Park de Cedres; boats, beach and playground means lots to do!

We were doing Playground Quest from east to west but today met up with some friends from my kid's playgroup who decided to hang out at this park so we skipped to the west end of town. Sorry, no playground pics as I didn't bring the camera so you are stuck with stock one I found online of the park. I really should get back for a walk and take some since it is the flagship park in town and now infamous as the spot of what is likely Aylmer's only riot in its history thanks to the recent Saint Jean Baptist Day, a bit too much drink and road rage. You know nothing says “national” pride like beating the snot out of your neighbors, but I digress. If I do get some pics I'll put them in here later.



Located a the north end of the Aylmer Marina and Beach area there are a number of structures that are spread out from each other yet still a quick run from one another. I say run not walk as you will be likely running after your kids between them, unless you have that odd kid who walks in a playground. All the structures seemed to be fine for and enjoyed by toddlers to younger school aged kids. There were no real senior aged type play structures. What is nice about this park it the mature tree cover. There is a lot of it and if the playgrounds are packed there is shade for all who want it every time I have been there.

The structures are a bit old and in fact the main one used could use a good updating. The middle run of the triple slide was broken and it looks like someone tried a rather lame fix job on it then gave up and just stuck a couple 4 x 4s at the top of the slide to block it off. This person apparently does not have kids or they would realize that and obstacle is really a fun challenge and one can often see kids scaling around the barrier to use the middle slide. I mean just like at home if mom and dad put something in a locked cupboard of up high it must be really good, so too went the mentality for the kids in regards to this broken slide. What they really need is a sign saying “you're parents recommend this slide” then it would be avoided at all costs as it must be a bummer.

If you are so inclined to go for a swim after playing hard the beach is right there for you to go for it. It has a concession and lifeguards and all those open at 10 am on weekdays. Based on the last time we were there it was clear that opening at 9 am during a hot spell would likely be better as there were many at the beach that day at 9 am already. If anything then open the washrooms! I had not seen people casually using the sides of buildings in lieu of washrooms since I'd been in Europe. No seriously, we rounded the corner of the blue building there and some guy all casually informed us “I'll just be a moment” as he...you get the idea. I was glad my oldest didn't question that one when she saw it.

I'm sure the water is not always this way but due to the heat wave and low river level this year the designated swimming area never got over my waist and while the kids loved the water temperature I for one don't find it refreshing or even nice to stand in luke-warm water. When you don't notice much of a change in temperature when you step in then you know its bad. I'm pretty sure bacteria also love warm water.



Just further south of the beach is the marina and the kids enjoy the walk to see the boats. There is a restaurant there with a large patio and moderate pricing if you want to make a day of it and have lunch. However with all the shade that can be found the park is well suited for a picnic as well.

Overall a nice place to visit and worth making it out to a few times a summer.

Park de la Petite Nation; Forget your sun screen, bring your Raid!

(This is not the first park we visited but never had pictures for the first few ready yet so the first half dozen parks will be out of order from how we actually visited them.)



On Rue de le Petite Nation just east of Vanier this park has some of the more unique looking equipment and structure I've seen in Aylmer. The main structure has a couple of rope nets for scaling, monkey bars and a slide. The structure leading to the slide was easy to navigate for my 20 month old and both kids had fun on it. About 15 minutes in though they were done as the structure doesn't offer a lot. There was a three way teeter tooter but that didn't last long either. Come to think about it I've never seen these used for any amount of time or success, there must be a trick to them, but they do look fun.

It was the smaller area across from the main structure that the kids spent the most of their time at. It had some sand activities like sifters and sand wheels. There was even a scoop chained to the structure so you didn't need your own but bringing your own would avoid fights over the one there and then you are not restricted by the one foot chain. One of the other highlights were the two spinners. One was a bucket seat you'd sit on and it would spin. I was surprised my oldest didn't like this but insisted I sit in it. I did fit and she was able to spin me. I'll admit, it was actually a blast. If I lived next to the park I'd be sneaking out at night for a spin. She did enjoy the other one where you stand up on it and hold a vertical handle. Both units are designed to take advantage of physics meaning you'd only have to lean into them a little once they are going to keep them going and going fast!

About half why into our time there I finally realized where the park got its name. I thought is was from the name of the street it was on but soon realized the Small Nation it was referring to was a nation of Sand Burrowing Wasps. I noticed a few when we got there, but soon realized there were dozens and dozens. Now stinging bugs in a playground are never good things but what made these ones worse for a playground was that they burrowed into the sand. Which meant a few things: One, while I could see dozens who knows how many were in hiding and Two, it made the playground a landmine for the kids. It was only a matter of time before one of them stepped on a wasp hole and got stung.





We didn't stay long enough to find out which kid would get it first as my daughter eventually also noticed them and made her way to the top of the large structure declaring she could not go down because of all the wasps.

I was reminded of one of the parks in Brazil a bit of a drive from our house which had a 6 foot diameter and two foot high Biting Ant hill 6 feet from the bottom of the slide of the main play structure, and I'm talking bigger ants than you've ever seen in Canada. I kept picturing someone not watching their kid there and the next moment he or she is being dragged into this ant hill by an army of the nastiest looking ants of the like I never hope to see again.

Much like we did in that park in Brazil we retreated from Parc de la Burrowing Wasps and went for a slushy.

Aylmer Playground Quest Begins

On a bike ride to one of our many local parks here in Aylmer Quebec I mentioned to my wife that with the amount of times our family bike rides ended at local playgrounds we should just aim to visit them all before it got too cold to do so and the idea for Aylmer Playground Quest 2010 began.

Ok it was partly mentioned by me to my wife in jest but she really took to the idea. It went without asking that our 3 1/2 year old and 20 month old, girl and boy respectively, would love the idea as well. We had no idea how many playgrounds were in Aylmer but knew compared to the other cities in Canada and around the world we lived there seemed to be more than average. My totally unscientific count of possibilities from the map, excluding schools even came up with possibly 40 playgrounds for this town of around 40,000.

We figured chronicling our views and experiences at each park might be fun as well as interesting to look back on. My wife's big on the nostalgia stuff. Me, I'd just slap photos in an album but she makes them look interesting. In case someone else from the area finds this blog of park visits I hope you too enjoy it and maybe even find it helpful. I won't get all technical laying out how many swings and picnic tables etc. each has. In fact I'll likely be inconsistent in what I cover about one park to the next. It'll just be a casual review of each park. I will be consistent in naming the park and its location, if you are not familiar with the street then Google is your friend! Google "Aylmer Quebec" and your first link is the map.


Feel free to comment on the reviews , we'd love to hear your reviews too.