{"id":138005,"date":"2017-12-11T00:32:58","date_gmt":"2017-12-11T05:32:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=138005"},"modified":"2017-12-11T00:32:58","modified_gmt":"2017-12-11T05:32:58","slug":"happiest-place-on-earth-alberta-daycare-captures-fairy-tale-imagination","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2017\/12\/11\/happiest-place-on-earth-alberta-daycare-captures-fairy-tale-imagination\/","title":{"rendered":"Happiest place on Earth: Alberta daycare captures fairy tale imagination"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"(Photo:<\/a>
He rents it out to the Fable Child Care Centre, which opened in June (Photo:<\/a> Fable Child Care Centre Operated by Our House Child Care Center\/Facebook<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MORINVILLE, Alta. — Once upon a time, in a town north of Edmonton, there was a man who dreamed of building something magical.<\/p>\n

After a year of construction, using $3 million from his own pocket, Robert Chauvet turned a Morinville parking lot into a scene out of a fairy tale. There’s a fantastical structure with a wavy roof, curved wooden doors and — as his story goes — a chimney squashed by a giant.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’ve always been fascinated by the imagination and creative minds of children,\u201d says the 71-year-old father, grandfather and retired owner of a construction company.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody builds houses. And whether you build 10 or 1,000, basically you’re just a house-builder. It doesn’t leave anything special behind.\u201d<\/p>\n

Because Chauvet wanted children to enjoy his final building project in the town of 9,800, he had it designed as a daycare.<\/p>\n

He rents it out to the Fable Child Care Centre, which opened in June.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe kids always seem happy here,\u201d says father Dave Brooks, as he helps two-year-old Hadley wiggle out of her jacket during a morning drop-off.<\/p>\n

Brooks thinks the daycare resembles more of a hobbit house from \u201cLord of the Rings.\u201d<\/p>\n

Most of the arched doors are adult-sized, except for one leading into the toddlers’ room. Parents and workers have to duck to pass through. In another room, there’s a cavernous children’s bathroom and on the wall next to it a picture of a squirming raccoon waiting for its turn.<\/p>\n

Fairies and bunnies are painted on walls, and tree branches stretch into clouds on the ceiling, perfect for nap time.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s a blessing to come to work every day,\u201d says daycare operator Bonnie Provost. \u201cKids and families love it.\u201d<\/p>\n

With a capacity for 85 children, the centre is just over half full.<\/p>\n

And by next year, it could also be bustling with brides.<\/p>\n

Chauvet and his wife, Hien Ho, hope an upstairs rental space and outside flower garden will make a happily-ever-after venue for weddings and photo shoots.<\/p>\n

As the couple walk along the garden’s path, they point to a waterfall and behind it a hidden door where a gnome lives.<\/p>\n

Chauvet says he’s especially proud of the roof’s curvy shingles that workers spent seven months cutting by hand. He’s also pleased with children’s artwork that is outlined in the lead-glass windows and scratched into the cement foundation.<\/p>\n

He recounts how one burly concrete worker happily spent time on his hands and knees stamping and painting bears and butterflies into the stone work.<\/p>\n

Also along the path are sculptures of seven children Chauvet says helped make his dream come true.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe kids built the daycare with the help of an old carpenter,\u201d he chuckles.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MORINVILLE, Alta. — Once upon a time, in a town north of Edmonton, there was a man who dreamed of …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":138006,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,3,16,79],"tags":[28444,38175,38174,3898,38173,38172,38176,38171,38170],"class_list":["post-138005","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news-ca","category-lifestyle","category-news","category-travel","tag-mi-ciudad-limpyo-y-floriao","tag-bonnie-provost","tag-dave-brooks","tag-edmonton","tag-fable-child-care-centre","tag-fairy-tale","tag-hien-ho","tag-morinville","tag-robert-chauvet","mauthors-chris-purdy","mauthors-the-canadian-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138005","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=138005"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138005\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/138006"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=138005"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=138005"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=138005"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}