Confederation Park in Burnaby

We never cared for playgrounds and kid-friendly parks before. Now, it's all about finding kid-friendly places like restaurants and parks we can take our toddler to. Does the restaurant have a kids menu and is it any good? Does it have a kid's play area? Is there a change table in the washroom? Are there other kids and families at the restaurant? Do the parks have a nice playground and is it suitable for toddlers? Are the walking trails stroller-friendly? Will our toddler have a good time at this park? etc. We won't go out unless we know it will be worth it.

This past weekend, we went to Confederation Park. Jean-Louis and I have never been there. Tristan had already visited the park once with his daycare group. Lucky boy! It was a toss up between Confederation Park or Buntzen Lake but we figured Tristan would have more fun at Confederation Park.

Confederation Park is a small park with lots of great kids activities. There is a nice playground with slides and play areas for smaller children. Right next to it is a water park with a boat inside. It was actually quite cold when we were there but that still didn't stop some kids from playing in there. If you didn't get wet, then it was fine :)

It was very busy. Kids were everywhere. There were also two birthday parties going on. Both parties rented a blown-up castle for kids to jump around inside. It sure looked like fun. It would be so great for Tristan to be invited to one of these parties one day. We can't rent one and throw an outdoor party for him since it's too cold and likely rainy on his birthday.

We brought lunch to the park and sat on one of many picnic tables in the area. It was surprisingly quite clean everywhere. After playing in the playground, we visited the miniature train across the street. Tristan absolutely loves trains! He can hear the train while he was in the playground and wanted to go there instantly. When we got there, he took a ride with Jean-Louis while I stayed behind to do some filming and picture taking. Train rides are only $2.50 a person and kids under 3 years are free. The train ride lasted around 10 minutes. It's really quite adorable :) There was another birthday party at the train station. Let's just say Confederation Park is a popular venue for holding birthday parties!

We walked in the small trail in the park while Tristan drank his afternoon milk in the stroller. Most of the trail is stroller-friendly but there are parts of the trail that are hilly. We were going downhill quite steep at one point, we had to tilt our stroller so that Tristan would be more comfortable. In the process, we did get a few nice views of the Burrard Inlet. If walking and hiking is what you are after, this won't be the park for you.

Overall, we thought Confederation Park was fun and we will definitely go back. We live less than 20 minutes away by car and it's a straightforward route to get there. Tristan also loves riding the miniature train. He didn't ask to ride it again but I'm sure he wouldn't have mind riding it all day :)