Bonnie Brae Park Temple Terrace

Last weekend we stayed in Temple Terrace to take care of our in law puppies. We hung out with some good friends that we don't get to see very often one evening. Because we knew it was going to be a grown up evening we wanted to take the girls to the park.

We ended up only having less than 20 minutes because a huge storm was brewing in the sky and we left just as the rain got started. However we made the most of it.


This park is about the playground for sure and though there aren't many fancy things there are several unique elements like the fire truck below. There was a four post climbing apparatus which when Lydia gets a little older I think she will climb up and over then down.


A few riding toys which are definitely is a fan favorite. There are a few scattered picnic benches and a shelter with more. A bench that says grandparents across the back and a special pole for piñatas were nice touches. It's designed for a birthday party for sure.


Suddenly in the distance there was the sound of hundreds of drops crashing into the earth. The sky had become darker and I said to Eliot " I think I hear it coming." Just as the words finished out of my mouth, we each grabbed a child and ran to the car. Our fast response minimized our wetness for sure.

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Ballast Point Park

During my traditional exam period at the end of the school year, I have to be accessible to work and proctor some exams but I have some days off. On this particular day, the girls and I headed to the splash park at Ballast Point Park to meet a couple of friends to a great afternoon of fun. I packed some lunches. The one below is Lydia's. It's a bento lunch knock off but I think it worked. She had cheese, crackers, carrots, cucumber, ranch dressing, blueberries and chocolate graham fish as dessert.
This park is located at the edge of southern Hillsborough county, only a few minutes over the Gandy Bridge for me. It is compacted on the corner of the bay which makes this park breezing and cool even on a 90 degree day as it was on this day.

The splash park has partial fenced in area, really more in order to separate the water space from the other areas that this great area has to offer. As you can see from the picture below, there is a great view of the bay, some shady places to squat and have lunch. There is a small walking pier and boat docks for the water sport enthusiast. There is even a bait shop and small restaurant if you would like to pop in and make a day of it.


The play areas are multiple. There is a 2-5 playground area and a 5 and up area. They are huge, spectacular really. The one for the bigger kids is very elaborate and high. So high that our little ones which don't read the signs of age appropriateness are way to high to reach as they climb. Being as short as I am, sometimes a little nerve racking, but I try to be calm and let her try. Both areas have shade built in, but the park does have plenty of trees  for natural shade if needed.







The day was a splash ton of fun. Even Vivian got into the fun. Though I will say that the splash park itself was a little too much for her baby age. Next time I will wear a bathing suit and sit on the ground with her. Our friends brought buckets and they had a ball filling them up and sticking their feet in them and just spilling them over.




 

The park also has several picnic areas and a giant gazebo with tables. We took shelter there when it started to sprinkle a little. The larger park area isn't fenced in and it is next to a road which means you have to keep your eyes open. There are restrooms which is a new great thing for me as we continue to potty train. This a gem. Go and enjoy! It is so close to northern area of St. Pete there is no reason not to venture across the Gandy bridge.

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Curtis Hixton Park

Over the weekend we took an afternoon and headed to Curtis Hixon Park in Downtown Tampa. We needed an activity to get as much energy out of our toddler as possible. We have annual passes to the Glazer Children's Museum and we invited Grandpa G to join us.


The museum always seems to have something slightly new for her to explore and do. Plus as she gets older there are new things for her to do. The last time I was there with the girls was on Lydia's second birthday and Vivian was only 5 weeks old. Now even the baby has designated areas that she can crawl and interact with new things. She really liked the crawl tube but seemed to be stuck in the middle. She sat there and laughed for a long time until Dad helped her out, not because she couldn't crawl through but because she was taking her sweet time coming out.



The one area that Lydia has always loved is the dance studio where you can select from various different music options, dance under a disco ball and in front of your own reflection that is projected by cameras. The only down fall is that there is always some kid that just wants to push the buttons of the music choices and stops all the dancing. Prior to that inevitable occurrence, Lydia danced. Vivian built a few things and played with some toys.

After being inside in the museum for a couple of hours Lydia was ready to return to the out doors. The Curtis Hixon Park is host to many big events for the Tampa Bay area, especially this time of year where the weather hasn't ushered everyone indoors quite yet. It sits adjacent to the Children's Museum and the Museum of Art and runs into the sidewalk that lines the Hillsborough River. The playground looks over the river to a picture perfect image of the University of Tampa, whose unique architecture adds a rich feature to the skyline.


