Tag: family

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A Family Trip To Japan

With my elder son travelling to Japan with his competitive gymnastics team and Team BC, we decided to go to Japan too. That way, if something happened, we could be close at hand to support. I’m happy to report that all went smoothly and we did not meet him in person once during the entire trip (9 days) so we were free to have our own adventures with the Lightning Kid.

Trains and Transportation

Tokyo has 2 airports, Narita and Haneda. We flew in with All Nippon Airlines from Vancouver to Haneda. Though we landed in the evening, we opted to try and get out of Tokyo right away to our first destination, Nagoya. My wife did a lot of research through Japan Travel groups on Facebook, and it was funny how people get used to using Japanese names for things, especially trains when those names don’t mean anything to you if you haven’t been to Japan. For example, we took the Keikyu line to Shinagawa, and a Shinkansen straight to Nagoya. The Keikyu is a commuter train from the airport (run by Keikyu Railways), Shinagawa is a station that serves the Shinkansen – Bullet Trains! After about 3-4 days we started using these names in casual conversation too. Bullet Trains can go up to 320 km/h, and if you take a Nazomi service, it will make fewer stops (express) and definitely hit those speeds. We rode these between Tokyo and Nagoya, between Nagoya and Osaka, and from Kyoto to Tokyo. Every Shinkansen ride seemed to need 2 tickets per person, which we found odd. It seemed like the best way to get tickets right was to use the counters staffed with people, not use ticket machines.

Bullet Train (Shinkansen) arriving at the station

We tried to visit a Dinosaur Park on the outskirts of Nagoya and had to use a local train. Unfortunately, we got on an express train which overshot our station and forced us to backtrack – we were lucky that a local woman with good English skills overheard our dilemma and set us straight. The dinosaur park wasn’t even open, but we had such beautiful weather that just taking the Lightning Kid to a playground was a pleasant experience.

The other kinds of trains we made use of were subways and monorails. I usually found I could buy a ticket from a machine that had an English interface (when selected) by picking the line and station I wanted to get off at. It was important to hang onto tickets as you can’t exit a station without running your ticket through a machine. One time I made a mistake, and the gates blocked us until I could correct our fare with the ticket taker. Getting around by subway was very convenient; there were a few times it was very crowded but having such a cheap way to get around was a blessing.

Also worth mentioning in this section was that on 2 occasions we shipped our luggage to the next destination/hotel rather than trying to lug it through train stations and onto the train. This is common practice in Japan apparently, and worked well (keep your receipt/paperwork!); you might have to repack a few things so that you have the most important items upon arrival as it can take an extra day for your stuff to arrive.

Onsen

Some of my favourite things on the trip were Onsen – public baths that we had access to in both hotels and ryokan (traditional hotels with smaller rooms where you can sleep on mats on the floor). Onsen have set rules – most notably you go nude, though they are separated by gender. The tubs were wide and shallow with a single step down the bottom. You could dip your feet in first, sit on the first step to put your lower body in the water or get your whole body in, provided you could recline in a semi-lying position.

Some Onsen had saunas, some had cold plunges, but they all had little sit-down shower stations for washing before and after. Each station had a bowl that you could fill and dowse yourself with. Bowls were also next to each tub (hot or cold, indoor or outdoor).

I brought the Lightning Kid with me, and I found that children are generally welcome to come, with the understanding that the Onsen is a quiet space for relaxation. An interesting note is that people with tattoos are often not allowed in Onsen. Luckily, that didn’t apply to us.

Accommodations

We stayed in The Nikko Style Hotel in Nagoya. It definitely had a stylish vibe, with a lounge decorated with spacious bookshelves. The room was definitely one of the more spacious ones we had in Japan, though we had to share one bed. We did find it odd that we had to book the Lightning Kid as an adult at age 12 in a lot of venues, though obviously, we weren’t going to get him a separate room. We found king-size beds generally big enough for 3.

This room had another 2 twin beds, but we thought it would be more fun to sleep like this.

In Osaka, we stayed in a Ryokan – a more traditional form of lodging. The room was mostly one living/eating room with only a table and mattresses that had to be fetched from a closet. The Ryokan included dinner and breakfast with traditional set meals and the Onsen in the basement was very artfully decorated.

Our Kyoto stay was at the Granbell Hotel – Kyoto; which had a great speakeasy-type subterranean entrance and a nice bar and Onsen. It was very close to the train station, though a lot of nearby restaurants were closed early.

Our stay in Tokyo was at the Candeo in Roppongi. This hotel had a rooftop Onsen and provided loungewear that we could wear to and from the baths. It took me a day or so to realize that the bathroom floor was sloped and thus I sometimes felt a little disoriented going in there.

Sights and Attractions

In Nagoya, we visited a science museum – the Lightning Kid went to a playground while my wife waited in line for entrance tickets and engaged in play with a Japanese boy. The museum had dinosaur exhibits, as well as sections devoted to biology, physics and technology.

Later that day we visited Nagoya castle and were treated to a live samurai and ninja show.

The castle was quite scenic with its gardens and moats, especially with fall colours and bright sunlight.

There was also an inner palace within the castle/fortress grounds. The tour of this was rather crowded, but seeing the interior artwork and design was interesting.

We tried to find and go to a Dinosaur Park on our second day in Nagoya, but it ended up being closed so we spent some time in the sunshine at a playground.

On our first day in Osaka, we got a Ninja lesson at a Ninja Cafe. We got to don ninja costumes (with belt and headband), then got lessons in using shuriken (throwing stars), a blow gun, and finally some sword techniques. We also got lunch and drinks in the package, it was tremendous fun for the whole family.

Our afternoon in Osaka was spent exploring the Shinsaibashi Shopping area and Dotonburi Street (fun fact: on the flight home I watched John Wick Chapter 4 and was able to identify Osaka based on sights from Dotonburi Street before Osaka was identified by the movie characters).

At night, we went to an art installation created by a collective known as teamLab that they set up in the Botanical Gardens. From the website: “teamLab’s art project Digitized Nature explores how nature can become art. The concept of the project is that non-material digital technology can turn nature into art without harming it.”

