“Can I listen to Under the Shady Tree… Just like the sun,” calls out our daughter from the backseat.
“Is that your favourite right now?”
“Yup.”
We’re listening in the car to the Laurie Berkner Band after getting hooked on their “Best of” CD.
Our little one’s favourite is constantly changing, but she is three, after all. A few days ago, we were singing along to “This Hat” complete with silly hats and actions. Then it was, “I’m Me and You’re You.” That’s still one of my all time faves.
“What number is it?” I ask.
“Six,” replies Mommy changing to track six.
When did we all become such big Laurie Berkner groupies?
Our family is heading towards two splash pads that Mommy and Daddy spotted while floating in a hot air balloon.
Drifting across the city skyline at 7:30 in the morning was surprisingly hot. Oh, the weather hadn’t warmed up yet, but the heat from the burners was pretty intense.
Originally, we were supposed to go on Canada Day, but the weather was bad and we had to reschedule. (You have to call the evening before to find out if the weather is good enough – not too windy, but not too calm either, apparently.)
Then, we were supposed to go the following week, but it was cancelled due to rain.
Third times a charm. We brought monkey along for the ride since our real monkey couldn’t join us. (Our daughter has to be 10 years old before she can go up.)
Our Sundance Balloon experience was quite lovely (altitude sickness aside.) Your problems seem so small when you’re floating 4267 feet above sea level. (Kinda cool that altitude data is included in the photos you snap on an iPhone.)
We landed at the aviation museum. Gradma and our little girl drove out to wave hello as we floated by.
Back on land, we looked up the two splash pads and headed out for adventure.
We had snapped a few photos above the splash pad, but wanted a few more from the ground below.
(Daddy had to make sure to include part of the basket in the photo… otherwise, the pictures just look like screenshots from Google Maps.)
Dr John Hopps splash pad has a lot of cool water structures:
- The water pressure is pretty good. It has some really powerful ground jet sprays that go as high as the trees.
- There is a rainbow archway with three spray loops
- The tall red post has a fountain of water coming out of the top.
- There’s also a nice gazebo with picnic tables to get out of the sun.
We saw a few of the guys from the basketball court come over to cool down. There’s a row of eight sprinklers that form a little arch… kind of like a drinking water fountain.
[splashpad_headline_card id=443]
The Thorncliffe Park splash pad is more basic with just a set of different ground sprinklers.
- There is a small water wall created by four medium powered ground jets
- The fountain spray jet has medium water pressure
- There are also two jet stream ground sprinklers that shoot water straight up (but not that high)
[splashpad_headline_card id=497]
We couldn’t find a youtube video of “Just like the sun” so here’s “I’m Me and You’re You” instead. Daddy’s favourite line: “I stayed short and you grew.”