Father's Day at Stave Falls Dam

Since I work for BC Hydro we get regular reminders about some of the activities we can do that relate to our facilities. One in particular has always peaked my interested because it's relatively close by and has regular appearances in TV and movies including X-Files and X-Men. The Stave Falls Dam was built in the early 1900's when they retired the old powerhouse in favour of a newer one slightly down stream in 1995 they opened it as a historical site. Since I get to choose the activity on Father's day it seemed like a great opportunity to drag the family out.

I do say drag because I wasn't really expecting it to be very exciting. Since it was just an old BC Hydro facility I was expecting to just find the old equipment in it's  original location and not much else. As it turns out they did quite an excellent job turning it into a museum and considering we don't have a lot of heritage sites on the West coast this is now one of the nicer ones I've been to. Not only can you tour most of the facility they also have an interactive area much like you would find at Science World and they've brought in a number of older electrical appliances from every decade since they were first invented.

I will admit that we were the only ones there but it was early in the morning on Father's day. Having said that, Kerry agrees that it was a good place to visit and since her class is doing electricity next year she's already planning a field trip. It will include a couple hours at the powerhouse, lunch on the beach and a 6k hike downstream to the Ruskin Dam which is on the same river. I think her students will enjoy it and I'm not just saying that because I work for BC Hydro.

Callie's Dance Recital

Last Saturday was our annual night out for Callie's Dance recital. This year Barb and Reg drove down for the event and Callie was signed up for four dances. Other than a couple of open houses where we get to see her practice portions of the dance we aren't able to see her dance the whole year. All of her hard work culminates in a single staged event. Most years I'm quite worried for her but after so many successes I found I wasn't worried at all and just looking forward to some excellent calibre dancing for 5 to 18 year olds.

The first event was Jazz and she danced to Rihanna's Disturbia song. It's a great song for this type of dancing and the girls did an excellent job of looking disturbed. I'm not certain but there may have also been one boy in this class. He's been in Callie's classes since the beginning. There aren't too many boys at Callie's studio. The next event was ballet. She has two classes of this a week and the other classes seem to just be there to broaden her skill set. Ballet is the one that she can get graded on and she has now passed grade 3.

My favourite dance style is lyrical. It doesn't start until the kids are a bit older and I like the style of music that they typically use. Callie's song was 'All Through The Night'. I don't know if she did the original but the popular version is by Cindy Lauper. This was a much slower version by an artist I don't know.

The most amazing part of Callie's efforts this year was that all her dances were before the intermission. This mean she only had about 6 or 8 minutes between each dance to get changed.

The final dance was Hiphop. It's the most free style form and her teacher picked a mash up of about a dozen songs. This had them switching moves every 15 seconds or so and it was well received by all. I think Callie had the most fun during this dance though it's hard to tell. She has a big smile for every dance.

This was also the first year that my niece Kristen was in a recital. She's signed up for ballet and looked very cute in a pretty blue dress.

Both girls were showered by flowers at the end by family members and everyone had a great time. Now a short break before summer dance and then everything starts again in the fall. I'm very happy Callie continues to stay interested in dance.

15th Annual Run, Walk & Roll for Our Kids

Last weekend we were signed up for the Run, Walk, Roll for the Child Development Centre. The whole family was signed up as well as Barb and Reg since they were in town for Callie's dance recital. Unfortunately it was 5k and Barb had a sore foot and wasn't able to make it. We've done this run several times in the past but this year we have someone who is actually taking advantage of their services. My nephew was formally diagnosed with autism and has been attending speech therapy classes for the past several months.

In the past the kids and I have always done 2k with Kerry sometimes choosing to do the 5k or 10k. Since we're all 5k experts now we were all signed up that event. It's a good distance since even if you don't feel like running it doesn't take too long to walk it. For the $20 entry fee we got a t-shirt, a run, popcorn and a meal of hotdogs, Indian food and snacks. Since everything is donated, the entire entry fee goes to the centre. (Unlike many other local events where the bulk of the entry fee ends up going to organizing the race.) There are at least 500 people signed up and there are other sources of income including a pancake breakfast by donation and a donation box. A fun event even though it was 27 degrees by the time we finished. Carter was very excited about the water stations along the way.

