The kids and I spent a wonderful day in the sun at the first annual Kid Walk in Nelson BC. Again, we are so blessed in our little mountain community to have government and nfp organizations willing to support meaningful family programs. Loaded with fun, everyone has been talking about all the new activities the kids were able to experience. And no barrier to entry, everything was free.

Our first stop was a visit inside an ambulance and our 3-year-old daughter learned about 9-1-1. It hadn’t struck me to teach this yet, but she is capable of hitting the right numbers so it can’t hurt to know. The scary siren and flashing lights sent us off to kick soccer balls, with some free lessons thrown in. The kids are stopping the ball like pros now which will come in handy on our sloped property.

Soon bubbles were being made with good instruction on just the right speed to produce the biggest and best results. By far, my kids spent the most time at this location. If the fire truck had shown up, it would have been impossible to lure them away. A dad that I recognized from my local business days was heading downtown and offered some advice: make sure to hit the indoor food market. Always ready for a snack, it sounded good to us!

A short walk down the hill brought us to the food market. Free world food, organic fruits and veg, cookie making, and smoothie sampling nourished our bellies. We were given an extra large helping of a wonderful mango salad after my one-and-a-half year old son managed to kick his Croc into it. At first I wasn’t sure if the young woman serving it was laughing so hard because she was about to have a nervous breakdown or because she saw it for the humorous mishap that it was. We all giggled together as we cleaned the top layer of the salad off. We quickly moved along to the sushi, African sticky rice (a big hit with my kids) and pakoras and got out of there with our dignities. While planting seeds we learned about the relationships built between the Nelson Food Cupboard and local farmers, to help supply families in need with good food. My daughter asked: “Why don’t some people have food?” That’s a really good question, was all I could say. I can see working at the Food Cupboard with the kids in our future.

We were all ready to head back out in the sun and explore “The Hub” of the festival. Word on the street was, you could get free helium balloons which brought my daughter to her toes with excitement. Will the gifts never end? First, we needed to figure out how to get our little one down for a nap. My daughter and I enjoyed the outdoor music and walked the alley to remove much of the distraction until he went to sleep. “Now focus Mom, we are looking for balloons.” The balloon blowers had the most stressful job of the day as far as I could see. The line was never-ending, kids are anxiously hovering around you in no particular order, asking over and over for their chosen colour to be passed. After being patient and my trying to get people to communicate about who came first, she finally got a green balloon for herself and a pink for her brother. Word on the street now was that there was to be a fabulous puppet show.

What a gem that turned out to be, and performed by a dad we know. But clearly not very well because we didn’t know he was a puppeteer. Just like the Barenaked Ladies kids album, it was a pleasure to enjoy something as much as, if not more than, the kids did. “An endearing tale of a young man who escapes a life of Royal Servitude, only to be faced by the challenges of surviving in the Real World, made difficult by the fact that he can’t Remember Anything.” Lucas Myers is a great story teller and going to be opening a puppet theatre in his home, so stay tuned.

We headed back outside and as luck would have it, my daughter managed to release the second balloon into the sky. Oh, my. Although free financially, not free from the sad feelings of loss. I tried to soothe her with ice cream, but who really made the difference was her older and caring friend who handed over her balloon. Very sweet.

The day finished on a very high note, with the making of music shakers and a parade with the Moving Mosaic Samba Band. They gave the kids capes, taught them a song and led them down to Baker St. and around the block. I wasn’t sure whether to be proud of my daughter when she decided to walk out ahead of the band leader. An awesome mélange of sounds: whistle blowing, rice and bell shakers of the kids, and band’s percussion instruments. A great way for the kids to learn the beauty of  working with a group of people.

“We are kids
We like to rock.
We’re going to shakey shake
On Kid Walk!”

Free activities from marching in a parade, to colouring an enormous mandala, to planting seeds. Free international and mostly organic food, bubble blowing and hoola hoop lessons, free face painting – really good face painting too, free puppet show, free tour of an ambulance, the list goes on and on and on. It is amazing to me how much our community is willing to give and share. Thanks to everyone who organized the day, we really enjoyed it and so donated some money in hopes of seeing it again next year.

Written By: Nicole LeBlanc Charlwood