Expedition Island

 

 I decided to take the kids to the park this evening after dinner... not a great idea. That's the peak of mosquito time. In just the time it took to get kids and bikes unloaded from the car, and find the bug spray and get the kids sprayed, I already had three bites. We only stayed about ten minutes until Andrew started crying that the mosquitoes were eating him, then we turned around and left.

We go to this park fairly often, although not since we started going to other parks instead. I've never been here for a playgroup, and I don't think it would be great for that sort of thing, but it's great to just come with the boys and let them ride bikes, swing, run around, and throw rocks in the river. Every time we come we do almost the same exact thing in the same order, and it works, and the boys love it. 

I love this park for bringing my boys to bike. It's got a flat relatively smooth path that is really good for little kids who don't do great on hills. Andrew is loving his new bike that he got from Grandma, and loves to show off that he can ride as fast as Deano now!

After they ride down the first stretch, they always stop off to swing. They almost never ride the normal swings, but they love these saucer swings. It was at this point that Andrew decided it was time to go home,

but Deano had to make a stop to look at these plaques. If you're interested in some of the history of Green River, this is a good place to get it. 

 

Because we left so quickly today, I was debating between coming back tomorrow in hopes that there will be fewer mosquitoes, or just digging through some old pictures. I really hate mosquitoes, and I'm afraid in order to avoid them I'll have to wait a couple months, so this evening, I went digging. 

We had a picnic at this park back in April. It was finally getting a little warm, and it was just wonderful to be outside. 

The geese were just starting to come back, and we saw this little family of geese. So much fun!

The boys always stop on this little beach to throw rocks in the water. This was from when we went in August last year. If we want to go throw rocks in the river, this is my favorite place to do it. As opposed to over by the splash park just across the river, or at Edgewater park, or even Riverside park to an extent, this makes me a lot less nervous. There is no climb to get down to the river, and if they do accidentally fall in, it's just a few inches deep right here and they can easily get back out. They're not coming from the splash park, so they're not in swim suits expecting to go swimming, so for the most part, they are happy to stay out of the water. They just like to throw rocks.

I always forget how much my kids have grown until I come across things like this. Andrew was just figuring out this little trike last August, and Deano wasn't fabulous on his bike either. Today Andrew and Deano were racing on big bikes and Andrew was winning. 

 

This was one of the first parks we came to when we came to Green River two years ago. On that first trip I saw a snake in the middle of the grass. It scared me silly and I grabbed my kids and we ran to the car. I haven't seen a snake here since, but I'm always a little cautious walking through the middle of the grass since then. 

There's not a lot to this park, mostly just the path, the swings, and the river. There are also benches, and a couple pavilions with picnic tables, and today there were portable bathrooms here, although I don't know if they're usually here. The path brings a lot of walkers, runners, bikers, and people walking dogs. My kids used to be kinda scared of the dogs that would pass by, but since Grandma got a dog a bit ago, they do a lot better. I'll often see people walking/running/biking this loop and then continuing on across the bridge and down the green belt. Usually though, after swinging on the swings and stopping to throw some rocks in the river, by the time we make it around the loop once the kids are ready to go. Unless the mosquitoes are attacking and we leave much quicker.