Category Archives: Activities

Neglected Yvrdad.com

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Finally…. some time to sit to do an update.  As I opened WordPress for the first time in 4-5 months, I had to update my WordPress software and all the associated plugins.  Just because sleepydad and popthoughts have been too busy, the blog word continues to improve and update, and our yvrdad.com lags behind.

Well, we are back – ready for new posts and new content.  There seems to be so much to write about, however, never enough time to write.  Ready for a new committment again, we are not ready to yvrdad.com die off – ( I want to keep paying godaddy.com hosting fees).

Oregon Coast – A view from the beach house. Peaceful: Yes! However you don’t hear or see the 7 kids running around causing mayhem! All in good fun!

It certainly has been a long time, here are some highlights of the spring/summer:

  • finally deciding on San Diego as the destination of a short trip.  We spent four nights, and visited Sea World and lots of good eats!
  • Root canal – Ouch!  Actually didn’t hurt that much, just annoying and uncomfortable
  • a hot weekend in Osoyoos for a beautiful wedding.  A great weekend spent with University friends and now all their children.
  • Selling our rental property and family home – received a call from my agent indicated that someone wanted to take a look at the place.  They evenutally bought it!
  • Week in Portland/Lincoln Cit, in a house full of kids and cousins, siblings and grandparents
  • Watching our 10 month old daughter grow, laugh, sit, eat, and turnover
  • Enjoy silly conversations with our now big boy three year old son
  • signing a lease to move and upgrade office – exciting times ahead!

What were your summer highlights?   Did you miss our posts?  Is anyone reading this? :)   Anyways, we are back, and we are ready to write!

 

Re-Thinking our Next Vacation (2)

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First Blog: Thinking of our Next Vacation.

Over $4000 just for airfare?  Wow!  We looked into flights from Vancouver to London, then from Rome, Italy back to Vancouver.  For the four of us (two adults, three year old and 6 month old), the cost would be over $4000.  That also doesn’t include accommodations,  flight from London to Florence, other travel, transfers etc.   I think a budget of $8,000 – $10,000 would be conservative figure.

Can we really afford to spend $10,000 on a two week vacation???    I think not!

Now we are looking at other options – its sort of back to square one.  Looking for perhaps for a North America option.   Here are some options:

  • Ottawa/Montreal/Boston
  • Columbus/Virginia
  • San Deigo, Los Angeles
  • San Francisco/Napa Valley

Any other suggestions of places to go?

Thinking of our Next Vacation

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I’ve read a few blog postings this week regarding vacationing by Youngandthrifty and Traveling With Kids, which got our vacation juices flowing….

Although sleepymom and I love traveling – I’m having mixed feelings about traveling with TWO kids (33 months and 4 months).  Not looking forward to the plane ride with a sweaty infant sitting on the lap, hoping that she sleeps the entire way through.  Not looking forward to let my toddler play videogames or watch the iPad for 10 hours, hoping that he won’t have any tantrums or kick the seats infront.

I guess the days of when “sleepymom and I would fall asleep before the plane takes off” is over.  No more sleeping for us :(

Once we get to our destination, then its a struggle to deal with jetlag, sleeping arrangements (Co-sleeping) or sleep schedule, transport issues (car seat or no carseat), stroller, food (will my toddler eat, and types of food), and safety.

Oh, I just about forgot about the headaches of packing for the trip – certain food snacks, books, favourite toys, infant fold-up cot, debating which stroller to bring, diapers, creams, medications, baby bag, clothes, etc.  If there’s room perhaps I can pack an extra set of clothes if I get thrown up on.    After all the planning and packing, I’m bound to say “Oh shit, I forgot __________!”

The last two trips that we brought our son to was London when he was 9 months old, and New York at 20 months.  It was great, but lots of work! But this time its two kids.  Will it be worth it?

Sleepymom sure thinks so!  She’s ready to go anytime as she’s currently on Maternity Leave  ” Yeah no problems – I’ll go along for the ride” (I say sacastically).

We are thinking of heading back to Europe – London and Italy (Tuscany) for a couple weeks.   Sleepymom and I were in London on the Working Holiday Visa for a 1.5 years over six years ago.  Its easy to go to London, we know how to get around everywhere, the places to go, and we have plenty of friends to visit with.  Perhaps we are the “Parents” who bring their kids back to old spots and say: “This is where your mom and I did this and did that”

Tuscany would be the Vacation part of the trip.  Last time we were in Tuscany was over 15 years ago during a backpacking trip, so we didn’t get a chance to enjoy the excellent food that Tuscany has to offer.  Hopefully get a chance to relax in the countryside.

Next:- Planning. Re-Thinking our Next Vacation (2)

Swimming lessons at Aquaventures

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Seventy-five percent of our planet is water – can you swim?  ~Author Unknown

I started doing my taxes the other day. Yes, I’m a bit of an eager beaver, but who isn’t when it comes to getting money back? I noticed that you can now claim up to $500 per child for both fitness and arts! This is a welcome bonus for parents who put their kids in every activity imaginable. We haven’t gone overboard (yet), but I thought I’d share my opinion on one of the girls’ activities, swimming at Aquaventures.

