Kidding Around Vancouver Island

Lantzville, just north of Nanaimo, may not be a big town, but they know how to put on great events.  From the Rotary Club’s wonderful Breakfast with Santa to the Fire Department’s Halloween bonfire and fireworks, people come from all over to join in the festivities.  But the crowning event of the year is Minetown [...]

We all want to teach our kids the true meaning of Christmas.  What about teaching them the true meaning of Labour Day?  That’s George’s plan for the girls this year:  cutting the lawn, weeding the garden, ripping out that old fence and putting in a new one.  Some good old-fashioned labour.  Okay, while we see [...]

With the sunny hot summer we’ve had on Vancouver Island this year, fruits were ripening extra early, and that meant starting blackberry picking mode not long after BC Day – it’s been going strong ever since.  When we head down to the park, we don’t bring any snacks with us; just grab a handful of [...]

Our kids are Island kids through and through – always at the beach, going to farmer’s markets, exploring the parks, and travelling the back roads.  So when we told them we were going to visit another island, they were pretty ho-hum about it all.  But as we left the ferry and started driving around Salt [...]

KidsFest in Parksville is coming up this Sunday August 16th for a full day of fun, food, and entertainment.  It’s held down at the Community Beach in the large field over on the right hand side – where the kites are flown.
Will Stroet is the MC and provides muscial entertainment between acts, which include Rick [...]

Sometimes the kids just need to get away from it all.  You know, from the daily grind of eating, playing, more eating, more playing, but mostly they need a break from their parents.  So sitting around a room with your parents, or going swimming with your parents, no matter how nice the resort,  just doesn’t [...]

We signed up Ella for swimming lessons, but it turned out the lessons were really for us.  You see Ella thinks swimming is a contact sport – she has to be clinging to me in order to get into the water.  Her teacher  was very patient the first day.  No you can’t put a strangle [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]