Some Images from teamLab Botanical Garden Osaka

We visited a place called Spa World that had Onsen and other bathing options from around the world, but navigating their ticket system with regards to the built-in waterpark with waterslides proved to be too much for us to really enjoy any relaxation.

For our day trip in Kyoto, we ventured to Aramayashi, which had multiple attractions in a mountain village setting – first off was a Monkey Park! There was some climbing involved, and we saw a few of the native Macaques (the only species of monkey in Japan) on the way up, but that was no kind of preparation for the number of monkeys we’d find ourselves surrounded by at the summit! There were strict rules about engaging with the monkeys – avoid prolonged eye contact, hide any food you have on your person, and keep your distance.

In Tokyo, we started by fulfilling a promise to the Lightning Kid that we would rent a dog and take it for a walk. We chose Sumire from Dog Heart, who was a gorgeous golden retriever, but she had her own ideas about how far she wanted to walk so it was a bit of a struggle; I ended up deferring to her ‘local expertise’… we ended up also paying to have an extra half hour with the smaller dogs in the pen. There were miniature French poodles and a beagle among other breeds of dogs and some couldn’t wait to jump in your lap and be petted.

Later the same day we made our way to Harajuku, but those adventures are culinary in nature, so you’ll have to see the next section! We’ve always enjoyed seeing cities from the water, so we found a small river cruise we could take that ended at the Odaiba Marine Park.

There was a beach and playground at Odaiba, as well as a mall and a replica Statue of Liberty. We did some shopping but did not visit the animal cafe which had otters, toucans and capybaras.

Food

Due to a late arrival on our first night in Nagoya, our first meal in Japan was food from a convenience store on one of the train station platforms: Pringles, sandwiches, waffles and Pocky (my fave!). The Nikko Style hotel had options of western breakfast (french toast or omelette-based platters) or a Japanese breakfast. It wouldn’t be the last time I had to find a way to like fish in the morning…

Japanse style breakfast at Nikko Style Hotel.

That evening we made a point of trying to find a Gyoza (dumpling) based restaurant and lucked out thanks to some recommendations from the hotel staff. We actually sat with a Japanese family and made friends using broken English and even more limited Japanese. The Lightning Kid even tried a fermented drink called Calpis.

Breakfast and dinners in Osaka (at the ryokan) were set meals – no a la carte. Our first dinner was 5 different courses and despite a written description, we often didn’t know how close we were to being finished. Our breakfast involved poached eggs, and tofu and grilling our own fish over an open flame.

There were two occasions, the first in Aramayashi (a beautiful mountain village outside Kyoto) where we had to navigate a different eating experience. You purchased tickets for the food you wanted from a machine, then handed them to a server from your table – the food is still brought to you at the table when it is ready, but the aisles stay clearer of servers this way. It was difficult to gather an entire order for 3 people before starting to press buttons and pump coins into the machine. Once we ate Udon dishes this way, the other time Ramen.

Ordering food from a machine in a restaurant.

The Ninja cafe where we got our ninja lessons had passable food, but nothing special – my meal was a curry.

Dotonburi street is a marvel of food, but we actually stuck to eating meals at restaurants rather than grabbing random eats. We may have to correct that if we visit again in the future!

Dotonburi St in Osaka

We tried to find a Tonkatsu (fried pork cutlets with a BBQ sauce) restaurant in the Harajuku district, but Google led us to a place that was closed. We wound up wandering around till we found a restaurant with Italian cuisine! It still had a Japanese spin on the pasta dishes and we found it to be delicious. Unfortunately I didn’t record the name of it and my Google Timeline wasn’t any help tracking it down. The other thing we found in Harajuku was a “candy factory” that specialized in Cotton Candy…. look at the size of those things.

Exploring the different types of Japanese food remains an incomplete quest; I’d like to get to know Ramen better and maybe some Izakaya…

Conclusion

I love Japan! In the period leading up to our trip, I didn’t have a lot of time to get invested in a detailed itinerary, so I just wanted to know that I would be able to relax and get a taste of what the country was like – and all my expectations were exceeded.

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Our Favourite Hikes in British Columbia (So Far)

Hiking is one of our favourite things to do as a family. Whether at home in the suburbs of Mississauga, in Muskoka, or on vacations, it’s something we can all enjoy regardless of the length of our legs and doesn’t take much extra planning or equipment when we keep the hikes reasonably short. Given BC’s legendary beauty, we knew we’d find some extraordinary places to hike. Here are some of the ones we’ve enjoyed so far

Golden Ears

This was the first provincial park we tried once we had settled in. We go over the beautiful Golden Ears bridge (which shows off statues of Golden Eagles, and I once saw a real one perched on a pole too) and through Maple Ridge.

A park of this size always has more trails than you can hope to completely discover, but the Spirea trail was good for our moms who have some mobility issues. The Mike Lake trail was a little more challenging, terrain-wise. I love the moss-covered vegetation, which makes the whole forest look enchanted, especially when the light comes through.

Othello Tunnels

We made it out to this unique attraction a week before the floods would have made the routes to Hope, BC unuseable. In fact, as of this writing, the Coquihalla Canyon Provincial Park which encompasses the Othello Tunnels is still closed. The tunnels were created to support rail transport of crude ore from mines in the area. Kids love tunnels, and the trail is flat and easy to walk or even ride a bike along. It goes along the Nicolum river and the views are gorgeous. It’s an out and back, and we didn’t complete it but you can keep your hike under 3km and see all the tunnels.

Rolley Lake

Rolley Lake Provincial Park

This park gave us Ontarians a glimpse of how big the BC trees (and their leaves) can get. It’s always nice to walk along a shoreline – this is a pretty lake that I nearly took a cold-water swim in.

Honourable Mention: Abbotsford (Discovery Walk and More)

The best places to walk are in your own backyard (I have it on my to-do list to write an ‘Ode to the Suburbs’ post, stay tuned). Abbotsford has a network of trails called the Discovery Walk, and on our first outing (on bikes) we saw a pair of Beavers before we had gotten more than 100 feet from the car. The trail network pretty much spans the town from East to West and comprises nearly 30km of mixed use paths traversing forests, wetlands, and meadows.

