85. Delamont Park, Vancouver

What a beautiful day! It was so sunny and warm, but we had lots of things to do, so we got an early start on the day so that we could get it all done and still have lots of time to play outside. I had a little shopping that I wanted to do in Kits, so we parked near Delamont Park so that we could nab a geocache and a playground at the same time. I had looked for the cache, "Historic Kitsilano" before, but had been unable to find it. That was back when it was hanging in a tree and I was looking in the dark - but by now, the cache has been moved to a much more cacher-friendly location and was soon in hand. Charlotte had a great time climbing on the little Jeep structure then sliding down again all by herself. It was a nice little neighbourhood park with lots of kids playing and lots of dogs passing through with their owners. Some of them paused to gnaw at a smashed pumpkin left over from last night! As we headed down to the shops, we cut along the old railway track to get there. I believe there is only one line in the area, so this must be the one that they wanting to put back into service again. I guess they had always maintained the right to do so, but the line sure is close to the houses and the playground! After finishing our shopping and having some lunch, we headed back to the car, passing through the playground once again. Charlotte had one more go on the slide before we were off to see Paula and Gabi - to make up for missing the birthday party last week! The playground is located at N 49.15.948 W 123.09.143 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.

 

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



25. Norquay Elementary School, Vancouver

What's this?!?  Two playgrounds in one day?!?  In the evening, we went to visit our friends Paula and Gabi; we had dinner with them and then they took us to check out their favourite local playground.  The playground is brand new, thanks to the fundraising efforts of the parents of the kids at the elementary school and apparently the old playground left a lot to be desired.  Let's not get into whether or not parents should be selling dozens of cookies and cupcakes in order to be able to have a playground in the schoolyard...  Charlotte and Gabi had a great time tearing all over the playground, checking out the swings and slides and climbing everywhere.  Because the playground is designed for school-aged kids, there were no bucket swings for Charlotte, but she didn't seem to mind as she was enjoying herself so much, clambering about and making friends with one of the other girls at the playground.  By the time we left, the sun was almost down, it was getting cold - and we only just made it home in time for bedtime!  There are no geocaches nearby with it being a school, but we already got one today anyway!  The playground is located at N 49.14.467 W 123.03.051: https://mapsengine.google.com/map/edit?mid=z7IAXiVD2wGY.ke14vi-3MYtI&pli=1