Safety Harbor City Park

Technically for me growing up in South St. Petersburg with parents who worked in Safety Harbor this park would squarely be considered to be far north but now that isn't that far I can say that it is actually right in the middle of the county.

This park was  real surprise for us. It was clearly a neighborhood park with playing fields and courts for various league sports. It was a great space to play.

In addition to the fields, there was a really nice skate park. It was fenced in and clearly serves as a place to the tweens to come  on a Friday night because there were admissions costs and events posted along the fence.

We of course are big suckers for shade and new interesting playground equipment which this park had. There were multiple structures that provided new things to climb and explore.

Since we enjoy the outdoors and find ourselves checking out a "new" park as often as possible, we look for the usually or the different to catch our eye. This dinosaur below certainly did that especially for Lydia. There was a slanted climbing wall-esque spine which provided for her a great place to try a new type of climbing.

They also had a climbing wall. This is becoming a more common feature. My girls are still a little young for this but Lydia does like to give it a shot. Her struggle is the strategy involved in wall climbing. She doesn't quite have the forethought to plan yet, however she is pretty brave with a spotter.

Interesting, probably only to me, Lydia went through an anti-swing phase. My only motherly explanation was that she didn't like the feeling of losing control; didn't like the tickle she got in her belly when she was swung too high. In the last few weeks she has revisited the swing. Several parks have the swing she is in here (pictured below) and the front harness gives her a sense of security.

She will also swing on the swing belly first which I remember thinking when I was little was the coolest way to swing. The thing that I really enjoyed about her doing this is that she found a way all on her own to feel comfortable on what is often a favorite playground item. She figured out that she didn't mind playing on the swings belly first and she could still be with her friends. And even more recently, she has re-approached the swing all together. Baby steps even for preschoolers.

Sometimes it's the small things like swings that show us how our kids may consider situations in there future. Playground lessons if you will. She is thoughtful and curious all at the same time.
Vivian on the other hand is ready to fly right off the swing, just as she is ready to run right off the slide because she is brave and willing to see what happens, with little forethought, at the moment, well and she is a toddler.

My only complaint about Safety Harbor Park is that there is no real website. The city of Safety Harbor lists it on it's park page here but that is about it. So to know more, you have to go and see it which I think will be a nice surprise.


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