Some of the bodies of water that have dedicated parks in Abbotsford are the Mill Lake park, which is a beautiful spot for a bike ride, and the Albert Dyck Memorial park – a former quarry which hosts a waterski club and a swimming area. If I can get myself together enough, I might try a cold water swim there.

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Our Adventures in BMX

Whenever I’m in a new place, I try to discover what kinds of recreational opportunities are around. Back in September, I was in the parking lot of Shark Boy’s gymnastics club, when I noticed terrain of a unique nature. It was a BMX park, with bumps and curved embankments forming a course that is completed in a single lap, although it twists and folds back upon itself rather than just being a circle.

My birthday happened to fall on a Sunday, so the Lightning Kid and I decided to give it a go, while Shark Boy was at his gymnastics training. For the footage, we’ll have to consult the Lightning Kid YouTube Channel:

I was on my hardtail mountain bike, which is not quite ideal for jumps and such on this track, or maybe that’s my lack of confidence talking. We did go back once, and I wore clip-in shoes rather than the trail runners you see me in during the video. We also got a chance to witness a race to end the season and see how it’s really done, with a mechanical gate to keep the starting line honest, found at a top of a ramp by the start of the course. A rep from the Abbotsford BMX club told us they would transition to indoors, and how welcoming they were to beginners.

Unfortunately, it took us a while to get back to them, and by the time we did, the Lightning Kid had lost all the confidence and ended up walking his bike around the ‘half-track’ which is the latter segment of the indoor course with smaller bumps. Shark Boy tried the whole racecourse but found his mountain bike wasn’t well suited to the racing gate, as he couldn’t sit in the seat and stay balanced while waiting for the gate to drop. He got to try a loaner BMX bike, but he hated how low the seat was – BMX riders typically stand on the pedals for the entire ride, and absorb the bumps by bending their knees and elbows. Shark Boy seemed to be doing well adapting to the bike and a new style of riding, but apparently he hated every second of it. I thought that would be the end of our foray into this sport, but apparently, the Lightning Kid was adamant about coming back.

On your first visit, you can get a 1 day BMX membership for liability reasons, but subsequent visits mean an annual membership. I have to admit I didn’t want to spring for one just to watch him walk his bike, but thanks to some great coaching by the staff at Abbotsford BMX, he got to ride the half-track the very next visit! Looks like I’ll be investing in the official protective gear (gloves, helmet with face covering, etc) for him, but I’m not sure if it’s something I will take up myself.

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Summer Adventure: Tennessee and the Smokey Mountains

This post is another throwback to coping with the pandemic and lockdown. Ontario had nothing going on in terms of camps or activities, or at least not when you could plan for the summer, and the kids were long overdue for some adventure, and the adults needed their alone-time.

We had researched FlipFest and its sister event NinjaFest; a competitive gymnastics, and obstacle course/ninja warrior camp respectively, that are held in Crossville, Tennessee. We enrolled the kids for mid-July and plotted how to get there. The land border was closed into the US, while flights back into Canada had their passengers diverted into Quarantine hotels (which could only serve to help spread the virus by concentrating at-risk travellers into small spaces), so the workaround was to fly there and drive back.

The Drive Down

My car was shipped across the border from Niagara Falls, Canada to Niagara, NY, and we flew on 2 helicopters to meet it.

Each flight was only 7-8 minutes long, but the chopper could only seat 3, so we needed 2 flights. The car left on a truck ahead of our scheduled flights. After clearing customs, we hopped into the car and drove till we got hungry in Erie, PA, and had some pizza for lunch.

Then we drove on to Cleveland West- I booked mostly Holiday Inn Express and Suites on this trip since I’m an IHG rewards member. Unfortunately, the pool at this hotel was under repair/maintenance of some kind, so there was no fun reward for the kids being patient in the car. Instead, we found a SkyZone Trampoline Park. We found a nice Italian restaurant in a shopping village.

From the Lightning Kid YouTube Channel

On Day 2, we made our way to Lexington, KY. Our timetable getting to Tennessee was not an aggressive one, because none of us were sure how well we’d fare with the long drive. I’d made it to Kentucky in a day on a road trip in my twenties, but travelling with a family (never mind one that is recovering from lockdown blues) is obviously different. Before hitting the road, the Lightning Kid and I did a little geocaching – whenever there’s time and we’re in an unfamiliar area, it’s worth checking if there’s anything nearby to be found.

After some driving, we decided to try our first Chick-Fil-A at Columbus’ Polaris Fashion Mall food court. I’ve got to say, their chicken sandwiches were overhyped – I don’t think we’ve been missing that much in Canada. On the other hand, we gorged ourselves at a Cheesecake Factory once we reached Lexington.

The third day was the 4th of July. We tried Sonic and their killer milkshakes for lunch en route. We had We got a Holiday Inn in Newport, TN, and went to see the sequel to Boss Baby (Boss Baby: Back in Business) in a theatre – in Ontario, they still weren’t open. We had dinner at a Cracker Barrel and tried Okra for the first time while trying to distinguish between Chicken Fried and Country Fried – if we figured it out, I’ve since forgotten it. Once it got dark, we were able to see a few fireworks from the hotel windows.

Tennesee Family Time

Having arrived in Tennessee, we stayed at a ‘Glamping’ Camp Resort, and our first night was spent in a Treehouse!

We spent the day in a fairly relaxed manner, swimming in the pool, playing Cornhole, as well as eating Barbecue and ice cream. We took some time to check out Gatlinburg, which is quite the tourist trap – I had the verse from Johnny Cash’s ‘Boy Named Sue’ running through my head: It was Gatlinburg, in mid-July, and I’d just hit town, and my throat was dry… I thought I’d grab myself a brew… We drove up to Ober, which was just closing, so we didn’t get to try much in terms of activities. In winter it’s a ski resort, which kind of blows my mind that people can ski in Tennessee. We slept well in that treehouse and were sad to have to leave it.