Carter's Field Trip to the Children's Festival

At the end of May, Carter's class had a field trip to the Surrey Children's festival planned. I've been in the past and I had just chaperoned his trip to the Fraser River Discovery Centre so I didn't sign up to go this time. About a week before hand however, we got an urgent e-mail from the teacher indicating she didn't have enough drivers and might have to cancel. Our vehicle holds 5 kids and I didn't have too many work meetings that day so I signed up. I think a few other parents felt guilty as well and signed up so the event was back on.

The festival was being held at Bear Creek park which isn't too far from our house so it was a quick drive. We arrived around 9:00a and weren't leaving until 1:30p so we had plenty of time. Our first trip was to face painting. I had four boys with me and the line up was short so it seemed like the best time to go. Carter got a Minecraft character on the right hand side of his face. The others got a sword, a Minecraft square and a brick wall. (I still have no idea what the brick wall was about.) We finished off our face painting experience at the heritage booth where they got some traditional moustaches.

Other events included clay making, a giant sandbox, getting dressed up as a firefighter, getting into a police car, sidewalk chalk, henna hand painting, a card board box fort, story time and circus time. We finished most events before noon and I was worried we would be bored in the afternoon but story time used up at least an hour and allowed me to get a small nap. We had one minor issue at the box fort when I lost a kid. None of us realized there were two exits. We quickly found him though since he was smart enough to stay where he was. Circus time was fun as well though Carter needs to practice his stilts.

Oliver

Last year we lost our dog Wilson. It takes a bit of time to get over such a loss but come spring time the family was ready for a new dog. Kerry and Callie did some research on possible dog breeds and settled on something called a Schnoodle. A popular exercise in puppy breeding is to take two cute dogs, cross them and come up with an even cuter dog. If the name of the dog can be something cute too you get double points. In our case this meant a schnauzer and poodle. I'm not a fan of either but the result of the two together is a great looking dog.

The breeder we found was located in Winnipeg but she was used to breeding dogs and shipping them all over the country. We put ourselves on the waiting list and waited. The fun part was that the breeder has a website of all the past dogs including the breeding pairs she uses. The upcoming litter was from BoDeago the dad and Isis the mom. We were fifth on the waiting list and the litters range from 2 to 8 so we weren't sure when we were going to get one. We figured we would miss the first litter and have to wait for the next litter scheduled in August.

When the litter did come there was only three so we assumed we would have to wait. This was a good thing at the time because the next litter was scheduled for just before our Disney trip which would allow us to hopefully get the dog soon after. As it turned out, everyone on the list before us decided they would wait giving us pick of the litter. This was unexpected and we weren't sure we were ready but there was a particular dog we liked so we snatched him up. Oliver has been with us for almost a month now and be is very intelligent. A handful but he will be well loved.

Carter's Field Trip to Fraser River Discovery Centre

A few weeks ago Carter got to go on a field trip to the Fraser River Discovery Centre in New Westminster. I had never heard about it before but it seems that when the casino that was on the waterfront closed down a few years ago they turned the space in to the home of the Discovery Centre. Downtown New Westminster is an odd location for such a place but the city isn't that big so this location was good as any. The focus for grade two kids was the sturgeon that live in the river.

I've often heard about the sturgeon but to be honest I didn't know much about them. Certainly not the size that they grow to. Since they don't migrate and spawn like Salmon they can grow to be many over 100 years old. They also just keep getting bigger and bigger. This means they can grow to over 10 feet long. I'm still amazed that we have fish that size in the Fraser River. The only issue I had with the day was that all three activities were entered around the life cycle of the sturgeon. I guess they figure repetition is the easiest way for the kids to remember.

