Kidding Around Vancouver Island

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

We gave Grace and Ella a choice this past weekend – watch paint dry or watch cheese being made. They opted for the cheese, but, as the folks at Little Qualicum Cheeseworks are fonding of joking, there’s not a lot of difference. However, seeing all the animals at the cheeseworks and hearing about [...]

On our way back from Fanny Bay recently, we stopped in at Qualicum Beach to try the food at a new place called Rawthentic. Our daughters have some “food issues,” as people say these days, and we thought it would be good to try some dishes that didn’t use things like wheat or milk. [...]

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.

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 [...]

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 [...]