The next day we used the Gatlinburg Trolley Service to go into town and had a long wait in line to ride a chairlift to the top of Anakeesta, a local theme park.

We were highly unused to crowds at this stage, and since standing in crowded lines is part of any theme park day, we were a little unnerved and unable to fully enjoy the experience. It was a hot day, and the Lightning Kid took to a splash pad we found near the top after lunch. He and I were going to take a coaster ride, but the wait times were too long. The kids did enjoy a cat-walk play area, but I didn’t get pictures. Still, it was a great view of the Smokey’s and we opted for a bus ride back down to the bottom.

Once we got back to the Campground we had to check out our Safari Tent, thankfully it had a portable air-conditioner as the canvas walls weren’t breathable and the summer heat was on!

We were in this Safari tent for two nights. The second day was spent with more swimming, Cornhole, and searching for breakfast. We grilled sausages by the fire for dinner. We really enjoyed the community feel of our campsite, and it was so nice watching the boys make friends.

The next day we checked in at another campsite, this time in a cabin. The Jellystone Park in Pigeon Forge. Pigeon Forge is Dolly Parton’s hometown and where Dollywood is found. We didn’t make it there; as we were still a bit wary of crowds (and expenses) from being tourists in Gatlinburg, but I’d encourage anyone and everyone to look into Dolly Parton’s biography because she is fascinating.

The Jellystone campground had a fun jump pad/ trampoline that the boys got to use to warm up their skills prior to their sleepaway camp (which was the purpose of this trip).

Our final destination as a a family of four was Crossville TN. Checking your kids in to their first sleepaway camp can be a little nerve-wracking. Shark Boy did a couple of overnights with Beaver Scouts, and sometimes at a friend’s or grandparent’s place. The Lightning Kid had only done overnight Beaver Scout camps with me as a leader. They were both anxious, and so were we leading up to it, but the check-in process at Flipfest was so encouraging and we were so happy to see our kids be able to interact with peers again that there were plenty of smiles (brave smiles, but smiles all the same) around.

My wife and I headed back to our hotel in Crossville with nothing to do but enjoy the peace and quiet. For about an hour, when we got a call from the camp! We were terrified that the Lightning Kid was not fitting in somehow – the fear of the special needs parent, or at least, fear #437 – but it ended up that Shark Boy had twisted his ankle. We spoke to the camp director and we came to the consensus that we wanted to wait and see with some icing, rather than rush to a hospital. In the end it ended up being the right move, since he was training at full capacity within a couple of days, having taken one day to treat the ankle lightly.

After that, we were able to have a couples weekend (which actually took place on a Monday/Tuesday) in Nashville. We stayed in a beautiful hotel called the Bobby. Unfortunately not every amenity was in full swing (e.g. rooftop pool, rooftop bar weren’t operational during the week.

Our first night in Nashville made it hard to find the barbecue that Tennessee is famous for – the line-ups and crowds were a bit much for us. It was exciting to hear live music come out of every bar though.

We had better luck the next day and reserved at Puckett’s Grocery Store early. We spent part of our afternoon at the Johnny Cash Museum. Some of my favourite parts were listening to all the great artists that have covered the Man in Black over the years (did you know Miley Cyrus did a live cover of A Boy Named Sue?). We’d been listening to Johnny Cash a fair bit on the drive down as a Tennesse music primer. Seeing him act in some TV shows and movies was a hoot too (he seemed to like to play the villain).

At Puckett’s, I tried a flight of Tennessee whiskeys and I’ve been on the lookout for a bottle of George Dickel‘s ever since. There was great BBQ, and live music from an artist named Troy Kemp managed to stoke an appreciation for country music in this heart of mine.

The next day, we left the urban environment of Nashville behind (though hopefully not for the last time) for a bed and breakfast in a more picturesque area, and not so far from the Flipfest camp (just in case). The Garden Inn Bed and Breakfast had a nearby trail with some nice lookouts (especially the aptly named Bee rock – the large bees kind of scared us off extending a sunset walk beyond a certain point).

We were able to do some nice hiking by Falls Creek Falls State Park. I actually used the waterfalls themselves to cool off after a tough, hot hike down. We added a little more walking and tried the suspension bridge with some trepidation.

Another day went by and suddenly we were picking the boys up from camp. They had a wonderful time, apparently their favourite part was the ‘Blob’ – a giant inflated pad which launches one kid up and into the lake when another kid drops onto it from a height. They had campfires, dance nights, and loads of other fun, and they’ll be begging us to go back next summer, I’m sure.

The drive back was through Lexington and we stopped in Cincinatti. From there to Detroit and across the border thanks to the negative PCR test results we got from a CVS in Crossville. We got home and spent 2 weeks quarantining which was difficult, but probably worth it in the long run.

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The Move to British Columbia Part 1 – Scouting Mission

The pandemic has been hard on everyone, and while I won’t get political, some health measures were especially hard on our family.

Education and schooling in Ontario have been profoundly disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. From March 14, 2020, to May 15, 2021, Ontario schools have been closed for 20 weeks total, longer than any other Canadian province or territory.

We were very lucky and privileged in so many ways. We have a house with a backyard and pool which made the isolation easier to bear, our internet connection was reasonably stable, and there’s a member of the household (me) who is tech-savvy enough to troubleshoot issues as they arise. My wife and I were able to work remotely and both avoid infection and make sure our kids attended remote classes.

Still, we suffered. The constant multi-tasking and hybrid prioritization of being a teaching assistant on top of being a parent, playmate and a real job took its toll. The kids lost ground on their academic education, but so much more in terms of socialization. Making friends, taking turns, sportsmanship… I don’t even like to think too hard about all the intangibles, soft skills and experiences they missed out on. None of this is unique to our family, but the Lightning Kid has special needs, while Shark Boy is a Provincially-ranked competitive gymnast (with no place to train except our basement), so our family might be more of a rare case.

