I feel like I have a photo album full of deliriously happy Damien just swinging away. Of course that’s not true, but we have spent a lot of time at the park yet and I am quite pleased to have something to do with Damien while Aiden is off playing!
Damien perks up the second he sees the swing and happily kicks away and smiles while he’s in it – at least part of the time. He is a rather serious fellow still.
Aiden has always been quite afraid of the swing. He always tensed up with quick movements or changes in height, even as a young baby. He hated going down the stairs! Putting it all together over time, I think it has a lot to do with his inner ear and the sudden change in pressure. There was a brief time when he’d swing a little bit, but now he barely moves more than a couple of inches when he’s seated, as you can see from the photo below showing the arc of both boys:
Earlier in the summer, we paid a visit to the playgrounds of Dorothy Lynas Elementary in North Vancouver, up towards Mt. Seymour. One of the more impressive school playgrounds, there are several separate play areas for kids to explore in amidst several natural elements in the landscaping. The playground offers ample area to run around, some paths to explore, some trees to navigate and build fantasy worlds around as well as several play structures.
One of the newer areas is a more abstract climbing play area that was far too old for Aiden and a little baffling as to how it ‘works’, so it’d be interesting to see what kids make of it. The standard playground featured a great ‘circuit’ design that must be popular with kids (I love playgrounds that let children play tag without having to get off the structures). The slides are not very big, which was the only downside for my slide-loving toddler.
See all photos here.
A short walk from where we live is an unused elementary school, Ridgeway Annex. Once Ridgway school was upgraded, Ridgeway Annex was closed and may be redeveloped in the future. Until then, it features 2 playgrounds:
Though the playgrounds are not the newest, they retained a lot of charm for my nearly 3-year-old. He loved the little junior area with the mini yellow slide to climb up and the twisty slide to go down. The climbing structure was a little big for him, though he was able to use it to still enjoy the slide.
Address: 450 East 5th St, North Vancouver
Bridgman Park is a beautiful area to take a walk along Lynn Creek. You can take a 5.5km loop around the river or follow the trail right up to Lynn Canyon. The area is very popular for dog walkers. We went one day to explore the playground.
The playground is not very large and is nestled in the trees, so it’s quite shady. The playground is a little on the older side, but it’s serviceable. Aiden spent a few minutes playing there, going down the slide and climbing the different areas, but he soon grew bored of it and the total lack of other kids. That’s usually not an issue for him at the park, so I’m going to say this one was too tame for him (small slide, no really interesting play structures).
I think this is a great area to take your kids for a walk, especially as there is an on-site washroom, but it is not a great location just for the playground.
Bridgman Park is located on Keith Road before it turns into Mountain Highway.
We recently purchased a Strider bike for Aiden. He was a pro at his Wishbone Bike in the 2-wheel combination, but never seemed to get the hang of two wheels. He said it was “tippy.” Since there were a couple of instances when he got on other bikes at stores, while refusing his own bike at home, we wondered if it was too heavy for him.
Since Aiden can be rather temperamental about these things, and we wanted to encourage him to at least try to ride a bike, we opted for the Strider. Damien will be on the Wishbone by next summer (yikes), so we would be looking for a new bike anyway. We loved that the Strider offered tool-free height adjustment.
Aiden took to his Strider right away. Although he has little patience for any activity, he has taken some longer bike rides. He mostly walks his bike, not trusting himself to ‘glide’, but his skill level is improving. He doesn’t usually ask to ride his bike, so I know he’s not in love with it (perhaps because it’s basically just sitting and walking not gliding), but it’s been a good step towards him using the bike.
Did your kids enjoy the run bike concept?
