Kidding Around Vancouver Island

A typical Friday night, when you have two small girls, involves watching a Princess movie or episodes of My Little Pony with a big bowl of popcorn. When George suggested that it might be fun to go see the Clippers he was met with some cold stares. Then Ella’s face brightened and she asked if she could get her hair braided and daddy had to explain that the Nanaimo Clippers is a hockey team. I could see as they left the house that they didn’t think this was such a good idea.

Fast forward three hours later and two very excited girls burst through the door yelling ‘Mom you’ve just got to see a Clippers game.’ They are really fast skaters, explains Grace, who was excited to be at Frank Crane arena where she often goes skating, and they crash into the boards like this (insert demonstration on kitchen cupboards). The Clippers were the ones in white, she points out, which are the good guys, and the other team was black - like pirates, adds Ella.

Now, to be honest, hockey was just a part of the evening. What I heard about most was the team mascot and the activities between periods: you have to try and get this frisbee to land on this circle and you should see, they toss this big dice over the balcony onto the ice. Another huge hit was the Steve Marshall Ford truck going around the rink tossing out t-shirts and other prizes - and, mom, Zigster was there too!

George said the best part for him was seeing two little girls getting caught up in the excitement and screaming Go Clippers Go - even when the black-shirted pirate team was on a break away.

I don’t know about you, but I can’t get everything done in my day. I admit I am slow to start in the morning - which is one of the reason I married George, he is wide awake bright and early - he can get the kids breakie going.

As I think about my day and what it has to offer, I am overwhelmed. So, I do little things that will help… like getting my crock pot out and get dinner in it and it will be hot and tasty (we hope) by dinner time. So today, my dinner is ready and in the crock at 8:44 am. Whew…. Chili anyone?

I find this does help with the end of the day, as it decreases the visits to Swiss Chalet for the evening meal. I save money and time. It also allows for more freedom to “play” after school with the kids. When dinner is already ready to go, I am good to head to one of our fine beaches or hang out at the park with the girlies.

I am always on the quest for great crock recipes - but also other great ways to make a tasty, healthy meal at the end of the day and not be overwhelmed. I put this out there to you - the blog audience - does anyone have some recipes or ideas to share. My friend Angela has some nifty solutions on how not to use the oven in the summer (and beyond) - good and delicious recipes so that has been a help. Check out www.angelatunner.com to see what she has.

I love Save-On-Foods - the one at Woodgrove Centre mostly - it has the best in-store music - more 80’s and that makes shopping more enjoyable. Well, today, Ella Rose and I were doing the grocery store wander and headed down the book aisle. I love that aisle! Out of the corner of her eye, Ella Rose spots this PINK magazine - it is a My Little Pony Magazine… all ponies all the time. I knew that there was Chickadee and Owl for kids, but My Little Pony magazines?

I ended up buying it for two reasons - I was curious and second, it was Ella Rose’s birthday and it made her so happy. We brought the publication home and it’s pretty good.There’s stories, activities, cut-outs, crafts, secret pony codes (don’t ask), a math page, mazes, matching games and much more. Ella Rose had a blast when we got home - she poured through the magazine and coloured and printed and traced. She loved it. I loved it because she was having fun and learning things at the same time. Check out www.redan.com to check out the Pony magazine and the others they have.

Oh, I did the “find your favourite pony” quiz and surprise, surprise, I am like Pinky Pie! “You are both loyal to your friends, love to party and are good at planning fun things! Your favourite colour is pink and you both love a hug!” Hmm - wonder if I can put this on my resume?

I can’t believe it was prom night this past weekend. I was thrilled to see our lovely neighbour, Greta, dressed to the nines for her special night. She is a smart, talented and kind young lady and we are pretty lucky to know her and her family - and that they share some really cool events with us - thanks for coming and doing the prom fashion show for us Greta - hmmm - every time I write the name Greta - the word Great comes out…. ohh spooky.

