Kidding Around Vancouver Island » Winter Fun

It is a slippery slope….

kimmom — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 15:49:55 +0000

We have a yearly excursion to Mount Washington to do a bit of snow tubing. It is a whole lot of winter fun – and a great family outing. We skip out of school and work for the day and head to the hill. We wear our warmest snow gear and eye up our favourite tube – as I have an ample bottom, I need a certain type of tube that will accommodate my seat.

I also have another thing to consider – a 7 year old who will only go down the hill on my lap. It means I get lots of kidlet time as as fast as we go down the hill, we are up it again. The conveyance system they have is awesome. I think they should add a minibar and life would be grand!

Here is a video and some picture from last year – we really had a terrific time.

That’s a lot of snow, man.

kimmom — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 22:05:31 +0000

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 six hour period overnight – the city hadn’t seen measurable snow on April 19 since 1947 and the previous record for the Nanaimo airport was April 12 in 1981 with just 4.9 centimetres. Ouch!

So, Saturday morning we woke up at… ok, the kids woke up at 6:30 (we woke up at 6:31) and the first thing they wanted to do was make a giant snowman. Second thing, of course; put on the bathing suits – no, really…

Is that the Real Santa taking photos?

sharimom — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 08:15:35 +0000

Things got a bit awkward as we stood in line at Nanaimo North Town Centre the other day for the requisite picture with Santa. Our six year old was observing that Santa seemed to be in a lot of places at one time these days and isn’t that odd. As we desparately thought of a way to answer, she thankfully came up with her own explanation: these must all be Santa’s helpers. Problem solved. But then, a few moments later, in strolls our Santa and she observes that his beard isn’t nearly as full as the Santa in the promotional pictures. More silence; more desparate thinking. And again, before we have to come up with something, she notices a barber shop further down the mall – clearly he’s been for a shave. My husband and I glance at each other and smile – yes, a close shave.

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.

13th Annual Festival of Trees

sharimom — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 07:41:52 +0000

At Malaspina University College in Nanaimo, the 13th Annual Festival of Trees features over 50 Christmas trees and a 136-foot-long mural by local artist David Wick. The decorating theme this year is romance and the classic movie Dr. Zhivago. We missed Family Day, but there’s a Public Day this Saturday December 1st with Senior Day on the final day of the display – December 2nd. It all takes place in the Upper Cafeteria of the Nanaimo campus.
We are asking the readers to give us some input about where the best Christmas Trees are. We would love to hear about a special lots, farm or store where trees can be purchased.

Light’em Up Ladysmith!!

sharimom — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 07:13:38 +0000

One month until Christmas – that’s our cue that it’s time for the lights. Not that we put up our lights on the 25^th, that takes place on… come to think of it, we never put up our Christmas lights for one simple reason: they never come down! My husband is one of those “I’ll get around to it soon, but by July it seems pointless with Christmas just around the corner, so best leave them up” kind of guys. So, November 25^th is more of a “turn on the lights” day.

In case you missed our Christmas lights ceremony (“No no, the other plug!”) there are a few others you can take in this week. The 20^th anniversary celebration of Ladysmith’s Festival of Lights is tomorrow, Thursday the 29^th and gets underway at 3pm with food, entertainment, the light-up at 6:30pm, and then a parade and fireworks… oh and Santa. Over 100,000 bulbs will light up the downtown until January 13 – it’s quite a sight. There was a good deal of oohing and aahing from our kids last year, and it made for a great evening of strolling up and down the street, with lots to see in shop windows too.

More Festivities to attend

sharimom — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 07:39:35 +0000

Up in Qualicum Beach, this Friday marks the first day of Milner Gardens’s annual Christmas Magic weekends. Festivities get underway at 5:30pm and feature candlelit walks through the 10 acres of gardens. There’s a Teddy Bear cottage which is supposed to be quite delightful and children can also enjoy storytelling at Milner House. And of course, Santa Claus will be on hand along with some of his elves. We haven’t had a chance to see Milner Gardens yet, so this is going to be a great introduction for us. The Lights and Music fundraisers continue on the weekends of Dec 7-9 and 14-16.