Another way my family might be rare is that we are willing to think outside the box (and honestly we have the privilege and means to make ideas a reality). We looked outside our own backyard and realized it didn’t have to be this way. While we considered moving to Germany (where we have roots and family) or even Finland (which sounded nice at one point when the ideas were at their most fanciful stage), British Columbia presented something desirable without too much culture shock or legal red tape etc.

And so we booked a flight to Vancouver during last week of school to look into some schools that might be willing to take our boys on. We also had appointments at Gymnastics facilities that had a Men’s Competitive program for Shark Boy. Combining those prospective lists kept us mostly around Langley and Abbotsford, which are in the Fraser River Valley, inland from Vancouver.

White Rock

The trip took about 10 days, with the better part of a week staying in a corporate hotel in Langley. We kept up with remote work and school from the hotel room, though I occasionally retreated to the business centre for increased peace and quiet. Due to the time difference, the kids would be done school at noon local time, and I could wrap up work in the early afternoon. So our first afternoon was spent visiting a school in White Rock (Surrey). The kids needed to get reacquainted with how to behave in a school, but they were wide-eyed at seeing halls, gyms and lockers again. After the tour, we took a trip to the beach. White Rock is home to the longest pier in Canada, and it was lovely to be by the ocean and eat ice cream. Driving to the shore involved roads like the ones you see in movies that take place in San Francisco. I have a recurring nightmare of losing control of a car while driving on steep and twisty roads, so this was a good way to face my fears. The area near the shore is lovely but looks like a neighbourhood where people really care about appearances and property values and such. The tide was high and we saw someone in the water so we thought we might try swimming the next time.

Abbotsford

We visited a lovely school and a gymnastics facility the next day in Abbotsford. Abbotsford had that familiar feel of a suburb that is a commuter/satellite community of a larger metropolis. While Shark Boy was in his gymnastics tour (the try-out wouldn’t be for a couple of days), the Lightning Kid and I had an opportunity to geocache and explore a great playground nearby, which led to this video:

Delta & Langley

Delta is an interesting neighbourhood in that the proximity to the water should make it a little fancy like White Rock, but it seems to serve fishing, transport and industry. Shark Boy liked the gym there just fine, and the Lightning Kid fooled around in a skate park (without skates)

We headed back inland to see a school in Langley Township. It was situated in a gorgeous area with quite a view.

After many attempts, we were able to get a table at an Olive Garden, which hasn’t existed in Ontario for some time. So we enjoyed our dinner, as it was something of a rare gem.

On Friday, back in Langley by the hotel, I managed to get a run in around the local area. The hilly terrain did not make it easy! I called it a ‘Funky Fartlek’ because I played around with speed and sprints.

Saturday meant no school or work, and we still had a try-out at the Abbotsford Gym in the afternoon, so we took the kids back to White Rock to see the beach. Unfortunately, the tide was out, and I had no confidence in the safety of swimming further out, so we fooled around in the tide pools and looked at crabs.

Lightning Kid in shallow water

We capped off the Saturday with a trip into Vancouver and up to Grouse Mountain. We got a look at a Grizzy Bear and a lovely dinner at the mountain top restaurant called Altitudes Bistro.

Victoria

With our business on the mainland concluded, we used the rest of the weekend to travel to Vancouver Island. The Ferry was an interesting experience, albeit there was a lot of waiting and pandemic restrictions made it less fun.

We had a beautiful hotel in Victoria. The pool was especially enjoyable. It also had theatre room where we watched the movie Cruella (the hotel provided Disney+ Premium Access), and a rooftop marshmallow roast.

Victoria is a beautiful city. We checked out a school that held a majority of classes outdoors and a gymnastics facility that was starting up a built-in high performance school.

We flew from Victoria airport on a propeller plane to Vancouver, and from there back home, having completed our mission to gather information on what our lives might look like when the next school year started. How that turns out, will be the story of another post.

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5 Peaks Trail Race Recaps: Terra Cotta and Rattlesnake Point

Well, the summer is almost over, I guess I should break the radio silence.  I had previously recapped the 2 Kids’ Triathlons we did this summer, now it’s time to tackle our favourite trail races.

The season started at the Terra Cotta Conservation Area.  This April race tends to have cooler weather, but on this particular day, I think we’d had some of the nicer weather of the Spring season.  It was also my first race as an official Trail Crew Leader, so while I was nervous about fulfilling duties, it was exciting to deepen my connections with the 5 Peaks community, especially those excellent people who help make these races so fun.

Shark Boy did very well for himself and got himself all the way to the podium for the 3 km Kids Timed event; I think the concepts of pacing yourself and racing strategy (which at his age is mostly not looking behind yourself too much) might be getting through to him.

The Lightning Kid participated in the 1 km fun run, which he might think is some kind of parade considering how much he likes to ham it up for the crowds.

I hadn’t gotten a lot of running training in during the winter months so I limited myself to the Sport Course (5.4 km).  Not only did I have a lot of fun (with a back of the pack finish time) but I got the sweet convertible running gloves to take home.

The Rattlesnake Point race took place in June, and I have to say the highly technical clambering involved on that course makes it one of my favourites.  Of course, I did commit to the difficulty of the Enduro Course – at 12.7 km it is well over double the distance of the Sport Course on the same day (and most other races) – so I had plenty of time to rethink my decision on the trail…

But first, let me talk about the kids’ races.  I volunteered to ‘sweep’ the kids’ races to make sure no one was left behind… and I got to witness the sweetest little girl (who was no bigger than the Lightning Kid) and was tackling the timed Kids’ 3 km.   She was accompanied by her mom so my presence was mostly superfluous, but you know, safety first!  Anyway, she completed that course with nothing but smiles, and I heard her chirp “I love this because of the challenge!”, or something along those lines.  My heart nearly burst.

My own kids were no slouches either, of course.

Credit: Sue Sitki of Sue Sitki Photography

We had hot weather and plenty of exhausting climbs, but the scenery is gorgeous along the Niagara Escapement – don’t mind the Turkey Vultures… they won’t feed on you unless you run really slow.  I slowed down enough to take in (and photograph) some beautiful wood sculptures.

