Kidding Around Vancouver Island

A friend of ours who lived for a short time in Parksville and had to move back to Alberta for job reasons, keeps emailing and asking how things are on the Island.  You can hear the longing in their words.  We love Parksville too - it’s the epitome of small town Island summers - and adding to that tradition for the last few years has been the Summer by the Sea Tuesday night market down on Craig street.  Great shopping, great music, great fun.

The heart of the street market is being able to browse over 120 vendors selling everything from artichokes to artworks, bread to beads, clocks to candles, and from every other letter of the alphabet.  The kids bought a very fun puppet here and they’ve also found unique gifts for friends’ birthdays.  If they can sample something - like honey or fresh bread - they’re extra happy campers.  And they’ve made lots of new friends there too because plenty of families come to the market.

The kids always have a fabulous time dancing to the top quality musicians featured each week.  We’ve tried in the past to have the kids stay in their shoes, but it’s a losing battle and blackened feet are a small price to pay for all the fun.  Face painting is another favourite and the ice cream wagon gets a regular visit as well.  And since the beach is so close, we often come up there first for a picnic and then show up for the market starting at 6pm (which is crucial if you want some of the fresh bread and other goodies!). The market is every Tuesday night through to August 18 from 6pm to 9pm.

See the problem is, they call it Canada Day, but it’s really Canada Days and picking and choosing between them isn’t easy.  Let’s start in Ladysmith.

We love Transfer Beach as you probably know, and that’s a great place to have Canada Day, which is why the clever folks at Parks and Rec are having it there from 1 to 5pm.  There’s going to be music and lots of family activities.  And of course they have the water park there and one of the best concession booths around - great burgers!

Nanaimo’s Maffeo Sutton park boasts one of the best playgrounds around with a wonderful view of the Harbour, plus it’s getting all polished up for the opening of the new Spirit Square, so what better place to hold Nanaimo’s Canada Day celebrations.  Our kids love the Kerplunks and guess who’s going to be there!!  A multi-cultural food fair promises lots of good eating and there’ll be plenty of fun activities as well.  It all starts at 11am and runs until 3:15pm.

If you like your celebrations to start early, then Parksville’s Canada Day celebrations will get you going at 8am with the popular Shriner’s pancake breakfast.  What could more Canadian than piling on the butter and the maple syrup!  Then it’s the annual Canada Day parade down the Island Highway starting at 10am.  Get your seats early because this is always well attended and this year everything about the Parksville celebration is supposed to be even bigger!  Then it’s off to the Community Park for a full day of fun starting at noon.

No matter where you spend the day on July 1st, though, you’ll want to end up in Parksville around dusk because it’s time for fireworks!  Our littlest one has turned out to be the biggest fireworks fan after a couple of years of ear-covering, so she’ll be there.  With her family of course - can’t have the 5 year old driving by herself to Parksville.

We doing a bit of a wander around Nanoose Bay recently and stumbled upon Beachcomber Regional Park. This gem comprises the tip of one of the peninsulas at the top end of Nanoose and while it’s small, it’s got plenty to offer, most notably a 270 degree ocean-front with beaches and rocky out-croppings (something to satisfy the kids and George).  The ocean was absolutely calm while we were there, but George was picturing a nice stormy day (I don’t beyond the picturing part, but he and Grace love to stand out in the wind and rain).  There’s a small forested area in the centre of the park and then you’re out on the beach.  But the trek down from the road above is nothing to sneeze at, so have some good shoes on and be ready for a bit of a climb back up.

We had a lovely picnic out on the rocks and the kids had a great time wading out on the beach area - but be sure to bring water shoes as it’s a rocky beach and you don’t want “barnacle feet” as Ella calls them.  Speaking of Ella, we met another little girl named Ella whom our Ella took in tow and helped guide her along, until our Ella herself slipped and fell.  Luckily a woman sitting on the beach was better prepared than we were with magical band-aids - you know the kind, even when there’s no blood, one or two of these band-aids and all the crying stops.  Yes, you know.

This is one of the nicest ocean-front parks we’ve been to and we’ll definitely be back again.

[Note - the Google map is incomplete - switch to the Satellite view and you'll get more accurate directions - Follow the signs off Northwest Bay road to Beachcomber marina and then keep going past the marina]

This August-like weather has forced us to re-think our June activities somewhat.  We’re not used to getting out sprinklers or using water parks so early in the season. Grace says she could get used to not being used to it….  I had trouble understanding that too, but the main thing is they’re having a blast.

We have a great sprinkler toy that fills with water and then waits… waits… and then sends a blast of water way up in the air when you least expect it.  George calls it the scream machine because of its effect on the kids.  But even the scream machine can’t hold a candle to some of our favourite watering holes.

The water park at Transfer Beach in Ladysmith is one of the best around.  George wanted Ella to try out the bucket dump;  it fills with water and then wait… wait… down it pours on unsuspecting children.  Yep, more screams.  But George didn’t properly calculate the water-to-Ella weight ratio; she was no fool and left the deluge to her big sister.

