56 Vancouver Summertime Family Activities UPDATE

Where are we at on our list?  

Here goes...

1. Daddy & Son [first annual?] overnight camp-out
2. Go to the Richmond night market
3. Bike ride to have an ice cream treat   *yay Menchies moving into our neighborhood!
4. Swim in this pool in Stanley Park.  Love.  We biked past it, let's see if we go in it.
5. Hang out at Lynden, Washington's City park.  Loved it!
6. Go to the Celebration of Lights. Many a childhood memory was spent waiting on the beach for hours, and playing 'sardine' in the crowds afterwards.  Can't wait to introduce the kids....although maybe this will be a date night?
7. Attempt the Grouse Grind with kids strapped on our backs.  Possible? Nope. Not gonna try.  Did a 3 hour hike with Toby on my back and just about died.
8. Fly our kite at Vanier Park
9. La Casa Gelato for a special Silas date.  This kid will be so overcome...he is a dessert lover to the core!
10. Granville Island waterpark, duck feeding, boat watching, and all the goodness that comes from evenings spent at this amazing place. A large seagull who was particularly aggressive jumped up and stole Toby's whole muffin snack out his hand.  The birds were no fun after that- poor guy, scared him to death!
11. Check out Canada day festivities downtown.  Had a great Canada day, but no festivals.  Next year!
12. Pick berries at Krause, enjoy some corn pizza (amazing) and make jam (like a ton) to stock up for the year.  Apparently making jam with a toddler and pre-schooler underfoot is a bad idea.  A burned finger, a pot of boiling jam overflowing on my cooktop and hours of cleanup later...at least I have 6 jars of jam (WHAT? That's it?!)
13. Camping with our life group!
14. Go canoeing with the kids, someway, somehow.
15. Attend a festival: maybe the Italian one on commercial drive, international children's festival, jazz festival, dragon-boat racing festival or the like
16. Bike around the seawall (with Silas on his strider!)  Silas didn't last as long as we'd hoped but, we still loved it!
17. Baking camp for Silas
18. Hike at deep cove.
19. Joffre Lakes hike or Panorama Ridge hike with the hubby on our mini couple's getaway to Whistler.  Or we might just camp at Wedgemount.  Can't wait.
20. Sleep under the stars.
21. Visit a winery.  [Clearly an adult summer adventure]
22. Hike dog mountain with the kids strapped on.   See above #7.  Ain't doin' it.  But we DID hike up Lynn Valley.  Insert applause here.
23. Ride a ferry.
24. Centennial park - check it out (I've heard good things)
25. Host a block party and/or BBQ.
26. No shoes day!
27. Evening swim at a [free] Surrey outdoor pool.
28. Have a water fight.  I bought the boys water-guns.  I'm a horrible Mom.  So far though, Toby doesn't know how to use it and runs around pointing it at people (oh dear) and Silas happily squirts me but then cries every time he gets squirted, thereby defeating the purpose of a 'water-gun fight.'  Next summer might be more realistic.  Let's just say I'm not sad his dollar store gun already broke.
29. Side-walk chalk 'bomb' friend's houses [with encouraging messages from the Brinks]
30. Ride the skytrain.
31. Try tennis with the boys.  My wonderful co-worker (an avid tennis player) gave us like 30 balls.  It made tennis actually fun not having to run for every single ball!
32. Eat a whole meal from our garden!  [Peas and tomatoes, beans and kale, lettuce and carrots...can't wait!]  After a ton of hard work this year and a lot of planning, our garden was the victim of rabbit madness and, well, unless we want to eat a meal of lettuce, this is a no go.  We have a community garden plot and after three years of trying to get a good harvest, we are gonna try some planters in our backyard next year.  Humph.
33. Build a sand castle. Like, a really cool one. Lots of sand castles and sand play in Hawaii!
34. Day trip to the Othello tunnels past hope.  
35. Make popsicles. I can't find 5 of the 6 sticks that go with my Popsicle maker thing.  We bought some instead.  I'm lame.
36. Beach day at English Bay or Crescent Beach or White Rock.  
37. Outdoor movie night.
38. Swim in Sasamat lake.  [White Pine Beach] Delightful!
39. Our favourite: hike around Buntzen lake
40. Picnic breakfast!
41. Pick blackberries around our neighborhood.
42. Rock hopping at Golden Ears Provincial Park.
43. Give geo-caching another try.
44. Seattle zoo.
45. Take Silas to a sporting event of some kind Yay Nana and Papa!  Invited J and Silas to attend the Canadian Open Women's Fast Pitch Championship.  Silas had three cupcakes, that's all he really said about the event.  
46. Picnic at Rocky Point Park - Waterpark!  Ocean view!  Grandparents! What could be better?
47. Deliver jam or berry pies to our neighbors
48. Sleep in a tent in our backyard.
49. Run through the sprinkler.
50. River Market at the New Westminster Quay- love it. The kid's favourite part?  Sitting at the skytrain watching the trains come and go.  They love trains and this market is the best spot to see boats, trains, trucks, planes and we love it too because of the beautiful landscaped river stroll. 
51. Watch Art in the Park- people set up to paint in Stanley Park.
52. Take Silas Rock-wall climbing
53. Magnifying glass nature walk.  Boys might enjoy this!
54. Make giant bubbles.
55. Bike obstacle course.
56. Cross the border to go to Edaleen Dairy and get their massive, amazing ice cream cones.  I'd say that's a good evening activity (poor Toby, he'll have to have some kind of soy treat).
57. Last minute camping trip- aka, 'let's go camp at ____ tonight!'  Done.
58. Fish N Chips in White Rock or Sushi by Bay

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p.s. I have no photo proof because our camera broke in Hawaii.  Bummer.