 

If some of this (fun for kids, beautiful scenery, hustling your butt along a trail…) looks like fun, the next race is at the Heart Lake Conservation Area in Brampton, ON on September 16th.  Please consider joining me by clicking on this link and using the code IRONROGUE for a 10% discount.  There’s even a free water bottle as take home swag!

And if you can’t make that one, the Kortright Centre Race is on October 28th.  Register here with the same IRONROGUE discount code.

 

Will I see you there?

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Kids Triathlons

Since I last posted, we’ve been in two 5 Peaks trail runs, and two kids’ triathlons.  Rather than try to catch up with 4 distinct race recaps, I thought I’d pair them up by race type – that means you’re going to get an overview of the kids’ triathlons we’ve been involved in this time, and the 5 Peaks races next time.

Furthermore, I’m going to combine observations from both races on a per kid basis; they’re only 2 years apart, but in triathlon, their experiences are very, very different in terms of what the event expects of them, and what they expect of the event.  The races were the C3 Kinetico Kids of Steel and Nicola’s Triathlon (for MFM Research).

 

The Lightning Kid

Swim

The Lightning Kid is currently at the ‘Crocodile’ level in his swimming lessons; that means they’re teaching him to roll from back to front, and combining the front crawl arm stroke into the motion.  He makes forward progress for a bit, but he’s not really staying afloat or getting his head above water to breathe more than once, so for a triathlon he wears a life jacket (at the C3 Kinetico Kids of Steel) or water-wings (at Nicola’s tri) and I get in the water with him to coach and cheer.  For the C3 Kinetico KOS, it was 1 length of the pool for the 6-7 age group (groups are determined by the age on Dec 31st).  It would have been 2 lengths for Nicola’s Tri, but we asked them to bump him down to the lower age group, which aligns better with his physical size anyway.  At both events, he kicked and doggy paddled gamely, and was only slowed down by his need to take in the scenery and ham it up for the crowd – as usual.  I stayed a couple of meters ahead of him and tried to keep his eyes on the prize – or at least the end of the pool lane.

I heard reports that some parents were pushing or pulling their kids through the water, and obviously I’m not going to get bent out of shape about it at a young age like this, but I will say the point of these events is endurance and that getting the job done (i.e. making it to the end) is the bigger goal, not how fast you complete it.  I’d rather have my sons come in last, having earned every inch of the achievement themselves – who knew I was so hardcore about this stuff?

Nicola’s Tri took place 2 weeks after the C3 Kinetico KOS and I was blown away about how the Lightning Kid took to transition, running out of the pool area along the red carpet to his bike like a kid possessed.

Bike

While we have been getting him to practice on a pedal bike without training wheels, we haven’t been brave enough to let go of the handle yet, especially since he seems to steer pretty erratically, and we figured he’d be freaked out during the race if he had a fall shortly before the big day, so we selected the balance bike for both races.  And yes – it’s pink.  The bike leg has a lot of the same Lightning Kid hallmarks, good speed, big smile, hamming it up for the crowd.  Unlike adult races, I think the kids’ events could stand to have longer bike legs – if only because I think it would favour my kids (while longer bike legs in adult races only penalize me and my lack of bike fitness). They were both basically a lap around the parking lot with me running alongside.

I do help the Lightning Kid put on socks and shoes which is extra challenging with wet feet; he did not want to forgo socks, in spite of my advice.   I have to get my own shoes on during transition too so that I can run alongside (or ahead) and cheer and coach (again as usual).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Run

The Lightning Kid has improved his running the most in the last year – it surprises most people.  He’s also gotten familiar enough with triathlon that he knows when you get off the bike the race is nearly done and he gets what Germans call Endspurt – a final burst of speed to finish the race.  With only about 500 m to run, it’s over so fast, it’s hard for my wife to get caught up and grab a picture.  The best we can do for pictures is the finish line.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shark Boy

Swim

Every year, the swim length seems to double for Shark Boy.  We knew he’d have to manage 100 m this year, so we took to the pool for the 4-5 weeks before the race (on weekends) and tried to increase his skill and endurance.  Every week, he’d have to pass the swim test of 2 pool widths before venturing into the deep end for more practice.   I drilled him in breast stroke, as I feel it’s  a more endurance paced stroke; make no mistake, front crawl/freestyle is faster once you can manage it in a sustainable pace, but plenty of people starting out seem to prefer it, and I know it’s the stroke of choice for recreational swimming in Europe.  Too bad some lifeguards here don’t seem to feel it’s a valid way to swim – I had one lifeguard arbitrarily try to say he hadn’t passed the 2 width swim test for using breast stroke where his face wasn’t in the water enough, and during the Nicola’s tri he was forced to use a flutter board, which slowed him down more.  I know I have to defer to a trained volunteer when it comes to safety, but I do feel there is a bias there.

Being the slowest in his wave (though not the slowest swimmer in his age group, from what I could see) discouraged Shark Boy, even though I tried to explain before and after the race that the overall time is what counted, not when you crossed the finish line (he was in the last wave of the Kinetico Kids Of Steel).  I’m proud of his swims regardless, because through hard work, we took him from not being unable to finish 100 m of swimming to more than capable.

 

Bike

Shark Boy has gotten a hand-me-down mountain bike that has gears in anticipation of a bike camp he’ll be participating in this summer, but though he’s been warming up with it, he wanted his gearless one for the races.

For the Kids of Steel race, he seemed OK on the way out, but I noticed it was taking him a long time to complete.  As I had mentioned before, he was in last place in his own imagination, and I think he got discouraged and lacked motivation.  It was also very hot that day.

For the Nicola’s Tri event, we had a major problem or two.  The course is looped, and though Shark Boy must have listened to 4-5 briefings where the volunteer had the kids repeat back that the bike course had 3 loops, I’m not sure the info really took hold.  I couldn’t follow him through transition, so once he was out of the pool I raced to a spot on the bike course.  I saw him struggling to gain momentum while pedalling furiously, and I knew what the problem was: his chain had come off.  I ran over, had him dismount and showed him briefly how to fix it, then sent him on his way.

