Sheesh, this travelogue is taking longer to write than it did to experience it.
So here's Tuesday afternoon in a nutshell.
We went to Fort Rodd Hill. It's a place where Ken and his brothers spent MANY carefree weekend afternoons and summer days when they were kids. Not much has changed.
Our boys loved it.
And it was virtually free. OK, it was $17 for all of us to get in, but that was pretty cheap, all things considered.
There were battlements to defend!
There were hills to climb and conquer.
There were little birds to watch.
And old fortress walls to scale.
Nothing seemed to be 'out of bounds', except for a few patches that were being re-seeded after having a noxious weed eliminated, or an obviously crumbling-and-dangerous wall. Otherwise, it was Open Season on Exploring.
The boys loved it.
And we even got in a few good games of Wiggle (sort of like hide-and-seek meets tag)
Ken's mom just looked so pleased, and you could tell that she was remembering days gone by, when Ken was a quarter of his current age. It was a fun way to spend the afternoon, and very relaxing.
Then we took Ken's mom out for supper to a Thai place that she used to go to a lot with Dad. None of her friends really like 'exotic' food, so she goes to more mainstream places when she goes out with them, and the only time she gets to go to this great Thai place (she doesn't go out to eat alone) is when we come and take her out. It didn't disappoint, although we ran out of food before I was really done eating. Oh well. Mom got enough, and that's all that really counts.
Then, after supper, with it being a nice Canadian Summer Evening, there was still a lot of sun, so we dropped Mom back at home, and took the kids to Cadboro Bay. There are some great concrete animals that Ken and his brothers climbed on when they were kids, and we've been bringing our kids there from Day One. Somewhere, in my vast un-sorted archives of actually-printed photographs (you know, back before the Digital Age), I've got photos of Skip through the years, as he progressed in his conquering of the big cement creatures.
Ahem... Ken may have mentioned that when Uncle Fred was a kid, he was the only one of the boys that could make it to the top of the octopus' head...
It's harder than it looks. Slick concrete, with a shiny-smooth paint job, and no climbing aids nearby. Skip NEARLY did it, but he's cautious enough that he doesn't want to risk a trip to the ER. I like that about him. Maybe next year.
Nate made it up into the salmon's mouth this year. A first for him.
And Skip may have gotten a bit wedged.
A few young couples had come to the park for a picnic, and had strung a tight-rope between two trees, and were alternating between eating, and walking the rope. They asked the boys if they'd like to give it a try. Skip was a bit skittish, but Nate was all in.
And then Cole made Skip walk the plank, and we went home.
Goodbye for another year, Cadborosaurus.
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