June 2021
And just like that, summer arrives!
Walking Around Iona
Iona is really about the migrations but,
it's a pretty good place for a walk almost any time of the
year. June is past the migration window so you mostly
see birds that stay here over summer.
I was hoping to see a hawk or baby duck, but not so much luck
today. That said, just getting out for a walk makes for a
nice day.
Maplewood Farm
COVID restrictions have been loosening. Earlier in the year
they blocked the highways out of the city to anything but
essential travel and asked people in Fraser health to not mix with
Coastal health unless essential. Those restrictions have
been lifted so we arranged for the cousins (my kids and my sisters
kids) to get together. I picked Maplewood farms
because they had solid COVID protocols (you have to book an hour
to visit and it's outdoor).
The kids got bored of the animals
surprisingly quickly so we decided to go to Deep Cove to walk
around a park for a little bit.
The floating dock at Deep Cove has an amazing view - mountains,
ocean, islands a lot of rich peoples houses. The kids got
bored within about a minute.
I'm not sure who started the Piggy Back Rides first, but it ended
when Claira tried to give Nara a piggy back ride.
We took a walk around, used the washrooms and then headed up for
donuts. I don't think my kids have had Honey Donuts before
by they certainly enjoyed them. I find a single donut
overwhelming, but all four kids were able to finish theirs.
Thanks for coming out to visit Diana!
Claira's Birthday at the Stanley Park Train
The Covid
restrictions in April were harsh. By June, restrictions were
easing and we could do a party, as long as it was outside and kids
were kept reasonably far apart. We have had a good time with
renting shelters from the City of Vancouver so this time we decided
to try the shelter near the Stanley Park railway! Claira has
enjoyed the railway in the past and she was excited to go
again. Most of the parents seemed pretty excited to have a
drop off birthday party again.
After the
kids all arrived, the first thing wanted to do was go for a train
ride! With social distancing, every kid got their own bench
and there were plastic partitions between each row. The ride
is about 10 minutes and has an animals and history theme with lots
of the animal silhouettes scattered along the route.
We had pizza delivered
(one personal pizza per kid stops common touch points). Each
kid gets their own cupcake and their own treats bag. I
was surprised how much difference there was in how much pizza each
kid ate and how long it took for each kid to finish their lunch.
Claira seems to really enjoy a Piñata! Last year we made one,
but this year she wanted a store bought one. A few of the
local dollar stores have them (for much more than a dollar), but
Claira had a particular pinata in mind - it was in the window of a
store we sometimes passed on the walk to school. Problem
solved.
Everyone had a great time! Thanks everyone for coming out!
Short Hike to Yew Lake at Cypress Mountain
Planning a party is a stressful thing so having
a nice Sunday after the party with no obligations seemed like a
gift. Nara had some school project but Claira was free and was
willing to go for a walk so we drove up to Cypress mountain for a
short afternoon hike. At the trail head is was above 20°C so
Claira was quite surprised to see the trail covered in snow.
You could literally hear it melting as you stood there.
It's not a long walk to the lake and I think
that was Claira's goal - go for a swim. I don't think she
realized that an alpine lake is going to be terribly cold even
though it's nice outside.
Being spring and just a few weeks after the snow cleared, there was
abundant plant life everywhere. I've seen most of the species
before but there is something reassuring about seeing the sprouting
up where you have seen them before.
I like to say it's better to have a
good short day than a bad long day. It was a nice walk.
A Very Hot Weekend in Victoria
My parents are now vaccinated twice and
considered pretty robust against COVID. The travel
restrictions for BC have been lifted and this weekend happens to
be Claira's birthday! For the first time in almost a year,
it's time to see my parents! A had a few last minute
conspiracies again us - it was beach day at school on Friday and
Claira got a sun burn on her shoulders and a "heat dome" had moved
in made the weather unseasonably warm - high 30s night and
day which is unheard of in June in Victoria.
Outerbridge park is just down the road from my parents house so
it's often worth the the walk over the morning. I have a
wish list - hummingbird feeding on the wing, painted turtle
sunning itself, Pacific Swallowtail perched on a native flower,
but I was happy with what I actually got.
It was just after the full moon so the
low tides were really low - we had a -0.1 foot tide on Saturday
morning. We bundled Claira up and went for a walk on the
rarely exposed sand down at Cordova Bay.
The beach has million dollar homes looking
over it, but there are plenty of beach accesses. We took the
closer access and were out on the wet sand in minutes. The
tide was still falling as we got out there so every minute there
was more sand and shallower pools. The kids have lots of
experience picking up crabs during intertidal beach walks so they
started giving crabs a look.
Did I mention it was Claira's birthday?
The heat dome didn't let up - evening were almost as warm as the
day time. I went up to the top of Mount Doug with my dad
(the kids didn't want to leave the basement) and we watched the
butterflies circling the peak of the mountain.
We spotted one Pale Swallowtail and roughly four Painted Ladies
flying around, often chasing each other. In the evening
heat, they rarely stopped flying.
Tags: butterfly(6), bird(5), Mount Douglas(5), Cordova Bay(4), Iona Beach Regional Park(4), Cypress Provincial Park(4)
People: Claira(13), Nara(8), James(4), Marcus(3), Janet(2), Helen(2)
From: John Harvey Photo > Blogs for 2023 to 2005 > June 2021
Last Modified Sunday, January 22nd, 2023 at 00:09:56 Edit
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