Prince's Island Park
This lovely area is located in the centre of Calgary on an island in the Bow River, in winter there is an outdoor rink here for skating and in Spring/summer a nature reserve for nesting birds, but most of all there is a kids play area and lots of open green space for Ethan to run around in; all within walking distance of downtown.
there are a lot of ducks, geese and other birds but the Canada Geese allow you to get very close, even with their chicks at their feet
there are dozens of nesting pairs each with plenty of chicks and Ethan is in his element watching them all gaggle around
but his favourite bit by far is getting out and running around with his football which he can dribble incredibly well for a 16 month old who totters as he goes
he likes a bit of daredevil action too....as long as mum and dad are around to make sure nothing happens
and the swings........man, don't mention the swings, so much joy from such a little thing. It is impossible not to smile looking at this photo
the adult football was a bit one sided, even when Sarah resorted to kicking shins rather than ball
the park is a lovely space but lets itself down by not having anywhere to get food/drinks for kids. There is a nice restaurant on there but it does nothing for kids which was a bit disappointing
once we had finished kicking lumps out of each other playing footie we headed off the island and found a beautiful restaurant called Oceana on the corner of 1st Av and 7th St where they went out of their way to accommodate us, they started Ethans food immediately before taking our order and had excellent service throughout the meal, it was a perfect end to our day in the park.