Kidding Around Vancouver Island

Hockey fans in the Central Island area are being treated to some world-class hockey right now, with the 2009 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge taking place at arenas in Port Alberni, Nanaimo, Campbell River, Courtenay, Cowichan, and Oceanside.
View the entire schedule and get up to date scores here at the official website.

Having taken a break for Christmas, it’s time to continue our central island pantomime crawl:
There’s Mother Goose at the Bailey Theatre in Nanaimo, from December 26 to January 3, with matinees most days.
Then it’s on to Chemainus for Rumpelstiltskin at the Chemainus Theatre Festival. It runs now until January 3rd, with special Family Nights [...]

After taking pottery classes as a family, our girls have become pottery fiends and recently at a gift shop they fell in love with some very fun pieces. The shop owner told us they were by a well known artist named Heather Goldminc and it turns out we pass by her studio every day and [...]

Panto time is here! For those who’ve never been to a traditional Christmas pantomime, it’s a bit difficult to explain in words. Imagine being in a movie theatre and wanting to jump up and boo at Darth Vader or cheer wildly for Hans Solo – well at a pantomime you get to [...]

If you’re looking for a great gift that’s useful and helps give to others, then you should consider buying a stainless steel water bottle that supports the Ryan’s Well Foundation. These commercial food-grade stainless steel bottles are the brainchild of a couple of Nanaimo moms. Cathy Aniceto and Michelle Bigg started their Bottles [...]

Our kids always enjoy a visit to the North Island Wildlife Center and during the holiday season this year they’re extending their hours – Friday and Saturday they’re open until 8:30pm and Sunday 11am – 5pm. They’ve also decked the halls, so stop by and say hello, and consider giving the gift of an animal [...]

Sometimes it’s great to pack up the family car and take a leisurely ride on BC Ferries. And then there are those short one or two-day trips to Vancouver, when five or six hours of round-trip ferry travel really eats into your time and energy. But the alternative of packing the whole family [...]

Milner Gardens and Woodland always makes for a great family outing, but imagine filling the woods with lights and music – that’s what Milner Christmas Magic is all about, and the first of three weekends is upon us. Each night there’s a different musical group playing as you enjoy the walk through the magical [...]

Christmas craft season has been in full swing here on the Island for a while now and just the other day the four of us were off to visit the Kris Kringle Craft Market in Qualicum Beach. When I say the “four of us” that means my mum was substituting for George, who often [...]