Mason and I had big plans for the Saturday. Initially we were going to take a trip to Science World as Mason hasn’t been for quite some time. I checked their website and was delighted to discover that they reduced their prices for the duration of their reno. From $25 to $14 and Mason being under 3, was free.
Well come Saturday morning, I check the site again to see what time they are open and the admission cost is back up to $25! Not only did they not post an end date to this ‘promotion’, I don’t even think the reno is over. Obviously they jacked their rate up for the long weekend #shameful!
Sorry Mason, we’ll skip this one. Checking Mason’s giant to do list, we opted to check out Granville Island instead. A gorgeous sunny day would be perfect for a walk around the island. A bit of a drive from North Burnaby to Granville and Mason fell asleep in the car. Damn! If Mason starts a nap and doesn’t finish, not only will he most likely not nap later but he’ll be a wee bit grumpy. Oh well, what do you do?
After driving around the entire grounds, I finally found 3 hour parking. I wonder how many people park beyond this time (do they check?). It is free though which is nice. I woke Mason up to transfer him into the stroller. We stopped to check out the unicycle guy in front of La Baguette. (Interesting fact about Jodelene: I worked for this bakery for one day in 2003 as an Admin Assistant. I didn’t like it so I didn’t get the job).
We wandered into the Public Market as it was approaching lunchtime and I was starving! We stopped at Terra Breads for a tomato and cheese focaccia ‘pizza’ for Masey (he devoured it) and a sticky bun for us to share. I made a beeline to Fraser Valley Juice and Salad for a prawn roll as I saw someone else have one and it looked delicious (and it was). It came with a peanut sauce which was more soupy than thick but good nonetheless. I was impressed with the reasonable prices for the food. $3.75 for the pizza, $2.75 for the bun and $4.75 for the prawn roll.
Now that we were fed, I promised Mason we would check out the Kids Market. I had suggested this to two friends who had taken their kids (one was 3, the other 5) and they raved about it. I didn’t know what to expect as I had not been inside for years. But wait, what is that outside? It’s a Child Find tent. I’ve been waiting to register Mason for this for months! I kept missing their clinics all over the lower mainland. Not sure what Child Find is? Click here.
Maybe taking a slightly cranky toddler to get his hands finger printed was not a great idea. Not even a bribe of a sticker would work (he threw it on the ground lol) but convincing him that this was important and THEN he could play, he gladly held out his hand. We got two blurry prints (and what looks like a 6th thumb on one hand lol). Then they took a picture of him while he was in his stroller (grumpy face and all).
Finally I let him loose and he took off to the neat ‘boat’ that is near the water.
This area is shared with the geese, ducks and pigeons looking for handouts. Mason wanted to chase the pigeons which is fine but I told him not to aggravate the gooses. Those things are vicious! The last thing I want is a child that is deathly afraid of birds.
I had to drag him away with the mention of a play-land inside. Unfortunately when I scoped out The Adventure Zone climbing structure from downstairs, I deemed him too young for it and I didn’t see any other parents chasing their toddlers inside of it (the website recommends 3+. For some reason I thought it was free cost is $5.95+tax. In reading the website it looks like I could have gone inside. The entrance is on the second floor and I had a stroller, it wasn’t very inviting to check it out. The entire building is jam packed with toys stores at every angle. They are very small in size so due to the amount of people + strollers, it’s very hard to maneuver around without bumping into toys and people.
We did however fit into one store that had a lot of gadgets and cool toys - The Granville Island Toy Company. I handed Mason a weird stretchy ball but he didn’t want it. Then I saw gummy worms (not edible + plus he’s a vegetarian!) figuring he’d like to have a non live version to play with but after holding it for a few mins he decided against. Finally I spied something cool. A Mugz Ice Cream Maker. Reasonable priced at $9.99+tax, this was our splurge.
Step 1 – Wash all the parts
Step 2 – Fill the cup ½ with smallish ice cubes
Step 3 – Add 4 tablespoons of sea salt
Step 4 – Add 4 tablespoons of water
Step 5 – add the metal tray and fill with mixture (I chose 2% chocolate milk)
Step 6 – Cover with plastic lid
Step 7 – Cover with animal head (lid)
Step 8 – Shake, shake, shake for 2-3 mins (I did 3)
The result? My arms were tired! Just kidding! I lifted the lid to see this:
Then I broke up the mixture and it looked
like this:
Then I ate it.
Hmm it’s not really ‘ice cream’ but it is cold (very cold), a bit frothy when
you take the first bite. I guess its ice
milk. Not bad, the chocolate milk wasn’t
a strong chocolate flavor. The little
instruction booklet it came with has different ‘recipes’.
Now this product is a bit misleading as it’s quite a large ‘cup’. It holds 1 1/3 cups of water but this portion of the cup is meant for the ice mixture! The actual ‘dish’ of ice cream is only ¼ cup. Which might not be a bad thing for a toddler but considering you are making this, it’s extremely healthy. I found it to be a bit deceiving and may be a fad item or if you just need a small taste of an icy treat.
After our purchase we wandered around for a bit and it was time to go. Mason was getting a bit cranky and I was hoping he’d sleep in the car (no such luck). But our day of fun isn’t quite over yet.
Onto the next blog…