Of course this meant I was out of position to tell him to stay on course when he completed the first loop and went straight back into transition….

Run

…and furthermore, he somehow took a short cut on the run course and crossed the finish line after less than 200 m.  He knows how long a 1 km run should feel like (especially from 5 Peaks races of the past), so I can only surmise that he was discouraged to the point where he just wanted this thing over with.

Though he was given a medal, the official results showed ‘DQ’ as his time made no sense in relationship to his competitors who went much further.  It took some serious mother and father pep talk to cheer him up the rest of the day, as we’ve all had results that we weren’t happy with (including my own DNS) that weren’t always the results of bad performance.

For the Kinetico Kids of Steel event, there was no disaster, but he did walk segments of the run course, and I’m still attributing that to discouragement and heat.

He’s placed better in 5 Peaks trail races, than in triathlons so far.   I guess I’m a little discouraged myself to think that at age 7 (meaning he competes with 8 and 9 year-olds) he’s at a level where the training and mental game have to be already pretty high, but it’s actually a good thing for someone who’s had a lot of things come to him fairly naturally (e.g. riding a bike without training wheels by age 3) to learn about the benefits of practice and work ethic.  I just hope he’ll continue to view triathlons as fun.  In addition to being well versed in the technique of transition, he also knows how to blame his equipment in order to justify further spending – he’s been bugging me to get him a road bike which will ride faster than the mountain bike.

Miscellaneous Event Details

Both events are great days out for the family with bouncy castles, face painting and barbecue.

The volunteers do a lot to make the participants and their families feel welcomed, informed and safe.  I love doing triathlon, but I love it even more when the whole family can get involved!

 

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Active Family Travel – Easter Weekend in Mont Tremblant

After getting priced out of a lot of ski resorts for March Break, we opted to put the kids in local camps for that week, and make our winter/spring family vacation take place over an extended Easter long weekend.   We opted to stay in Canada this time and selected Mont Tremblant.   We had skied there as newlyweds with my wife being pregnant with Shark Boy years ago.

It seemed like a good plan, especially once we had excellent accommodations locked down and saw how much money we were saving by going late in the season.  Our first snag was that the convenient local airport didn’t have flights from Toronto past the very beginning of April.  The second was that shuttle service from Pierre Trudeau Airport in Montreal was expensive and not ideal for our flight schedule.  Renting a car (I upgraded all the way to a Dodge Durango to make sure we could fit our skis in) proved the smartest option.

By the time we landed, picked up the car and had dinner, it was dark, but still, driving through the mountains was enough to get me excited.   Our condo was at the bottom of the ‘Village’ right across from the Westin, and had two bedrooms (including a king sized bed in the master bedroom) and a pull-out couch so the boys could sleep separately.

On Good Friday morning, we grabbed breakfast from the Au Grain de Cafe, and then got the kids dressed for their ski lessons.  We opted to put the Lightning Kid in a ‘Mother Nature Camp’ where the morning would be dedicated to learning to ski, and the afternoon would be in a daycare-like environment.  Downhill skis and boots are still pretty heavy for his legs, and it’s been slow going getting him to get the hang of it.  Shark Boy was in a ski camp for both Christmas and March Break holidays and he’s gotten pretty good – to the point of being able to use poles, although we hadn’t been able to secure a pair of his own yet.

Once the kids were squared away, my wife and I stopped for an extra coffee and a treat (which became the daily ritual) before going back to our room to get our own ski gear on, and trudge back uphill through the village to the gondola and get our own skiing done.

Both Friday and Saturday were nice, sunny days, and as skiers from Ontario, we’re not too fussy about snow quality – we were just happy to be there.  All we are really looking to do on these trips is spend some time in the simple pleasure of sliding on snow without worrying about anything more than keeping our skis beneath us.

Shark Boy’s favourite runs were ‘La Crete’, ‘Tascherau’ and ‘Dynomite’.  Mine were ‘La Traverse’, ‘Toboggan’ but of course, I have to give an honourable mention to my namesake…

It rained on the Sunday, and though Shark Boy lasted the whole day, we got pretty miserably wet.  Luckily, we paid a visit to the water park known as AquaClub (which also had a fitness centre which I did not take advantage of).  This place has various pools with a tarzan rope, a small slide and a little cliff to jump off of.  Both boys did everything, though the Lightning Kid always simply jumped into the water by releasing the rope before his swing could start.

The one day we didn’t swim after skiing, we rode a little open gondola called ‘Cabrio’ from the bottom parking lot to the top of the village and back.  And up again, and down again.  And up again…

We were very satisfied with the ski school overall.  Lunches were provided, and Shark Boy really liked his instructor, who had tall (though true) tales from all over the world.   I personally would have liked to see the Lightning Kid get more runs in on the bunny hill (served by a magic carpet), though I understand that when the kids get tired, forcing them into it is not going to yield good results or a positive attitude toward snow sports.  He had 3 different instructors, and they were all warm, friendly and great at teaching the skills.

On the Monday, I got an opportunity to ski with each of my sons individually.  I took Shark Boy for a run from the top of the mountain to the bottom before his lesson.  I should point out that though I claimed we’re not fussy about snow quality, the warm weather generated some heavy slush that really wore on your legs after a while and didn’t always yield optimal technique.  Still, I had a lot of fun skiing with Shark Boy and was so impressed that he stuck with me (not skiing too far ahead or afield) without me having to yell and shout.

At the end of the day, I took the Lightning Kid out, and promised him a ride on the chairlift.  I had scoped out a route of green runs from the top of the one chairlift that is accessible from the bottom and was trying to be optimistic that my back would hold out for the entirety while I held him between my legs.  Sadly, his tickets didn’t include lift access, and though it was the last day and last runs of the year, rules are rules, I guess.  I took him back to the magic carpet to see what he had learned and what he was capable of.

He’s getting the hang of putting his skis into the snowplow/’pizza’ position, and according to the instructor reports he can do some stops and control his speed a little.  He’s also fully independent on the magic carpet, so we’ll call the endeavour a success overall.

