Logan Park

  

We've driven past this park several times, but we've never actually come, although when passing it, my children have asked to go here, but it was always when we were on our way somewhere else (often hoover park). It's a fun park though. Not one I would want to go to on a hot day though. There is no shade, and no where really to sit down. It's a lot like Andrew's and Astle Parks in that way. 

Looking at this from a distance, it looked like something fun to climb on, but I didn't realize that the whole thing spins. Deano calls it the Spinny Tower... which is a pretty good name for it. This is where the kids spent most of their time. I got on it for a bit, but I got dizzy pretty fast. How come I used to be able to spin for ages without feeling dizzy at all, and now even just looking at it makes me a little dizzy?  I must be getting old.

According to Andrew, this is the up-and-down-inator (watching a little too much Phineas and Ferb maybe?) It was a fun teeter totter like thing. The kids liked it a lot, and I had fun on it too.

This thing rocked back and forth in a fun way, both kids played on it for a bit, but went back to the spinny tower pretty quickly.  

They were calling this a trampoline, and it kinda looks like a trampoline, and they were jumping on it like it was a trampoline, but it didn't look particularly bouncy. Either way, they enjoyed it, and anything to get them to wear themselves out faster, I'm all for. 

There are a couple of these dish swings, they squeak really loudly if there's more than about 50 pounds on it though (Isaac plus Andrew, alone they were fine). I feel kinda bad for the people that live right on the other side of that fence, that swing must drive them crazy.Individually though the kids were able to swing on them without too much noise, and they had fun.

We've seen this around at other parks before, and my kids are never really interested in it for more than a minute or two, but maybe one of these days they'll give it more of a chance. 

It's a fun park to go to on a cool evening or maybe in the weather gets cooler. I wish there were a bench to sit on or something. I sat on the fence for a bit, but it's kinda rickety in places. I was a little surprised at how many cars were driving past on this seemingly quiet neighborhood road, but I guess I shouldn't have been, because I use this street as a shortcut too.

Jaycee Park

  

Jaycee park is in essence, a baseball field. That's really all there is to it, so we came to play a quick game of baseball... tee-ball... whatever. 

First, it's Deano up to bat

He hits a grounder straight down the third baseline, waits patiently for Andrew to retrieve the ball, then takes off towards first base. Andrew quickly goes in pursuit.

Deano rounds first and continues on. Andrew stops to ask if it's his turn up to bat yet.

 

Deano continues on toward second base, and Andrew continues the chase.

Deano rounds second and keeps going, Andrew is closing the gap.

(Both boys start laughing hysterically at this point for some reason)

Deano rounds third base, and Andrew cuts a corner trying to keep him from scoring a run.

 

Almost to home base now...

 

...but in a surprise turn of events Deano starts back towards first base again.

 

After a quick reminder and a change of course, Deano scores a run with Andrew hot on his heels.

After a quick "good job!" from Andrew, Deano helps Andrew replace the ball on the tee, and then it is Andrew's turn up to bat.

Andrew holds his bat like the left hander he is, but then came at the ball like a right hander. He hit the ball high and hard straight into the left fence

then took off still carrying the bat straight towards the pitcher's mound

He made it to the pitcher's mound as Deano recovered the ball

then after a quick reminder, finally headed off towards first base,

where he sat down to wait for Deano

As Deano approaches first base, Andrew uses his bat to whack Deano to avoid getting tagged.

Deano manages to tag Andrew anyways, and now both boys are crying,

 

but nothing cheers these boys up more than their baby brother. So it was decided that it was Isaac's turn to bat...  or at least sit there long enough for me to take a picture amidst peals of laughter from Deano and Andrew.

Like any good baseball field, there are a couple of dugouts, and some bleachers. I imagine this is where little league games or something are held. There is also a port-a-potty. On a side note, there is an entrance to the green belt right behind the park. That's really all I've got. 

I love these boys!

Indian Hills Park

 This park is one of our favorites, although amongst my children, it is more commonly called the train park. We used to live right up the street from here, so we would walk here almost daily. I kinda miss being so close, but we still come here regularly. This is a great park for picnics, large gatherings, play groups, or just playing. 

The first summer that we were here, neither of my kids could climb up to this slide on their own. There isn't really an easy path up, but once they do get up, it's a fun slide. There are also a couple of smaller slides that are much easier to get to.

The kids don't have any trouble getting up to the slide now. There are two ways to climb up, which were hard for little ones, but now that they're older it's not a problem. There is also that tube. When my kids were little they seemed to have a really hard time getting up the slope. I don't see other kids having quite as hard of a time with it as mine did. Now though they have lots of fun climbing up and down everything.