The park has several traditional and non traditional playground items. My favorite is a cool sound light game. Where you can pick a setting like ninja and you hit the light that pops up with a tone as quickly as possible. There is a multi-player function that makes it really challenging but fun.



Lydia fell in love with hammock. When she would open her eyes and pop off of it, she would sprint back if she thought another kid was going to get on it. At first sort of cute after a while several conversations about sharing were had.



There are public restrooms which is always nice for potty training kids and, well frankly all people, since we all use restrooms. Nestled near there is a vendor that sells drinks, snacks and ice creams. We picked up a popsicle for us each and tucked our mini-party under some shady shelter that overlooked the river. It was a really nice afternoon.











Both girls fell asleep on the way home which was a nice treat for us all. Curtis Hixon Park normally has a large green field area that is set up in large steps for outdoor concerts and events. On this day the remnants of the Friday and/or Saturday  night festivities were still there, so it wasn't the best day to take a picture that would invite others to come to a normally beautiful park, however on an average day it's a nice place to grab lunch and pop a squat on the grass and enjoy the rare juxtaposition of city and nature.

The park also has to fountain areas that kids will frequently play in. Many parents will use these areas as mini-splash parks, I am not sure that was the original intention, though it is certainly encouraged on a hot summer day. Even on this fairly chilly Spring afternoon, there were about 3-5 older elementary kids running through the fountains. I am not normally a big seller of Tampa, since I find the culture of St. Pete to be more my style, regardless this area is a great place for a family afternoon.

Temple Terrace Parks

Yesterday we spent the day in North Tampa, also know as Temple Terrace, with the Grandparents Gaurkee. We went to 2 different parks that had very different things to offer. The first was a small gated park off of 56th Street on Whiteway Drive, officially called the Omar K. Lightfoot Park.

There were several odd elements to this park. There is a pond at the center that is fenced off and sadly a couple of punk kids broke in to try to hit ducks with metal pipes. Luckily we were watching them very closely but admittedly it clouded our experience a bit. There is a portion of the park that is in direct sunlight which caused some of the play elements to be to hot to play on. There weren't any traditional elements like slides and monkey bars, even the swings were different. Not necessarily bad swings because both Gram and I loved them because they were comfy. Vivian really liked swinging as you can see by the close up pic of me holding her.

The  best thing that this park had to offer was the musical elements. They had giant xylophone and drums which of course my daughter adored because she likes playing band all the time! I also likes that they had a couple elements that required imaginative play, like this picture below. Lydia decided it was a ticket booth and would sell us tickets.

Later on in the evening after dinner we headed to Riverhills Park and Preserve which is nestled behind Riverhills Elementary along side of the Hillsborough River. I thought it was beautiful. Being a St. Pete girl I haven't spent too much time by the river since we are on a peninsula that is within a peninsula, so tons of water and not much need to look for more.

This playground was wide open and had so many fun and different elements to it. Again a focus on the musical instruments which was fun, but also an old school merry-go-round made safe with seats that have backs. There were sensory areas that were tiled with different textures including stones and fake grass.

There were twisty and turny things, but I have to say there is something about the swings, slides and monkey bars that my kid likes. She eagerly checked this out  but it took her a little bit to figure out how things worked.

We stopped and bought bread on the way, so we could feed the ducks. It was a nice change from other of our duck feeding experiences since we weren't bullied by seagulls. Even the squirrels got into the fun. It was pretty fun to see a squirrel with an entire slice of bread happily sitting in a tree.



The boardwalk along the river is filled with pieces that have been dedicated by families mostly to lost loved ones. There is something about a community putting something together that is a beautiful testament to the human spirit. Some of the pieces where old and some quite new.

It is a very shady park. It was perfect last night last because there was a soft refreshing breeze and the shade made it even more comfortable for a hot summer night I would totally recommend this park. In the past we have also gone to this park for their annual art festival more on these types of events can be found at the Temple Terrace city site.

Some of you may be thinking, Temple Terrace a city? I know how you may feel. It's like saying Pinellas Park is a city. However it turns out that both are, whether I believe it or not. My favorite Temple Terrace event has been the 4th of July. They had their own fireworks and the whole community gathered on the golf course and clubhouse parking lot to watch them. Since they are a small city, it was a perfect family event, to enjoy the fire works without too much of a crowd. We actually walked there.
   All in all a lovely day of park exploration. Temple Terrace has many other recreation areas and is very close to  Lettuce Park.


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