Of course we have to start with the beaches.  At Qualicum Beach our picnic place of choice is the grassy area next to the parking lot on the left side of the Beach Hut.  While no picnic spot along there is more than a stone’s throw from the beach, being a stone’s throw from great take out food and ice cream is a great bonus, plus there’s good shade if things get too not (we should be so lucky!).  With smaller kids, you just need to be careful at Qualicum Beach because you’re close to the traffic.  On the other hand, if the tide is right, you can  just move the picnic out onto the sand.

Parksville’s community beach has a lot of picnic options, but our favourite is to find a good tree by the playground.  George has a couple of trees staked out because they’re equidistant to the playground and the concession stand.  Lineups might be long sometimes, but those fries are worth the wait and the kids love the soft ice cream with coloured edges.  We dare you to stay less than an hour at this spot on a beautiful sunny day…

Spider Lake, just off the Horne Lake exit of the Island Highway, is another favourite picnic spot by the water.  If it’s looking like a nice day, we recommend getting out there as early as possible (for George and Ella that would be 7am!) because the park fills up fast close to noon.  There are two main picnic areas facing each other across one arm of the lake, joined by a trail – we call them the forest side and the sandy side.  We’ve never been sand people, but they always eem to having a good time too.  For us, it’s the forest side all the way.  There’s also a little island that Grace is anxious to paddle over to this year – or perhaps just sit in the boat while George paddles.  By the way, part of the attraction of Spider Lake is that there are nothing motorized on the water to disturb the tranquility – that’s the jog of the kids screaming while catching tadpoles and frogs.

A new spot we discovered this year is at Morningstar Farm and Little Qualicum Cheeseworks.  Aside from the fun of visiting the farm animals (watch for goats on an overhead walkway!), there’s a lovely picnic area with a fabulous view of Mount Arrowsmith.  There’s also a little trail to walk off the picnic.

So we’re motoring up the island highway past Parksville, then Qualicum Beach, the sun is blazing, the kids are singing along to ‘Come On Eileen,’ when up ahead we see dark ominous clouds. That’s way past Bowser, no worries we said.  We pull off the highway and head up the Seaside route and those dark clouds seem a little closer.  By the time we pull up to the beach, it’s hailing!

Now, as we huddled on the beach, the magnificent mountain scenery somewhere in front of us behind a mass of grey cloud, we looked to the left – sunshine – and we looked to the right – sunshine – and we looked at each other and ran back to the car.

Fortunately, this is Vancouver Island and if one fun trip doesn’t pan out, you’ve got another waiting for you just down the road.  Ours turned out to be Qualicum Beach.  First a stop at the Shady Rest with a beautiful window seat on the ocean (pretty much every table has a great view and lots of light anyway, but it’s always nice to be right at the window) and delicious fish and chips.

Then it was out on the beach for more than an hour of dodging geoduck sprays, spelling practice in the sand (my husband says that having fun is no excuse not to be learning every second… yea, he’s a barrel of laughs), and skating on the flat sand.  You’d be surprised how many skating moves the girls got in.

Boy did the generation gap show out there on the sunny, but windy April beach.  I in my kerchief and pa in his cap… or at least three layers of clothing, while the kids were running around in just their bathing suits.  I vaguely remember that metabolism.  Meanwhile George is trying to conduct a lesson on the effect of the sun’s rays on epidermal layers.  That’s right Grace, put that dead crab on his shoulder.

As for that beach near Bowser, we’ll report back when we’ve seen it in the sunshine.

I remember the first time I saw the sign World Parrot Refuge and I thought, that sounds like some brash marketing, but it turns out to be one of the largest facilities of its kind in the world and certainly the largest of its kind in North America.  Co-founded by Wendy Huntbatch, the Vancouver Island facility opened in 2004 and the public was allowed in a couple of years later.

As well as visiting the facility or making donations, one way kids can help the parrots is to bring in donations of food (fruits and nuts are a favourite) and stuffed toys.  Those stuffed toys are then “bought” by visitors for $2 and you give the birds the toy while walking through the facilities.  One family from Surrey makes an annual trip to donate over 2,000 stuffed toys.  And the birds love them, as we discovered – they spot you from quite a distance and fly over to be first in line. You can also do a virtual adoption of a bird as a way to help out.

Grace was curious about where the birds come from and Wendy told us that they’re from all over Canada and sometimes from the United States.  And while there’s the occasional rescue bird, most are brought to the refuge by people who are moving and can’t take their pet, or they’ve had to move to a seniors home, or someone in the house develops an allergy.  Wendy points out that parrots live for many decades and require a good deal of care, so it’s no small decision to have a parrot as a pet.

BTW, children are required to wear the ear-plugs provided by the refuge, while adults are encouraged to do so.  Let me really really encourage you to do so, adults!  I thought it wouldn’t be a problem until one or two extremely piercing cries convinced me otherwise.

Ella was fascinated by the fact that they stir the cheese with a large shovel, though we explained it’s different than our garden shovel! Grace had a ball petting the very friendly goats and watching them walk overhead on the special ramps that have been lovingly built for them. We also saw the area where the pregnant cows were waiting to give birth to 80 lb. calves. Grace turns to me: I guess you had it pretty easy with us, eh mom? I turn quickly and point “Oh look, isn’t that a Red Highland over there?” cleverly avoiding an answer.

Their self-guided tours let you roam through the barns and milking sheds to see what’s behind the wonderful cheeses and meats found in their store. Or if you put together a group of 8 or more you can get a guided tour. Then it’s off to the store where you can sample some of the delicious cheeses. Grace loved the Berry and the Normal, while I was particularly partial to the Brie. Lactose-intolerant Ella was compensated with some of their famous bacon and some jerky.

We didn’t get a chance to walk the trail or see all of the animals, but we’ll be back for a full afternoon, perhaps during Spring Break. And hopefully we’ll get a clear day for the spectacular views of Mount Arrowsmith.

Meanwhile our three year old seemed blissfully ignorant of all this – chewing ferociously on a candy cane – but I suspect those little wheels were turning and that she wasn’t buying any of her sister’s rationalizations. She’s silently biding her time, but at least we have a year to think of new explanations. For now she was happy enough to sit with our freshly-cut Santa and actually produce some faint smiles for the camera. She was almost as reluctant to show her joy as the two teenage boys who followed us. I watched with amusement while they dutifully sat with Santa; their mother holding their coats and looking very pleased with herself. Standing in line waiting for our prints, I asked the mother what it had taken to bribe her teens. She laughed and said it had taken a lot – to which the boys gave very satisfied grins – but it was worth it all because she now had a complete set of Santa pictures from new-born to sixteen. I wondered how soon we’d have to start bribing our girls.

If anyone else has any ideas or thoughts about stories we’ve done or stories you’d like to see.  We’d love to hear from you just leave us a comment and we’ll try to get to it as soon as possible.

There are of course the dedicated indoor playgrounds, like Jumping Jiminy’s and Cyber City in Nanaimo. Our kids will spend several hours at a time there and while it can get pretty crazy on a rainy day, a good time to go to beat the crowds is the early morning. They’re also great places to hold birthday parties. Another indoor playground we recently discovered is in the Quality Foods store on Bowen Road in Nanaimo. We’d love to hear about other locations you’ve found – just drop me a line kim@kiddingaroundvancouverisland.com. Oh, and here’s a tip for indoor playgrounds – bring a hand sanitizer with you. Some places will provide them, but if not, you’re prepared. That helps reduce the potential for sharing germs.