The Perfect Play Place

We are settling in here: making friends, finding fun places to go, negotiating a daily rhythm, driving comfortably in our small circle of familiar places, learning about and loving the Montessori school both kids now attend; in short, we are becoming cozy here in our pseudo home.

The beach is and will remain our favorite part of the city, the water is the defining feature here in Jacksonville, life revolves around it as much as the city itself. The cooler air is beginning to faintly make its way to us, with little kisses of wind here and there to break the heavily humid haze that seems to rest here permanantly during the summer months. The beach at dusk is now filled with wind blown sand, so we have found a new retreat to fill the void of time between nap and dinner, a lovely park, the best park I've ever been to.

This park is brilliantly designed, it is completely fenced in, with picnic tables covered by a canopy in the middle of the enclosure, the structure is all wood, built with high walls, lots of steps to master, TWO sand pits, a smaller area for three to five year olds, there are walking tight ropes, towers, drawbridges, tire swings, rings and monkey bars to swing from, and if that is not enough, outside of the active area is a duck pond and water sprinkler park. The larger area of the playground is built in the form of a castle, the smaller a train. The entire park is fabulous! Seriously, the most parent/child friendly play place I've ever encountered.