The Boys are Back in Town–Part 2

So where did we leave off? Oh yeah, having fun!

As of Friday morning, we decided to take the kids for a walk in the neighbourhood up the hill from us. The boys wanted to bring their bikes, but we were concerned that the uphill portion would be too difficult for them, and once we turned around to head for home we were convinced that we’d never be able to keep up with them. As it turned out they were pretty beat by the time we all got back for lunch, and I ended up carrying Payton part of the way home. Once we got inside the gate for our complex and I put him down he started to run for our place. I was convinced then and there that I’d been had. Grandpa is obviously a soft touch.

In the afternoon we went just down the highway to a mini-golf complex near the lake. As well as a traditional mini-golf course they have a putting course that includes a number of long serpentine putting greens so we decided to let the kids use their new putters and see if they could embarrass me again. I ended up getting a lower score than both kids, but Sylvia beat me by a couple of strokes. I think I should take up cards instead of golf.

That evening we all went to the local Music in the Park in Wesbank. It was Country Opry Night, and was a real treat for Jocelyn. She grew up listening to Country music, and ended up singing along with most of the oldies. As her parents were there as well, it was interesting to listen to Jocelyn and her Dad sing harmony to songs I could not recognise. Some of the warm-up acts were pretty good, and we really enjoyed listening to Ben Klick and Jesse Mast, two teenagers that we’ve heard a few times before.

The surprise of the night for me was an 11 year old kid named Beamer Wigley who plays a great guitar, and has a fine voice as well. I think we’ll be hearing lots more from all 3 of these young guns in the future.

Ayden and Payton played in the games section provided by the city Parks Department all night, and while they protested a bit that they wanted to stay up just a bit longer when we got home, I think they were asleep in about 15 seconds.

On Saturday we decided to head to Penticton to visit the LocoLanding Amusement center. It’s a large and varied fun center that includes go-karts, bumper boats, a climbing rig and various other treats for the younger set. The kids had a lot of fun, and so did we.

The faster I went the happier Payton got.

We couldn’t quite get the kids to try and do flips in this contraption, but they sure enjoyed flying like Superman.

The Bumper Boats were a lot of fun, but I seemed to get wetter than anyone, as Payton kept steering us towards other kids and started squirting them. Then he’d hide behind either me or the motor while the other boaters took their revenge on me.

The kids did real well on the climbing wall, and Ayden made it to the very top with some coaching from one of the staffers. Payton made it much higher than we all thought he’d get to, but we couldn’t convince him to go any higher than two-thirds of the way up. Not too bad for a 6 year old.

That’s Ayden and I at the top of the High Level Ropes course.

Once he made it across the first obstacle he wanted to go down, but as there was no way down without heading back across the ropes he managed to gather enough courage to head back.

Payton wasn’t convinced that this was a good idea, and decided to head down after just a couple of steps.

Jocelyn isn’t that fond of heights either, but she ended up tackling all the obstacles on the highest section, much to her surprise.

I had a lot of fun up there, and ended up going back and forth over all the sections. I didn’t notice any other greybeards attempting the rope course, but I’ve never been afraid of heights and my ease up there convinced Jocelyn to try some of the more difficult areas. She was quite pleased on what she was able to accomplish.

At the end of the day we dropped Jocelyn and the boys at her folks place for the rest of their visit to the Okanagan. We had a great deal of fun with them all, but after 6 days of non-stop fun and activity we appreciated a day to rest and recuperate as well as catch up on some of our chores. And maybe a nap or two.