Bird Houses for the Peregrin Falcon

One of the channels that Callie and Carter periodically watch on TV has been advertising the Earth Rangers for the past few months. One of the regular commercials has been about the option to become an Earth Ranger by raising money for one of their causes. The two that Callie and Carter were interested in were the Peregrin Falcon and the Brown Bat. Both are threatened species and depending on how much you raise you become an Earth Ranger and they send you souvenir for your troubles.

The original goal was to try to raise $150 for each as it would get them a small stuffed animal though that may be a bit steep. Our first project was to build some bird houses and sell them to family members. We made six of them for $15 each and so far they have sold four. The bird house matched nicely with the Peregrin Falcon. The other project is intended to be a bat house for the Brown Bat. I haven't quite found a plan I like but when I do it should be a quick build. Some paint and some salesmanship from the kids and we should get closer to our goal.

Mother's Day

As the kids get older, Mother's day get's easier for me since the kids are old enough to do some of the planning. Kerry likes things kept simple and as long as she doesn't have to cook she's happy. This meant we started the day with a trip to McDonalds where I picked up breakfast and brought it back. After our special breakfast we headed to Campbell River park for a hike. Surrey has several regional parks that are in the city but definitely feel like they aren't. This one is one of our favourites.

When we got back from the hike we sent Kerry up to her room so that the kids could plan their surprise. They wanted to do an afternoon tea in the gazebo. I helped boil the water for the tea but everything else was them including finger sandwiches, fruit, cheese and crackers and a lovely flower centrepiece from the garden. Kerry was quite surprised at the level of effort they went to. We finished the day off with a trip to white spot. No cooking.

Hike to Deep Cove

At the end of April my parents came down for a visit. The timing worked out well as Mom was able to see the kids concert. (Dad felt he was done with kids concerts 20 years ago so he wasn't very interested.) The weather for Sunday was looking to be quite nice so we planned a trip to Deep cove. It's a nice area in North Vancouver at the start of Indian Arm. I've known several people who have lived there. They are always very proud to say the do and I can't blame them. Being at the far end of the North Shore it's a fairly quiet area for the lower mainland.

I say quiet but on a sunny day in the village area it's anything but when it comes to parking. There are very few places for people to park with very few public lots. The streets are also too narrow in most places for any spots. We are a bit late showing up since we came right at noon and we spent 10 minutes looking for a spot. In the end Kerry dropped us off and she drove back out to the main road to park. It was a bout a 10 minute walk each way.

Once we did find a spot we wandered around the Kayak centre beach for a while and then went for a hike. Kerry had planned on this hike for a while and being North Vancouver I was expecting it to be hilly. I was definitely not wrong. Unfortunately this mean my parents and the dog had to stay behind. They tried the first 100 stairs but it wasn't looking like it was going to get any better so they headed back to the village for lunch.

The hike was just a couple of kilometres but the elevation change was several hundred meters with many ups and downs. The destination was well worth it with a view of all of Deep Cove. If you are ever in the area I highly recommend it. When we were done we met up with my parents and went for lunch at Honey's Donuts. These are quite possibly the best donuts I have ever had. The Yelp reviews are mixed but that's because they are quite heavy and perhaps an acquired taste. After a two hour house we had acquired a good appetite so they were excellent.

School Musical

This school year we didn't get a Christmas concert and instead were treated to a musical at the end of April. Although somewhat untraditional this arrangement had one significant advantage in that the kids had an extra four months to practice. The band and instrument players always sound a bit rough at Christmas but that's because they've only had 4 months to prepare. With eight months the teachers were able to do something much more advanced. They brought in someone to help them stage the event as well as some very good drum and piano players.

There were three major parts to the play. The first group was mostly intermediate students and they were singing for a significant portion of the event on the outer portion of the gym. There was also a group of 30 or 40 students that played major parts in the play portion. Finally the primary students came in about half way with a three or four song set. I was quite impressed at the number of different songs each kid had to memorize and the actors were quite excellent. I hope they do something similar in future years.