African Lion Safari 2011

We went to African Lion Safari with Grandma and Grandpa. I put Kalia in the same shirt Logan wore the last time we were here in 2008.

We had been talking about this outing for a few weeks -showing him pictures and looking at the website. He was also really excited that he could sit up in the front out of his car seat!

The play area is more suited for 5+ but our 3.5 year old really, really wanted to it!

He just needed some coaching with the ladders at the end but he did it!

On the train ride

"I'm so excited!!!"

Feeding the goats at the petting zoo area

Stick around after the bird show and you can get to see them up close!

Logan loved this -"They're just like the movie Rio!"

Walking to the elephant lookout

Elephants!

The splash park!!!!!!!!! I had tried to find pictures and a review of this before we went -I was wondering if it was worth it to bring the kid's bathing suits --totally worth it! It was great!

Logan played for a bit at an area for bigger kids -there was a life guard at the top controlling the timing of the kids going down the slides. But at three and half we want to always keep an eye on Logan and Allan was finding it difficult as no adults are allowed on the stairs etc.

Logan LOVED the main area of the splash park -there were little dips in the flooring so lot of little pools with running water, which is something we haven't seen before, even at Wonderland.

In no area was there "standing water", all the water was flowing. It was like standing in a stream.

Kalia loved having the water flow around her

The slides had lifeguards at the top and they didn't mess around -we were happy to see them talk sternly to a few older kids that were going crazy.

Maybe two and half feet would be the deepest any of the pools were. Perfect for floating around and practicing his swimming

The textured cement made it easy to walk around all the uneven ground and little pools.

Washrooms, change rooms, lots of shade and seating, a store, close to a snack bar, great lifeguards, space for small and bigger kids, warm water, textured fooring, tons of small "pools", constantly flowing water -overall an awesome splash park. For our kids (3.5 and 8 months) this was WAY better than Wonderland's splash park. Yes, Wonderland has a kiddie tube ride and a lazy river but this one still wins for many reasons. By far the best splash park we have ever been to.

Time to go home! What an awesome day!

Cousin Party

No wonder the kids love going to the Grandparent's house! Kalia had her first cookie!

At cousin Perry's house -last time we were here and Logan saw these set of cousins was for Christmas.

Feeding the fish and trying to catch the frogs in a net with Perry

Getting a swimming lesson from his cousins in the lap pool

Only a pink life jacket available but Logan didn't mind. Abby gave Logan her goggles to try --he loved them!

"Get it in the hole!"
Yelling at the golfers

"Look I've got muscles!"

Happy 70th birthday, Uncle Ron!

Containing the Mess: the sawdust picture

Logan likes to help Grandpa sweep up but sometimes he makes more of a mess.

We helped contain the mess by sweeping a pile to use for a saw-dust picture. We swirled some white glue on the paper and then Logan let the saw-dust "rain" down.

After it dried he liked following the rough line with his finger around the paper

Cleaning up can be fun -especially if you squeeze an extra activity into the middle of it!

Final clean up with Grandpa!

Logan's First Home Run

We all got together for Lola's 97th birthday! The cousins had a fun baseball game -boys vs girls. Logan got his first home run!

Bowling with a Preschooler

Logan saw The Man with the Yellow Hat bowl and on PBS kids they showed how the machines set up the pins. So when it was too cool to continue our "splash pad tour" on Friday, Logan requested that we go bowling. So I wondered,

What age do kids start bowling? Was three and a half too young? What are our bowling options: cosmic bowling, bumper bowling? Should I go some place where I pay by the hour or by the game?

This is what I found:
*Three and a half seemed like an okay age to start bowling. This place had shoes starting at size 8, so that may be a factor for some.
*Bumper bowling is a must with preschoolers and for mommy's who haven't bowled in ages
And they really do need the little bowling ball guider thingy..no sure what's it is called but without it, Logan's bowls went very, very slow and one stopped half way down the lane.
*Cosmic bowling would have been too much for a first attempt at this age. It would be fun to try now that he has the basic down.
*By the hour worked out great for us. It was the perfect amount for his attention span and we fit in two games.

Since we were going bowling, I took my grandmother's bowling broach and pined it onto a chain to make a necklace.

Logan liked my necklace and asked for one too. So we made this before we left the house. He's learning how to use the hole puncher and the circle cutters so he was very happy to punch the top hole and make the bowling ball.

Cute bowling craft!

We were there ten minutes before it opened and Logan was so excited he didn't want to go any where else. I even offered to take him to the store around the corner for a treat but he just wanted to wait.

First ones in the bowling alley!

Thank goodness for bumper bowling!

Kalia took her morning nap here without any fuss. I had planned to put her in her stroller so she would have a better view of us playing but this bowling alley was in the basement of a plaza and I didn't see an elevator.

I think most places have automatic scoring now. Phew!

So here's a good shot of the ball guider thingy. I don't think Logan could have played without this as when he tried his balls either got stopped in the lane or went painfully slow.

Getting distracted by the Justin Bieber video playing

Overall an awesome morning!
Check out Kids Bowl Free to see if there is a bowling alley near you participating in the program. None in Markham yet! :(