Mama in the City

I am milking this maternity leave for all it that is worth, especially now that we are in the full swing of summer. There is no sitting around at home for us, we are making use of our gorgeous city and the carefree feeling that sunshine seems to bring.

This week we have had a few fun outings but our first staycation day was the beach and the museum. Our first stop was the playground at Vanier Park with the perfectly placed playground just off of the beach. Someone did a good job of planning this city park with the digging area for children complete with a water pump they can control to create little streams and build up dams. I'm sure that Ben could have spent 4 hours just digging in the sandy area just off of the playgournd. A total heaven for him.




Just a little siesta


Fun moments with auntie Glynis outside the MOV

Despite the rather sandy shorts, we trekked to the neighbouring Museum of Vancouver to be a tourist in our city. I was initially sort of leary about bringing Ben to the MOV as I wasn't sure how kid friendly the place was for his age group. The MOV was a great success! There were little stations set up through out their permanent exhibits for children to rifle through. He was so excited to come across a dress up box and a couple of boxes of toys that related to whichever decade of Vancouver history we were viewing. Who ever had the job of figuring out where to place these children friendly bins did an excellent job.

There were also a few interactive exhibits that gave Ben a chance to press buttons. At one point the boy was wearing a fringed vest from the 70's and dancing to rock and roll and controlling a light show. He was blissed out and moving too fast to capture any pics on my iPhone.





My tips for this staycation:
*Go to the beach early and during the week if you can. Especially if you are planning to drive. We have been on a sunny Saturday before and parking was no where to be found so we turned around and went home. There is a pay parking lot next to the playground and street parking is very limited.
*Don't expect to be thrifty at the beachside concession (a teeny hot dog is $6? What!). Bring your own snacks for sure or wander out of the beach area to hit up a coffee shop.
*The Planeterium is in the same building as the MOV, so if you want to make this a full day check out both.

If you are looking for a little staycation of your own this summer, this beach/mueseum combo was a great success for us.