I love April - flowers popping up, cherry blossom trees in bloom and in our family, April has more birthdays than Hallmark can deal with.

This month I went all out for Ella Rose’s birthday celebration… High Tea for Little Ladies. I baked, researched the best kid-friendly fruit punch recipes, had invitations made by a talented friend, took cake decorating classes (Yup - I really did), got a butler outfit for my husband, a maid outfit for our elder daughter and I was the chef. All servants for the beck and call of four little girls. It was cute, fun and truth be told, exhausting.

I was talking to a mom today, telling her about the lovely and tiring birthday party and all she said was “Jumping Jiminy’s is a much saner option”. I have to agree - but it was an experience our whole family enjoyed and the little ones had a blast. Being able to include everyone in the event was fun and I know we will remember the experience for a long, long time… but first I have to catch up on my rest.

Of course we couldn’t let the week go by without mentioning the S-N-O-W this past Saturday (my mum doesn’t let me say the word ever since we lived in Northern BC with a lot of S-N-O-W). Has April become the new December? Central Vancouver Island got hit with 24 centimetres of snow in about a six hour period overnight - the city hadn’t seen measurable snow on April 19 since 1947 and the previous record for the Nanaimo airport was April 12 in 1981 with just 4.9 centimetres. Ouch!

So, Saturday morning we woke up at… ok, the kids woke up at 6:30 (we woke up at 6:31) and the first thing they wanted to do was make a giant snowman. Second thing, of course; put on the bathing suits - no, really…

Our kids recently had a chance to try their hand at tying flies during the book launch for our friend Rick Passek’s book, The Freshman Flyfisher. They loved it, and they also liked the fact that Rick’s 13 year old son Ryan was the one teaching them the intricate winding and turning. Rick says a lot more kids and a lot more women are discovering the joys of fly-fishing, especially when you can just catch and release!

When it came time to tie her own fly, our youngest insisted that hers be bright pink and, as it turns out, the colour can be very useful for imitating certain bugs. Who knew? Well, you can find out this weekend. On Saturday April 26 there’s the Fly Fishing Trade Show at the Grand Hotel in Nanaimo and then on Sunday April 27, the Nanaimo Fish & Game Club is holding a Fly Fishing Open House.

The Regional District of Nanaimo is in the middle of its second annual Golden Shoe Hunt at parks in the Parksville area. On until May 23, all you have to do is check for a new location and clue each Friday online at http://www.rdn.bc.ca. If you’re one of the first 5 people to return with the clue to Oceanside Place, you win a prize. Good luck!

Readers of our weekly newspaper column know what we’ve been up to since December, but here on the web, it’s been a bit quiet, and we apologize for that. But thanks to our sister-in-law, Shari, that’s all changing. She’s going to help us with maintaining the website and making it a great addition to our print stories. We’ve got some contests coming up, more information about the island, and of course, regular postings! Thanks Shari!

We recently solved the problem of which comes first, the chicken or the egg. What comes first is a place to raise chickens and eggs, so we headed off to a chicken farm. This was part of our “Where Does It Come From?” series of outings for the kids - making sure they don’t think everything magically comes from a store.

We chose to visit Cedar Valley Poultry, where they raise free-range chickens, and of course, eggs. Owners Betty and George Benson took us on a tour of their family farm, showing the kids everything from what I call mobile grazing shelters (which are moved every couple of days to get even usage of the land) to the delicate timing of cleaning eggs (you don’t want them to cook in the warm wash water). The kids got to help feed the chickens and pick the freshly-laid eggs, and then, after a thorough washing of hands, it was time to taste some hard-boiled free-range eggs. Even the kids could see the difference in the colour of the yolks, and while they’ve always loved eggs, they liked the taste of these even more.

The only down-side to our visit at Cedar Valley Poultry is that our six-year old continues to dream about having a chicken or two in the backyard. Seeing how much work is involved in keeping poultry did not have the desired effect.