131. Albion Park, Maple Ridge

Charlotte and I found ourselves in Maple Ridge on this very, very hot day, in search of "Sudoku Summit", a geocache with a difficulty rating of five.  There was a souvenir at stake.  Geocachers will get it...  After making our find, we returned to this playground that we had spotted from the car on the way to the cache.  We found a shady spot to spread out our picnic blanket and set to.  Before very long, a little boy named Otis came along, but he was with his security detail (i.e. his parents) and they looked at Charlotte like she had two heads when she asked their son if he wanted to play with her.  Eventually, they went on their way and another family came along, also with a little boy.  They gave off quite the unfriendly vibe too, so no playmate there.  Later on, as we were packing up to leave, a man came by with his dog and he was so unfriendly that when we were just a few feet away from him, he deliberately turned his back on us rather than exchange a "hello".  This playground gets a failing grade from us because of all its unfriendly people!  The playground is located at N 49.11.424 W 122.32.637 and is point no. 131 on the map at the bottom of home page.

111. Brickwood Park, Maple Ridge

Today we found ourselves in Maple Ridge, off to visit our friends Andy, Khanh, Avery and Kayden - to celebrate Kayden's first birthday!  We headed out a little early so that we would have time to discover a new playground at Brickwood Park and hopefully unearth the nearby geocache, "Fruit Salad: Lime".  Charlotte played for a while before we went off to find the cache; it was at the bottom of a steep grassy hill and I managed to stay upright while I retrieved the cache, but planted my hands and knees in the mud as I tried to scramble back up the steep, muddy hillside.  Charlotte and Dad did some more playing while mum had a go on the swings and then we were off to the party.  The playground is located at N 49.12.729 W 122.35.966 and is point no. 111 on the map at the bottom of home page.

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