 Deano calls these stepping stones. It took a while for them to be comfortable stepping across and going down and up, but now they have fun with it. Then the only problem is that on the far side, the only place to go from there are the monkey bars, which my kids are not quite old enough for.

 This bridge made me so nervous when they were little, because the rail there is so high. When we moved to Green River two years ago, Andrew was only 15 months old, and he did take a tumble off the bridge. Now though, the bridge is central to their make believe games. Today Deano was telling me that there was a river running under it, and he had a toy helicopter that he dropped down into the river and it got swept away. Later it became the deck of a pirate ship and the wood chips beneath were the crocodile infested waters.

This train is fun. Deano used to be a little bit obsessed with Thomas, and so the train park was his favorite place in the world to go... here and the bridge that went over the actual trains. They always have to spend at least a little time on the trains, if not most of the time. 

 

 Now that they're getting bigger they like to climb up the sides and on top of this train car. It made me really nervous when they first started, but they do okay now.

 

There are lots of big trees along the back of the park which provide shade, a fun place to play make believe games, as well as a barrier between the park and the little ravine behind the park. A couple of these trees are decent climbing trees for older kids, although my kids get frustrated that they're not big enough yet.

One of the best things about this park is the pavilion. It's pretty big with a few large picnic tables. It makes for a good gathering place.

One of my kids favorite things to do here, which drives me crazy is play in the sand in the volleyball court. I don't like that it is so far away from the playground and the pavilion where I usually am. It's not such a big deal anymore, but when Andrew wasn't even two yet and he would always end up over there it drove me crazy. Now it's mostly just messy, they often come home from this park with sand in their shoes and their hair. Someday maybe we'll actually play some volleyball: what the big sand box was actually intended for.  There is also a basketball court over here.

This park has a lot of grass... lots and lots of grass, which is another reason why it's good for large group things. I've been here several times where they have the picnic tables laid with food, and lots of people on blankets or camp chairs surrounding. I've seen big football games, ultimate Frisbee games, an Easter egg hunt, birthday parties, lots of stuff. It's a good park for that sort of thing.

I've enjoyed this park more this summer than past ones, mostly because my kids are older and I don't have to worry about them so much anymore. Next year though, Isaac will be old enough to fall off of bridges, so that'll be something to look forward to.

Hutton Parks I and II

There are two parks on Hutton, both long and narrow, end to end with a road in between. I didn't know this park existed before, but it's a nice little park. The playground is very similar to the one at Edgewater park, although Edgewater has another section to it. Before I had even had time to look at the playground properly, Andrew announced to me "Hey look, it's another Edgewater park!" So as far as the playground goes, it's not my favorite, but it's still good. Slides, a pole to slide down, stairs, other things to climb up. Nothing that you can't find elsewhere. Not great for little kids. My kids still can't to monkey bars, and really struggle with the pole, but they have lots of fun on the slides.

 

 What I liked in particular about this park was the grassy area right near the playground. Lots of trees, nice shade, a picnic table, lots of grass in the shade so we can easily sit or play out of the sun. Other parks have shady areas like this, but not so close to the playground. This is the type of park that I would like to bring a book and lie on a blanket in the grass and read while my kids play. It was quiet, and just really nice. I don't particularly like that the playground is so near a road, but the whole park is just so narrow, that it was inevitable. It's not a busy road though, so it's not too bad.

  Hutton I is a nice park, I really like it, it just seemed peaceful to me... at least until Andrew decided to slide down the pole by himself and ended up whacking his head on the pole, and then while I was off helping him, Isaac fell over from his sitting position and started screaming, and at the same time Deano lost a penny he found in the wood chips, so I had all three boys screaming at once. That seemed like a good time to go walk over to Hutton Park II.

There isn't much to this park. It's really just an extension of the first park. There is a pavilion with picnic tables,

 a lot of grass, and a basketball court on the far end. There is enough grass at the first Hutton park on the other side of the playground that having more over here doesn't offer me and my family much, but I guess some people might find it useful. There is the basketball court, but my kids are far too small to be using that anytime soon, and the court is so far away from the playground at the other park, that leaving my kids at the playground while I go play basketball isn't really an option. For people without my kid problem though, I guess it would be a nice place to come play.

They did what they could in the space provided for them, and they did a pretty good job, even if having two parks like this is a little unconventional. It works, and it's nice.