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 [...]

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 [...]

The kids have at least half a dozen hula hoops hanging in the carport, but none of us has been able get the hula part of it.  The only use the hoops get is a rare game of daddy toss – 10 points if you get it over his head and 5 points if it [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]