Nanaimo has several city parks with water equipment, but our favourite is the Harewood Mining Community Park on Howard Ave in the south end of the city.  A lot of the water features are built around a painted train track and the kids love to race around it and get sprayed as they go.

Parksville community beach has a classic old water park with some particularly tricky sprays built into the ground, which unsuspecting parents can get caught it while they’re keeping an eye on the kids.  Ok, only George, who keeps forgetting that the nozzles are there.

While up in Parksville the kids also can’t resist going on the bumper boats at Paradise Fun Park - the place with the giant mini-golf courses.  Tip for parents and older kids - the taller you are, the more you’ll get sprayed.  Hmm, I guess that’s kind of a tip for the younger kids too, isn’t it…

Our kids have always loved going to farmer’s markets, but now they love them even more after trying a market play date.  We met up with our friend Kate, her litle boy David and new-born Emilee at the Errington Farmers Market which we hadn’t been to in quite while.

After the girls went gah-gah over Emilee’s goo-goo’s it was time to explore.  That meant the concession stand first because a morning of marketing requires fueling up on popsicles and giant cookies.  I went for one of the cinammon buns that every other person seemed to be eating (now I know why!)  David - who’s two - tested the 10 second rule a couple of times with his popsicle, and Ella was happy to pick it up and brush it off for him (for a child who’s very particular, she’s never been very particular about food on the ground).

Errington has plenty of space in the field next to the market, so you can lay down a couple of blankets (I chose to lay down with them) and enjoy the great music from their fab new bandshell while the kids run around and burn off their treats.  I suggested a bandshell for our backyard, but before George could suggest anything back, Grace pointed out that we didn’t need one because it’s easy to drive to Errington.  Bless her young, irony-free heart.

Then it was off to the market stalls.  I suspect there may be some magpie somewhere in George’s family tree because our girls flitted from shiny object to shiny object at the jewellery tables.  There was a wide range of styles and one table in particular featured some amazing pieces by two young girls.  Then there were the hats, and of course the baking.  None of this was impressing David, until he pointed to the brightly-coloured hoola-hoops.  We’re not talking about the plastic kind the girls have had in the past, but properly weighted, hand-made hoola-hoops.  The moment she tried one, Grace could tell she’d never really been hoola-hooping before.  We’ll take two, I said.

A few plants, vegetables, and another cinammon bun later and we were ready to head home, but we’ll be sure to head back to Errington the next chance we get.  It’s not very far, as Grace says.

It’s the 10th anniversary for the Vancouver Island Children’s Festival, which takes place June 7 - 9 at Maffeo Sutton Park in Nanaimo.  One of the goals of the Festival is to promote learning through fun activities and wouldn’t you know it, that means some math!  Mathemagic is one of the shows at the Festival and by using magic, entertainer Bradley Fields introduces all kinds of mathematical concepts.

You’ll also have a ball learning about sounds and music from crazy man Al Simmons.  He’s always been one of our kids’ favourites (and ours too!). He’s bringing his show - Sounds Crazy - to one of several stages at Maffeo Sutton and he’ll be getting music out of all sorts of objects, including a turkey baster.

It all takes place in the area near the Pavillion and this year they’re offering a wristband system to make it easy to take in all the shows.  But there aren’t just the headliners - who also include Faustwork Mask Theatre group and the music group Tiller’s Folly - there’s a complete range of activities, like making kites, a musical instrument zoo, circus skills, face painting (hear that, Ella?), and much much more.

A lot of kids attend the festival on the Monday and Tuesday with their schools or other organizations, so Sunday is the main family day.  Though of course you can attend any day you like.  Wristbands are only $12 and good for one day.  Find out more at the festival website.

That beautiful May long weekend we just had got us out for a picnic up in Qualicum Beach, which then got us thinking about some of our favourite picnic spots in Oceanside.

Of course we have to start with the beaches.  At Qualicum Beach our picnic place of choice is the grassy area next to the parking lot on the left side of the Beach Hut.  While no picnic spot along there is more than a stone’s throw from the beach, being a stone’s throw from great take out food and ice cream is a great bonus, plus there’s good shade if things get too not (we should be so lucky!).  With smaller kids, you just need to be careful at Qualicum Beach because you’re close to the traffic.  On the other hand, if the tide is right, you can  just move the picnic out onto the sand.