FOOD

I figure I’ll call out some of our favourite meal experiences separately rather than try and enumerate them all chronologically in the main story.

Pizzateria

The first night’s dinner was going to be a kid-friendly one.  There were two pizza joints within reach, one small and at the bottom of the village, the other larger around the midpoint of the climb to the top.  The kids chose the latter.  Pizzateria is decorated like a log cabin, and the pizza has a homemade, authentic style I really liked.

La Savoie

I grew up with both fondue and a home Raclette appliance, and we’ve also gotten one as a wedding present that we’ve never used.  Raclette is a kind of Swiss cheese that you melt over potatoes or just about anything else you can think of, and it’s delicious.  We haven’t dared to try eating something like these two Swiss delights for fear of the kids’ pickiness (and how their unruly behaviour poses a safety risk)… until now.  Shark Boy was lured in by La Savoie’s menu because it offered Salami as one of the options for dipping or melting cheese over.  We were really surprised at how well the boys took to the experience, and the restaurant service made the kids feel more the kids feel more than welcome.

There’s an element that melts the cheese onto a plate below

Shark Boy and I fondu-ing it!

 

 

Creperie Catherine

Sweet crepes for breakfast!  Shark Boy and I had their ‘Grand Maman’ which was loaded with ice cream… a bit much for breakfast.  The Lightning Kid had a Nutella and banana crepe and the results speak for themselves….

Le Q.C.

I picked this place for lunch date, just the grown-ups.  They had an interesting selection of tartares; my wife’s tuna was delicious.  Great cocktails too, I had a Dark and Stormy which was like a Moscow Mule only with coke, and my wife had a maple syrup based cocktail.

Samurai Pub

Great sushi, well presented, funky vibe.  Another great lunch date.  I didn’t partake of the Sake Bomb… maybe next time.

 

While ski vacations seem to be a lot of work in terms of planning, logistics, packing and lugging gear, when they’re done, we’ve always enjoyed them and grown closer as a family while living the life of adventure that we’ve always dreamed of.

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Air Riderz Trampoline and Climbing (featuring Shark Boy)

I had first heard of Air Riderz from birthday parties that Shark Boy had attended.  I thought the combination of trampoline park and climbing gym was interesting, especially since they had exercise classes (“AirRobix”) for adults – I thought I might try sampling one and doing a write-up here.

Instead, I found myself taking Shark Boy there.  You see, this past weekend my wife took the Lightning Kid to a live Paw Patrol show on the Saturday and a birthday party on the Sunday, so I had my eldest all to myself.  Between Air Riderz and another climbing gym we had visited once, he chose Air Riderz.

I bought us a 2 hour pass (time slots start at the half-hour, and we got there 10 past noon, so I guess we had a little less than that since neither of us had the patience to wait for 12:30).  Unfortunately you need to be wearing official Air Riderz socks to use the facility – this wouldn’t have been so bad, as we have at least 2 kid sized pairs at home from the aforementioned birthday parties, but we didn’t bring them.  So now I have a pair of my own, that I think will also come in handy for yoga in cooler environments like my basement – the soles have little grips.

 

Our pass included both the trampoline zones and the climbing area; you can only put on your climbing harness once, so you’ll want to get your fill all in one shot.  For that reason, I encouraged Shark Boy to enjoy the trampoline zone first.

I’ll be honest, it made me feel old.  Not many adults were jumping, so I  checked multiple times that adults were allowed to partake in the fun too.  There was also the fact that I noticed every bounce in my bones, at least till I got warmed up, so I’d recommend starting slow and not throwing yourself into it till you get more of a feel for it.  I had envisioned myself pulling flips or bouncing from my back, but I just didn’t have the nerve for it.

 

The main area has a grid of small trampolines that are great for individual use, as well as longer strips that are more suitable for running (or flips).  Some of the walls are trampoline-like so that you can throw yourself against them.

There are 3 basketball hoops (of varying non-regulation height), but we only got to try the highest one, and I couldn’t get high enough to dunk; it’s actually pretty difficult to make the shot from the highest point in my jump – even though the distance was short, being in mid-air made aiming difficult.

There is also a foam pit with segregated lanes (with trampolines of course) – you pull your best flip and are guaranteed a soft landing.  I should mention that all these areas have lifeguard-like supervisors to enforce safety rules.  The last area of the jump zone are the dodgeball courts.  One was being used for a toddler area, but the other had games going.  I had half a mind to enter myself into a game and be an avenging ‘big kid equalizer’, but I thought better of it.  I did notice signs for an adult league that I hope to investigate in the future.

After a while, Shark Boy wanted to try his hand at climbing.  There are several walls and one tower that is limited to climbers under 100 lbs.  He did fairly well, and you could see how some walls were easier than others based on his performance, but having tried some of them myself, I can tell you it’s not as easy as it looks.  I think more serious climbers will miss having access to chalk or better footwear, but it was still fun to give it a try.

I had a lot of fun climbing the towers in the photo above.  You’re anchored to 2 safety lines to reduce the amount of swing when you dismount (or fall).  Since I knew I wouldn’t have a lot of good images/video of myself, I decided to let Shark Boy record my climb.  I think he did a fairly good job of it, for his age.  Have a look – you might be able to tell when I made the mistake of looking down.

Once we got tired of climbing, we took off and returned our harnesses, we rounded out the rest of our allotted time in the jump zone.  I wondered if I would be sore the next day, and if I’d be OK to complete some speed work I had planned (according to my TriDot training plan) for the late afternoon.  I can tell you now that yes I was sore in my legs, but I don’t know whether the speed work (which went fine) or Air Riderz was to blame.  According to a little research I did, trampoline (or rebounder) work is good for the core, as well as all lower body muscles (the upper body does get addressed somewhat to as you flail your arms for balance) – sounds great as running cross-training, especially as the impact is much lower than running, skipping rope and other high-impact activities.  There are also circulatory and internal organ benefits.

Between these benefits, and my curiosity about the Airobix classes and dodgeball, it’s probably not my last visit to Air Riderz.

Have you tried rebounding or climbing? What do you think about it as cross-training?