kids all had a great time.  Definitely one of the best playgrounds we have ever visited, rivalled only by John Storvik in Anacortes and City Park in Lynden.  The playground is located at N 49.10.431 W 123.11.897 and is point no. 132 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.

53. John Storvik Playground, Anacortes, Washington

Wow! This is by far the best playground we have come across - and not just since I started this blog either. This is the most amazing playground I have ever seen! I had googled "best playground in Anacortes" before coming down here, found more than I had bargained for, and knew that we had to visit. It's a cross between a Swiss village, a wild west fort and a pirate ship! It has so many nooks and crannies to explore and climb - ranging from wooden playhouses for the little kids to bigger structures and a scary-looking tire well for the older ones. Charlotte got carried away exploring the tot lot portion and while I usually leave her be to explore what's of interest to her, this time I was cajoling her to come with me because I wanted to explore the rest of the playground! When I had seen it all, I finally went back to my usual hands-off self and allowed Charlotte to explore as she pleased. She had a brilliant time here, running around all over the place and climbing up to take the twisty tunnel slide back down to the ground again. She invited me over to her "house" and made some new friends. I was proud of her for taking one of her pals to meet Theo, who was waiting for us in the shade. She showed him how to pet Theo and told Theo he was a good dog. It was the sweetest thing - but unfortunately the boy's parents didn't like him being near Theo and that was the end of that. Sometimes I wonder if these people actual stop to take in the situation before they bark orders based on preconceived notions or fears... The playground was fenced in, but it wasn't the usual chain-link fencing that makes some playgrounds feel like a prison exercise yard. Instead, it was just part of the structure and made the playground feel like a fort, keeping the bad guys out rather than keeping the kids in. In fact, it lent a little scope for imagination to the scene; I could just imagine playing Cowboys and Indians here - if that's still something that kids do and if it's not too politically incorrect! It's really too bad that this playground is so far from home - but it's not so far away that we can't come visit it again before very long! There's a geocache not too far away for us to look for next time too; it's a multi-cache so we didn't have time for it today. The playground is located at N 48.29.863 W 122.36.888 and is point 52 on the map at the bottom of home page.

52. Schoolhouse Park, Guemes Island, Washington

I found myself with a Wednesday off work to look after Charlotte while her daycare was closed for a couple of weeks. I was looking to make an adventure out of my mid-week, day-long vacation and so we got up early (ish) and headed Stateside to picturesque Anacortes for the day. I have been through here many times and I wanted to bring Charlotte to visit this lovely spot that has such good associations for me, especially as I have ridden here on my bike at least a couple of times before. I had always wanted to take the ferry to Guemes Island and I figured that this would be the perfect opportunity: Charlotte would love bouncing over the waves, we could do some geocaching and maybe we would find a playground to hang out at for a while. The caching at the local beaches was so much fun that at first, Charlotte didn't even want to go to the playground! Throwing rocks into the water for Theo was pretty distracting... But eventually we headed inland and found the park, right in the middle of the island in a lovely, rural setting with no noise but the whisper of the wind and the chirping of the birds. The park was deserted when we first arrived, even though it was a lovely summer morning. Charlotte did some climbing and sliding while Theo and I made the most of some shade. Some big kids came up on their bikes with their parents just before we were starting to think about going, but they didn't seem interested in playing with little Charlotte and her big dog. There are no caches in the park, but in addition to the two we'd already found, we logged a couple more before we figured we'd better head back to Anacortes before the weekly dangerous cargo sailing held us up for longer than we would have liked. The playground is located at N 48.32.957 W 122.37.465 and is point 52 on the map at the bottom of home page.