Kidding Around Vancouver Island

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

It was such a lovely holiday Monday, we thought why not drive off and explore the phenomenon of micro-climates.  Ok, it didn’t quite go down that way, it was more like, ‘hey let’s find this cool new beach we heard about near Bowser.” So we’re motoring up the island highway past Parksville, then Qualicum Beach, [...]

The Easter long weekend is upon us and that means two things for our kids:  turkey and chocolate.  If someone could come up with a chocolate turkey… but enough of my dreams.  Cooking turkey is my excuse for teaching the girls math, which does not bode well for their future as we often have to [...]

That week is coming. You know what I’m talking about, parents, “the week the kids went” and leave school, only to ask the eternal question “what is there to do?”. The better question is, how do we fit it all into one week? If you’re looking for pre-planned days for the kids, I really like [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]