Parksville’s community beach has a lot of picnic options, but our favourite is to find a good tree by the playground.  George has a couple of trees staked out because they’re equidistant to the playground and the concession stand.  Lineups might be long sometimes, but those fries are worth the wait and the kids love the soft ice cream with coloured edges.  We dare you to stay less than an hour at this spot on a beautiful sunny day…

Spider Lake, just off the Horne Lake exit of the Island Highway, is another favourite picnic spot by the water.  If it’s looking like a nice day, we recommend getting out there as early as possible (for George and Ella that would be 7am!) because the park fills up fast close to noon.  There are two main picnic areas facing each other across one arm of the lake, joined by a trail - we call them the forest side and the sandy side.  We’ve never been sand people, but they always eem to having a good time too.  For us, it’s the forest side all the way.  There’s also a little island that Grace is anxious to paddle over to this year - or perhaps just sit in the boat while George paddles.  By the way, part of the attraction of Spider Lake is that there are nothing motorized on the water to disturb the tranquility - that’s the jog of the kids screaming while catching tadpoles and frogs.

A new spot we discovered this year is at Morningstar Farm and Little Qualicum Cheeseworks.  Aside from the fun of visiting the farm animals (watch for goats on an overhead walkway!), there’s a lovely picnic area with a fabulous view of Mount Arrowsmith.  There’s also a little trail to walk off the picnic.

Opening night isn’t far away and Grace remains as cool as a cucumber.  We’re as nervous as… as radishes.  All we can think about is her getting up on stage and trying to remember songs, dances, where she’s supposed to be on stage, and whether her hat’s on straight.  It’s so confusing.  Thankfully, the kids in this production of Aladdin are all as cool as Grace (in the cucumber sense, but come to think of it, they’re all cool in the other sense as well).

Over 25 local kids are involved in the production, and for many of them this is their first foray into the world of theatre.  With the help of director Eliza Gardiner and choreographer Silvia Knapp, that foray has been an exciting journey - I know Grace is chomping at the bit to do more musical theatre.  And the dedication of all the kids, and the Red Room Studio staff has been amazing.

For weeks on end now, they’ve been attending two three-hour sessions, learning lines, practicing songs, performing their dances, and trying to stay quiet when they’re not in the number being rehearsed at that moment.  We’ve seen the organized chaos that is any large musical rehearsal and as non-actors, it made us a little nervous.  Until we saw the piece on Shaw cable the other day, where the kids were all in their costumes and performing their numbers beautifully!  Now we’re feeling more like cucumbers heading into final rehearsals and then the performances.

The first show is Saturday May 23rd at 7pm up at Vancouver Island University’s Malaspina Theatre in Nanaimo.  Then on Sunday May 24th there’s a 2pm show.  Tickets are just $10 in advance or $12 at the door.  BTW, our youngest is dressing up as Jasmine for the show, so put on your best Aladdin outfits and we’ll see you there!

Now we’ve also got some tickets to give away - just click here for all the details

About fifteen years ago we joined the ranks of dog owners and were instantly ushered into a kind of parallel universe governed by its own social rules, most of which we weren’t even aware of until the passing of our beloved Martin blasted us back into the non-dog universe.  There’s a scene in the movie Dog Park that illustrates this very well.  A dog owner brings along a human friend while walking his pet in the park.  They meet another dog owner and the human friend reaches out to shake the hand of the other dog owner and ask their name.  Oh dear, bad faux pas (or is that ‘paw’?). The other dog owner doesn’t know what to do - just stammers, looks at their feet, and moves quickly away.

Even though we’re not in the dog world these days - not that our daughters don’t try their best to return us there - we love dogs (and cats and pets in general) and we’re not going to miss the Oceanside Doggy Dayz Festival coming up May 15 - 17.  Martin would have loved to have been in the parade, where he could have vied for Most Senior dog (if they had a Weirdest Teeth category he’d have walked away with that) or one of the many other prizes.  You have to register to be in the parade and compete, and you can do that online.

The weekend is really broken in two parts - a pet fair on Saturday at the Parksville Community Centre with displays just for the humans (groomers, breeders, retailers, etc.) and lots of useful seminars as well.  And then on Sunday, the dogs can bring their owners to Qualicum Beach for a doggy breakfast, a fashion show, the parade at 1:30pm and much more!

Oh, it’s actually ok to talk to dog owners, but you should ask the name of their pet first

This Saturday and Sunday, May 2nd and 3rd, world-class clay artist Heather Goldminc is opening up her spectacular waterfront property to bring together area artists and musicians in the spring air for the first annual Picnic in the Art.

Heather’s work is collected around the world and this is a chance to see her workshop and how she produces her enchanting creations, including her new air-brushed 3-D wall plaques celebrating the rugged west coast of the Island.  Joining Heather will be photographers, quilters, water colourists, and glass artists, not just displaying their works but showing you how it’s done.

In addition to seeing all  the beautiful art, kids can make their own wind chimes, get their faces painted, and enjoy the musicians and singers who will be entertaining throughout the weekend.

This art spectacular runs both days 10am - 4pm, and there’s plenty of cover, so stop by rain or shine! Admission is free and delicious picnic lunches from Lantzville’s popular Black Dog cafe can be pre-ordered for just $10.00 by calling 250-390-1514.

The address is 6998 Strait Road in Lantzville.