Neither Mrs. Popthoughts nor I are able to swim, so we agreed it was a must that our kids would learn how. Nothing sucks more than being on a beautiful beach staring out into clear blue water, and being afraid to dive in. It is a life skill I think everyone should have, and it would be nice to know our kids might be able to save mom or pop should we need it. =)

Aquaventures is a private pool specifically for children’s lessons. You can start your kid as early as 6 months old, and I found it really helped our girls build the foundation of getting comfortable in the water, learning how to breathe properly, etc. The instructors are great with the kids and are very good at easing any fears and encouraging them. Class sizes are nice and small – 6 for kids under 3 with a parent, and 4 for kids 3 and up who go on their own. My 3 year old started going without one of us in the pool with her this year, and I was afraid she’d be terrified. She started out a bit tentative, but sure enough, after about 3 lessons, she’s back to her daredevil self.

I have to say Aquaventures is pretty pricey, but I am in awe seeing the older kids doing lengths and working on technique! Granted we haven’t taken the girls anywhere else for lessons, so we have nothing to compare to, but anyone I have spoken to that has tried a community centre and Aquaventures says they just doesn’t compare. If that doesn’t convince you, just try registering your kid. You need to email them the exact second registration opens if you want a good shot at the time slot you want, or else you’ll have to take what you can or get on a waitlist and cross your fingers. Luckily once you’re “in the club”, you can re-register for the next session earlier.

Would taking the girls to any old place for lessons be just as good? Maybe. All I know is that my 3 year old daughter is already a better swimmer than her dad, even though that isn’t saying much.

Up Early in the Morning in Vancouver? Things to Do!

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My toddler is a morning person.  I, fortunately for my wife, am also a morning person!  My son’s internal clock wakes him up consistently at 6:10 am; that’s when he comes running into our bed looking for the iPad.  Occasionally, I would get up with him at 6:30 am to start the day.  But what is open early in Vancouver?  I usually combine our early outing with errands so that I have a sense of a weekend accomplishment with some playtime.  The following is a list that I have compiled of things to do early in the morning in Vancouver:

Food shopping – get ahead of the weekend crowd and get your food shopping done.   Superstore (Marine Drive), Save-on-Foods (Cambie) and Whole Foods (Cambie) are all open at 6 am.  My son loves Superstore as they give your kid a free cookie – that always gives O a smile. The other place where O loves is Whole Foods, where they have a children’s play area.  Its a good place to grab some porridge or some breakfast and let your kid play.  At this time, there’s not that many other kids around to steal toys from your child.  Most of the other fathers and mothers at this time are quite chilled and relaxed, and you can just relax and watch your kids play.  You may also be able to find the rocketship shopping buggy at Save-on-Foods that your child may enjoy.

Home Improvement Shopping – I found out the hard way that Home Depot Stores at Terminal and Cambie does not open until 7am, so don’t go too early!  But again, this is a good time to browse through the store when its quiet.  Get the plumbing supplies or lighting that you want to use over the weekend.  Home Depot has a huge sports car shopping cart which is fun, however its annoying to drive. Unfortunately, if you are looking for Canadian Rona on Kingsway, it doesn’t open until 8 am on weekends.

Swimming – Hillcrest Recreation Centre opens at 6 am for a morning water play.

Swimming, Skating, library, community centre, gym

Again, its not crowded.  No wait for change rooms, plenty of parking and lots of room in the pool and family hot tub area.  During the Winter, the Vancouver Farmer’s Market starts at 10 am at the parking area of Nat Bailey Stadium, so after your swim, you can grab some groceries, then go home!

Catch the Action at Burrard Inlet – Go down to Coal Harbour or the outside area of the Vancouver Convention Centre.  Can’t beat the view on a sunny day where you can see the snow capped mountains, boats, the ports, & floating gas stations!  You may even catch a float plane or two! The city metered parking doesn’t start until 9 am, so you’ll always find plenty of parking!  Other nice areas when sunny are the local city beach spots:  Jericho Beach, Ambleside Park in West Vancouver and Stanley Park (however pay parking at Stanely Park starts at 7 am in winter and 8 am in summer).

Skytrain/Seabus:  An inexpensive outing cost about $2.50 for an hour and a half of travel.  Hop on board the skytrain to Waterfront station; then hop on board the Seabus to cross Burrard Inlet to Lonsdale Quay.  Lonsdale opens at 9 am.  There’s also a nice park and at Waterfront Park and you get to see nice views of the city.

Vancouver Playgrounds – Go to the Kitsilano Beach Playground.  Again quiet with lots of parking.  Once past 10 am, the Kits Beach Playground gets quiet crowded.  The Douglas Park Playground is also a large playground for toddlers and older kids.  If you are the first ones there, make sure you bring a towel and wipe up the morning dew, unless you want your kid to have wet pants!

Recycle – Go to the Vancouver South Transfer Station, Recycling Depot and Yard Trimmings Drop off, 377 West Kent Avenue.  Have excess cardboard that won’t fit your bluebin?  Make a morning trip to recycle!  Opens at 8 am on the weekends and holidays; 5:30 am during weekdays.

Updated – Ice Skating. During the winter, go ice skating at Robson Square.  Skating starts at 9:00 am.  The public skating is free, however ice skates and helmet rentals are a few bucks.   I recently took my 2.5 year old for his first skate!   He loved it, and had a big smile on his face the whole time.  Unfortunately my back started to hurt as I’m stooped over for a long time holding my son up.  ”The ice is very slippery,” he says!

Where ever you go, its bound to be quiet which allows you go at your leisurely and stressfree pace.  Make sure you pack some a bottle of water, diapers and wipes, snacks, and go explore with your little ones early in the morning!  Enjoy Vancouver at its best! Good morning Vancouver!

Any other suggestions?